Peak diving milestones, 35 years, ink sump and far sump

[alastairgott]

I've been doing a little research, and i think we're coming up to a milestone. In two weeks time, i think it will be 35 years since both ink sump and far sump were passed in peak cavern.


Ink sump was passed on the 1st of march and far sump was passed on the 8th of march. Both as far as i know in 1981.

 

[mch]

Perhaps a celebration should be organised? 

 

[Chocolate fireguard]

That can't be right.

1981 is nothing like 35 years ago. 

 

[irnbru]

From old CDG newsletters - a fabulous online resource...I've shortened the description as it's from a scan of the original newsletter (issue 60, page 25)

PEAK CAVERN
1st March 1981
Divers BTC Hague and SE Tucker
Ink Sump
Both divers reached the air bell BTCH then went to inspect what damage had been done to the boulders. Visibility was good. Closer inspection showed the way up through a tight right angle squeeze. A bottle was removed and after a second attempt was able to reach the surface.

8th March 1981
Far Sump
Divers MJ Farr
Suddenly at 435 m the passage surfaced and the diver could hear plainly the echo of the waterfall.

 

[Pitlamp]

The passing of Far Sump was tainted by some unpleasantness at the time. I don't want to go into detail here but there may be something to be said for letting sleeping dogs lie. Just a thought . . . .
(It didn't involve me incidentally; just saying, as I remember the exact circumstances at the time.)

 

[alastairgott]

Lets celebrate ink sump then, as it continues to be a feat of unrivalled commitment over a large number of Years.
The divers side of Ink sump still remains the domain of divers only and one diver has made this void his home from home.

Ink sump is still dived regularly for this reason. I'd estimate the sump gets at least one diver every 2 weeks, which is not a lot in the great scheme of things, but is quite frequent.

Only last weekend did a Diver go into the sump to replace some of the line belays which had corroded over time. Jim Lister will be really happy to see this on his next visit, thanks to the diver.

 

[ah147]

I've seen "the divers" work in other places and I doubt it will be up to Mr Listers standards.

But nobody listen to me...I just like ribbing Josh


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[Mark Wright]

The passing of Far Sump was tainted by some unpleasantness at the time. I don't want to go into detail here but there may be something to be said for letting sleeping dogs lie. Just a thought . . . .
(It didn't involve me incidentally; just saying, as I remember the exact circumstances at the time.)

Its still worth celebrating though, with a lot of emphasis put on all the long exploration dives carried out by Jerry Murland and Tim Nixon before Martyn Farr turned up one weekend and dived all the way through. If I remember correctly he ran out of line a reasonable distance from the end and carried on without a line!! It was, at the time, the longest UK sump ever to be passed (from an underground dive base and surfacing underground).

I carried diving gear for both the Ink and Far sump dives and was party to the Far sump telephone shenanigans that went on later that evening.  I'm sure everyone's got over it by now.

Mark

 

[Goydenman]

Fascinating if you had asked me I thought Ink sump was passed first and bigger gap before Far sump was passed so interesting to see the reports - thanks. I was in awe of both being passed at the time they seemed so very long as I was in my first year of diving.

 

[alastairgott]

Chris, where were you diving then? I guess you were a peak caver at that point?

 

[Goydenman]

Yes was in Derby section just for couple of years with Nigel Ball - carried for Jerry to Far sump

 

[Pitlamp]

The real breakthrough at Far Sump was when the horrible gravelly restriction in Brown's Chamber was passed. The floor of this is mobile so, even if you dig it bigger, it may slump in whilst you're beyond. The amount of gravel varies between floods and it's always a bit of a relief once safely back through. Of course, when first passed, there was no safe airspace refuge beyond. Also the vis tends to deteriorate rapidly in this area because silt stirred up beyond flows back into the restriction before you have to return through it.

Perhaps the worst thing is the gravel. It's not the usual round pebbly stuff. It's composed of thin angular flakes of chert. Unlike normal gravel (which gets into regulators and can cause a wet breathe by jamming open the exhaust diaphragm) this stuff jams the levers which are involved in giving you air. So the regulator suddenly stops working, often when your head is jammed sideways trying to struggle back uphill against the tide of gravel. On the wrong day, this can be quite a serious place.

Tim and Jerry never really got the credit they deserved for breaching the psychological obstacle of passing the gravel restrictions here. It was a superb piece of underwater exploration. I have a photograph of it here but I never managed to work out how to upload pictures onto this particular forum. If anyone wants to do it for me I'll happily email it to you.

 

[Badlad]

We've made posting photographs even simpler now -two ways you can do it.  Have a go by following the instructions on the link below.  If you have any problems we'd be interested to know what, so that we can improve further.

http://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?topic=19799.0

It would be fun to see them.

 

[irnbru]

Hi Pitlamp - I did the guys a disservice by not typing up the article in full (it was posted more for confirmation of the year) yet another incredible piece of work from a long line of incredible pieces of work...

I'll PM you my email address - happy to post the image.

 

[bograt]

Aah, happy days  : back in those days the CDG Derbyshire section adopted the TSG Chapel as their diving base, I recall the store being strewn with bottles and the kitchen table was rarely seen without regulators and demand valves in bits being serviced, I even joined as a non-diving member for a while.
They also had their own bottle compressor set up in the garage, but I don't think it was ever used in earnest---.

 

[al]

They also had their own bottle compressor set up in the garage, but I don't think it was ever used in earnest.

What goes around ... comes around ... 

 

[pwhole]

What, he might rejoin the TSG?  :ang:

 

[Pitlamp]

Aah, happy days  : back in those days the CDG Derbyshire section adopted the TSG Chapel as their diving base, I recall the store being strewn with bottles and the kitchen table was rarely seen without regulators and demand valves in bits being serviced, I even joined as a non-diving member for a while.
They also had their own bottle compressor set up in the garage, but I don't think it was ever used in earnest---.

  That'd be "Nellie" - the white elephant. It was immense and filled the area where the existing tackle wash is located. It had been bought as a cheap "deal" from some ex WD place. If I remember rightly the huge motor ran on diesel and it had a massive radiator at each end to keep the engine cool. It did once actually fill a tank - but only to a measly 1,800 psi. Other than that it was an extremely bulky waste of money. The modern replacement is a whole different kettle of fish of course.

TJ is right; those were very special days. Everything came together due to a fortunate set of unusual circumstances. The Chapel was a great place to spend a weekend in those days, even though it was somewhat less comfortable than the superb hostel it's transmogrified into now.

Jerry Murland had injected a lot of enthusiasm into the CDG Derbyshire Section and then gone on (in collaboration with John Beck) to crack the diving access impasse at Peak Cavern. There was a generation of CDG members who had never had the opportunity to dive in Peak but equipment and techniques had moved on in the meantime. (It was towards the end of this gap in access to Peak that the Kingsdale Master Cave had been connected to Keld Head for example - everyone was really buzzing and the potential achievements of cave divers suddenly seemed limitless.)

Immediately, the Peak system became the centre of attention for a number of us. The rate of progress was staggeringly fast (which is partly what the OP is referring to.) Both Ink Sump and Far Sump were passed and a great deal of exploratory work was achieved in Speedwell Cavern, where very few cavers were able to go. Oliver Lloyd's simple editorial in the April 1980 CDG Newsletter summed it up beautifully. He wrote:

"Peak Cavern is like a bottle of fizz, that has been kept stoppered for ten years. Now that the cork has been taken out, the results are sparkling."

Thanks for posting that information Badlad; go on then; I'll psych myself up to have another try at posting a picture.

 

[Pitlamp]

Mark - have just sent you a PM (about an unrelated topic).

For others - not had chance to try my luck at uploading that picture yet - maybe later tonight or tomorrow.

 

[ah147]

Pitlamp, if you can email it I'll post some pictures up for you?


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