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| The new streamway. | The terminal boulders. | Formations in the rift. |
More Golden Chamber extensions
A Report from Tim Francis in May 2006
The story so far: the floor of Golden Chamber was dug through on the 5th February 2006. Beyond a too tight rift we could hear the streamway rumbling up ahead and see tantalising glimpses of muddy boulders.
Upper Flood had yet again thrown up one of its challenges - a glimpse of the ‘promised land’ but again no huge breakthrough into the fabled Cheddar Master Cave. But unlike in previous years at least we could see the way on. It was just getting there that was going to be the problem. Both Sonya and I had wriggled along the rift to a slight widening and were just able to peer ahead into the gloom. You couldn’t quite see the streamway but it seemed to be a T-junction and what looked like a jumble of boulders. Things were ridiculously tight so we were clearly in need of some extra firepower. The MCG drill was dusted off and packets of hilti caps requisitioned from various personal tackle stores.
The mood was extremely optimistic with predictions of a breakthrough in perhaps three trips. Unusually for Upper Flood, volunteers even for spoil hauling, were not hard to find. I think at the AGM we had 9 people at the dig at the same time which must be something of a record. So we were quickly able to shift large amounts of spoil back to the Red Room. But not surprisingly for Upper Flood things didn’t quite go to plan straight away. The first trip saw a great deal of spoil removed back to Andrew’s Grotto and the first bend widened, but on the next trip the drill battery decided it didn’t like swimming. Top tip – bring Ortleib bags rather than use black bin liners. The battery was easily brought back to life but if we were to get through the rift in a reasonable amount of time we were going to need something more persuasive. Certainly the 24V drill wasn’t going to cope with the size of hole required for the snappers that Malcolm had purchased. A 36V Bosch drill with two Lithium Ion batteries was purchased at a bank balance destroying cost but it has already proved its worth.
The first trip with the new drill saw us widen the rift to a comfortable proportion all the way to the widening and beyond. Bill really got into this hilti-ing lark. The new firing pin made by Biff really worked well, and the new drill was extremely effective as was the piece of carpet borrowed from the 8 room. Again the 24V drill blew a fuse as we attempted to put in a large hole for the snapper at the end. But we were extremely optimistic that the next trip, planned for the following week, would see us through. However our excitement was short-lived. It was on this trip that Malcolm sadly suffered fatal heart failure in the canal on the way out. Malcolm had seen the way on beyond the rift so he knew that there were good things ahead for exploration of the cave that he loved.
We were determined to carry on and I am sure that is what Malcolm would have wanted. So it was back down the dig on the following weekend, Sunday 7th May, to finish off the job. Not surprisingly the mood was somewhat subdued and all of us were engrossed in our own thoughts on the way in. Again we had the new drill with us and it only took three more double hilti’s to see Peat and I through. A couple more set off from the inside and the larger members of the team, Doug and Mike, were also able to wriggle through.
So what had we found? The breakthrough squeeze drops you straight back into the streamway. This flows from right to left (see survey) and one had to assume that was the same water that we last see below Andrew’s Grotto. The floor was littered with large boulders and the passage was of walking size. This really was a cracking bit of passage.
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| The new streamway. | The terminal boulders. | Formations in the rift. |
Upstream was a hands and knees crawl along a very prettily shaped passage. There were two pairs of false floor which so far we had been able to pass without damage. Beyond this passage becam constricted before a small cascade came in from the right. Just around the corner a jammed rock blocked further progress but we could just about peer into a wider section. It looked like the stream was flowing along the base of the boulder choke and some of the boulders looked like they may be covered in flowstone, but I couldn’t quite see. The rock would hammer off so we should be able to get into this bit next time.
Straight ahead from the breakthrough squeeze was a finely decorated rift. We needed to stoop to pass underneath some stalactites in the ceiling but the passage was of sufficient height for these to remain protected. Further along the rift was a small ascending aven, the walls of which were completely coated with flowstone. It closed down at the top so it would need taping off to prevent further damage. Finally at floor level was a very low and wet thrutch. I only went along this for twenty feet so this needed a proper check, this time head first, to confirm that it does indeed close down.
Of course downstream was where all the interest would lie. Initially this starts off as walking sized passage with a floor of boulders and rocks. It certainly had the feel of a fault controlled rift. But very soon the water sinks in a tight hole on the right and cannot be followed at this point. A small dry extension carries on straight ahead but this terminates in a jumble of boulders. After a spot of rummaging it soon became apparent that we could hear the stream below us. A few rocks were ripped out and we could just spy a tight continuation in the floor. More work will be required here before we can get back down to stream level and we are hoping earnestly that the continuation isn’t too tight. Watch this space!
Recent diggers: Charlie Allison, Peat Bennett, Bill Chadwick, Ben Cooper, Malcolm Cotter, Sonya Cotter, Tim Francis, Doug Harris, Julie Hesketh-Laird, Linda Milne, Mike Richardson, Chris Seal (CSS), Mark Ward.
Updated 07-11-06