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St
Valentines' Sump, Giants Hole
For information contact Sam
Townsend.
Report by Jules
Barrett - May 2007
St. Valentines' Sump in
Giants Hole was the original
route through to the end of the cave at the East Canal. It wasn't until
later
that the most popular route via the Bad Step Traverse and Geology Pot
was found.
Passing St. Valentines' Sump used to involve bailing it into a concrete
dam from
which the water would drain away and leave the sump empty. Large teams
of people
were needed to bail the sump as it does hold a lot of water. The sump
has been
dived by members of the Cave Diving Group but would be a most
unpleasant dive
requiring digging in zero vis at the far end. In recent years the drain
hole
which allowed water to run out of the dam has become blocked so there
is now
nowhere to bail the water too. As soon as the dam becomes full (a few
bucketloads), the water starts to flow over the top and back into the
sump. In
2006 Sam Townsend, with a few lengths of fire hose burning a hole in
his pocket,
got interested in the idea of setting up a siphon system in St
Valentines' Sump.
The idea was to lay a length of fire hose all the way through the sump
with the
far end dropping over the Filthy Five pitches. The siphon would be
primed using
a pump at the Eating house end of the sump. Once the siphon has started
the sump
would basically empty itself down the Filthy Five pitches allowing
cavers access
to the top of the Filthy Five pitches. A Figure of 8 trip would then be
possible
through St. Valentines' sump, down the Filthy Five to the East Canal
and back up
via a rope pre-rigged on Geology Pot.
8th April 2006
a team went round the
Filthy Five and tied a length of fire hose onto the dive line that
passed
through the sump. They then came back to the Eating house side of the
sump and
were able to pull the hose right the way through the sump.
13th April 2006
Sam had his first go at
siphoning the sump down the Filthy Five initiating the syphon with a
small bilge
pump. In the time available (a few hours) the sump did not de-roof. Of
course
having another length of fire hose through the sump would empty the
sump much
faster.
14th November 2006
Alan Brentnall and
Keith Joule took two more lengths of fire hose down to the Eating House
end of
the sump.
22nd November 2006
Sam Townsend and Jules
Barrett tried to lower the level of the sump to get through with the
second fire
hose. In the time available the sump did not de-roof but the level
dropped
considerably.
23rd November 2006
Jules Barrett went back
to the sump noting that the sump had started to re-fill from the
previous
evening. The siphon was started once again and in two hours the sump
was empty.
The other length of fire hose was dragged through the sump and the end
placed
over the top of the Filthy Five. Two hoses are now through the sump and
the
siphon should work faster.
3rd December 2006
Jules Barrett, George
Taylor and Ann Soulsby try to siphon sump with the intention of doing
the
Giants' Figure-of-8. The in-situ pump breaks before the siphon is
started
and a new part is needed.
21st December 2006
Jules Barrett gets new
part and fixes the pump.
Currently the pump has
broken again (the reducer
which makes the end of the pump fit nicely into the fire hose keeps
coming off)
and it needs fixing. The Giants Figure-of-8 trip still hasn't been
successfully
completed.
If anyone (EPC members
or otherwise) would like
to help finish the project off please contact Sam
Townsend.
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