Cussey Pot
During Lockdown 2020 a new hole was spotted to draught bigger and stronger than any cave in the Peak. We dug it open and this is what happened....
Full description of the trip can be viewed here.
The current survey can be downloaded from here.
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- Written by: Ben S
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Trip members - Rob E, Ben S and Dylan
*straining noises* I am about to blow a hernia, why on earth are warmbac wetsuit ankles so difficult to get on? The sense of being close to bursting a blood vessel as I try to get my arms in is more than a little exciting. Thanks to the quite frankly ridiculous rise in cost of fuel I haven’t been able to join the team for a trip in what feels like forever. We smashed a pre cave donut and headed to the cussey lid. As we climbed up the very short steep mud bank, Rob; one of the most capable and elegant cavers I have ever met fell flat on his face. Rob had forgotten his wellies and was finding out quickly that his trail shoes were not as grippy, this is going to be fun. He opened the lid, it never ceases to amaze me the strength of the draught coming out of cussey.
Rob, Dylan and I made very quick work to the base of Inglorious where we stashed our SRT kit into Rob's bag and slid into loper lust. Last time I was in here it was a thick sticky gloop that wrestled you into the floor, but this time, thanks to the sustained dry weather we have had, it was bone dry and we passed through quickly.
*Boom* “oh shit” came the echo down the passage. The strap on robs bag had decided enough was enough and sent our kit down to the bottom of the ladder. “give me a minute” Rob said as he raced down. I looked over the edge to see his light at the bottom illuminating just how much of a bend this ladder has. Note to Jon (because he was washing his hair tonight) – this would make a great photo if you haven’t already.
This trip is a trip of two halves. Up until this point I find a wetsuit so so hot and uncomfortable, but from now onwards I love it so much and would not be without it. And so before I know it we are at the point of where I popped my cussey cherry, Vulgarious. The most hated section by the team. I however love it. I am literally a pig in shit at this point. Just accept the mud because you are not avoiding it anymore. We begin on our hands and knees up to elbows before dropping into a flat out crawl. This was wetter than I have see it before, head turned to the side and half in water I would reach forwards and gently pull so as not to cause too many waves, gliding through this section I catch up with Rob.
It is rumoured that Hobgoblin is the only thing he will drink, however I found where his true powers come from as he was drinking the magical stoney elixer from the small waterfall at the beginning of For Bucks Sake. This section is now like one of those airport travellators. Sloppy, but one push from the toes and you slide for a metre or so. Water levels at the breakthrough point were low and so passing through was easy. What follows is the deepest sludge ever and its hands and knees crawlling, so its quick draining work.
Shortly we make the sump. I had not done this sump before and my only experience of passing sumps is swildons sump 1 which is very short. Rob explained the procedure of getting through and signalling to the next person. It was very cool to watch his helmet disappear under the water line. Between 10 and 20 seconds later the rope pulled tight 3 times. That was my signal. “enjoy” said Dylan as I slipped into the water, dam its cold. I hate cold water with a passion. Gradually the wetsuit did its job and my temperature seemed to equalise. Its a strange feeling that follows. I know its safe, Rob has just got through, others have got through a number of times, and yet because I have no reference on what to expect, there is a moment of apprehension. I took a few small breaths, then one big one, pushed my head under and commited. Pulling on the rope my helmet hit the ceiling a couple of times and then before I know it I felt the bolt at the other end of the rope. Cue lots of whoops and cheers from both Rob and I. He is always genuinely excited and encouraging and it was a great experience. This sump really changes the nature of the trip again and makes it feel end more “proper”.
Ben diving through Sump 2, by Rob Eavis
“you could have popped up a lot sooner” rob laughed, I looked back to see that there was an airbell behind me. I gave Dylan 3 tugs (this trip was full of innuendos) and he came through with an equally massive grin.
Now, if you go left before the sump and head off down Race Against Time, it is incredible, but if you go through the sump into the master cave, it is even more incredible. The streamway is huge, and doenst close down like race against time, infact it gets bigger and bigger. There were boulders in there bigger than my van. The plan was for us to survey the new aven and for Dylan to have a go at the dig.
I have always wanted to have a go at surveying and so as Dylan prussicked up, Rob gave me a crash course in surveying with a distox. I went to the station and begun taking splays around the chamber. Next up I had to point the lazer upto Dylan. He spotted my next station and I fired off 3 identical points.
“you prussic up through a boulder choke to the rebelay and take the next splays from there” said rob as I set off up the rope. Approaching the sphincter, a small circular hole in the boulder choke, Dylan was swift to warn me not to pull on the small chockstone. I looked around. Now, maybe it is not intergral, however, this small chockstone appeared to be holding up a HUGE boulder, which I didn’t fancy sending down onto Rob. I did my best stick insect impression and passed through without dislodging anything.
Ben climbing up the top half of Sphincter Aven, by Rob E
Rob then joined. The next survey station was above the sphincter and beyond the rebelay. I clipped myself in and stepped across into the bolts to try and get on the point for the distox. Looking down into the hole was pure blackness. This is a distant remote place and I loved it. It was hard to maintain my position and to be still enough to take accurate readings. Weirdly there was no fear about hanging on cowstails and falling in to the sphincter, I was terrified however of dropping this stupidly expensive piece of equipment. splays done and we moved up again.
Ben Shannon surveying at the top of Sphincter Aven, by Rob E
There is a vertical squeeze to get into the final chamber that realisitcally is best done without SRT kit. We went through kitted up and for a moment I was stuck as my gear filled the space I needed. With some wiggling and patience I got through, but not without snagging my wetsuit on a sharp bit of rock.
Ben squeezing through into the top chamber, by Rob E
Dylan was chipping away with a bolting hammer in the corner. I took some final shots of the distox and then had a look around the small chamber. Eventually Dylan admitted defeat as his arms ran out of strength. Rob took the distox and it seems there is about 7m beyond the dig so that’s worth checking out. I peered in to have a look. Beyond the calcite bridge blocking the way on there was blackness. No draught but certainly worth a gander for completion sake.
Dropping back out of the squeeze I got stuck again as the distox box slid up and filled the gap. For a moment I couldn’t go forwards or backwards. I had hoped gravity would have helped me. Eventually I went back up into the chamber, removed some bits of kit and then dropped back through. We took some pictures above the sphincter and headed on back. Walking amongst these huge boulders feels like those places in a film where a T-rex would suddenly come back to life.
This time at the sump I was excited about passing through because I knew what to expect.
I took the slack out of the rope popped my head under and did slow long pulls on the rope. It felt very serene gliding through there this time.
Once back at Inglorious we kitted up. I always stay well clear of the bottom of the pitch as debris has been knocked off in the past. Dylan went up and eventually I heard the call “rope free” I left it a bit longer to ensure he was well away from the pitch. Clipping onto the rope I was about to ascend when I heard a loud noise from above, luckily at this point you are near a bit of an overhang. So I tried leaning into that and just braced. A big boulder hit the ground behind me with some smaller bits hitting my shoulder and back. I don’t mind admitting that the fear was very real. I still had to ascend. I started on up; halfway more bits started falling towards me. Bits of rock fist sized, thank goodness for my helmet is all I can say. Continuing on up there was a steady rain of small pebbles, my sphincter felt as stable as the one I passed through in the aven some time ago.
The rest of the way out was uneventful thankfully, we all washed off and then jumped into my van for post session beers / ciders and some more donuts.
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- Written by: Rob Eavis
- Hits: 752
Team bolt: Rob and Dylan
Team photo & poke: Jon, Joe and Chris
Days of discussing potential objectives were finally condensed over pre-beers, based on who turned up. Nice to see Chris turn up again after us nearly breaking him last week. Seemingly yet another sucker for punishment getting engrained into the team.
Steady progress to Race Against Time; Loper Lust and Vulgarious really are getting bigger and easier with each trip through (although I wouldn’t say pleasant yet!). Our five filthy bodies were then cleansed by the freedive and in seemingly no time we were all at the second chamber just before the SMMC Upstream Sump. I wouldn’t say this place is getting boring, I still walk along it in wonder each time, but the repetition of coming here every week is certainly making it feel more homely. The few boulder ruckles that you need to pass are now memorable manoeuvres rather than tricky obstacles.
Chris Hibberts in the Upstream SMMC, by JonP
Whilst the others carried on to photograph the passage between Upstream Sumps 1 and 2, me and Dylan made a base camp to begin our evenings objective, to bolt climb up into an alluring rift passage up in the roof. A quick lesson to Dylan about which way to hold a Stop and I set off, already apologising to him in advanced that my bolt climb is full of frustrating faff and that I might be a while. Thankfully the rock was kind and the perched boulders mostly stayed perched, and I got to the lip of the passage in only 3 bolts. Ahead looked pretty good so I stuck in a Y-hang (safety first of course) and let Dylan come up and join me, stripping the gear on the way.
His excitement was higher than mine as we walked along a ~4m high rift passage, probably because it’s one of his first tastes of original exploration, but also because to me it just felt like yet another trip in Intake Dale Mine. The rift about 1m wide, the walls very clean, the floor and roof in places pretty loose and scary. The main difference, which I checked hard after this realisation, was this was not man-made at all. After 20m or so the rift got narrower and more full of loose slabs, so I stripped off my SRT kit and navigated a tight route through. It ended in a small muddy tube which I though had quite a good draught coming out, but in hindsight I think this was a circular draught from my body heat (which was quite surprising as we were both pretty cold by this point). The way on is blocked by a small flake which will be easily removed with a hammer and the echo ahead suggests it gets bigger, so we’ll have to return.
We turned around and abseiled down our evening’s accomplishment, perfectly timed as the others just arrived back. They had had a poke in the choke just before the Upstream Sump 2 and found a few new voids but unfortunately no significant way on. Still hard evidence of miners alludes us but there’s soft evidence all over this choke.
We all then started the long trip out, feeling much longer now as our bodies get cold and tired, although Joe still had plenty enough energy to be climbing up in the roof in places to look for new ways on. We made the starlit surface in dribs and drabs, welcomed warmly by post-beer avec pork scratching and bacon razzles! If we’re going to have to get used to not making last orders, this is on point.
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- Written by: Rob Eavis
- Hits: 811
Team: Ben Marks, Rob Eavis, Joe Buck, Sam Pemberton, Chris Hibberts
The trip I had on Thursday night was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had underground, and the SMMC streamway is quite a sight to behold. The trip was definitely not easy by any stretch of the mile, but I feel incredibly privileged to have been the first under-18 caver to have made it through the sump into a place only seen by a small handful of people.
Before the trip
A chance occurrence in the TSG the weekend before the trip would see me come eye to eye with that bloke I recognized off of of the front cover of “Caves of the Peak District”, and I ceased the moment to ask for a trip into Cussey at some point. However, the reality of what I had signed myself up to suddenly hit home when I received a text a few days later with a time and date. The plainly worded “meet for pre beers at 18:30 at this carpark” was accompanied by a dropped pin for the car park in Eyam village, and with that I set to planning how I was going to prepare myself for one of the hardest trips I have ever agreed to. The priority for me was getting enough sleep, so I was into bed by 2130 each night of the week leading up to the trip, and I skipped out on the gym to avoid any aches!
Thursday came quickly, and all I could see in my mind was the rather grim looking free dive which I had seen from Rob’s video on the internet. I really planned out my food, ensuring that I ate a reasonable amount of time before the trip and that I had something sugary before dropping into the cave…
The trip
I finally trundled into the carpark at about 18:15 and got kitted up. To say I was apprehensive would be putting it very mildly. Soon enough Rob, Chris, Sam and Joe (in his new shiny van) joined us in the carpark and cracked open some pre beers. The others quickly donned their wetsuits whilst I started putting on as many layers as I could underneath my undersuit in an attempt to keep warm through the trip. So far, nobody had completed the trip without a wetsuit, but I don’t tend to get too cold underground so I seemed the ideal candidate to give it a go in normal caving attire. The walk in took little more than 10 seconds, and with the turn of a nut the steel lid was wide open. The draught coming out of Cussey is absolutely astonishing: the branches above the lid are swayed by it! It is, however, a mostly artificial draught originating from the fans in the nearby fluorspar mine.
I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect Cussey Pot to be how it was. A fairly roomy entrance pitch is first dropped, and then a traverse across a rift takes you to the first constriction – Coconut Airways. This stempled freeclimb is fairly tight and takes some energy to downclimb safely. Coming back out is a whole different story however! From here on, the cave becomes of a slightly larger nature for a short period before closing right down to a vertical squeeze. With Chris and I being of a larger build than the Cussey regulars, there was some speculation as to whether we would fit through the squeeze – should we have not been able to slip our way through, the trip would have been cut short immediately and the delights of the Stoney Middleton Master Cave would have been only distant aspirations – But both of us slid through with some wiggling and help from gravity. From here, another pitch drops into an excellently decorated passage. It certainly isn’t reminiscent of the Stoney Middleton that I know of. A short distance on, we met the pitch into ‘Inglorious Bastards’, a large chamber, and the start of the long slog towards the sump we were soon to be having a splash in. This chamber is fantastic, and worthy of a visit in its own right. Cussey reminded me much of St Cuthberts Swallet on Mendip – The tight entrance series followed by some impressively sized spaces and pretties along the way.
After taking off our SRT kits in ‘Inglorious Bastards’, we headed down into the first crawl. ‘Loperamide Lust’ (a snug flat-out crawl) leads off from the main chamber initially at a fairly steep downward angle, before flattening out and getting even more snug! This was a real pain, and definitely the worst crawl of the trip. The resistance of moving forwards was really high due to the dry, sticky nature of the mud, and progress was initially quite slow. I found it easier to take my helmet off and push it in front of me for the tighter parts. Eventually we popped out into ‘Doom’ where a nice amount of larger sized passage was travelled before we reached the next crawl, ‘Vulgarious Bastard’. This crawl was very reminiscent of ‘Colostomy Crawl’ in Peak Cavern, if a little more snug. The thick, gloopy mud made forwards progress much easier, acting as a lubricant and allowing us to glide along through the crawl at a good speed. There was one duck which was rather unpleasant, but other than that it was more than do-able. Before I knew it, I was standing next to the final hurdle of the trip – The ‘Boil Up Sump 2’ , and Joe was boasting about how clean he had kept his face. I was absolutely covered in the stuff, and quite looking forward to cleaning off in the sump. I was relieved at just how straight forward the trip had been to this point, which put me in a good mindset to have a crack at this free dive.
Rob quickly briefed me in the dos and don’ts of this rather intimidating free dive and dealt with my nervous questioning with some appropriate blunt answers! With some thrashing around in the water and gurgling, he had disappeared through to the other side and sure enough, the dive line was tugged three times to indicate it was safe for the next diver. Soon my turn came, and I got into the sump pool and started making myself comfortable. The temperature of the water made it hard for me to get a decent breath as I was hyperventilating a bit, so I allowed myself some time to calm down. I dunked my head under for a test run and emerged briefly after realizing just how grim it was. I knew if I didn’t go for it with the next dunk of my head, I wouldn’t be getting into the master cave and all of this prep would have been for nothing. I took a deep breath, and pulled like mad on the dive line. Before I knew it, I was out on the other side to a very elated looking Rob. I’m not sure who was more excited out of the two of us!
The others came through with Joe last, staying under water right until the end of the sump pool just to show off. Exuberant with the adrenaline of the dive, the team stomped off into the great passage of the Stoney Middleton Master Cave ahead. It’s hard to describe the scale of this place. Not only in the actual passage height, but also it’s length. It really is one of the best streamways I have ever visited. The walls are littered with deep scalloping and the colouring of the rock is very interesting. Numerous inlets and avens stand unexplored, giving some fantastic potential for more cave to be found. With every turn, boulder choke and narrowing of the passage comes a distinctively different character. It is most like Peak Cavern in places, but it takes on a Yorkshire feel at times too. We reached a constriction at the end of the streamway and the team quickly flicked to exploration mode. Joe was soon to get squirming into some of the potential leads, grunting to hear for any hollow voids beyond the choked passage. In this area we found some good chunks of galena – the miners can’t have been far off here at one point. The choke was passed down to a lower section of passage with a silted floor. This was very reminiscent of Speedwell. A sump was reached at the end, with no obvious dry bypass.
The trip soon turned around, taking in the sights of the streamway at a leisurely pace on the way back. It really is a special feeling to be ambling through a passage this good, especially when there’s been less than ten people here before you. Soon we were back at the sump, and I was feeling pretty happy with the return dive. I think complacency kicked in here, and I didn’t get enough of a deep breath. I was needing air halfway through the dive whilst my helmet was scraping the rock above my head. The only thing I could do was pull the dive line harder and get to the air space! Although totally do-able with enough layers and a furry undersuit, a wetsuit would have the distinct advantage of reducing the initial cold-water shock and ensuring you can get a good deep breath. Everyone was back through the sump with no real trouble, and the team could start the long slog back to surface.
‘Vulgarious’ was fine on the way back out, and progress was fairly quick. However, ‘Loperamide Lust’ was a real slog for me, and it took a considerable amount of time to get back to ‘Inglorious Bastards’. Eventually I popped out into the big chamber and managed to find the Cheese String I had stashed with my SRT kit for the final slog. However on holding the packet in my mud caked hands, I thought I’d manage without it’s plasticy goodness until I was on surface and clean. The prussik out was extremely tiring, not to mention the squeeze going against gravity. However, the worst part was definitely climbing out of ‘Coconut Airways’. That is a real challenge when tired! However, all were soon on surface and back to the carpark, cracking jokes and sharing stories of the trip we just had. We all cleaned off and exchanged our thankyou’s before heading off at about 00:00. I feel really lucky to have been able to do this trip aged 17 – It’s not something you get to do every week (unless you’re the Eldon!). Hopefully this paves the way for more to come and enjoy the delights of Cussey and the SMMC. If I can do it, then it’s not that bad!
Massive thanks to Rob, Joe and the rest of the team for the reassurance and helpful leg-ups where needed. Hopefully I can come down again sometime and do some more exploring…
Ben Marks
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- Written by: Rob Eavis
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Team: Dylan, SamP, Rob
The date and objective of this trip was juggled about loads, with people dropping out and yankie tourists threatening to join us, but we eventually got a team together and made it happen, just! I’d not seen Dylan in over a year so was mega excited. Our objective today was to continue the bolt climb started last week and hopefully gain access to what looks to be a big passage in the roof.
The trip down was uneventful, apart from for Dylan who managed to go the wrong way and started descending into Impending Doom. Thankfully Sam spotted him. At Inglorious Bastards we spread our SRT kits between two bags and set off through the crawls. At first these were tedious but nowadays they are merely the well-trodden route and flash by without complaint. Although the last section of Vulgarious, past the last duck, is getting even sloppier such that we arrived at the Boil-up Sump 2 totally filthy.
I had GoPro on which I used as an excuse to go first so that I got some vis for the footage. Having done this freedive quite a few times now it really is smooth and enjoyable, certainly the best in the Peak, if you’re into that sort of thing. Dylan and Sam pop through behind me, all nice and clean now, and off we head.
Before the sump....
Lovely, clean and happy after the sump :-)
In awe we all head upstream, forever grateful that we get to push and enjoy a place like this. We lucky few. I hope more do come and enjoy this place before the winter waters likely prevent access.
We reach the aven in good time. I head up the rope first and give the others a big warning about the hanging death you have to prusik through. Once all safely above it we discuss the idea of dropping the boulders but agree that there is a definite chance that they could block the route down, which would potentially ruin the day, so we agree to not touch them!
Whilst the others do a good job of keeping warm I begin the 5m bolt climb. Faff was the main flavour of my technique today, but thankfully I was able to freeclimb on the flowstone quite a bit of it so got up with only two bolts. At the top I was presented not with a passage but instead a small traverse to a short climb into something small. I rig a Y-hang among beautiful stalactites and large, clean scallops, allowing the others to come up and join me.
The climb leads into a low chamber with a (far too) small passage at the back, but a few minutes digging a choke on the right leads up into a larger chamber, which is very well decorated. Dylan poked one way, up over a flowstone boss and into a small ascending tube which unfortunately closed up. Sam went the other way leading to a narrow section with a calcite bridge blocking the way on. Beyond is a tantalising view into another chamber but it’ll need more digging than we could do with only a bolting hammer.
Dylan at the breakthrough into the top chamber
Dylan inspecting a lead in the roof
With nothing else to do we head down, Sam stripping the climbing gear as we descend. The surveying and photographing of the place will need to wait until another trip, but it’ll definitely be worth it as it’s a lovely little find. Once at the bottom we sorted gear again then headed back sharpish as we were all pretty cold. The freedive back again lovely and easy. Sam had a theory that last week he got out and to the pub in less than 30 minutes, which I impolitely called bullshit on and set my stopwatch. I was at the back so couldn’t confirm his time. I was 45 minutes, but he was already fully changed, so maybe…..
Craziest of all Dylan smashed down one of Sam’s pasties then got in his car a drove to London! Ahh, the energy of the youth…..
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- Written by: Jeff Wade
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Team - Jon, Kristian, Rob and Jeff
The plan for the evening with team foursome would be to head back in to SMMC and then form two separate groups; one team to head downstream and look at potentially drafting chokes and take photos, and the second team to start bolting at the aven near survey station 34 some 150m upstream from the entrance of Winking Passage.
However before any of that nonsense, the team refreshed themselves with some French beer and compte cheese provided by Jeff on a brief visit back to the UK.
Rob and Jeff planned to bolt, and Jon and Kristian would go wander, poke at chokes and take photos.
Entering Cussey at 6:45pm , the passage down and through went smoothly, and the Boil up sump 2 now a 2m long free dive, passed without issue. At SMMC the teams split upstream and downstream.
At the aven Rob took to climbing and Jeff took belay. After the first few bolts Rob had reached the top of the initial 8m part of the aven and was now beneath a constriction of boulders and rocks wedged around the small hole (0.5 X 1m) leading up into the next section of the aven. Jeff moved up a stance to escape any ensuing debris from above, but little came, as Rob managed to cling to one solid wall to climb up through the hole.
Once through the constriction Rob finally got a clear view on the pitch above. Some 6m more awaited to be climbed and the phreatic roof and potential passage leading off looked enticing. Unfortunately due to lack of gear and time, this team had to call it a day and make the rigging safe to access back up into this second part of the aven.
Meanwhile the others Jon and Kristian had made the most of their time to try and photograph the downstream of SMMC, had briefly said hi to the climbers on the way past, and then headed fully upstream to have a look-see. This being only the start of explorations it is of benefit to search and take time to review.
Kristian Brook in the downstream vadose passage, by JonP
Kristian approaching the main upstream chamber, by JonP
Jon and Kristian on by-passing the SMMC 1st upstream sump and continuing to the next went through a section of breakdown that didn't feel natural compared to the rest of the cave. Based on the smaller bits of rock found and by type, it is likely to be work of the miners. Jeff agreed to this having seen this section the previous Sunday helping Rob Middleton and others. This also marries up with Rob Middleton's and Mike Butcher's records further beyond the SMMC 2nd upstream sump which show clear mine workings at that end of the system.
Jon and Kristian did have a look at other chokes along the way in the SMMC, but most didn't sound safe enough just to push direct.
A steady slog back to surface, having missed the pub, the team arrived back at the parking by 11:30pm to discuss and finish the cheese!