Peak pontification (split from Rowter Hole Update)

[richardg]

The top climb of the assault course ends at a tube to the left, after 1.50 m a tight further left is encountered, i manged a left to right body manoeuvre to continue however with no-one watching my back i reversed out.
The only observation was it was draughting an hooly. I also saw other leads from the assault course one of which was a roof choke that was draughting to.

These Leads sound good T pot 2

 

[pwhole]

I also saw other leads from the assault course one of which was a roof choke that was draughting to.

And was this all natural passage? I'm guessing the miners wouldn't have accessed any of this from the Speedwell end, if they ever did.

 

[T pot 2]

And was this all natural passage? I'm guessing the miners wouldn't have accessed any of this from the Speedwell end, if they ever did.

 

[T pot 2]

I didn't see any evidence of T'owd man anywhere after the junction off to pilkingtons. However there are some indicators that he had looked there.

 

[Scud]

Has anyone got a positive dye trace to the bricked off natural at the bottom of the steps in Speedwell? It's a tiny passage that only ever flows in very high water but issues quite a volume of clay brown water when it does. We always surmised it came from Blue John or Treak Cliff.

This inlet is mentioned in one of the papers in Cave Science Vol 18, No 1. During a dye trace in flood conditions from Blue John Cavern in the 1980's, a positive trace was detected in the Near Canal but the detector at Longcliffe Vein was negative. The only inlets that I have seen is the one mentioned above, and potentially one 20 m in on the left (east side) but unlikely i think, probably just a mined out alcove. Little Winster Vein brings percolation water in, from the vein at the end. The next one is Longcliffe Vein, and that was negative so I assume it was from this natural under the steps until a further trace is undertaken.

 

[Scud]

The top climb of the assault course ends at a tube to the left, after 1.50 m a tight further left is encountered, i manged a left to right body manoeuvre to continue however with no-one watching my back i reversed out.
The only observation was it was draughting an hooly. I also saw other leads from the assault course one of which was a roof choke that was draughting to.

This was pushed again in 2002 by Robbie Shone and Matt Ryan who got as far as they could but from what I remember it got too tight. It had an howling gale coming out of it still.

 

[AR]

I've always been intrigued as to the 'missing' central portion of Shackhole Scrin - or at least any surface indications, but I can't imagine the vein just stops and starts again, though I guess geology isn't an exact thing. The Google Earth image shows the bit I mean arrowed. The engine shaft we dye-traced is labelled as '1'. There's also the small vein in-between that and Faucet Rake that I've labelled '2', which doesn't have a name as far as I know. It may be nothing, but who knows around there? Also some of the shaft hillocks around where the Assault Course ends are enormous, and well off the main vein line - I've often wondered why this is so. They don't seem to have any accessible holes in them though. I've never been to the top of the Assault Course pitches, but I don't remember reading about any shafts coming in from surface there.


View attachment 17749

Looking at the "missing" area, I think there's been openworking around the area where the wall crosses the line which has removed the hillocks - possibly 20th century for spar, but may be earlier?

 

[Mrs Trellis]

Will radio location be possible near to the end of such a difficult series?

 

[SamT]

Is there not a fairly hefty hade to the rake at Rowter though, as demonstrated by the fact that the vertical engine shart which intersects with the vein is about 20m South of the rake. Since bottomless pit is deeper than rowter, you'd expect a bigger distance South before it intersects the the vein. Dunno, just hypothersising.

 

[pwhole]

I think it would be well worth starting a new thread for all the other general stuff, as we don't want to clog up the dig story, and there's always plenty to discuss on this topic, as we've seen! And it's starting to sound very interesting.

 

[Goydenman]

After the Google Earth image is a view from the Rowter shaft looking immediately west, then the large hillocks looking west, and then a shot from the hillocks showing Faucet Rake, the mystery vein in the centre and Shackhole Scrin in the distance, skimming the edge of Winnats Pass. Goydenman, didn't you once tell me you went exploring in the pass side below this area with Ben Bentham?

Sorry missed reference to me. Yes we dug a phreatic hole at the base of the cliff. At the top of the cliff just back a bit is the wall and vein that runs close to the pass. We dug out the tube for a few metres to a blind chamber with gangue type of fill and then abandoned the dig