Garden Path Surveying - Wayne Sheldon

Back in late 2013 and early 2014, I helped Graham Mullan put together a 3D model of the Lathkill catchment, from existing survey data from previous surveys undertaken. One part of the system where data couldn’t be located was Garden Path so I planned to re-survey this part of the system, using the Garden Path entrance that is kept locked for conservation purposes but a key is available for scientific trips only.

I attempted to do this trip last Xmas period but snow stopped play, closest I could get was Tideswell. Anyway, myself, Glyn and Phil met up on Thursday 27th for a trip to do this survey. Phil did the rigging, I noted that’s it’s a lot simpler descent now that the platforms have been removed.

The excavated entrance shaft drops into one end of a large, very well decorated chamber, a low crawl leads to a fixed ladder into another well decorated 2nd chamber / rift, a hole at one end allows you to drop to the tiger crawls stream below. A further fixed ladder can be ascended to a short crawl, to the final ladder to a 3rd chamber/ rift. At the lower end was the flooded tiger crawls.

The survey was started from the very bottom, it was sumped which is normal this time of year so there was no draught at all. The bottom is split into three rifts, joined together by fixed ladders into short crawls between them. The Sump was at the bottom of the third one. A fixed station was found I believe so this will be tied onto. From the third chamber, I surveyed over into the 2nd, this one had a hole in the floor via a short crawl that dropped down to the stream which Phil descended, I dropped a line down it. This must be the original route up from the stream when they found it, as free climbing up from the third chamber didn’t look possible, there was no obvious aids.

The final low crawl was surveyed before the large chamber was picked up before surveying up the pitches which was tricky and certainly needed three people. Luckily with the cave below sumped, there was no draught so nice and warm.

The completed survey can be found at http://cave-registry.org.uk/ in the Lathkill directory.

Thanks to Glyn and Phil for helping me.