JH Over-Engine Mine - The Big Suffer

Sunday August 2nd 2026

Members present: Abbie Heathcote,  Will Barlow

With 2 cavers, 4 tackle sacks and a dream we embarked upon a JH bounce, with a plan to investigate the Peak/Speedwell connection. Lugging the bags through the Cartgate Level and back up Bitch Pitch was a painful affair, with a fair amount of self-inflicted suffering. Alas, it was necessary for the task at hand. We reached the bottom of Leviathan in just under two hours and it is worthwhile to note that at the time of writing this report there were no Assault Course Ropes in-situ in JH, though this may only be temporary.

At the bottom of Leviathan we were in good spirits. Through the hatch and down the ladders we began our exploration by turning right from the Boulder Piles: we first followed wet walking passage to a tight looking dig on the right (“It’s just not human sized!”), further down to Main Rising Sump, then back-tracked to an easily climbed waterfall which led us to Miner’s Toast - it was very cool to see so many historic names etched onto the walls, from both miners and earlier explorers, according to the conservation sign some were from as early as the 1700s.

Carrying on through easy passage we then reached the muddy crawling loop of NB Passage (goopy) and Cliff Passage (less goopy). After retreating and climbing back down the waterfall beside Miner’s Toast we then ascended a sturdy enough in-situ ladder (on the left) on the way back to the Boulder Piles - this led us to Bathing Pool Passage where a conservation warning is in place with regard to the passage’s geological features. Knowing this sumped we didn’t spend much time here.

From the Boulder Piles we then followed the obvious passage that goes left towards the Whirlpool. We traversed the scaffolding on the right side of the passage and continued along until we reached the wooden posts that mark a right turn to Pit Prop Workings. Noting the floor disappearing and water fuelling another sump, we did not progress into Pit Prop Workings. The high water of the Far Canal was also unappealing, so we waded back to the Whirlpool. After having a wander back to the Boulder Piles in search of the connection to Whirlpool Passage (unsuccessful - we even had a mad dash back up the iron ladders to Leviathan, to see if we had somehow missed a connecting passage up there - we had not, but I did notice a pitch I hadn’t seen before, just beside and above the Speedwell hatch so not a total waste of time) we once again headed back to the Whirlpool. There were a couple of high up crawls that could have been the connection, but the climbs (while definitely doable) would be pretty high consequence if fallen from, and with it being a two-man trip and all of JH between us and the surface we decided not to push our luck.

So back to the Whirlpool! This time we traversed the scaffolded right side to the roped traverse on the left and entered the inlet to Whirlpool Passage. This shifted between walking, stooping and cobbled crawling until we reached Whirlpool Rising Sump. Satisfied with having seen the sump we back-tracked, in search of more passage. Heading back towards the Whirlpool we took the first reasonable passage on the left, which we believed should offer a connection to the Assault Course. From the survey, the wet crawl we undertook appears to have been Troubled Waters, but the four-way junction we were met with did not seem to match the survey we had. Maybe we were just being silly though. I explored a narrow stream rift on the right, but unsure about our position in relation to the survey we didn’t pursue it. The rift also went along on the left as you approached the junction, unappealing and not investigated. The other way on had a discouraging line of large rocks in front of it - the Assault Course? Either way, we did not investigate and retreated back to Whirlpool Passage once more.

The next passage we followed was just past a bend which brought us to a three-way junction. Behind us was the way to Whirlpool Rising Sump, ahead was the traverse from the inlet back across the Whirlpool and so surely the crawl on our right must lead to the Boulder Piles. Will was not thrilled by the prospect of another wet crawl, but I was keen to see if I got anywhere by pursuing it (if nothing else I was intrigued as to where the connection would spit me out by the Boulder Piles, as we had been totally unable to find it earlier on and at least we would know for next time). The rough crawl soon became wet and the water only seemed to deepen. With some reluctance Will followed me, but was probably a bit relieved when (uninspired by the rising water level and a little hesitant to pursue the unfamiliar passage when I had no knowledge of the flood risk, or chance that I could be crawling towards an inconspicuous sump - Christ knows we had seen enough sumps that day) I decided it would be sensible to just turn back. A mission for another day.

So after a good exploration we once again waded back to the Boulder Piles. We decided that instead of continuing to splash around in the Main Stream Cave our time would be better spent in the pub. So after fuelling up on Cosmic Whips and Moam sweets we once again began the dutiful climb back up the ladders to Leviathan. With the hatch carefully closed behind us, Will headed up the pitch first, and I undertook the de-rigging of JH. This was largely uneventful and we emerged from the entrance hatch at around 7pm to daylight, satisfied with having completed a two-man JH trip and keen to read more of the micro-guides that detail the Peak connection.