The Delph

[martinb]

Hi
I will be at the hole in the Delph on Sunday Morning at around 11.00 if anyone would like to join me feel free to come along bring a flask & butties it may be a long day aftewards we can retire to the Red Lion at Litton for a beer

T pot

To do what?  :blink:

martin

 

[T pot 1]

Doing stabalization with view on how to handle the capping, maybe a descent to have a look if it's worth the effort or even just saving it for prosterity, who knows what may transpire

T pot

 

[T pot 1]

Went down the hole yesterday. A very interesting place, after gardening the shaft for what seemed ages I descended slowly through the hanging death to the bottom, here are 2 passages one left & one right. The one left goes for a short distance to a sump / pool which was mentioned in a previous post, to the right it was tight and the roof was loose so I didn't bother. The entrance shaft is dodgy so I got out of there quite sharpish. This place needs digging at the bottom of the shaft, I think that is where the way on is under the rubble cone.

T pot

 

[nickwilliams]

If you decide to 'do' something about the entrance, there is about 6m of the heavy duty blue HDPE pipe up at Hucklow. It's in four lengths of between 1 and 1.5m. I believe there is some more of it in Crewe/Sandbach as well.

Nick.

 

[T pot 1]

Hi Nick
It would be a good idea to tube this but it still boils down to the amount of backfill required to support the tubing. At the moment I am sort of advocating leaving it be because it needs to stabalise (the footpath may disappear) but it is a natural feature in the delph, do we interfere or do we leave well alone for the time being

T pot

 

[MarkC]

At the moment I am sort of advocating leaving it be because it needs to stabalise (the footpath may disappear) but it is a natural feature in the delph, do we interfere or do we leave well alone for the time being

Tpot,

This is a very important point that you make.  Its an important geomorphological feature of the Delph and there are still  unanswered questions about it.  As a geologist I would also like to see it conserved, but as a caver would like to see it explored once again.  The best thing to do may be to speak to Natural England, the DCA and the landowner (c/o the parish council).  It would be good to find a solution that satisfies all parties.  As long it as does not present an immediate danger to the public then why not leave it to stabilise for a while...

MarkC

 

[Big Jim]

Is 'the footpath' a Public Right of Way as opposed to just a concessionary path (Id check my maps but there all in the car and nowt on mi feet at mo)? If so then the County Council should look at making it safe (ie get them to pay) but make sure DCA/NE are involved so they do it in sensitive way.

J

 

[MarkC]

Is 'the footpath' a Public Right of Way as opposed to just a concessionary path (Id check my maps but there all in the car and nowt on mi feet at mo)? If so then the County Council should look at making it safe (ie get them to pay) but make sure DCA/NE are involved so they do it in sensitive way.

J

Its not a PRoW, its private, but Eyam Hall permits access to the Nature Reserve.



Apparently the parish council is getting concerned about 'people' climbing over the fence to have a look down at it.  The DCA is meeting with the Parish Council next week to discuss various options.  They have asked that the fenced area is kept out of for now.  Contact David Webb at the DCA if you have any queries...

Mark C

 

[T pot 1]

Keeping persons from within the fence will be an ongoing problem. If it's adults then this may be mitigated to those persons having no sense - there is clearly a fence and the appropriate signage warning people to KEEP OUT. If it's children then eduction is not sufficient in the immediate area. Talks at local schools may be considered. The village has an history of open caves and capped mine shafts. Think about a certain child that was lost in a cave some time back. Liability is an issue. Think about a knee jerk reaction, 1) Fill it in. This causes some concern because further investigations are necessary to avoid future problems. 2) Do we have to construct a berlin wall to keep every one out. Fence and signage IS in place 3) when all else fails PANIC !! for gods sake this is a swallet that may have been opened by the children that we are trying to protect. If it wasn't for the children's intervention of diverting the stream this would not have happened. Therefore the present liability does not exist as such. In conclusion - for now, moving the footpath is a reasonable thing to consider whilst further natural stabalisation of the swallet takes place. We need to keep a close eye on this situation.

T-pot

 

[martinb]

Keeping persons from within the fence will be an ongoing problem. If it's adults then this may be mitigated to those persons having no sense - there is clearly a fence and the appropriate signage warning people to KEEP OUT.

Unfortunately that is no guarentee of who ever it is having a brain and doing as they are instructed. Worryingly, if it is private land, I could see the land owner closing access totally to avoid having any liability.

If it's children then eduction is not sufficient in the immediate area. Talks at local schools may be considered. The village has an history of open caves and capped mine shafts. Think about a certain child that was lost in a cave some time back.

That may have an opposite affect of flagging up that there is a nice big hole to play with, and well - accidents happen.

Liability is an issue. Think about a knee jerk reaction, 1) Fill it in. This causes some concern because further investigations are necessary to avoid future problems. 2) Do we have to construct a berlin wall to keep every one out. Fence and signage IS in place 3) when all else fails PANIC !! for gods sake this is a swallet that may have been opened by the children that we are trying to protect. If it wasn't for the children's intervention of diverting the stream this would not have happened. Therefore the present liability does not exist as such.

Unfortunately, again, liability does exist, and it may lie with the landowner, irrespective of who diverted the stream.

In conclusion - for now, moving the footpath is a reasonable thing to consider whilst further natural stabalisation of the swallet takes place. We need to keep a close eye on this situation.

T-pot

Is this feasible given the placement of the swallet and the proximity of the sides of the delph? You could move it further up the western side away from the swallet, but that gives a better view of the hole.

Perhaps a better idea for the time being may be to obtain more of the wire fencing and stretch it over the swallet off the tops of the current fence stakes already in place. Mind you, some idiot would climb on it and start 'bouncing'.

A long drop and short life span would follow.

Martin

 

[Mark]

Had a walk down the Delph yesterday, peered down the hole

There is a lot of talk about children being responsible for this, thats bollocks,

Kids just don't play down the Delph.

The stream was diverted by either Tarmac or Glebe shortly after the Glebe Disaster, because the stream was in flood and flowing down the road due to all the drains being blocked

The stream was diverted by digging a considerable amount of earth away using picks and shovels

The hole does look interesting, but I don't really think its a goer

And it isn't just coincidence that the swallet collapsed a few days after the clean up team had been in there

 

[Pete K]

I was in the area the other day and popped up to have a look. Wow, that's a hole. What is the current situation with this and has anyone dropped it recently. Looking at the previous photos it seems to have opened up more.

 

[JonP]

That stream shouldn't be entering the hole. Its supposed to be dammed so water runs down the nature reserve.

 

[Pete K]

Dam was there, most of the flow was off down the dale in the normal way.

 

[Moose]

Just an idea.....

If no one is going to dig it out...

Why doesn't someone just fill the hole with some big boulders. Water would get away, it will be safe, what more do you want?

If someone wants to dig it out at a later date the large rocks will be very easy to remove.

 

[underground]

Just an idea.....

If no one is going to dig it out...

Why doesn't someone just fill the hole with some big boulders. Water would get away, it will be safe, what more do you want?

If someone wants to dig it out at a later date the large rocks will be very easy to remove.

What a good idea. With that kind of ingenuity you should think about getting into digging, pal.

 

[SamT]

or just drop a couple of the large sections of Blue Pipe (a la Flowerpot) that are hanging around at nicks in and back fill around.

 

[JonP]

its a bloody big hole though.... i reckon back filling would be massive project.

them photos dont do it justice.

 

[Moose]

Hey, that's a great idea!

Any ideas of where the best places to dig are?

I've been living in the area for a while now and have often thought about getting involved in something other than just recreational caving......

Just an idea.....

If no one is going to dig it out...

Why doesn't someone just fill the hole with some big boulders. Water would get away, it will be safe, what more do you want?

If someone wants to dig it out at a later date the large rocks will be very easy to remove.

What a good idea. With that kind of ingenuity you should think about getting into digging, pal.

 

[SamT]