Bagshawe Cavern
The Eldon always have a number of active digs undergo in Bagshawe.
One that is currently receiving quite a lot of attention is the "Dead Ahead Dig" in the Full Moon Series.
[For more information regarding Bagshaw Cavern go to the dedicated page]
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- Written by: Jon Pemberton
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Gang members Eavis, Buck, Hibberts accompanied by both Pemberton's (The Pembros) assembled for tonight's adventure. The plan was a round trip of the upper series in Bagshawe Cavern via the Hollywood Bowl, hoping to make use of the current drought conditions.
After some swift pre-beers we descended the cavern around 7pm and made quick progress through the first gate towards the aven series. Our turn off here was the second to last aven - Namraed. Namraed Aven (8m) Is a relatively easy climb for the first part but is rigged for SRT as the last 3m are vertical (insert Staples here).
We all ascended with relative ease and started making way down Fairholme Passage which is an awkwardly tight bedding crawl at roughly 45°, prone for getting stuck in! The crawl leads downhill for 5 minutes before reaching the ominous passage named Namraed. For the majority of the time, this is sumped, but in serious drought conditions, the passage dries completely gaining the intrepid explorer access to the Hollywood Bowl, a magnificent Cavern which feels out of place in Bagshawe!
Namraed was bone dry, this gives a good indication of the low water levels so it may pay off to go seek some more of these aquatic locations - food for thought...
Once all in the Hollywood Bowl, we marvelled at its grandeur before separating. Chris and Sam were to head out whilst Joe and Rob and I were to complete the round trip via Madame Guillotine.
We gingerly ascended the 18m which climbs out of the chamber, on ropes which have been there since 2005. Most of the hangers still look okay, but again it's probably one which may need some further attention in the future. From the top Joe took a wrong turn and got seriously stuck which left Rob and I to head the correct way up the slope and through a series of tight calcite squeezers towards Nathan Gate. From here it's easy sailing, typical Bagshawe crawling, walking and stooping interlinked by flat out squeezes. After about 15 minutes we reached Madame Guillotine where now you can easily descend the Via ferrata route down the 15m pitch just using cows tails.
It was now 9:30pm so we promptly got to move on and descended through the boulder choke gaining access to the French connection. At the moment this is bone dry and an absolute chore to negotiate minus the lubrication. We continued crawling and eventually met Full Moon Chamber with just a short section left before reaching the gate and exiting back into the main drag. A good romp led us to the steps and we were out by 9:47pm. Quite speedy for this round trip and we weren't going fast by any means. One I definitely recommend whilst Namread Is currently bone dry.
Anchor for post trip refreshments and debrief.
Photos by Rob Eavis
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- Written by: Jon Pemberton
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‘A’ Team once again assembled for an assault aimed at The Bitter End of Bagshawe. Joe, Sam and I met at 6pm and were underground for 6:30pm. Chris had already gone underground in advance with a taster of getting back into the swing of things after his jollys (Albania fit). We caught him up at Full Moon Chamber where he cajoled us on his ‘Tour de Baggers’ after missing the turn off for the Full Moon Series four times! We pressed on together to the top of MG where we parted ways with Chris and continued to the end. We made it there in an hour and I took first turn at the pointy end.
Digging was super easy this week (for me) as I’d remembered to bring a head torch so could leave my helmet further back, this gave me more movement at the end. Luckily Joe had done a cracking job last week enlarging the passage at the end in every direction, it reminded me of a bear den. I now had enough room to bring the kibble up next to me, dig ahead and fill it with ease. The sediment was super easy to cut through and I just continued to follow the obvious roof tube on the right which has approx. 3 inches of airspace and a few stal. I filled 10 kibbles, the last few containing a few larger rocks which were removed from the floor and then proceeded to give the floor to Sam.
Sam filled a further 10 kibbles but the sediment began to condense with a more finely packed gravel which proved digging to be a bit more laborious. Joe finished the shift with a further 5 kibbles (totalling 25) taking just over 2 hours. With a firm 9:30pm cut off we started the slog back out. It’s funny… there’s little to no conversation on the journey back to surface. Everyone has the same feelings, SHUT UP AND PRESS ON!
We made it to surface at 10:40pm taking a little over an hour to get out from the end. No banging headaches this evening so we could enjoy post beers and tangfastics at leisure! The end is looking good, the roof is rising and we’re seeing a change in sediment but it’s not getting any easier! Watch this space…
Mission complete (JRP)
When the tangfastic hits (JRP)
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- Written by: Jim Thompson
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Team: Jim / Bog / Dave
In a week that saw metaphorical clouds roll across much of England, the land seemed anything other than green and pleasant. However my countenance was rendered divine via a message from Bog: ‘fancy digging in England’s Green and Pleasant Land, tube off the top?’ Of course I did, and so a long overdue reunion between Bog, Dave and me was a joy to behold in a pleasantly warm Bagshawe car park.
The objective tonight was to reach the big chamber at the top of EGAPL and place a bolt to secure a handline that was looped precariously round a stal and commence digging operations in the tube. Reports from the previous week of collapsing slopes suggested that a secure line would be a sensible precaution so Dave had come prepared with kit and we had a reasonably quick jaunt up the New Series and through a bone dry Pool Chamber. I took Dave’s bag and made an enjoyable climb up to the big block that marks the last bit of solid before moving onto the chossy bit. Shouting behind me, it was obvious that I couldn’t hear them, and they couldn’t hear me, I tried whistling but that was orders of magnitude quieter so I just had to sit tight and hope someone would get bored of waiting. Soon enough, I heard panting and Bog appeared, followed quickly by Dave.
Over the block and onto the slope, I could see where Dave had collapsed a big chunk of it, so opted to stay by the left-hand wall with a view to keeping as much weight off my feet as possible and ready to grab the handline should my sketchy footholds part company. Everything behaved and I ensconced myself by the stal, understanding why Dave had been worrying about it all week.
I got cracking with the bolt and Dave and Bog headed off into the tube to crack on.
I’d been looking forward to a tube that was tube shaped, so making my way into a rocky bedding that appeared to continue as a rocky bedding made me wonder if I’d picked the wrong place to catch them up but I could hear them ahead so carried on.
Pushing on I found myself on a big wide hump of hard mud, quite reminiscent of sidetrack i.e there’s a tube there but you’re at the top of it because it’s full. Not so low as to be pushing tight, but just low enough to prevent any meaningful crawling, and with just too little moisture to prevent adhesion, the mud was sticky, and I dragged myself along for what seemed like ages wondering when the dig face would appear.
Just round the corner I came face to face with Bog’s wellies and got stuck in to an uncomfortable session of kibble emptying. With only enough height to turn a kibble over and not enough space to bash it, this involved clawing the mud out in balls and attempting to get them to the back of the passage like a T Rex throwing a heavy ball, while Dave filled and demanded fresh kibbles at an unreasonable pace. Luckily there was enough shit banter flying about to make it all less minging and I was glad to be there rather than anywhere else.
After a while we all simultaneously decided we’d had enough and hauled shell back to the chamber, where the relief of standing up gave way to something akin to vertigo after an hour lying on my side with my head below my feet. Once I didn’t feel about to fall over down the pitch, I headed down, letting the unwieldy bag try to knock me off balance instead.
An easy dash out and we found ourselves back on a balmy surface at 2330 and had a lovely hour of beers and chat.
Work continues…
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- Written by: Jon Pemberton
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Joe, Sam and I this evening once again and we had agreed after the previous trip that the bitter end of Bagshawe was to be our destination. With the ease of access now that Madame Guillotine no longer required dragging SRT kits we were up for an easy trip – right?
We met and 6pm and was skipping down Bagshawe steps just before 6:30pm. We weren’t tonking it but we weren’t hanging about. Ticked off the usual waypoints; Snake Pyjama’s gate, Full Moon, French Connection, MG… To this point it was very easy due to the lack of dragging any bags. Different from what we’ve been accustomed to over the past few weeks (months) which has been walking and an 80m pitch. Now one can be up the pitch within a minute and gear off at the top and ready to progress to the end. It was Sam’s first time and he didn’t seem too convinced. (FYI Joe still couldn’t find his cows tails which he’d lost from when we bolted it!) Onwards to glory we set off on the crawlathon passing Dylan’s limit from the other week. We reached the end dig in exactly 1 hour.
I took the first stint at digging. The previous party had left it a bit cramped so I had to re-excavate the floor so I could get the kibble alongside me (still awkward). From here digging is the easiest part by far but it’s faffy dragging the kibble, turning it around and filling it up. (We need a couple of lengths of rope for next time). Also I think digging could me made easier by just using a headtorch and not having your helmet on! I did 10 kibbles before Joe took over to fill another 10. When it was Sam’s turn he declined and Joe carried on for a further few before we called it a day after 1 hour 45 mins at the end, now for the slog back out.
It felt slow progress coming back out and I had a stonking headache from all the crawling. MG was easy on the down climb and we were glad to finally get back to beyond the gate. We made surface at 10:30pm with the return trip taking 1 hour 15 mins. Sam produced a cheap belvita bar as a snack which went down a treat! Note to self; bring tangfastics next time!
Big Enuf? - Soulful Joe and his spanner (JRP)
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- Written by: Ben Shannon
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Ben Shannon, Jon Pemberton and Chris Hibberts
"Rubber Dinghy Rapids Bro!"
I never used to entertain the idea of Bagshawe Cavern. It was always one of my uni clubs fresher trips. A small old show cave sounded like a place for punters. one evening before a cussey dig, Rob mentioned about new developments beyond the gates. the more he spoke the more intrigued i got.
Fast forward to tonight, im pulling on my furry outside the coe for my second trip here. the goal was to get to madame guillotine for some pictures and then head to the dig to put a shift in.
Its quite strange to head into a building, open a small cupboard and see a staircase descend into the blackness. we make speedy progress to the gate where Jon marvels at the size of chris' nuts as i extract the very manly derbyshire key (not to be confused with the smaller toy derbyshire keys) and pass it over. the crawl is arduous as I help free up jons tackle sack whilst trying to free up my own or wait for chris to free me. By the time i got into the main chamber i had a proper sweat on but we pushed on down to the french connection.
"ohhhh, its Rubber Dinghy Rapids Bro" came a dejected Jon as he lay at the waters edge. the duck was almost a sump. "come and see what you think" Jon turned around in the tight tube and made his way up, i pressed myself into the wall as we intimately squeezed past each other like tourists on a cornish country road.
last time i came here i got through the duck with half my face underwater, now i was looking at 2 inches of air space. i could just about see the air bell. jon explained the two options "fully submerge and free dive, or hug the left wall sucking the ceiling as best you can". i was weighing it up as Jon sudden realised "coming back is going to be an issue because you will drag water down from the second duck and fill up this one making it a sump"
I really wanted to see the rest of the cave and get digging so I decided i would push through to the air bell and have a look at the second duck. i slid forwards and put my right arm into to the water up to me shoulder.
"Fuuuuuuuuuu, thats cold" wow, this pool was incredibly cold, and after being spoiled by my wetsuit in cussey i decided that it wasnt to be tonight. i span around and laughed at the sight of jon trying to crawl over the top of Chris. i made my way up the tube and had to grab on to Chris' leg to give me leverage to get by. He made his way to the pool to check it out. There was alot of nothern ranting and he too decided it was not going tonight. "Joe can tie himself some new cowstails because Im not going through that"
We were all disappointed but Jon had a plan and got into tour guide mode. we headed back to the gate. crawling down hill is much easier for obvious reasons and so in no time we were screwing up Chris' massive nut and heading to the other gate. some crawling, balancing on a wooden plank and more crawling took us to a pool. it was beautifully crystal clear. "thats the way on" but all i could see was water and 1 inch of black. "that tiny tiny gap?" i asked a little shocked. stumped by a Sump again.
"I know this really cool Miners Rift with clay pipes"
We mooched down the main passage playing guess the entrance to agony crawl. Eventually Jon stopped and pointed out a small hold at floor level then slid into it, Chris followed and then I joined. At the constriction Chris was lying there contemplating his life choices before making his way through. Agony crawl isnt tight tight, but it does have some rocky lumps that stab you in the gentleman sausage. this lead to a vertical squeeze which dropped us into a pool of water. we followed this for a while until a chamber lead to a free climb to the next level.
