Half a dozen met at the layby at the head of Lathkilldale for a trip into Lathkill Head Cave via the upper entrance. It was a wet night after a pretty wet day, but we still expected the recent good weather to have left the cave devoid of any stream, and we were not disappointed. However, water in the lower Tigers must still have been sumped somewhere as the QRAE II meter we were using started alarming as soon as I abseiled down into the Waiting Room. 18.2% (oxygen by volume) was the reading.
Lathkill Head Cave
Last Wednesday evening, after spending most of the day with a group from Macclesfield in Mouldridge Mine, and with my DCA "Gasman" hat on, I decided that, having only just recently measured the air quality in Lathkill Head Cave, and Lathkill Head Upper Entrance, it might be a good idea to do the same in the only other entrance - Garden Path.
In response to a report of high CO2 levels in Lathkill Head Upper Entrance, a small group of us (Ann Soulsby, Christine Wilson, Andy Chapman and me) descended the cave, and, using the DCA CO2 meter, Ann measured the atmosphere at various locations. The following was reported back to DCA.
Surface: 0.01%
Foot of rope in Waiting Room: 1.55%
Top of choke at the bottom of Waiting Room: 1.70%