James Hall Over Engine Mine

Since it was the Orpheus Caving Club AGM weekend, there was a gathering of members at the club hut this morning as we arrived as planned with Pete Wagstaff at 10:00 for a trip down James Hall Over Engine Mine near Castleton, more commonly known as JH.
In the end there was just Pete, Keith, Karen and myself which is an ideal number as there are enough cavers to get the three tackle bags of ropes through the system (leaving a fourth at the foot of the entrance pitch) but not so many so that there is a lot of waiting around getting chilly.
We parked on the muddy field at Rowter Farm, which is used a s camp site, and began getting changed sheltering from the wind and light rain.
After passing the open-ended building housing a few ewes and their new born lambs, we followed a very muddy track through the farm yard and then through a field, over a fence stile into a second field with plenty of evidence of mining activity with large lumps and hollows.
Amongst the lumpy ground we gathered at the large rectangular metal lid in the concreted shaft top.
As he had finished changing and kitting up with SRT gear first, Keith had headed of before the rest of us and had already set off down the shaft. Once we heard his shout of “rope free!”, Karen clipped on her descender and set off to join him followed by Pete.
I was last and had to stand on the scaffold bars below the lid and close the heavy lid behind us in case any sheep decided on a quick caving trip.
Part way down I spotted a bolt anchor with a karabiner clipped to it: Pete had left it there so that I could arrange a rebelay to speed things up on our way out. I soon tied a rebelay onto the drive-through bolt, confirming with Pete waiting below that there was still enough rope. I then spotted a second bolt on the opposite wall of the shaft and rather than re-arrange the rebelay as a Y-hang (I would have to change over to prusik up again a short distance then change over to descend again which would take some time) I used the thick cord I use to dangle tackle bags from, to create a deviation. Confirming all was arranged OK, I set off down to join Pete and we set off along the Cartgate to catch up Keith and Karen.
One section of traversing over a deep pool in the Cartgate had a metal plate used as a foothold missing which made a couple of moves entertaining, but still safe as it is rigged with a traverse line.
Soon we had made our way through the Cartgate including a heavy tackle bag full of rope each and caught Keith and Karen at the top of Bitch Pitch.
After the others had disappeared down this narrow pitch, I set off to follow them and I was in new territory as I had only been to the top of Bitch Pitch before with Mark Silo years ago when we were trying to remove a loose “Eco” bolt which had become loose.
At the bottom there was a choice of two ways on in the narrow passage, one was low hole with the noise of water flowing, so I went the other way, which was also low, nut this brought me in the section called The Workshop, where I found Karen.
We dropped down a small step to the top of the next pitch, called Leviathan, which is broken into two halves.
Karen was down the first section and shouted “rope free!” and I set off down to follow her. A nice pitch but quite a bit drippy with an easy deviation right at the top. I had an ankle injury from last week and didn't want to have to prusik up too much in case it was too painful, but I set off down this pitch anyway.
I joined Karen below and she pointed out it was easier to stop at a rocky ledge a short way from the bottom and then make a short traverse rather than stop at the bottom and then have to reascend to get to the next bit of Leviathan.
This meant a short step down, through a small chamber with taped off mining artefacts and then a short drop to where a reinforced concrete dam was placed at the top of the last section of Leviathan.
I watched as Karen dropped down below the dam to the rebelay just below the lip at the top and then make her way to the bottom. I decided to stop there bearing in mind my sore ankle and shouted down to the others telling them I would wait there.
The other three left the section of the system called JH to make their way to the Speedwell streamway, looking at The Miners' Toast and other nearby interesting places such as the perched sump known as The Bathing Pool. They also bumped into fellow caver Keith Mason and some others on a through trip from Titan and Peak Cavern.
The three of them didn't take very long at all when I heard them arrive back at the foot of the 30 metre lower section of Leviathan.
Soon Karen had joined me back at the top and we set off to start up the next pitch, the upper section of Leviathan which is a bit longer at 35 metres.
When I reached the top I walked past the taped off mining artefacts in The Workshop and clipped onto the lower section of the multiple rebelays on Bitch Pitch, again around 35 metres with several rebelays and deviations.
I made my way up to the convenient ledge at the lowest rebelay and waited until Karen appeared below. There was a bit of a delay until I saw her light and it seemed Keith had to drop down part of Leviathan to sort out a rope tangle preventing it being pulled up, and the re—ascend.
I continued up the rest of Bitch Pitch and waited for Karen. She had a full tackle bag and we made our way through the Cartgate with the tackle bag, taking it in turns to carry it or shove it along.
Very quickly it seemed, we had passed a couple of climbs which I thought would be awkward on the return trip but turned out to be no problem. The roped traverse over the flooded stop with the missing metal foothold caused fun and games when the tackle bag, which I had clipped to the line, got tangled behind me with my cowstails as I was standing on a couple of small footholds. This obstacle was soon passed and we were back at the foot of the 50 metre entrance shaft.
As I was clipping onto the rope, Pete and Keith arrived and I set off up the shaft.
Soon I was at the rebelay and after passing it and shouting “rope free!”, I set off for the remainder of the shaft to then get the heavy kid open again.
I managed to do this and then got back out of the shaft, unclipped everything from the rop, shouted down “rope free!” again and then waited for the others to arrive.
We pulled up the rope from the shaft, packed it into its tackle bag and made our way under a cloudy but dry sky back to the cars to get changed.
After dropping the ropes off at the hut we first went home for me to have a shower and then to collect the thumb drives with our photos for tonight's traditional Orpheus photo competition and then it was off to Biggin to join Pete and his wife Lynn at the Waterloo In for an evening meal.

After dinner, we drove along the A515 to the Orpheus hut where the photo competition was just starting. Karen won a prize, but neither Keith nor I won anything.