Serious CO2 problem in Nettle Pot

[MikeyP]

The photo you describe sounds very similar to this one from the DPC archives?

As far as I know this was taken by one of the members on a meet in 1937.

Along with another of the ladders needed to get down Elizabeth!

I should probably not complain next time I have to carry our 80m rope  :-[

 

[Pitlamp]

Last time I was in Nettle was probably 1988....When I was up there on Sunday i was suprised to see it capped....I'm sure back in the eighties it was an open ent....I assume that the capping has been done since...or is my memory playing tricks?

Skippy; it was definitely capped pre 1988. If you look at Dave Elliott's (excellent) "Caves of Northern Derbyshire part 1; Eldon Hill" - dated January 1975 - there is a photograph of it inside the back cover.

Jenny - if you can get that picture up on the forum it would be extremely interesting to see. Loved the story of the upside down digging efforts! I must ask your husband about that next time he's up this way.

 

[Pitlamp]

Superb pictures, MikeyP; thanks for adding them.

That was the same year that Eric Hensler crawled to glory in Gaping Gill incidentally, just to put it in context.

I'm too young to have used wood and rope tackle but I can just remember that, long after electron ladders took over, the big pitch in Bar Pot was often still rigged with rope ladders during GG winch meets. This was because it can be used as a flood escape route and people with no great experience of climbing ladders found them far easier to get up than electron. They used to get a bounce going which gave you a bit of an upwards nudge every step. If the rungs were wide enough you could even get inside the ropes and sit on a rung for a rest!

 

[MikeyP]

Can?t find any reports of them doing that in Nettle, (though they most likely did!) but being lowered headfirst seemed to be a common tactic when they were digging out Mountbatten in the late 40's!

?Davies was lowered as far as possible, but jammed firm, it being too tight, and so was hauled up again. His report was that another blow was necessary, but due to it being impossible to bend down, someone must be lowered head first to lay the charges. It was then that the Leader learnt of yet another of the many disadvantages of being a leader of a meet. Dangling like a sack of coal at the end of a rope, he was lowered to perform his DUTY amidst curses, laughter and witticisms, which he failed to appreciate, such as, ?Wont it be funny if the rope breaks?? The operation completed, the body was extracted and the party surfaced to find Horner with Sizzy, and his inevitable but very welcome cups of tea. Once more the mighty thud which brought forth cheers and shouts of joy then a hasty clear up, tackle stowed into the cars and all away to the Castle for tea.?

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8469/8347190404_8867ed40e0_z.jpg

 

[underground]

The photo you describe sounds very similar to this one from the DPC archives?

As far as I know this was taken by one of the members on a meet in 1937.

Along with another of the ladders needed to get down Elizabeth!

I should probably not complain next time I have to carry our 80m rope  :-[

Absolutely brilliant MikeyP, thanks for those (and to bograt and pwhole plus any others I've forgotten) for the wonderful descriptions in this thread... very awe inspiring and they certainly put things into perspective now one is able to 'do' Nettle in a quick evening... I've often stopped to wonder what it was like for t'owd man and feel grateful that I sit at a desk all day when I'm laid in a pipe working for fun, knowing I won't have to do it 6 days a week ad infinitum, but not so much about efforts like these... Respect due indeed...

 

[cavermark]

Fascinating pictures MikeyP 

 

[Pipster]

Absolutely brilliant MikeyP, thanks for those (and to bograt and pwhole plus any others I've forgotten) for the wonderful descriptions in this thread...

Ditto! Great to read some of the accounts, and to see those photos.

 

[Goydenman]

Great reading accounts like this and seeing the pics

 

[MikeyP]

Bograt, did you happen to get a photo of the winch, or anybody else for that matter? It would be interesting, as we don't seem to have any...

 

[DAN]

Gollum I am the DCA projects officer and I am currently tasked with the Job of replacing the lid on Nettle as the current one has No Ventilation which is the probable cause of the Bad Air.

Please would you refrain from making announcements which are incorrect, I will tell people when it is safe to Descend Nettle and I will also remove the notice for the Bad Air when it is Safe do so.

There are currently lots of projects going on within the DCA which i am involved with, maybe you could Volunteer your Services to something slightly more useful.....?

Dan Hibberts

 

[bograt]

Gollum I am the DCA projects officer and I am currently tasked with the Job of replacing the lid on Nettle as the current one has No Ventilation which is the probable cause of the Bad Air.

Please would you refrain from making announcements which are incorrect, I will tell people when it is safe to Descend Nettle and I will also remove the notice for the Bad Air when it is Safe do so.

There are currently lots of projects going on within the DCA which i am involved with, maybe you could Volunteer your Services to something slightly more useful.....?

Dan Hibberts

 

[bograt]

Bograt, did you happen to get a photo of the winch, or anybody else for that matter? It would be interesting, as we don't seem to have any...

Sorry, it was well before I started taking my Kodak Brownie underground, but I do recall seeing a picture of it taken in the 50's/60's, I'll dig deeper into memory and see if I can remember where.
I also seem to recall later reports of it going down the shaft.
C.O.D. 1964 suggests using it to belay ladders and lifeline to! 

 

[mr conners]

Derbyshire Hall would certainly be an awkward place for a dig. You'd probably need shoring to go into that "funnel of boulders" too.
It's quite a pretty spot when you get there too, I'd wonder if it was possible to dig much without trashing it.

Has anybody tried to bypass the freeze squeeze? I wonder if digging over  the top of it could link to one of the avens in the passage beyond the squeeze?

There is some aluminium scaff bars down in the funnel, the remains of some aborted dig. And do the large fracture lines in the boulders on the sides of the funnel suggest movement somewhere, sometime, long ago?

I have squeezed through once and can confirm its not an easy place to get to. Would be really interesting to see where it goes.

 

[DAN]

Nettle has a wooden lid at the present while the old one is being modified and repaired.

We will need a volunteer to go in and check the Air quality at some point, any volunteers ?

Dan Hibberts

 

[Stu]

When and to where?

 

[Gollum]

I don't mind checking it out. I am available Friday or Saturday this week or most of next week. Where do I get a meter

 

[owd git]

I think Jon & I may be available Fri' eve'. Also, we love 'the narrows'  :spank: :spank:.
.
check p.m.
O. G.

 

[DAN]

Well the lid is being fitted today if is ready, then i would think that the check should occur after a week or so to see if our vent makes any difference to the air flow. We will probably have to issue a gas detector but this is something other people will know more about.

Dan

 

[owd git]

Good work thanks Dan.
O. G.

 

[langcliffe]

What is the source of the CO2?