Red Rose Cave and Pothole Club - Newsletter Vol 6 No 3 - July 1969
BULL POT OF THE WITCHS -
Progress report on the survey and New Discovery.
The main trunk of the cave has now been surveyed, there remains but a
few inlets and a new extension to be plotted. A total of one and a half miles
of mapped passageway comprising three defined development levels and
“associated branches constituted the explored cave to date.
The cave’s relationship to its counterparts Aygill Cave and Lancaster Hole is now being carefully
studied and further research
as to its hydrological past and strata graphical structure is under way. It is
expected that the survey will not appear for general distribution until later this year, although periodic
articles on future developments will continue as condensed reports in the newsletter.
The New Extension:
On the 3/5 Andrew Walsh and myself entered an extension to the lower dry series beyond the junction
chambers. The discovery was made while investigating the profusion of abandoned inlets and. choked recesses near the
"Dry route" junction. We had just completed a survey of a nearby inlet when we noticed that a small
trickle previously noted had increased its volume. The inlet had been swollen by the
morning rain and was traced to its origin from what seemed to be a boulder choke. The boulders were deceptive and an easy crawl over a mad bank led
us past the fall where we regained the stream. The water ran beneath breakdown
covered with thick mud and gravel eventually to become lost as the blocks
deepened. The way on now became somewhat restricted consisting of painful
crawling over mud and breakdown and heading back north towards and beneath Bernett’s
Great Cavern and the Long Gallery.
The passage then gradually decreased into a loose fissures. After some digging and scraping we
reached a large slab which had peeled off the walls and bad become jammed edgeways in the fissure, so
halting our progress for the time being later we managed to scrape a small hole
beneath the slab through which we could see onward. The passage beyond was
devoid of ugly blocks and replaced by a scattered collection of slender straws
clinging to a low arched roof similar in form to the latter part of the Long Gallery. We dug on; and with raw fingers and torn nails we widened the hole enough to squeeze through. As I inched my way
past the slab it groaned creaked and slid an inch towards my feet and remained
poised. My heart scarcely beat as I dragged the rest of my body through. Once
safe, with nerves again at rest, I secured the slab to stop its wanderings, and
Andrew trying so hard not to breath reluctantly joined me.
The low un-trodden passage soon heightened and gave
way to a circular chamber floored loosely with gravel coated as usual with slimy mud deposits. The walls were fluted and
coarse, ascending for twenty five feet to a narrow fissure passage leading off. By climbing one of the flutes we succeeded in
reaching a platform of mud and calcite covered gravel, where an easy scramble
led into the passage above. Following the passage brought us into an even
larger chamber with evidence of massive breakdown. The chamber was found to be but a slight enlargement of the actual passage though
due to the fallen blocks its irregular shape made it appear so much larger. Here, we crawled, scraped, dug, and used any and every other method of
digging, but our discovering spree was curtailed and the chamber seemed very
solidly blocked.
One of the boulders found in the chamber is by far the
largest in Bull Pot, its size is not less than fifteen feet square
and almost filling the chamber. The formations are few, but lying undisturbed
(as yet) are a pleasure to see. The extension has not been surveyed, though
without doubt it is a downward resumption of the passage found blocked before Bernett’s Great
Cavern.
Ref: R.R.C.P.C. News1etter.
The Lower Vadose Level
D. Baldwin