Darfar Potholing Club, based in the Manifold Valley, Staffordshire - Re-opening of Plantation Swallet (Feb/Mar 2007)

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Re-opening of Plantation Swallet (Feb/Mar 2007)

Plantation Swallet - General View

In January 2007, various members of the club located Plantation Swallet between Wetton and Alstonefield, as none of us had ever seen the entrance before, let alone been down it.

The cave is situated in one corner of a large depression in the middle of Rakes Wood Plantation which has several streams flowing into it. An impressive amount of water sinks here in wet weather.

The metal lid over the top of the entrance shaft was covered in several centimetres of soil and other debris showing that it hadn't been visited for many years. (Maybe not even since the Eldon P.C. stopped digging it in 1987.)

The photo above shows the depression. The main stream sink is in right-hand foreground with the cave entrance behind the cavers.

The entrance shaft

The shaft top was cleared and a descent made, but the cave was found to be mostly blocked about 6m down in the first bit of natural cave below the entrance shaft. A small amount of digging showed that a very large boulder was wedged in a tighter section leading to the next section of cave, easily visible below it.

On the first visit, lengths of detonator wire were found in amongst the material forming the blockage implying that the last person to exit the cave, purposely blocked the way into the rest of the cave. (For some reason...)

On 25/2/2007, all the mud and rocks surrounding the large boulder were removed and by drilling and chiselling two large sections of the boulder were broken off. A screwbolt was placed in the top of it and an attempt to lift it showed that it could be barely lifted off the floor, so it would have to be made much smaller on subsequent visits.

Plantation Swallet - After tidying

Over the next few weeks, several visits to the cave gradually reduced the size of the boulder. People not directly involved in this work, tidied up the area around the cave. (See photo.)

On 11/3/2007, after 3 hours of frustrating drilling, hammering and removal of numerous pieces of boulder and wall, the boulder was 'jiggled' through the hole, (assisted by a rope through a sacrificial screwbolt/maillon), and the cave was open!

A quick look around was had by Ian and I to a chamber with several inscriptions at around 70ft depth. At the right-hand end of the chamber, the stream was met. (Very small today.) After they returned to the surface, the others had a look around, this time to the top of a pitch a few feet below the chamber.

Once everyone was out of the cave, 6 lengths of scaffolding were placed in the entrance shaft before leaving, (thanks Ed), ready for the construction of a protective 'cage' above the hole in the floor, as there are a few dodgy looking rocks in the roof here. A satisfied group retired to the George for a drink and planned a return with a camera, more ladders and maybe a surveying kit to complete a quick centre line survey.

Scaffolding over the first climb

On 25/3/2007, we installed the scaffolding over the hole where the large boulder had been in case anything dropped from the roof while we were further down the cave. Then we did a quick centre line survey down to the Main Chamber, before putting a ladder down the pitch just below it. This proved to be about 20ft. deep to a small 'chamber' with large quantities of 'hanging death' in the roof, although two of the walls were solid. Some large metal girders and wooden beams had been put in place here to stop anything from blocking the continuation, (a small hole in the floor against one of the solid walls), if there were a collapse while someone was further down.

Ed and Ian went further down for some distance while I waited for them, (and Pete, Chris and Graham returned to the surface), reaching an area where a quantity of smallish rocks needed moving out of the way to make progress. It was all a bit hairy, it has to be said, though some scaffolding would make it safer.

Some photos were then taken of the inscriptions in the Main Chamber before leaving the cave. On the way out, the 10ft climb up to the scaffolding near the entrance was found to be easily free-climbable.

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