Cussey Pot

15/01/23

Four of us had originally planned to have a session down Mountbatten but had to call it off last-minute due to the torrential rain.

So instead, Rob and I decided to have a very very leisurely start and headed up to Eyam and Cussey Pot at around 14.30. The effects of the recent weather were evident in Stoney; Carlswark Resurgence was flowing out over the road and the Watergrove Sough water was a white torrent. A pretty sure sign that digging down Mountbatten would’ve been miserable.

We’d not been down Cussey before, so it was fun to see something new in such a familiar area. The entrance is very similar to Eyam Dale House Cave, a ~10m pitch down a hading rift, and the whole cave feels like a much bigger (and much better) version of White Rake.

Following the description, we headed west at the bottom of the entrance pitch and down the stemples through a squeeze and down the 2nd pitch. Lots of nice pretties about, including some very long straws, a few photos taken, a few side chambers explored, and we eventually found ourselves at the head of the Inglorious Bastards pitch.

It must be up there with Deep Space in Hungerhill for the most impressive pitch in the Stoney area. Lovely free hanging ab down into the middle of a big chamber comprising caravan sized boulders suspended in thin air.

Before heading back up, we had a quick scuttle down into the connecting crawl with Doom etc. We assumed it’d be full o’watter – and it very much were/was. With that, we headed up and out and decided to save the east side of Cussey for another time. Kudos to the Eldon guys for pushing that lot (and more) and we’ll have to go back and finally have a tourist gander towards the Master Cave when things dry up.

Nice stroll back through Eyam and down the Cliff path, passing by Cliffstile for a quick peer down. Washed off in the beck behind the chippy and back to the hut for a shower, beer, and good food from Hugh & Co.

Mike P