Grid Ref. 70564486

Depth: 43.9m Length: 301.8m

Equipment required:- 30m rope

1st pitch: 40ft ladder, 1 tape, 20m rope

2nd pitch: 20ft ladder, 1 tape, 2Gm rope

The B5 entrance, located at the base of a 20m cliff is 0.7m in diameter. A deep intermittent stream bed enters from the east. Following periods of heavy rainfall the entrance to B.5 can become blocked with debris.

From the entrance a 2.Sm climb down leads to a low duck and the entrance chamber with a descending floor and ascending roof.*

On the left, after a 1.8m climb down in the entrance chamber is a 13m pitch followed by a 2m climb and a 5m pitch. High on the wall on the right is a passage which leads to the 12 Year Old Squeeze. On the right at the top of the 1 3m pitch is the Dust Bag which leads to the bottom of Dust Bag Aven via a 6.5m and a 4m pitch.

The floor of Devil’s Kitchen is composed of silt, gravel and debris, evidence of nature’s fury and definitely not the place to be when a storm is brewing. At the southwestern end of the chamber a duck-under which may require minor digging leads to Junction Chamber, 1.4m high, 2m wide 4m long and. To the left is the B4-S Extension and to the right is the way on to B4 or BS.

*Back in the entrance chamber. An exposed, awkward 4m climb up through the highest of three holes high in the left hand wall of the entrance chamber, leads to a low sloping rift which continues for 9.5m to the Cement Bag. On the right a narrow cross rift with a sloping soil floor leads to Upper Aven where the walls are coated with brown formation.

At the top of Upper Aven are two passages. The right hand passage, which has been vandalised, is 0.3m high, O.8m wide and 3.5m long, As the passage ends after 3.5m there is no reason to enter and cause further damage to the formation.

The left hand passage has a flowstone floor which leads to a small chamber 0.8m high. At the end of this chamber a rift leads up for 3m before choking out. On the right hand wall at floor level is an opening that has been smashed through the formation. Approximately l.5m of impassable passage filled with rimstone pools and pine forests can be seen.

The way on is through the Cement Bag, 16m of dusty grovelling to the top of the Hairy Traverse. Two 50mm galvanised pipes are suspended across the rift, remnants of the past used as an anchor for a safety line. In 1987 a chain was secured along the length of the Hairy Traverse for safety.

The Hairy Traverse is a slot in the right hand wall of a deep rift. The slot slopes at 250 but is also inclined towards the 9m drop into the rift. At the end of the Traverse is a bedrock column, to the right following the chain is for small people while the larger members of the party must pass on the left near the drop, which is 6m at this point. A im drop leads to a 4m grovel along a sloping rift to a hole in the floor, 0.8m x 0.Sm wide and a l.2m drop.

The passage to the right leads to a 2.2m climb down along a sloping rift to a crawl in diminishing passage. After 7m the 12 Year Old Squeeze is encountered. It is 0.3m high and 0.3m wide, changing to 0.1 wide 0.7 high and at floor level and 0.3 wide at roof level for 1 .7m. It is the keyhole shape that makes this squeeze so tight and awkward. A further 2m leads to the western end of the B.5 entrance chamber, 4m above the floor.

To the left is the way on to B4 and the B4-5 Extension. A l.5m scramble leads to the dirt floor of the Hairy Traverse Aven which gives access to the Slip’n’Slide Rift leading to Connection Aven after l0m, Up the 2.5m climb on the right is the way to B4. Continuing down the Slip’n’Slide Rift passing the climb to B.4 leads to the beginning of the 21m Bedding Plane Grovel. A l.5m climb down joins a cross rift, To the left is Dust Bag Aven. The way on descends down a narrow passage which flattens out into a streamway with a muddy floor. This section of the cave fills with water after rain and becomes impassable. On the right is an impassable sump where water suspected to come from B4 emerges.

A low crawl leads to a 1 .2m drop and a further 1 7m leads to Junction Chamber. Following the direction of the streamway is the B4-S Extension, to the left is the duck under which leads to Devil’s Kitchen at the bottom of the BS pitches.