What about a the one in the field next to JH? Rowten Hole I think.

Not a lot to see down there, depends what you're looking for, last time I was down there I was "stretcher jockey" on a practice rescue up and down with nothing in between.
Maskhill Oxlow is a better trip for SRT, Rig it from both ends and do an exchange.
Mandale is a bit "hit and miss".
Knotlow Hillocks Whalf is good.

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I personally like Mandale as a trip but it's best done as an evening one, Over Haddon can be tight for parking at a weekend. Depending on water levels (i.e. below welly depth in the outer sough passages) and what people fancy it could be a Friday evening jaunt though?

The Knotlow system has several possibilities for through trips. Air quality has been a bit iffy of late (see CO2 discussion on UKC) but who knows what it'll be like in a month's time, could be fine again!

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An update from DCRO about bitch pitch in JH

Might be worth contacting them if your still planning it for the weekend.

A further inspection of Bitch Pitch was undertaken on the 13th August 2012 to see if there
had been any further collapses since the last reported collapse. Nothing more had looked
to have fallen down the pitch but a more detailed look revealed that there were more
tailings remaining than we had previously thought.
 
Using the crowbars that we had taken with us, we did some controlled removal of the spoil.
Just poking the loose tailings, loosened several large rocks at the bottom of the pile;
this resulted in these falling down the pitch. Quite a lot rocks, loose tailings were
removed and dropped down the pitch. Two of us spent up to one hour removing the tailings
and deads until we ran out of arm strength.
 
We have cut it right back but there still remains some to be removed and more
stabilisation work needs to be undertaken. The remainder of the pitch, including the bolts
below this collapse haven’t been checked either so until this has been undertaken, you are
strongly advised not to descend Bitch Pitch until further notice.  A notice has also been
put on the lid to this effect.

Wayne Sheldon
 

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Yeah, it sounds like JH is out of action for the moment, which is a shame, but the whole place could do with a spring-clean, to be honest. We've (TSG) helped sort out the drainage problems at the bottom end, with all the water now captured and piped into Speedwell, but the top half is very loose, with water pouring in through the cartgate roof on wet days - one day one of those scaffolded chokes is going to start slipping...

As for the other deep ones, I think Rowter is fascinating, personally, and still to reveal more, I reckon. The miner's stairway at the very top end of the Upper Chamber is really special, and seems to lead to 'nowhere' - a place miners were not known for wasting their time on - the wall of stacked deads with no vein up there, and the boulder choke behind it has me puzzling.

Oxlow/Maskhill exchange is fab too - in fact I'm doing it in the morning! Needs a shedload of rope though - around 200m just to rig Maskhill. And trouble with Maskhill is the most interesting bits (from my point of view) are largely unreacheable from the rope! I'm going to try and have an explore tomorrow on the few horizontal parts, if time allows.

Hi all,

Right, currently we don't have any firm options for derbyshire. It looks like Bage is now not an option due to some problems with their winch. So, i'm suggesting mandale as a friday evening trip (AR- you ok to lead that?), Knotlow for saturday (AR/Owd git- are you ok to guide on this one?) and Sunday? no idea!

Owd Git came up with such good sugestions last time that we thought we'd be happy to just blindly follow him again this time- any abjections to that? If thats ok with you Owd Git?!

At present there's only 4 people signed up for this trip (Rockchick, SimonRL, Jones the Slate and Owd Git)! Can people please clarify if they're going to be joining us or not, i don't want to put people out if there's not many of us going!!

Thanks. :flowers:

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I'm going :)

But won't get there in time for a Friday night trip I'm afraid 😞

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I'll be there for the duration if I get the Friday night off, or Sunday if I don't.

There shouldn't be a problem SRTing Bage. I have enough rope for this.

At present there's only 4 people signed up for this trip (Rockchick, SimonRL, Jones the Slate and Owd Git)! Can people please clarify if they're going to be joining us or not, i don't want to put people out if there's not many of us going!!

Its the weekend of my wedding anniversary so i'm 100% out i'm afraid.

There shouldn't be a problem SRTing Bage. I have enough rope for this.

Thanks for the offer Droid, but the general consensus from people who've been round there before has been that it's not really worth it in comparison to some of the mines we know are great in the area. So i think we put this one low down on the list for when we've exhausted the other opportunities!

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but the general consensus from people who've been round there before has been that it's not really worth it

I think I just saw a bus full of WMRG members heading towards your house with bags of dog poo. :lol:

There shouldn't be a problem SRTing Bage. I have enough rope for this.

Thanks for the offer Droid, but the general consensus from people who've been round there before has been that it's not really worth it in comparison to some of the mines we know are great in the area. So i think we put this one low down on the list for when we've exhausted the other opportunities!

No worries.

I can go down Bage any time so summat different would be sensible for me.... 😉

but the general consensus from people who've been round there before has been that it's not really worth it

I think I just saw a bus full of WMRG members heading towards your house with bags of dog poo. :lol:

Haven't got a dog.

Will ferret poo do? 😉

but the general consensus from people who've been round there before has been that it's not really worth it

I think I just saw a bus full of WMRG members heading towards your house with bags of dog poo. :lol:

Now, let's see, i live at: ................
😉

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Hi all,

At present there's only 4 people signed up for this trip (Rockchick, SimonRL, Jones the Slate and Owd Git)! Can people please clarify if they're going to be joining us or not, i don't want to put people out if there's not many of us going!!

Thanks. :flowers:

Sorry, can't make it this year.

Where are you all camping?

Miner's Standard again, I believe.

I'm good for doing something on the Friday evening, either Mandale or one of the Via Gellia/Matlock holes if people don't want to stray far from Winster? I'm also OK for the Saturday, but won't be around on the Sunday.

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Miner's Standard again, I believe.

Yep, Miner's standard it is! (er subject to gales again!)

😮

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I was in Knotlow last night, partly to go and look at some of the less-often visited bits (now I know why they don't get many visitors...) but also to refresh my memory of what's involved with rigging that side of the system. My 65m rope is plenty for the first and second pitches, but I think my 20m rope will be a bit too short for Waterfall pitch, and that's before we get into the logistics of rigging off hangers 6ft above the passage floor!

As for the Hillocks side, I've never done the "traditional" route down the multiple pitches so I can't comment on rigging. The other two options are the climber, which can be rigged with a single rope I think, or the 190' engine shaft if people prefer one big drop. Likewise, are people wanting to do the through trip along meccano passage, or something less grovelly?

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Likewise, are people wanting to do the through trip along meccano passage, or something less grovelly?

Grovely I reckon.
As low and as hard going as is humanly possible. 🙂

Likewise, are people wanting to do the through trip along meccano passage, or something less grovelly?

Grovely I reckon.
As low and as hard going as is humanly possible. :)

Speaks the man who isn't coming along :lol:

On a more serious note, I think I'm right in saying that it's just me and Rockchick coming up.

Friday - neither of us can get away from work early enough to make a Friday night trip - sorry 😢

Saturday: Rockchick + AR + Owd Git + me

Sunday: Rockchick + Owd Git

Droid, Zomjon and other locals mentioned in the thread - not sure!

Camping - Miners Standard again yes :thumbsup: I think Rockchick is checking if it needs booking.

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