Rowter Hole Update

[David Rose]

Gripping read! Huge congratulations to all involved. Are you able to post a survey of the whole cave, showing how its different sections relate to each other?

 

[Pitlamp]

I enjoyed reading that - and what a great effort to complete the survey as well!

 

[Fulk]

The final 20m or so of survey was the worst, with three bags of gear and gritty slop everywhere it was borderline ridiculous.

That was merely borderline ridiculous? Hell's bells! Anyway, well done, and I really enjoyed he write-up.

 

[A_Northerner]

What is the AOD level of the Sump? About 240m? That lines up with Winnats terminal sump, East Canal, and Sump 6 P8.

Might be worth getting a depth logger in there for Prof JG, if it's likely to be on the water table. See if it backs up like the others.

 

[MarkS]

With the sump/ duck, what’s the general shape of it when you pass through, is it fairly deep or close to the lip where it drops into the first pitch?
Just a suggestion but would it be worth chipping out the other side of the sump eventually so it doesn’t fill up and then doesn’t require it to be pumped every time as a long term solution?
Assuming there’s a reason this can’t be done though.

Yes, it would require a lot of rock to be removed, so not a practical solution. The sump is 2-3 m deep when full.

What is the AOD level of the Sump? About 240m? That lines up with Winnats terminal sump, East Canal, and Sump 6 P8.

Yes, about that height.

Might be worth getting a depth logger in there for Prof JG, if it's likely to be on the water table. See if it backs up like the others.

Would certainly be interesting. Just relies on gaining access, so unlikely to be for a while!

 

[Rob]

Incredible work, as always. Most impressive has been your patience since the last exploration. I still think it was amazing that you guys were sufficiently prepared last time to install that pipe through the sump.

Given the amount of equipment you need to drag down and haul out each time, would you consider on the next trip leaving some of it in situ for a few weeks to allow more trips beyond the sump? Feels a lot of effort for only a few hours beyond....

And then lastly, what is the likelihood for divers to get through without pumping? Looks like they'll be needed beyond anyway...

 

[Mark R]

I think we will consider leaving more kit in next time, we're going to need more than a few hours to properly explore and photograph so need to plan it over a few weekends. We have been quite conscious that we already have kit lying around all over the place and don't want to just keep throwing stuff down there. In particular, we need to have a good pipe tidy soon. With some care we could leave some of the power cables in place which would make a big difference, particularly through fosters faith and bad badger choke. Most of the rest is personal kit- wetsuits, food etc, some digging tools that can stay and the heavy pump which would probably be ok for a few weeks.
Diving wise, I'd say the main hazard remains, those sediment slopes in the tubes beyond the bottom of the sump. I can't imagine how it would feel going up there knowing anything that slumped down would end up in the bottom, which is still relatively snug. We're definitely going to need divers involved at some point for the pools/ Sump, whatever they are they need a really good look.
Next re rig we will do on stainless hardware and definitely leave it all insitu.

 

[Goydenman]

Great read - good planning and team work. Amazing exploration and super dedication surveying back and recovering the drill. Inspiring work thanks for the write up

 

[Mark R]

Hi all, we're going to go and install some cables this week, we will start them half way down the entrance shaft and run them through the cave to the sump. They will go in the most discreet places possible and out of the way of day trippers wherever we can. We're going to use some fixings but will keep them to a minimum and everything will ultimately be removable. I don't know how long this will stay in place for, but I hope the caving community will tolerate the intrusion while we work on the sump project a little longer.

 

[Mark R]

we're heading back down to wallow in some slop this weekend, unlikely to be doing any pushing but we will have a generator on the surface and will be pumping out the sump to do some engineering and plumbing work.

 

[Mark R]

Late notice but we're down tomorrow, generator running in the surface and cables hanging in the shaft. If you are planning on going, please just pass carefully and be very aware of the cables.

 

[Mark Wright]

Rowter Hole sump pumped out in just over 2 hours this morning and the team are now heading into the recently discovered continuation.

I’ll keep updating as news comes up from the sharp end

 

[Mark Wright]

Just had word from below.

All the pitches are now properly rigged and surveyed. Water level in the large pool at the bottom of the 4th pitch is about 2m higher than last time and it’s definitely a large sump.

It’s now time for Rob Middleton to prepare for some probably zero vis diving.

Mark R, and Mark S. will no doubt produce a more thorough report of their exploits on here soon.

 

[Mrs Trellis]

Don't forget the diver.............

 

[Logismos]

On 24th November, Mark S and I went for a digging trip to push the extensions beyond The Tenderiser choke that we passed on our previous trip. Unfortunately, the British weather had different plans .....

...We exited the cave after about 10 hours, tired but feeling fairly satisfied that we had, at least for now concluded this chapter in the exploration of the Origin Extensions.

There's been a new chapter in The Origin, and SUSS has just won the 2025 DCA Exploration prize for it!

I wrote a report for the whole exploration and surveying on the SUSS website.

In short, a psychotic squeeze (and then every trip since a much less psychotic one) leading to:
One failed surveying trip
Two horrid capping leads
Several more wet and awkward constrictions
104 more meters of passage

Massive thanks to Mark for encouraging us to go in for a second look - it's been some tremendous trips.

Hopefully much more to find in 2026! (Just probably not in The Origin, I suspect)

 

[Goydenman]

wow what a set of achievements well done team and still two possible caping options

 

[Mark R]

There's been a new chapter in The Origin, and SUSS has just won the 2025 DCA Exploration prize for it!

I wrote a report for the whole exploration and surveying on the SUSS website.

In short, a psychotic squeeze (and then every trip since a much less psychotic one) leading to:
One failed surveying trip
Two horrid capping leads
Several more wet and awkward constrictions
104 more meters of passage

Massive thanks to Mark for encouraging us to go in for a second look - it's been some tremendous trips.

Hopefully much more to find in 2026! (Just probably not in The Origin, I suspect)

Well done guys, great effort!