Stump Cross / Angels of the North

[alanw]

'Stumps Cross Caverns digging is fun - but we have a long way to go'

Volunteers dig tonnes of rock and mud from a new cave network in North Yorkshire.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Lankyman]

Are they digging in Grenade Shaft? Incidentally, does anyone know where that name derives from?

 

[mikem]

That's not:

Stump Cross Cavern to open another cave to the public

Access to the cave is only possible by crawling through mud at present, Oliver Bowerman says.

www.bbc.co.uk

But there was a grenade:

Grenade Shaft: an incredible Stump Cross secret

Here at Stump Cross Caverns, there are plenty of chambers and passageways behind the show cave. Learn about one of the finest: Grenade Shaft.

www.stumpcrosscaverns.co.uk

 

[Lankyman]

That's not:

Stump Cross Cavern to open another cave to the public

Access to the cave is only possible by crawling through mud at present, Oliver Bowerman says.

www.bbc.co.uk

But there was a grenade:

Grenade Shaft: an incredible Stump Cross secret

Here at Stump Cross Caverns, there are plenty of chambers and passageways behind the show cave. Learn about one of the finest: Grenade Shaft.

www.stumpcrosscaverns.co.uk

Thanks, mikem. If it's not Grenade Shaft where they're digging it still seems (to me at least) that they are digging in a surface shaft somewhere. In the BBC article linked by alanw there's a photo of a 'shadoof' set up to bring up the rubble to the surface. It also mentions a 50 ft deep 'former miners' shaft'. Is this another shaft altogether?

 

[mikem]

I'm not sure, but C cavern is the not particularly circular bit which is quite close to grenade shaft - the one that isn't from The Cathedral:

CaveMaps.org

 

[mikem]

It was mentioned at time of original BBC article (that I posted above):

Thread 'BBC News: Stump Cross plans to open up a lost cave'

Sep 22, 2024

Stump Cross Cavern to open another cave to the public

Access to the cave is only possible by crawling through mud at present, Oliver Bowerman says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Working together with the Craven PC

• alanw
• Replies: 2
• Forum: The Dales

• 

 

[Lankyman]

Interesting surveys - I haven't heard of 'Long's Lake' before. I have been in Mongo Gill a few times but never had the opportunity to explore Stump Cross (apart from the show cave as a little kid).

 

[Relict]

Hello everyone, thank you all for your interest. Angels are extending the show cave to create a route from Cathedral and Reindeer that avoids contra flow in the low and narrow bit from Wolverine. When finished it should improve visitor flow. It doesn't impact Grenade, but does offer some opportunities to perhaps drive in that direction. Maybe after, as our access route is independent from the visitor route in general. Our reward is continuing access to the caves in this exciting inlier in which we have had some moderate success and gains. The owners have provided an excellent base for us and really generous resources. All in all it's going well. We continue our own project at Pump Sump in Red Kite Rift at the west sink and this is where we report as the SX project is published by the show cave . The BBC team were lovely and we commend their reporting. A minor correction is that the spoil is lifted by our powerful 110 volt winch in the tower and then distributed via the Shadoof, a scaffold manual crane based on African irrigation water lift tech which reaches back millennia.
Relict

 

[Lankyman]

Hello everyone, thank you all for your interest. Angels are extending the show cave to create a route from Cathedral and Reindeer that avoids contra flow in the low and narrow bit from Wolverine. When finished it should improve visitor flow. It doesn't impact Grenade, but does offer some opportunities to perhaps drive in that direction. Maybe after, as our access route is independent from the visitor route in general. Our reward is continuing access to the caves in this exciting inlier in which we have had some moderate success and gains. The owners have provided an excellent base for us and really generous resources. All in all it's going well. We continue our own project at Pump Sump in Red Kite Rift at the west sink and this is where we report as the SX project is published by the show cave . The BBC team were lovely and we commend their reporting. A minor correction is that the spoil is lifted by our powerful 110 volt winch in the tower and then distributed via the Shadoof, a scaffold manual crane based on African irrigation water lift tech which reaches back millennia.
Relict

Is your Red Kite Rift/west sink project where the shadoof is?

 

[ChrisB]

A minor correction is that the spoil is lifted by our powerful 110 volt winch in the tower and then distributed via the Shadoof

Thanks - I was puzzled how you were managing to lift 15m with the shadoof.

 

[braveduck]

Nice to see my Buckets and special Drag Trays in use . Have supplied about 40 so far !

 

[Relict]

Is your Red Kite Rift/west sink project where the shadoof is?

Er no, cheers lankyman! The BBC got slightly confused bless them! The 110v winch on the gantry over the miners shaft entrance at Stump X is what raises the hoppers. Once tipped into normal digging buckets, these can be swung across the spoil heap by the Shadoof, a simple crane with a counterweight on the rear. It's what's used around the world to lift water from rivers into irrigation channels.. it gives us about 32 ft radius of places to drop spoil without having to physically carry the whole weight. Some of the spoil is destined for research, so it can go into ton bags for collection without having to lift overly large weights.

 

[moletta]

I think Long's Lake may be named after Christopher Long -one of the original diggers when the cave was found.

 

[Lankyman]

I think Long's Lake may be named after Christopher Long -one of the original diggers when the cave was found.

Yes, I wondered if it might be him. What really intrigues me though is what's the story behind the depiction on that survey? Did Long (or anyone) actually discover a lake and what happened to it? Or is it a legend like that cave (Jane Eyre Cave?) that he was supposed to have discovered near White Scar?

 

[Relict]

Nice to see my Buckets and special Drag Trays in use . Have supplied about 40 so far !

Many thanks DB!

 

[Relict]

Yes, I wondered if it might be him. What really intrigues me though is what's the story behind the depiction on that survey? Did Long (or anyone) actually discover a lake and what happened to it? Or is it a legend like that cave (Jane Eyre Cave?) that he was supposed to have discovered near White Scar?

Hello, I have a theory on that. But first, which depiction on which survey?

 

[mikem]

Geoff workman's 2008 sketch on cavemaps (CPC R90 - Longs Lake)

 

[Lankyman]

Hello, I have a theory on that. But first, which depiction on which survey?

As mikem says, this one

http://cavemaps.org/surveys/cpc/full/CPC%20R90%20Stump%20Cross%20Caverns%20-%20Longs%20Lake.png

 

[mikem]

If you can get past the snowflakes, then it is explained at:

The legend of Long's lost lake

In 1922, Christopher Long discovered new chambers in Stump Cross – and allegedly an underground lake. Dive into the legend with us…

www.stumpcrosscaverns.co.uk

 

[Lankyman]

If you can get past the snowflakes, then it is explained at:

The legend of Long's lost lake

In 1922, Christopher Long discovered new chambers in Stump Cross – and allegedly an underground lake. Dive into the legend with us…

www.stumpcrosscaverns.co.uk

Some interesting biography of Long there. It would seem that he may well have invented the lake in an attempt to spite the owner of Stump Cross. I wonder if Geoff Workman gave it much credence? He did show it on that survey.