Can I ask the current diggers or ex diggers some questions.
40 years ago I looked at the end of Flow Choke Passage and considered it one of the best prospects in the country. Walking passage stomping off towards the rising a long way away. The stal blockage ran up to a gap at ceiling level. Why was it never pushed ? Lack of the technology ? Conservation ? ( Though a low tunnel could have been worked over the top ?)
Norman ? the dog . I now forget the dating can we be reminded.
How did the dog get there. Any theories ? ( Maybe a secret ? ) I remember seeing his paw prints in the mud floor ( long gone ? ). My photo shows the dog as originally found. Later one leg was disturbed I think. Says a lot about conservation !
Perhaps this bit of information can be added to the next Descent write up as clearly Slaughter and Red House Lane are the same cave.
To answer your queries:
Flow Choke ends, as you say, in a massive calcite choke. There is a tube at the top, formed in Fault Breccia, and a horrible crawl to the bottom right, all choked. Digging work restarted in autumn 2024 and progresses, albeit slowly. It almost certainly connects with the end of the Marble River. If we do get a connection, then as Pete says, we have a 25km system, which will somewhat push us up the leader board for English cave lengths, although we would lose the honour of the longest cave system with a single entrance (Wet Sink to SSC). However, if we do connect this way, we need to install major conservation works - via ferrata, stemples, etc, to preserve the Marble River series in its current glory, before general access can be opened up. The Flow in Flow Choke is very grubby calcite and not particularly attractive, although there are some nice formations via the bottom lower choked route before you end up covered in slime.
As for Norman (or Norma as I don't think the sex has ever been proven), a tooth was removed (and replaced with a 3D printed replica) for carbon dating (see Paul Taylor's articles in the Forest Round up in Descent), but sadly there wasn't enough 'good material' to get a result.
Regarding how it got there, we still don't know. Lots of hypothesises (e.g. a hunting dog), but nothing proven.
Foot prints are still there.
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