The Top Sink Saga (1967)
Act 1 -
The Heather Affair by Sandra Kilburn.
Heather, Eccles’s girlfriend
is the instigator of the Top Sink saga. It began on January 8th, when kitted up
with our gear at the baths we were waiting for Eccles to arrive with the lights.
As it was getting late we decided to phone him but as mummy and daddy were away
Heather and Eccles decided to play. He told us it was too Icy to go potholing!?!What
to do?
“Let’s
have a look at Top Sink.” said an ambitious Ron, and to his amazement we did.
It was
freezing on the fell and to the curses of “Chicken Eccles” were being replaced
by “Well we don’t have to change thanks to Eccles”- (who’s Chicken?)
Diggers in hand we removed many stones from the side of the shakehole and then
started downwards. There was three boulders in the bottom of the hole and
peeping round the bottom of one of them was a deaded sheep, but being very cold
its perfume was nonexistent and so we carried on, We tried a few times to pull
one of the boulders out but as there was only Ron, Mel, Mick, Hodge and myself
we were unsuccessful. Deciding we could do no more Hodge and I dug a trench to
carry some of the water away from the hole. Our digging was beautiful, like a
miniature Manchester-Liverpool canal. There was of course the usual remark,
“Where are
you Digging tomorrow Paddy?”
Act II -
The Rotten Sheep Affair
At the
club the following Friday everyone was amazed. “No it can’t be, never, we are
the Red Rose. They will be classing us with the Pennine next.” It seems that
digging in our club is against its religion, but the shock must have been too
much since we found more volunteers for next Sunday.
This time
by the amount or gear we were carrying over the fell one would have thought
that it was the “
The first big boulder we had not even attempted, was chiseled into two pieces
and easily hauled up the side. The second one was pulled up by the winch making
it look like childs play compared to the previous weeks sweating and straining.
I have omitted to say that the weather was very mild, more like a spring day.
This was not important until we began to move the last boulder. That’s right,
the one with cold sheep under it, only it was not cold anymore.
Whether
Jim Newton does not breathe like us or he has lost his sense of smell I do not
know, but he deserves a medal. Up and down he carried that stinking smelling,
rotten, disembowelled sheep to another resting place. No-one was too eager to
pull the boulder over the top as the sheep had left its mark.
One or two more boulders were under these but they were moved with no effort and
after some prodding with the crowbar the hole fell through, nearly taking Jim
Newton with it. Everyone dropped their tools to try to be the first one down,
but as Andrew was the first one kitted up with the light he cannot turn off, he
won. As usual Andrew would not answer any of our impatient questions to the
extent that we thought that he had got lost down there. Then he emerged saying
something about a crawl which had silted up and could he please get out. I have
never seen anyone so eager to get out, his feet scrambled on the iron ladder so
fast that he looked like a Yogi Bear cartoon, and was followed out of the hole
by his lifeline. We then concealed the entrance with wood and left for
refreshment.
Act III
- The Up and Down Bucket Affair
During the
following week a frame was built in Mel’s garage, with the help of Jim Newton,
Eccles and Andrew. On the next Sunday the same parade of digging equipment was
hauled across the fell with the addition of two oil drums and a frame. Jim
Newton arrived there first with his size 10 boots- the sides fell in and we
were back to square one. Mel started to erect the frame (chicken coop) and the
rest of us started to clear the rubbish blocking the way. Forming a human chain
gang we began “Red bucket up, Metal bucket down.”
We began
to see some sign of clearance after a while and so we inserted the frame. Now
clear to the crawl. Metal bucket down the shaft trying to maim the person
below, while I was unfortunate in having the red plastic bucket. When I did hit
someone below it bounced off with no effect. We cleared the way by mid
afternoon and a party was able to descend this near virgin pot. The few who
were left secured the frame with timber and angle iron, and then with big
rocks. Finally we laid sods around the entrance to help bind the lot together.
Act IV -
The CRG Extension Affair by Mel Wilkinson
A large party returned the following
weekend to attempt the first trip through from Top Sinks to Lancaster Hole and
we were also honoured by the presence of our illustrious president. Seeing as I
was the only one present who had been on the original digging weekends to
descend from the Top Sinks entrance, I was unanimously elected to descend
first, followed by Jim Eyre, Frank Croll, Ron, Reg and his mates. All went well
until the first pitch when exposure suits were immediately put on by Jim and
myself, to help us on our way down. On reaching the second pitch much searching
was ordered for belay points and Jim reached down the pitch to retrieve a very
old iron ladder which was jammed in the rock. After placing it across the
passage we were able to proceed down to Penknife Pitch, and out of the spray
for the last time. Exposure suits were then discarded and placed at convenient
points for the party coming the other way. After everyone had arrived at this
point we all moved off towards the crawl and on to
After sliding down he fire escape we met the party coming from Lancaster Hole
who, on meeting us here were quite confident of reaching Top Sink within a
couple of hours. However Andrew and Hedge, the “Tigers” of the team had nearly
run all the way from Lancaster Hole and the party was glad of the rest at Easter
Grotto. After parting company we proceeded on our way and were soon to reach
Stop Pot and then the Minarets with our first real rest, followed by a very
interesting chat on the usual subject- sex. We were really in high spirits at
this time with prospects of a “good time for the trip” although this only
occurred to us when we surfaced (4.5 hours). however our friends going in the
other direction had not had the same success as we had encountered and after
searching upstream from Limerick Junction for the way forth eventually had to
give up and return to County Pot, their only success being Lancaster Hole to
CRG Extension and back to County Pot in 8.5 hour (CRG Extension? Where did that
come in?)
Meanwhile back on the surface we were
beginning to get worried and Jim and myself together with Frank Croll, Sandra
and Rose walked back over the fell to ladder
The following weekend they were sent down again, this time from the Top Sinks
end; not only to find their way but to recover two wet exposure suits.
Not altogether a quiet trip but very
enjoyable, for some anyway.
BACK TO: Volume
Contents