Thirst house cave

[Pipster]

Don't know if it's there in dry weather.

The cave entrance is maybe 20m above the valley floor. When you go down the choke, you drop quite a way, my guess is that you are at about the valley floor level.

The valley contains a stream at some times, I'd guess the sump rises and falls in sympathy. It was certainly there three weeks ago.

I had a hike through Deep Dale in July 2005. Most of the dale was bone dry - the only wet bit was a pool of water which was seeping through from the dam near the quary. As for Thirst House Cave, I can recall the large entrance chamber where at the back it dropped through small boulders, and into a 2nd chamber. If I'm reading this right, people are suggesting the chamber 2nd that has water in? When I was there it was completely dry - just dried up mud. There was no sound of water. It looked like there had been some digging along time ago at the back of the chamber but I can't recall any obvious continuation of passage - admittedly I didn't have a close up look (as I needed to keep clean hehe). It looked like a really intriguing cave; and would like to go back for a proper look. Would love to know if it continued.

Also, further down the valley, located in a small cliff, well above the path and just above the scree runs I seem to recall another passage. My memorys gone somewhat vague, but I seem to remember thinking that it was possibly a mine. I think I had a quick look but didn't venture very far. Anyone know anything about this one?

 

[ttxela]

Would it be one of the mines mentioned here?

http://www.peakwalk.org.uk/deepdale.asp

Been wanting to wander up there for a while.

 

[Pipster]

Would it be one of the mines mentioned here?
http://www.peakwalk.org.uk/deepdale.asp
Been wanting to wander up there for a while.

This sounds like a pretty good contender  ...

It should be noted at this stage that this fault contains another short mine level or adit that as been driven along its course into the dale side for a distance of 160 feet in the search for galena or lead ore. This level is situated directly above the large scree slope.

 

[AndyF]

Also, further down the valley, located in a small cliff, well above the path and just above the scree runs I seem to recall another passage. My memorys gone somewhat vague, but I seem to remember thinking that it was possibly a mine. I think I had a quick look but didn't venture very far. Anyone know anything about this one?

I think you are referring to Spice Pudding Mine on Chance vein (you couldn't make it up ) or , a bit further down the valley, Hading Level. Thats a few hundred feet long...

 

[Pipster]

Also, further down the valley, located in a small cliff, well above the path and just above the scree runs I seem to recall another passage. My memorys gone somewhat vague, but I seem to remember thinking that it was possibly a mine. I think I had a quick look but didn't venture very far. Anyone know anything about this one?

I think you are referring to Spice Pudding Mine on Chance vein (you couldn't make it up ) or , a bit further down the valley, Hading Level. Thats a few hundred feet long...

Thanks for the info Andy. Yes its a great name! I'll have to take a proper look down there one day....

 

[ttxela]

I think I might drive up with my daughter over half term and have a bit of a wander up deepdale, I'm presuming Thirst House is pretty safe from the description in the guide book, what are the two levels like? Anything we should be wary of if we venture in?

 

[ttxela]

I think you are referring to Spice Pudding Mine on Chance vein (you couldn't make it up ) or , a bit further down the valley, Hading Level. Thats a few hundred feet long...

Had a walk down deepdale yesterday with Zomjon, we found a small mined chamber with a 4 foot ish deep shaft in the floor at the bottom of the track down from the quarry by the sludge pits, it looked like someone had been having a bit of a dig as there were a couple of buckets and a short ladder there, a bit further up (maybe 1/4 mile?) we found a longish level at the top of a steep scree slope maybe a couple of hundred yards long. Would this be Hading level and the small chamber Spice Pudding Mine?

Thirst House seemed to have 3 holes at the back of the second chamber the first in the floor dropped vertically to about 7 foot deep, the second, slightly above the first went in maybe 16 feet, the third which you had to climb up around 4 foot to get into went perhaps slightly further to what I guess was the sump, (small muddy puddle).

The (calcite mine?) at the end of Bullhay dale looked impressive but we didn't venture past the private signs.

 

[Pipster]

...we found a small mined chamber with a 4 foot ish deep shaft in the floor at the bottom of the track down from the quarry by the sludge pits, it looked like someone had been having a bit of a dig as there were a couple of buckets and a short ladder there...

Trying to picture the area (from memory)... as you leave Wye Dale you follow the path past Topley Pike Quarry on the right, and then past the ponds following a track. The track dips down, to the left of the final pond when water seeps through the dam. Just after the dam is a style which takes you into the Access Land. Is this roughly where the shaft is?

Thirst House seemed to have 3 holes at the back of the second chamber the first in the floor dropped vertically to about 7 foot deep, the second, slightly above the first went in maybe 16 feet, the third which you had to climb up around 4 foot to get into went perhaps slightly further to what I guess was the sump, (small muddy puddle).

How did the first two "holes" terminate? mud? boulders? chamber wall?

The (calcite mine?) at the end of Bullhay dale looked impressive but we didn't venture past the private signs.

Is that at the bottom of Bullhay Dale where it meets Horseshoe Dale? If you look up Bullhay Dale its on the right hand side with trees surrounding it?

 

[ttxela]

...we found a small mined chamber with a 4 foot ish deep shaft in the floor at the bottom of the track down from the quarry by the sludge pits, it looked like someone had been having a bit of a dig as there were a couple of buckets and a short ladder there...

Trying to picture the area (from memory)... as you leave Wye Dale you follow the path past Topley Pike Quarry on the right, and then past the ponds following a track. The track dips down, to the left of the final pond when water seeps through the dam. Just after the dam is a style which takes you into the Access Land. Is this roughly where the shaft is?

Thirst House seemed to have 3 holes at the back of the second chamber the first in the floor dropped vertically to about 7 foot deep, the second, slightly above the first went in maybe 16 feet, the third which you had to climb up around 4 foot to get into went perhaps slightly further to what I guess was the sump, (small muddy puddle).

How did the first two "holes" terminate? mud? boulders? chamber wall?

The (calcite mine?) at the end of Bullhay dale looked impressive but we didn't venture past the private signs.

Is that at the bottom of Bullhay Dale where it meets Horseshoe Dale? If you look up Bullhay Dale its on the right hand side with trees surrounding it?

The small chamber with the shallow shaft was just before the stile into the access land, the little tip from it was quite clear on the grassy bank.

Thirst House the first hole in the floor ended in muddy boulders, the second just ended in a blank wall.

The Bullhay Dale one is as you describe, large looking entrance, unfortunately the whole dale is fenced off as private.

 

[T pot 1]

Bullhay Mine was the subject in descent accompanied with photo's in the mid 80's the article was submitted by myself but I'm blowed if i can find it

T pot

 

[ttxela]

Bullhay Mine was the subject in descent accompanied with photo's in the mid 80's the article was submitted by myself but I'm blowed if i can find it

T pot

Is access still possible? How extensive is it?

 

[ttxela]

The first small chamber with the little shaft, just at the top of the small tip visible on the grass bank, just in front of the first walker.

The only thing we could find that looked like a sump in Thirst House, is this it?

 

[ttxela]

Bullhay Mine was the subject in descent accompanied with photo's in the mid 80's the article was submitted by myself but I'm blowed if i can find it

T pot

Was back that way over the weekend and walked past the head of Bullhay Dale again, that entrance does look inviting, shame there is no access 

Don't spose you,ve come across that article yet T pot?

 

[Mark]

Bullhay mine was used to film a cave rescue episode of Peak Practice over 10 years ago with quite a few local cavers as extras

 

[T pot 1]

Not found the article yet but i do know that its in there somewhere 

T pot

 

[spikey]

As referenced in this thread http://ukcaving.com/board/index.php/topic,4502.0.html, I have been interested in this area for quite a while.

As I am not a geologist, I am not aware of how the folding / dipping of the limestone beds is suited to cave formation, but there are certainly a vast amount of features to suggest there is something there.

eg. Features like the (pictured) large entrance in Bullhay Dale. There are some old shaft mounds directly between here and the road to the east (towards Chelmorton and the head of Bullhay Dale) which may have intercepted natural, and there are any number of abandonned swallets / trials further east of Chelmorton. In the other direction, there again are a couple of inactive swallets behind the rugby club on the Harpur Hill road, which are quite possibly connected with the drainage.

The volume of water resurging in the Wye (both under water, and visibly) after rain seems to be too much for there not not to be a large-ish system around somewhere........

Anyone know if the quarry on the south side of the Wye at King Sterndale intercepted anything?

 

[Mark-Cal]

There was an organised PDHMS trip to Bullhay mine last year, or perhaps it was the year before that now I think about it, with permission of the land owner.
We had to take a ladder in with us to access the upper level. Only a small mine but interesting none the less.

 

[ttxela]

It's good to know access is still granted, I'll keep my eye out for future trips.

 

[phil.gregson]

Had a good nosey round Bullhay mine many years ago. It weas either before the private signs appeared or perhaps when I was still too young for my eyes to have developed enough to see them!

Seem to remember it was quite interesting and small but done on a big scale (if you know what I mean) and that you could climb up to the upper level (Stope?) and eventually out to the surface at the back.  I also seem to recall it having an old Eimco Overshot Loader (or similar) in the bottom but maybe I'm thinking of somewhere else.  It'd be nice to know if it was: a) there in the first place, and; b) still there.  Would make a crackin' digging tool as, with my advancing years, I don't do digs that involve any form of bending over any more.

Phil