Report by Pete Pollard
Cavers: Pete Pollard
(EPC), Nige Strong (EPC), Jase
Rider (EPC), Dave Gledhill, Bill (RRCPC)
Me and Nige got a lift
with Jase and we met up with Dave
Gledhill at Inglesport. Over breakfast we had a quick chat with Bill
who went
through details of the trip.
We entered Ireby Fell via a relatively new
route called Bubbles, the reason for
the name is interesting and very funny.
Our aim for the day was to pass the sump at
the end of
Duke Street
.
When we arrived we found that ‘The Dingles’
had been hard at work building
a large dam and installing a system of pipes and a brilliantly simple
but
effective pump. They had already been pumping for quite some time when
we
arrived and we got stuck in to give them a rest. There were about 13 of
us all
together and a great team effort paid off in getting the sump low
enough to then
pass a pipe to the far side and siphon off the dammed up water.
The Eldon crew were amongst the first 10 ‘dry’
cavers ever to enter this new
passage and we felt very privileged to have been given this
opportunity. We were
fairly restricted for time but did have chance to have a good mooch
round the
cave.
Back at the Wheatsheaf we met up with some of
the party we had entered with and
had a bit of a chin wag. I know we all enjoyed it and would like to say
a big
thank you to Bill, Dave, The Dingles and all the others involved in
making a
thoroughly great days caving.
Click on the
images above to enlarge.
1. The team in
Ireby Fell.
2. Working to lower the sump.
3. Working to lower the sump.
4. The empty sump which allowed
access to the Ireby Fell
Extensions.
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