Red
Rose Cave and Pothole Club - Newsletter Vol 5 No 1 -
Spring 1967
8th JANUARY - TOP SINK
Party:- J. Newton, Eccles, Andrew
Walsh, Hodge, Ron Bliss, Mick Bateson, Mel, Sandra, Terry Locke, Alan Heron,
Jim, Colin, John Grimshaw, Chris Wiper.
This was a first trip for John and
Chris, and in company with Jim and Colin they left us for the delights of Pool Sink and the ‘Top End’
which I hope they enjoyed. Everyone else picked up numerous items of heavy
digging equipment and trundled over the snow covered moor to Top Sink, The shakehole was frozen over good and hard and digging was
soon underway. The first thing to be removed was a long dead sheep and Jim
Newton set to work with a will while everyone stood a respectful distance to
windward.
When this was removed, the block
and tackle was set up to remove the large boulders which had blocked the
entrance for so long. At this point Ron and I left the digging to the
others and wandered down the ice encrusted Gill to inspect a few likely digs in
the lower gill, where we were joined by Dick Glover and his son. After a bit of
boulder heaving they left us, to continue their walk. We soon gave up as more
equipment was required
and made our way back up to Top Sink.
As we rounded the corner and looked
up the Gill there was no sign of anyone. Our first thoughts were that they had
met some snag and packed up. On reaching the hole however we found a hushed
group peering down a very shaky looking hole. Andrew had gone down to see if
the way was clear. He soon emerged, muddy, but with good news. It only remained
to shore up the hole and cover it, so setting the seal on a very successful
trip.
Pete Ashmead