Is he kneeling down or standing up in the water? At the end does it open up into the workings?

Photograph:

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It ends at a collapse in the shale about 500m inside, and impossible to dig through. The water is usually about waist-deep I think, so he's probably ducking somewhat to get under the arch.

The photo depicts Peter Challis (otherwise known as 'The Gnome') some hundreds of metres into Hillcarr Sough. Hillcarr Sough runs under Stanton Moor and drains mines around Alport-by-Youlgreave. The water at this point is around 4-6ft deep and is some of the coldest water one could meet. It also runs at somewhere about 6 million gallons per day. In the 1970s we managed to get permission to explore and our two hardest members managed to get as far a Brown Bank Shaft which is around a mile in. Subsequently there was a major fall in the arched section and the water is now pounded up behind the fall. This has raised the local water table so that older soughs and springs that have not flowed since the 18th century now run. There is some 40 or 50 feet of head behind the fall.

If you want to know more of the history of Hillcarr Sough visit www.pdmhs.com and peruse the back copies of our journal.