Post date: Aug 18, 2010 1:17:22 PM

Artur was off diving Carrickbeg for the day and so Gaelan, who’d never visited before, was keen for a trip. The choke was passed quickly enough, not having to carry bottles through since they were sitting at sump three waiting for Artur. We reached the first sump pretty quickly, I frolicked about in the ducks for a bit while Artur kitted up. That done we went to see him off. Artur gone I dived through a number of ducks beyond the sump thinking I was getting somewhere but found myself back at the dive line. Before making our way out Gaelan took a look at a rift just to the right of the sump that Artur had spotted on the way in and pronounced it promising. I clambered up and began to claw the mud out and after a few minutes could get my body in and see round the bend to see it continuing about two meters ahead and turning gently right. It needs capping to pass, but is a potential sump bypass. This trip was far more pleasant than my last trip when, furry clad, I was very cold and cranky.

After changing we were to head back to the Hoo for a resuscitating meal but, on a whim, I asked Gaelan to take a spin up to Pollmore, a place I’d been meaning to check out for a while. This is an interesting spot. It takes a stream and has been dye traced to Carrickbeg, running through in less than 14 hours, so would seem to be a good spot to break into passage above sump 3 in Carrickbeg. Roundabout the summit of the hill I left the car and asked a farmer about the hole. Turns out that we were standing 10 meters from the edge of the hole. He pointed out where it was easiest to get into the hole so Gaelan parked the car a bit down the road and I went for a look into the hole.

Pollmore is quite a big hole, a bit smaller than Cradle Hole but floored with a flat bottom and a stand of conifers. The walls drop 15 meters sheer, though you can enter the hole by a treacherous walk-down over loose boulders and rubbish on the north side. On the far side a stream comes down a pretty cascade and flows along the west wall to sink into a pile of rubbish. All in all quite pleasant except for overpowering smell of garlic and the rubbish. There is an awful lot of rubbish in the place, mainly quite old but some rubbish of a more recent vintage. It hasn’t helped that the place is right next to a road, with convenient access and high drops that are perfect for rolling old cars and lorries off of. After looking about a bit in the squalor we decided the place was worth a poke with caving gear.

First up was a dig beneath some unloved vehicle. The main stream was sinking about ten meters back and it seemed that we could intercept the flow, which we could hear quite audibly. We crawled under and rummaged in old auto parts and flood debris but only revealed a narrow rift with a different stream entering via a narrow rift. Next Gaelan executed a tricky traverse over the tops of two old Lorry cabs, alighting next to a promising hole in the wall. I followed up and had a scrape in the mud and after removing some old body parts (car, not human) got most of my body in. The way on was a narrow rift downwards, turning away under a ledge. I dragged out a wheel hub with a roar and then Gaelan did some more shovelling. After another look at the end I could hear water falling in the distance below me, and possibly, a slight draught. Again this would need capping, quite a bit in fact, to get down the rift and explore round the corner, but I would be optimistic for prospects.

After a scrub in the stream we made our way out, Gaelan spotting another tight rift in the wall on the way. This one also had the sound of falling water; the source of the water is unknown, though may be from the main stream.

Petie