CeCe: NELUSLET TER. No.33. 10th MAY 1993 50p WHEN SOLD. ROPES AND ACID Lamps. A certain amount of justifiable criticism has beem levelledvat us (me!) for issuing "leaky" lead acid batterys to prospective members who are being introduced. to S.R.T. CCPC has two. sets of lamps, 4 volt lead acid T type and-" home made FX2’s.". Ifthe lamps-in question, the T type, are immersed in water (asin Garlswark, Giants etc) the air in them contracts and water is drawn.into, the cell. Not only does this knacker the cells-it also means that leakage occurs) when charging and when using the lamps. Attempts to block) the holes when using. the lamps (but not, when charging !) have not proved successful. It has been suggested that these lamps are no longer issued with SRT gear. Members will therefore have to use the clubs home made FX2s. These are only 2.5 volts which means they are half as bright and last a MAXIMUM of seven hours, ( 5 or 6 is a more realistic estimate ) Those using these lamps Would be advised to carry a spare lamp of some sort. The alternative would be to acquire some lead acid “gel†lamps, although these areorather heavy and do not fit onto a standard caving belt. Ralph J. Please could you let me have any comments you may have on this subject for the next Newsletter. ( Ed.) SRT_a_ comment. Although it is common practice to trapothe rope between your feet when prussiking it does make rather a:mess of the rope if your wellies or boots are muddy. It is kinder on ropes if only the last person up does this, the rope being held at the bottom for everyone else & VIATIONS. a Shouldiyou clip into them? Current thinking is NO!There is % with he always the @ssibility, particula treated, ‘bolt change, with pogsible d: Pleacgsiet have any comments. you may inners, that they will be strous col quences. omy the ecty Yan our) as it that one of our members had a little mishap in the way of ae fall in Kingsdale.. Appar Yoo WAS. USLD Gea, BE tongelt s aie lite line-while climbing a Baddgr put df Kingsdale ream: 4 when hi: rr some hi eft ithe rope regard alle eee luckily informed ‘it! iS we’ et re wasn’t of damage to either himself or the cave. HOLDEN LANE TOWER. SF RUNES ROR NES URE RNS ANI AES OE NIUE oI Concern has been expressed over safety aspects when using this facility. Participants are now being asked to sign a “disclaimer†and the wearing of safety helmets is strongly recommended. Also under sixteens must be accompanied by a Parent and the possibility of making a small charge, particularly for non-members has been considered. BANG UPDATE. Members are no doubt aware that Paulland Ralph recently had their bang licences refused. ( This is due to new regulations not a realisation onithe part of the police that they 'hadn’t got a clue!) However... ...2the dynamic duo will shortly possess a certificate to use the new'Sit.B. a low'speed explosive that looked quite impressive on a recent» course the pair attended. They are also experimenting with an expanding ( fume free ) resin which does the same job over a period of time. However, recent tests are far from impressive. ADVERTS. Missing - one mounting bike! rack’ - contact Ralph. For Sale: T Shirts, Sweat Shirts, Ultrafleece Trousers, Olden Head Pieces. ~ contact Ralph. Belay Belts. - contact Darren Conde CCRC MEETS. MAY oo: Sat Ist Penyghent Pot. Grade V. Sun 23rd Qutsleets Beck Grade III * JUNE > Sat Sth Birks Fell Cave Grade IV Sat 26th Hammer Pot Grade V * At least one route suitable for novices under instruction. 2. HOW UK TEAM CHEATED DEATH IN EQUATORIAL CAVE “We heard a noise like thunder and the walls began to shake. It was the start of the flood. The river was 70 metres wide, but the water was rising a metre every minute. We got out with about two minutes to spare." Gavin Newman, of the british caving expedition to the Trikora mountains of Irian Jaya, New Guinea, was describing the teams escape from their exploration of the world’s largest ‘subterranean torrent, the Baliem River Cave. When the rain stopped, three days later, the water level had risen S6é0ft, flooding most of the two-and-a-half miles of vast, chambers and galleries to the roof. On the other side of the ridge, the water was re-emerging inte daylight with elemental force: "The water was under colossal pressure," Mr Newman said. " It was surging from the rock like the outlets from a dam, but on avast scale." Water levels took ten days to return to normal. Mr Newman said: The key to our escape was a crawl-way connecting two large passages, a sort of U-tube. We had’no idea it had started to.rain. We were more than two kilometres from daylight, but we knew there was: a danger of flooding and left one of the team by the U-tube crawl with a radio. After he raised the alarm, the water was pouring into the crawl and filling it rapidly. If we hadn’t madé it we would all. be dead.†By the time the team reached another passage between the crawl andthe entrance, the water level had risen by 60 feet The expedition followed a reconnaissance two years ago to the area, higher than the Alps but onthe Equator, with an annual rainfall of 30 feet. There are no roads, and the people are among the last Stone. Age tribes. The cavers arrived by helicopter in one of the driest periods the region had known, Inside the Baliem cave, their discoveries included Echo Beach, the world's third) biggest cavern, a gloomy Void measuring 1,300ft by 650ft. They had found the entrance to the system, a deep shaft ona mountain col, during the reconaissance and exploréd tunnels as far as a 300ft wide cavern, where the walls vibrated with the noise of the river below. But when the main exploration of the system began, Mr Newman and his colleagues were surprised to find that the river- with a maximum flow double that of the Thames~ ran softly through the darkness. They had expected rapids so furious that they had developed special techniques to explore the cave: dangling from the roof, advancing along webs of rope. Instead, at the lowest levels of the system the water welled up black and silent from sumps, flooding sections where the roof dipped beneath the surface. Until it started to rain...... An article taken from the Observer newspaper. THE OTHER CAVES OF DERBYSHIRE Mine name not known, Bakewell. — See below. # The mining boys in the club probably already know about this one, but I found it completely by accident one sunday It was a cold, frosty day and I was out walking with Chris when we saw.steam billowing out of the ground in a disused quarry. This Proved to be coming from a broken down mine entrances The draft was enough to blow a match out and the temperature was a good 10 degrees higher than that outside It was not in the caves of Derbyshire so I rushed off to the pub to tell Phil about it. The following Wednesday night we dressed as inconspicuously as possible and set off to the quarry, me disguised as a hiker whilst Phil chose a more subtle comouflaged boiler suit and balaclava. The senior citizens of Bakewell peeped nervously through their curtains believing that the SAS were about to storm their Memorial Hall. We sneeked up to the quarry and entered through the least dangerous looking hole. Again, the night was frosty and a plume of vapour rose 40 feet into the air; it was like entering a sauna. We soon realised that the whole hillside had been’ hollowed out and now rested.on pillars of deads, wood, nothing etc. the mind follows, the contours of) the hillside chasing a seam of calcite (7) It is completely, on one level with.no shafts and is probably never more than a few feet below the surface. In the main, it appears to be quite stable, although there are, 4 few spots where blocks have fell trom the ceiling walls have collapsed etc. The thing that impressed me most was the size of the place We tried to follow the draught andiwalked more or less continuously for almost an hour without retracing our footsteps. We did eventually find a source of incoming draught, an.adit. into»a quarry which was still in use, We used our discretion here and decided to retreat unnoticed. It was. shortly after this point that we realised how similar all these passages looked. The only way we could find our way out was by methodically trying each gallery in turn until we chanced upon the right one. To. sum up, we don’t know the name of this mine or its owner. There are no "Keep out" (or .“come in†) signs but if you go it is Probably wise to keep,a low. profile. It appears to be a modern mine and we found nothing remarkable about it apart from the scale of the place. It as recently been surveyed (probably professionally) and all the reflective survey points have been left in. This creates an illusion like being surrounded bya flock of yellow cats. If you want to get out on the same day, take careful note of all junctions on your way in. To find it, take the 4619 out of Bakewell and turn first left. Park and walk up the public footpath at the side of Holme Hall The footpath passes a mine which is still working and then climbs steeply, At the top of the hill, after about 1/3 mile, there is a disused quarry on the left of the footpath. The entrances are all in the east face of this quarry (GR 213694). The quarry is in the process of being filled in and landscaped. If you are interested, I suggest that you go fairly soon before the entrances are obliterated. Mark Lovitt. * (Since I wrote this, the new edition of C.0.D. lists it as Holme Flat Mine and the Duke of Devonshires agents have announced that access is not permitted). 4 “Holme Bank Chert Mine’