9/11/2009 - Added a new sub-site where completed monitoring forms can be uploaded by Natural England staff, then downloaded for viewing by other people for reference purposes.
8/9/2009 - Added pages showing the 'Monitoring status of SSSI designated caves in each caving area' for Jo Poll to maintain as necessary and to show cavers what caves require monitoring forms completing at the current time.
30/6/2009 - SSSI Cave Conservation Monitoring Meeting at Endcliffe, Bakewell.
17/2/2009 - NGR Calculator added to location map. (Click on the map and the NGR of that point is displayed as well as the Lat/Long as before.)
19/1/2009 - Link to Windy Knoll Cave monitoring form corrected. Link to Long Cliff Mine monitoring form corrected. (Despite the fact that it has been blocked since the shaft collapsed in 1962.)
8/11/2008 - Added a link to the new Northern SSSI Cave Conservation Monitoring Scheme web site to the links page.
28/10/2008 - SSSI boundary maps of ALL the Peak District SSSI's added to the appropriate page on this site. Thanks go to Dave Webb of DCA for supplying them.
26/10/2008 - Members of Darfar P.C. installed some sections of walkway grille in Dukes Deep Level and fastened them in place on top of the scaffolding cage.
5/10/2008 - Members of Darfar P.C. carried out the first phase of the conservation/safety work down Dukes Deep Level. A scaffold cage was built under the dodgy area of roof.
10/8/2008 - Members of Darfar P.C. had a good look round Dukes Deep Level, (one of the Bincliffe Mines near Wetton), to work out what conservation/safety work was required just inside the mine. Click here for some photos of the mine.
2/5/2008 - Completed monitoring forms for Eldon Hole and Moss Chamber in Peak Cavern uploaded to 'Reports' page.
19/4/2008 - Completed monitoring form for Jugholes Upper Series added to 'Reports' page. Hunger Hill Swallet gallery page also added. (Thanks to Dave Webb for the photos.)
17/4/2008 - Old Tor Mine Gallery page added to the Castleton section of the site. (Thanks to Dave Webb for the photos.)
1/4/2008 - Completed monitoring forms (thanks Mark!) for Hole in the Wall, Ivy Green and Keyhole Caves (all Stoney Middleton area) uploaded to reports page.
29/3/2008 - Photo of Dave Webb and Wayne Sheldon receiving a Greenwatch Award added to the 'Reports' page. Photo of the recent surface work done at Hunger Hill Swallet also added. New photo gallery added to the Castleton section of the site showing the recent re-capping work done at Rowter Hole.
26/3/2008 - Reports on conservation work done over the last couple of years at Old Tor Mine, Hunger Hill Swallet and the Rowter Hole re-capping now added to reports page. Also report of Natural England SSSI work 2006-2007 in PDF format so that it is optimized for the web. (More reports and photo galleries of the work to be added in the next few days...)
9/3/2008 - Members of Darfar P.C. had a good look round the lower reaches of Knotlow Cavern including Crimbo Pipe today. The air was good and no pollution was evident anywhere visited.
12/2/2008 - Report about the Bradwell Dale Cleanup (with photos) which took place on 9th and 10th February 2008 uploaded to the 'Reports' page. (PDF file.)
10/2/2008 - Members of Darfar P.C. descended Robin's Shaft Mine near Ilam for a look around. The air quality was found to be fine, despite the warning sign just inside the entrance. All p-bolts were in excellent condition with no movement at all.
9-10/2/2008 - Cleanup of Bradwell Parish Cave, Walker's Grotto and Bagshawe Cavern. See here for more details. Also underway is work to make safe the roof of the entrance stope of Bagshawe Cavern.
9/2/2008 - Link to the new website of Derbyshire Bat Conservation Group added to links page.
4/2/2008 - Survey of Picnic Passage, Dynamite Series, Carlswark Cavern added to the Stoney Middleton Dale Cave Forms page.
25/1/2008 - The information displayed at the base of every cave area page corrected and layout improved. Note about Access problems and Entrance condition added to the same pages. Minutes of the meeting of July 3rd 2007 uploaded to site.
22/1/2008 - Well attended SSSI meeting at the NE offices at Endcliffe, Deepdale Business Park, Bakewell. Another very interesting and informative meeting. As a result of this meeting some useful resources will be being added to this web site over the next few weeks...
26/12/2007 - Started adding markers for caves and mines in the Matlock area. More to be added soon...
20/11/2007 - New link added to the top of the links page. (About the Ecton Hill Field Studies Association.)
15/11/2007 - Latest UCF (Underground Conservation Forum) Meeting was at 7pm. Endcliffe, Deepdale Business Park, Bakewell. A very interesting and informative meeting.
25/10/2007 - Repair work on the entrance of Darfar Crag Swallet at Wetton Mill was undertaken by members of Darfar P.C. and an old, rusty monorail was also removed. (After consent was gained from the National Trust and Natural England.)
21/10/2007 - Conservation work was carried out by members of Darfar P.C. in St. Bertram's Cave in Beeston Tor in the Manifold Valley. (Cleaning up of flowstone in Skull Rift.) The work will be finished off in a week or two and more photos taken.
25/9/2007 - Several new sites added to the 'Useful Links' page. We hope you find them useful and/or interesting. Updated monitoring form for TearBreeches-Royal Mine Hopping Mine Complex uploaded to site.
22/9/2007 - List of 'Operations requiring Natural England's consent' added to top navbar. Updated monitoring form for Critchlow Cave uploaded to site.
20/9/2007 - Made the forum visible to non-registered visitors. You must still register to post on the forum.
19/9/2007 - Updated monitoring form for Waterways Swallet uploaded to site. (Includes section of new extension.)
18/9/2007 - Survey added to Dr Jacksons & Perryfoot Caves monitoring form.
15/9/2007 - Updated survey of the caves of the Wetton Mill main sink area now on the Hamps and Manifold surveys page.
14/9/2007 - Monitoring form for Waterways Swallet completed by Mark Cope on 2/9/2007 uploaded to 'Reports' section of this web site. Includes geological survey of interesting features on an annotated section of the new extensions.
9/9/2007 - Conservation work was carried out by members of Darfar P.C. in St. Bertram's Cave in Beeston Tor in the Manifold Valley. Some inscriptions were cleaned up and a second set of inscriptions found in the main chamber.
19/8/2007 - Surveys added to the Winnats Head Cave, Long Cliff Mine, Nettle Pot and Treak Cliff Cavern monitoring forms with corrections made where necessary.
18/8/2007 - Surveys added to the Rowter Hole, Russet Well, Sheepwash Swallet, Suicide Cave and Windy Knoll Cave monitoring forms with corrections made where necessary.
17/8/2007 - Surveys added to the Gautries Hole & Car Pot (P3), Odin Cave, Odin Mine and Old Tor Mine monitoring forms with corrections made where necessary.
16/8/2007 - Surveys added to the Blue John Cavern, Christmas Swallet (P9), Giants Hole, Oxlow and Maskhill Mine and Eldon Hole monitoring forms with corrections made where necessary.
15/8/2007 - Surveys added to the Alsops Cave, P5, P7 and P8 (Jackpot) monitoring forms. Several corrections made to the P8 form too.
14/7/2007 - There are now two links to this site from the Peak District Caving (Hitch n Hike) web site. (Thanks Shaun!)
3/7/2007 - SSSI Monitoring Group Meeting. Held at 7pm at Endcliffe House, Deepdale Business Park, Bakewell. (The agenda is now available on this web site.) The next meeting should be on January 22nd. 2008, 7pm at the same location.
2/7/2007 - Markers for numerous caves in the Castleton and Stoney Middleton areas added to location map. More to be added soon...
30/6/2007 - Updated and corrected monitoring forms for Carlswark Cavern uploaded to site.
4/6/2007 - Rubbish from Moonmilk Pot conservation work removed by National Trust.
3/6/2007 - Rubbish from Moonmilk Pot conservation work moved to roadside by Darfar P.C. members.
6/5/2007 - Darfar P.C. members visited the majority of Carlswark Cavern, (everything except Dynamite Series), finding no evidence of pollution. A monitoring form was completed.
3/5/2007 - UCF (Underground Conservation Forum) Meeting at Bakewell. Some interesting discussions were had about various conservation issues.
8/4/2007 - Today, Hillocks Mine was visited by members of Darfar P.C. and found to be in excellent condition. No bad air was evident anywhere. Knotlow was not visited.
25/3/2007 - Today members of Darfar P.C. had a trip to the (new) terminal sump in Waterways Swallet. All were impressed by the scaffolding job through the Doghouse choke and by the passages beyond it. There is some lovely classically shaped stream passage down there and Floodgate Pot reminded us of Garlands Pot in Giants Hole. Toad Haul was nice, but not as big as we'd expected. The cave seemed to go on and on and down and down! Very impressive all in all, especially after the years of effort expended in getting through the choke. However, there was a heck of a lot of rubbish down there, not just digging gear, but bits of scrap wire, pipe, foam, plastic bottles, etc. (Wasn't sure what to put on a monitoring form about it, to be honest.)
18/3/2007 - Access work on Moonmilk Pot near Wetton Mill was completed by members of Darfar P.C. today and the gully around it tidied up. The rubbish is to be picked up and removed by the National Trust in due course.
12/3/2007 - Bradwell SSSI Area Map added to the SSSI Boundary Maps page. (Courtesy of Dave Webb.)
11/3/2007 - Members of Darfar P.C. today re-entered Plantation Swallet after finally removing the blockage.
7/3/2007 - Larger version of the Castleton SSSI Area Map added to the SSSI Boundary Maps page. Links to all the cave monitoring forms corrected so they now work on the live site! (Sorry about that.)
5/3/2007 - Updated surveys of Redhurst Swallet and the Main Sink Area (Darfar Pot, etc.) at Wetton Mill added to appropriate page. Updated Redhurst Swallet monitoring form (with the new survey) added to appropriate page.
25/2/2007 - Members of Darfar P.C. today found that the blockage in Plantation Swallet was a very large rock nearly 1m x 1m by 0.5m. Work was started on reducing it in size so that it can be removed from the cave.
19/2/2007 - Completed cave monitoring form for the original part of Waterways Swallet sent off to D.C.A.
On behalf of the Derbyshire Caving Association conservation team I would
like to thank all those cavers who helped out with the Peak District
SSSI Cave Conservation Monitoring Scheme over the last couple of
years. In recognition of the observations you made during your caving
exploits and the forms you helped fill in and update, Natural England
the statutory body responsible for protecting SSSIs in England under
the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, have awarded you with a
‘Certificate of Recognition !’ (1.3Mb.)
We hope that you will able to continue to help Natural England and their
legal duty in ensuring each of our SSSI caves remain in ‘good and
favourable condition’.
For
more details, maps and information on the Peak District’s caves of
Site of Special Scientific Interest please see elsewhere on this web site.
Thanks! Christine Wilson.DCA Assistant Conservation Officer on behalf of Dave Webb DCA Conservation Officer.
Natural
England update on the research at Water Icicle Close Cavern in Lathkill Dale (SSSI)
This is an update on the
current research being undertaken at Water Icicle Close Cavern (WICC)
in the new passage extensions and an assessment of current access
arrangements.
It is a legal duty under
the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) that Natural
England ensures that these new and important scientific findings,
located within a statutory site (Site of Special Scientific Interest
or SSSI) are maintained, available for study and in good condition.
This is the reason the current access arrangements were put in place
by Orpheus Caving Club (OCC) after the initial discovery.
The discovery of this
new passage in the Water Icicle System should not be underestimated
in its importance both nationally and possibly internationally. This
information is intended to give you a greater understanding of the
need to protect such an important environment.
OCC have organised an
effective leadership system which safeguards important features
within this new section of the cave and this is working well to
maintain and conserve these fragile features, whilst research is
being carried out. The features are only in such pristine condition
as a result of the immediate implementation of conservation measures
by the explorers. The most recent visit by scientists was on 29
January 2011 and all parties were extremely impressed by its new
features and how well they had been protected.
Importance
of the discovered features
Water
Icicle Cave is a natural cave that lies more than 80 metres above the
present day river system. Its presence, together with small high
level caves on the flanks of Lathkill Dale, suggests that there was
once an extensive network of high level phreatic caves of which
little is known. The age of these caves is uncertain but the recent
discovery suggests that the system in WICC drained over a million
years ago and may even be pre-Quaternary (greater than 2.6 million
years old). A substantial stream has brought in clastic (rock
fragment) sediment deposits the source of which is unknown as there
are no stream-sinks within several kilometres of the cave.
The original part of the
cave was designated as a SSSI for the shape and development of the
passages (passage morphology), its important
stalactite/stalagmite/flowstone deposits (speleothems) and sediment
deposits. The newly discovered section of cave remains within the
designated SSSI boundary
The
sediment deposits found in the new passages are not only fascinating
but the fact that they are so unaffected by human activity gives us
the opportunity to study their origins. Initial examination of clasts
within the deposits suggests they contain rocks that are not normally
found in the Peak District. Various samples of material were
collected on 29 January 2011 and work is in progress to determine
their origins and whether they were transported to the Peak District
by water, air or ice.
A
sample was also collected of the flowstone over the top of the
sediment and this is being prepared for uranium-series dating to
determine its age. The sediment beneath this cap is even older.
The
new passages contain broken speloethem material which is suggestive
of at least one tectonic (earthquake-like) event, so studying these
samples may enable us to date such episodes. Again, samples have been
removed and are being prepared for uranium-series dating.
The
interrelationship of the flowstone & sediment deposits will help
reveal the story of geological events not only in the cave itself but
also in the wider context of cave development in Derbyshire.
In addition to the deposits described above an unusual clast
was found to be embedded in the limestone which appeared to be of
volcanic origin, possibly a basalt bomb. As the nearest known
volcanic activity occurred at Calton Hill above Chelmorton, a
distance of approximately five miles away from WICC, samples of this
clast were also taken for microscopic analysis. The implications,
should the analysis prove positive and bearing in mind that thirty
metres of limestone have been deposited on top of it, are of
considerable significance in the understanding of the area’s
geological past.
Stoney Middleton Dale 
