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Mendip Caving -
The Mendip Hills lie in south west England just
to the south of Bristol. They are an eroded mountain range
of carboniferous limestone overlying old red sandstone. They
stretch from the north somerset coast at Brean Down as an
west to east plateau rising to a maximum height of 300 metres
or so. The melt water from previous ice ages has incised some
deep valleys into the flanks of the hills including the world
famous Cheddar Gorge. There are few surface streams on the
plateau and most that exist rapidly sink into the ground in
swallets which provlde an entrance to the underworld of Mendip.
Much of the water emerges at two main resurgences, one at
Cheddar and the other at Wookey Hole where diving exploration
in the subterranean waters of the Axe has penetrated as far
as the 25th Chamber and beyond to a depth of 90 metres. The
waters of Wookey Hole are fed from several cave systems near
Priddy including Swildons Hole and
St. Cuthbert's Swallet,featured below.
The big resurgence at Cheddar
is fed by the cave systems in the Charterhouse area and include
GB cave, Manor Farm Swallet,
Longwood Swallet and Upper
Flood Swallet which recently has fulfilled it's promise
as being one of the most significant caves in the area.
On the eastern side of the Mendips are the caves
of Fairy Cave Quarry and Stoke Lane Slocker.
Swildons Hole
Below are some images of Swildons Hole near the village
of Priddy. The longest cave currently known on the Mendip
Hills it winds under the village of Priddy ending 500 feet
below the Victoria Inn. It was first entered just over a century
ago. The cave consists of a long winding stream passage above
which is a network of fossil passages. New discoveries are
still being made occasionally by digging blasting and diving.

The entrance |
Between
the Forty Foot and Twenty foot pots
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Barnes Loop |

Far end of the Black Hole Series |

Birthday Squeeze on the Round Trip |

Northwest Stream Passage |

The Landing in Swildons Two |

Sump3 |

Archway in Swildons Four |

Downstream from Sump 3 |

Near Keyhole |

keyhole section |

Blue Pencil chain
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Just downstream from the chain |

Tate Gallery |

In the Tate Gallery, Swildons Four |
In
the second Double Trouble |
Formations
near Birthday squeeze |
Passage
near the final duck intoVicarage Passage |
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Rift passage looking back towards U-tube of Renascence
Series |

The crawl into New Renascence |

Bedding passage Renascence Series |

Main passage Renascence Series |

Calcited boulders in a chamber containing old maypoles
Renascence Series |

View back to maypole chamber Renascence Series |

Emerging from the Stoops Renascence Series |

Crawl near Black Chamber Renascence Series |

Near Black Chamber Renascence Series |

Near Black Chambe Renascence Series r |
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Black Chamber Renascence Series |

Black Chamber Renascence Series |

The black stal in Black Chamber Renascence Series |
Resting
before Sump Six |

Start of the Damp Link in Six |

Swildons Seven approaching the Beehive |

Swildons Seven looking down passage to Beehive |

The Beehive |

The Beehive |

Ancient broken stalactite curtains by the Beehive |

Climb up into Sump Six Bypass |

Six Bypass Climb |

Downstream Sump Seven bypass |

Downstream end of Sump Seven |

First Chamber in Eight |

First Chamber in Eight |

First Chamber in Eight |

Streamway in Eight |

Streamway in Eight |

Streamway in Eight |

Constriction in Eight |

Approaching Sump Eight |

Near Sump Eight |

Climb into Eight bypass |

In Eight bypass |

Looking up into Thrutch Tube in Swildons Nine |

Sump Nine chamber looking downstream right hand side |

Sump Nine Pool left hand side |

Sump Nine Pool left hand side |
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Between Sumps 6 and 7 |

Start of Sump 9 |

Entrance crawl to |Pirate Chamber |

The Scalloped tube off Shatter Passage
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Shatter Chamber |
GB Cave
This cave and its companion system Charterhouse
Cave are in the Gruffy Ground nature reserve in Central Mendip.
GB, named after its discoverers, was first entered in 1939
and a major extension made in 1966. The water from this cave
emerges in Cheddar Gorge. The cave is notable for having the
biggest passages and chambers on Mendip. The Great Chamber
discovered in 1966 is very well decorated as is the neighbouring
Bat Passage.

Bat Passage |

Bat Passage at point of entry |

central Bat Passage |

Bat passage view |

Stalactites |

Stalactites |

Pillars at top of Great chamber |

Formations in Great chamber |

Hanging death in Great chamber |

Large Stalactite in Great Chamber |
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North Hill Swallet
This small cave system was blasted open over
a five year period in the late '60's into the early1970's
and has received some interest again in the last few years.
It is rarely visited being overshadowed by the proximity of
the extensive Eastwater Cavern. It lies at the end of a shallow
dry valley which is quite boggy and lies only 100 yards or
so from the Wessex CC headquarters behind Eastwater Farm.
Care has to be taken when rigging the cave that it is made
cow proof as itchy heifers have been know the dislodge the
belay!
Beyond a surprisingly impressive entrance rift
a series of blasted crawls leads via a sporting free climbable
pitch to a section of natural vadose streamway ending in choked
passage carrying a small stream. There are a few formations
here and there.

The entrance |

Looking down the shaft. This opens into
a large rift - total depth 15 metres+. |

Near the top of Rumble plonk pitch |

Halfway down RP pitch |

Lower section of RP pitch |

Crawl into the Master's Cave |

Walking passage! |

Formations and Ken Passant |

Formations |

Formations |

Start of the vadose canyon |

In the vadose canyon |

Stalagmite flow |

Ken and bang wire |

Almost the bitter end |
St. Cuthbert's
Swallet
In 1953 the longest cave system yet entered
as a result of a systematic dig was discovered - something
like 6 km long and 120 metres deep.The area known as the Mineries,
now a nature reserve, was a scene of grimy industrial activity
in the late nineteenth century when the St. Cuhberts leadworks
were belching smoke and fumes over the countryside around
Priddy. They recycled the old Roman leadworkings - lead being
available without deep mining on the Mendips. Even today the
ground hereabouts is poisoned by lead. A celebrated law suit
came about as a result of all this activity. The water sinking
underground at the Mineries is next seen at Wookey Hole only
a mile or two away. The resultant pollution from the lead
works interfered with the activities of the paper mill at
Wookey and the end result of this flurry of legal activity
was an injunction on the owners of the lead works preventing
them from contaminating the streams sinking underground nearby.
This injunction still stands today and has directly resulted
in the protection of St. Cuthberts Swallet from the casual
vandalism to calcite formations seen in so many other Mendip
caves. Access to the cave is controlled by the Bristol
Exploration Club whose headquarters are only a hundred
metres or so from the cave and whose members were responsible
for discovering and exploring the system.
The cave is hard to describe! Although there
is a stream passage that can be followed right the way to
the end of the system, there have been numerous points of
engulfment of surface streams over the aeons. This has led
to a multitude of inlet passages above the main streamway.
The central area of the cave has several large chambers often
filled with large boulders and route finding can be most confusing.
Tucked away in various nooks and crannies throughout the system
are magnificent calcite formations both large and small such
as the 30+ metre high Cascade and Curtain Chamber and beautiful
nests of cave pearls and clusters of helictites. Challenging
climbs and squeezes render the cave very sporting as well.
The most awkward part of the cave is the notorious
entrance rift, a narrow 10 metre deep shaft easily slithered
down but providing a strenuous struggle out. To add to the
fun the entrance stream has to be diverted away from the entrance
to allow the rift to be descended safely. Woe betide you if
the dam overflows or there is heavy rain
Since the cave's discovery there has been a
leader system. Would be leaders, like taxi drivers, have to
display their knowldege of the standard routes through the
cave.
These photographs are a selection from the many
I have taken in the cave over the last 30 years.
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The Entrance pipe |

The entrance rift |

Top of Arete Pitch |

Climbing the Arete pitch |

Top of Pulpit Pitch |

Starting the descent of Pulpit Pitch |
Martyn
Grass descending Pulpit Pitch
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Pulpit Pitch |

The rift below Pulpit Pitch |

Gour Passage Pitch |

Gour Passage |

Water Chute |
The cascade into Traverse chamber |

Passing the Choke |

Climb into Bypass Passage just beyond the choke
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Streamway just below Bypass Passage |
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Streamway beyond the choke |

Streamway beyond the choke |

Gour passage |

Sewer Passage |

Climbing the chain into Gour Hall |

Looking up Gour Hall |

Rift beyond Gour Hall |

Near of Gour Hall Rift |

Just before the old sump |

Crawl (old sump) |

Between Gour Hall and Sump One |

Dam upstream of Sump One |

By the sump |

Emerging from the sump |
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Just beyond Sump 1 |

Just beyond Sump 1 |

In St. Cuthbert's 2 |

In St. Cuthbert's 2
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In St. Cuthbert's 2 |

The pot near Sump 2 |

Ledge Pitch |

Wire Rift |

Fixed ladder into Mud Hall |

Entering Boulder Chamber |

View down Boulder chamber |

Entry to Upper Traverse Chamber from Lower
Mud Hall |

Curtain at base of Upper Traverse Chamber |

View down Upper Traverse Chmber |

View up Maypole Series |

Bottom end of Harem Passage |

In the Railway Tunnel |

Cascade at end of Railway Tunnel |

Another view of the Cascade |

Pearls near the Fingers |

Passing the Fingers from the Railway Tunnel
side |

Fingers Traverse from the Everest Passage
side |

Curtain chamber |

Curtain in Curtain chamber |

Everest Passage |

Approaching the Fingers from Everest Passage |

Curtain with cemented fill in Railway
Tunnel |

In the Rabbit Warren |

First Stal Bank |

Second Stal Bank |

Emerging from Rabbit Warren Extension |

Entering High Chamber from Upper Traverse
Chamber |

Stafford's boulder problem |

Sally Glanvill in Curtain Chamber |

The curtain in Long Chamber |

Formations outside Curtain chamber |

In Catgut Series |

Traversing in Catgut Rift |

Totem pole stal in September Chamber |

Central September Chamber |

The Balcony in Sepember Chamber |

Straw chamber |

Bell chamber |

Marble Hall |

Stal barrier in St. Cuthbert's 2 |
St. Cuthbert's 2 |

St. Cuthbert's 2 |
St. Cuthbert's 2 |
St. Cuthbert's 2 |
Traverse
down to bottom of Maypole series
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Traverse down to bottom of Maypole series |

Traverse down to bottom of Maypole series |

Pulley Pitch |

Stal just beyond head of Pulley Pitch |

Manganese stained stal |
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Maypole Series |
Maypole
Series
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Maypole Series |

Eroded stalagmite false floor |

Eroded stal Maypole Series |

Maypole Series |

Maypole Series |

Maypole Series |

Maypole Series
Near the highest point in Maypole Series |
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Upper Flood Swallet
The best introduction to this relatively little known Mendip
cave is a rather prophetic article I wrote for the Belfry
Bulletin 20 years ago.
"Originally known as Blackmoor Flood Swallet this cave
was one of the bonuses of the 1968 flood that washed away
the Forty and the road at Velvet Bottom. The heavily choked
passage was originally explored by the MCG and subsequently
dug by both Willie Stanton and that club whose headquarters
lie conveniently within walking distance. Although the cave
promised much, lying at the head of the Velvet Bottom catchment
area near the limestone/shale boundary with a potential 700
feet of vertical range, it became clear that siege tactics
were required. The once roomy ancient stream passage was choked
with fill, stal obstructions and lead tailings. It has taken
nearly 17 years of digging, blasting, wall construction and
back filling to gain access to the present cave. It has paid
off for the MCG who now have in their grasp potentially one
of the deepest caves on Mendip, if not the country, and despite
the length of the known cave the depth potential still remains.
The entrance lies on land controlled by the county council
which is why access arrangements are fairly tight. Parties
of four including a MCG leader are allowed down but due to
the nature of the cave overcrowding and damage to formations
can be a risk if more than one or two groups are down the
cave. My interest in the cave was photographic and it must
be said that it lends itself to photography magnificently.
A concrete barrel shaft drops two metres into a small chamber
from which a flight of steps leads to a rift passage. A further
short drop intercepts a small stream. Upstream can be followed
for a short distance while downstream continues as a stooping
or crawling size passage on a very shallow gradient. At various
points evidence of the Intensive excavations can be seen In
the form of walls. Malcolm Cotter tells me that in places
the passage has been back filled to a depth of 1.5 metres
or more. Eventually after 275 metres or so the roof lowers
to a muddy grovel partially full of water. However, the enthusiasm
of the explorer is more than stimulated by the draught of
cold air and the sound of running water. A wriggle up a mud
covered stal slope and a squeeze through stal curtains leads
to one of the most dramatic entrances on Mendip.
One stands (carefully avoiding the numerous straws above
ones head) on a big stal slope in a roomy well decorated chamber.
On one's right a large stream gurgles out of the wall, crosses
the chamber~ and splashes off at bottom left into the enticing
darkness. This is Midnight Chamber, the breakthrough point.
Upstream the passage is a low crawl to a sump whilst downstream
the cave continues as a crawl. Here the damage to stal formations
is most evident and I suspect that although this is by far
the most vulnerable part of the cave that much of the destruction
was caused by the excited first explorers. This is hardly
surprising because the passage consists of a crawl about 1.5
metres high and 1 metre wide along the walls of which are
arranged a mass of stals on a false floor whilst the roof
is studded with a forest of stalactites. Delicate crawling
in the stream leads to a boulder obstruction through which
one gingerly worms into the next section.
Here the streamway widens a little but the roof remains low.
Some attractive stal bosses can be seen on ledges on the left
and there is enough exposed limestone to observe the nature
of the rock. It is extremely shaly and it seems to me that
the best formations can be seen in the shaly sections. Stal
formations and shale seem to go together – does anybody
know why? Anyone also cannot fail to notice the black marks
on many of the stalagmites. Closer examination shows the marks
to have legs and that they are the remains of dead flies.
Presumably flies hatch from eggs carried in by the stream
on rotting vegetation and then die from lack of food. Incidentally
there is little evidence of flood damage to the formations
which suggest the streamway can cope with large volumes of
water of that the ingress of water is limited. Now that there
is an excavated entrance to the cave a repeat of the 1968
floods could destroy the decorations and the MCG have already
thought in terms of constructing some kind of flood gate to
the entrance. The streamway turns a corner passing a massive
stal bank on which are arranged numerous numbers of totem
pole stalagmites, some at angles suggesting breakage and re-cementing.
The straws in this section are some of the best on Mendip.
Just before the stream dives into a bedding crawl one can
see clumps of stal on the floor. If one looks closely one
can see straws that have been formed, broken off, and have
been re-cemented before the floor they were on was broken
off, and washed into the stream. I must say that this suggests
to me that the cave is pretty ancient!
Beyond the bedding crawl one enters the second largest chamber
which is really a washed out shale bed. Some nice false flooring
remains here. A squeeze under boulders at stream level leads
to another bedding passage which suddenly develops as a rift
at a corner. Here one can walk upright for only the second
time since leaving Midnight Chamber. This state of affairs
doesn’t last long because another crawl looms up. Here
the roar of a waterfall can be heard but disappointment soon
supervenes as the stream is found to drop 3 metres down a
narrow slot into a low sumped-up crawl which has not been
passed since I last visited the cave, just before Christmas.
All is not lost however for above the waterfall is a short
climb into a small decorated chamber. A low excavated crawl
leads to the current terminus – a tube filled with stal
false flooring and mud. It is possible to gaze into the promised
land beyond and feel the hint of a draught. The spoil heap
in the chamber has been decorated with examples of cave art
ranging from the obscene to the ingenious. At the end of the
cave one is less than 30 metres below the entrance with most
of the depth potential of the system unrealised. God knows
what will happen to the pretty bits if the system gets really
massive – hence my initial statement."
In September 2006 after 20 years of digging through several
obstacles the way on was located into what has been dubbed
the Blackmoor Master Cave. The most accurate description at
the time of writing can be obtained from the Mendip
Caving Group website but things are changing all the time.
The images presented here were made in 1986 just after the
cave was first entered.

Tony Knibbs entering Midnight Chamber |

Midnight Chamber |

Jim Durston admires a straw in the streamway |

Botryoidal stalagmites |

Angie Glanvill in the streamway |

Totem pole stalagmites |
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Midnight Chamber |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Walking size streamway |

Stal in the old terminal chamber where the stream first
disappears |

The first dig at the end of the cave |

Julie Hesketh (MCG member and one of the first two
people into the 2006 extensions)in Golden Chamber. Photo
by Philippa Glanvill |
Crystals
on a ledge in Golden Chamber (Photo Hesketh/Glanvill)
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Crystal Pool in Golden Chamber (Photo Hesketh/Glanvill) |
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In the choke. Photo by Philippa Glanvill |

Easy Squeeze, one of the squeezes in the choke leading
to the 2006 extensions.Photo by Julie Hesketh |

Streamway near Royal Icing (Photo Hesketh/Glanvill) |

Streamway near Royal Icing (Photo Hesketh/Glanvill) |

Entrance to Neverland. Photo Philippa Glanvill |

By the start of Neverland. (Photo Hesketh/Glanvill) |

Julie Hesketh admiring white stal at the entrance to
Neverland Photo by Philippa Glanvill |
Longwood Swallet
Excavated by pupils of Sidcot School this system lies at
the head of the Longwood Valley between Manor Farm Swallet
and the Gruffy Ground area that contains Charterhouse Cave
and GB Cavern. The cave was entered just at the end of the
second world war but the constricted entrance passages including
the infamous Letter Box ensured it remained relatively unpopular
until the discovery of the main streamway, dubbed August Hole,
three years later. Fifteen years or so after this a dug link
enabled cavers to take alternative routes to the main streamway.
It is one of the deepest caves on Mendip although the final
passage is tight and extremely flood prone. There have been
two fatalities over the years, one in the entrance chimney
when a young woman died of hypothermia in wet conditions and
another in the streamway below Main Chamber when a boulder
fall caused a death.
After the constricted entrance series two routes unite at
Swing Pitch which leads down Fault Chamber, a passage very
like those found in some caves of Assynt in Scotland. At the
base of Fault Chamber one can walk upstream through some of
the largest passages to be found on Mendip or journey downstream
through well decorated passage to a lofty rift and final descent
into the constricted Renolds Passage.

The entrance blockhouse |

Peter Glanvill in the Letterbox (photo by Pete Rose) |
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The traverse and climb into Longwood Main Chamber |

Longwood Main chamber |

Swing Pitch |

Fault Chamber with Swing Pitch in the distance |

Fault Chamber |

Side grotto off Fault Chamber |

High level grotto off Fault Chamber |

Lower end of Fault Chamber |

Climbing out of the streamway |

Upper Gallery |

Upper Gallery |

Upper Gallery |

Streamway |

Streamway |

Climb in streamway |

Cascade in streamway (taken same moment as last photo) |

Traversing in the Great Rift |

Great Rift |

Final streamway |

Final streamway |
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Silhouette in the streamway |

Cascades in the streamway |

Graham Wilton-Jones in the streamway |

Streamway near the Oxbows |
Manor Farm Swallet
This is the longest system to be found in the last 30 years.
The original swallet was dug for several years before a successful
breakthrough in the late 60's. Unfortunately the unstable
entrance collapsed before the cave could be explored. A shaft
was excavated through solid rock to intercept this passage
but the floods in 1968 revealed the cave's promise when a
large 10 metre deep collapse occurred only yards from the
shaft. This was filled with scrap including some old cars
and a tunnel blasted from the base of the excavated shaft
to intercept the cave revealed by the collapse. No further
digging was required to explore the rest of this deep and
sporting system. Unfortunately the cave, at times, is heavily
polluted by farmyard waste, making the trip a smelly and unhygienic
experience. Experienced cavers can bottom the system with
no tackle at all although a safety rope on the 15 metre deep
entrance shaft is obligatory. In places the cave is well decorated
and at the bottom, large passage in the form of NHASA gallery
is entered. My friends Pete Rose and Nick Chipchase were instrumental
in first entering this passage having serendipitously joined
the diggers on the breatkthrough trip!

Curtain Chamber |

Curtain Chamber |

In the only significant inlet passage |

Main Passage |

Main Passage |

Traversing |

Sally Glanvill in the streamway |

Sally Glanvill in the streamway |

Fluted Pots |

Climbing the Fluted Pots |

Angie Glanvill on a cascade |
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Entering NHASA Gallery |

Looking up NHASA Gallery |
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NHASA Gallery |

NHASA Gallery |

Lower end of NHASA Gallery |
Caves in
Cheddar Gorge
Cheddar Gorge is one of the most famous natural features
in Britain. It is thought to have been carved by meltwater
subsequent to the last ice age although at one time theory
had it that it was a huge collapsed cavern. It is still in
the process of erosion, threatening tourists and their vehicles.
Many attempts have been made to stabilise the cliffs but to
reverse a natural process is impossible and most efforts are
now directed towards damage limitation. The lofty cliffs are
a challenge to rock climbers, and more recently, base jumpers.
From the speleological point of view the Gorge has been a
source of frustration. The second largest resurgence on the
Mendips emerges just below Gough's show cave to leave Cheddar
as the River Yeo. Unlike Wookey the main resurgence is solidly
choked with boulders. Downstream access to the underground
river in Sayes Hole was possible but the underwater passages
were found to be too constricted for upstream progress. Similarly
the fossil resurgence cave discovered by Gough in the 19th
century allowed cavers access to a roomy network of passages
but at no point did there seem to be any way into the underground
river below the cave. The Skeleton Pit , a flooded shaft near
the entrance, was dived and ended in an impassable constriction.
Deeper inside the cave a large boulder chamber was found to
flood in wet weather and many cavers concluded that the unseen
streamway must be constricted.
All this started to change in 1980 when the late Martin Bishop
led a small team of cavers and the Welsh cave diver Martyn
Farr to a sump he had found in a side passage in Gough's Cave.
Faulty equipment and the constricted nature of the sump deterred
Farr from making a really determined nature to push it to
a conclusion. The sump pool was at the bottom of a muddy rift
and was not much bigger than the diver entering it so that
visibility was immediately reduced to zero. It then descended
as a narrow rift for an indeterminate depth. It was to be
another five years before another diver Richard Stevenson
was persuaded to dive there by a caver who had rediscovered
the sump. Richard was unaware of the pool's reputation until
the night prior to the dive. He descended the unpleasantly
narrow rift, extremely worried about his return. and just
as he was about to bale out found one foot had become cold
and was waving about in open space. To his amazement he had
dropped into the main Cheddar streamway - and far from being
constricted it was 3 or 4 metres in diameter. Subsequent exploration
took Rich and his fellow divers including Rob Harper a local
vet for a considerable distance upstream, passing a flooded
side chamber, to reach one of the largest chambers on the
Mendips, Bishop's Palace (named in honour of Martin Bishop).
Ironically the flooded side chamber was found to connect
back to the show cave and was made accessible by quite a short
dig. The chamber named Lloyd Hall after Dr. Oliver Lloyd,
ex editor of the Cave Diving Group Journal, made future exploration
much easier. The diving team pushed upstream past Bishop's
Palace, through another deep sump, into a section of roaring
stream passage known as Sheppard's Crook (after another early
pioneer cave diver) to reach a final very deep sump. This
has been explored to a depth of 50 metres and ascends slowly
to terminate in an impassable choke of massive boulders. Diver's
have surfaced within the boulders but no way through them
has yet been found.

Martyn Farr first dives into Dire Straits 18.5.80 |

Near Machin Progress with Malcolm Foyle in foreground |

Near Lloyd Hall |

Lloyd Hall |

Lloyd Hall |

Bishop's Palace |

Floor formations |

Mud Stalagmites |

Splash formation |

Far end of Bishop's Palace |

Near the Duck Ponds |

Near the Duck Ponds |

Near the Duck Ponds |

Near the Duck Ponds |

Eroded rock |

Eroded rock |

Rock formations |
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Reservoir Hole
A tiny hole in the cliff some way up the gorge from Gough's
Cave first attracted the attention of cavers more than 50
years ago. Although small the hole emitted a significant draught
suggesting there might be a much large cave within. Thus started
a series of digs that were to take 20 years to reach fruition.
The driving force behind the digging was Dr. William Stanton
and the current layout of the cave is testimony to his systematic
approach to cave digs. After the initial entrance crawls a
blasted tunnel leads to a chamber and spiralling excavated
descent for over 30 metres through boulders to emerge in a
fossil phreatic passage - Grand Gallery. Beyond here ascents
lead to another boulder climb this time ascending to emerge
into the lofty Golgotha rift that can be ascended to a terminal
high level chamber named Herbert's Attic in honour of that
pioneer of Mendip caving Herbert Balch. The choked muddy lower
levels of the cave drop very near the level of the resurgence
at the bottom of the gorge and flood in wet weather as water
wells up through them.
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Photo taken on my first visit in 1969 - the year Grand
Gallery was entered but before this happened |

Grand Gallery |
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Tony Boycott in Grand Gallery |

Tony Boycott in Grand Gallery |

Formations in Grand Gallery |

Formations in Grand Gallery |

Formations in Grand Gallery |

The approach to Topless Aven |

Formations in Topless Aven |

Formations in Topless Aven |
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Climbing up through a choke |

Emerging into Golgotha Rift |

Golgotha Rift |

Golgotha Rift |

Herbert's Attic |

Herbert's Attic |

Herbert's Attic |

Herbert's Attic |

Herbert's Attic |

Herbert's Attic |

Herbert's Attic |

Herbert's Attic |

Herbert's Attic |
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Under Pulsation Aven |

Gour Dams |

Above Chain Chamber |

Formations in Chain Chamber |

Formations in Chain Chamber |

Looking into Potter's Heaven |

On the way to Jill's Slither |
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Manganese stained stal in Jill's Slither |

Roof Pendants in Jill's Slither |

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