Updated 6th May 2000; 8th November 2003; 14th October, 29th November 2016; 9th September, 6th October 2017; 12th May, 6th September 2019; 8th September 2022; 10th May, 13th September 2023; 6th January, 8th February, 27th April 2024
After attempts to find the cave (at a wrong grid reference) in August 2016, the entrance was finally re-located and GPS'd the following November. The site is well worth a photography session and is useful for Disto calibration!
A small entrance under a scar leads directly onto a steeply descending calcite slope with columns. A handline is useful for youngsters. The route down ends on rubble then a flat mud floor with drip pits. To the right (south) is an impressive, isolated 4.5m high column; the wall behind and some stal have been plastered with carbide(?) graffiti. Around to the east, is a toppled stumpy column which has rolled and has later calcite growing on and around it.
The "60m diameter" chamber, according to the
entry in reference L75, may have a way on which has collapsed. Further
investigations in 2000 found no such prospects, although there are small routes which may repay closer inspection. A thorough (re)inspection and resurvey was carried out in August 2017 - 2019. At this time the length of the cave was calculated as 180m - the sum of the lengths of the chamber's major and minor axes.
Site 4599 may have been an entrance further northeast at one time as daylight was spotted (4/8/17) to the north of the main entrance.
Members of the Matienzo Karst Entomology Project on a visit at Easter 2019 found no sign of bug life and saw only one lesser horseshoe bat.
Photos were taken for photogrammetry in August 2022 and a families trip was video'd (using a 360° camera) in April 2023. The cave is popular as a trip for families.
References: Fernández Gutiérrez et al, 1966 (survey); anon., 1975b (Easter and summer logbooks); Kendal Caving Club and Manchester University Speleological Society, 1975 (survey); Corrin J S and Smith P, 1981; Neill A et al, 1989; anon., 2000b (Easter logbook); anon., 2016c (summer logbook); anon., 2016d (autumn logbook); anon., 2017c (summer logbook); anon., 2019b (Easter logbook); anon., 2019d (summer logbook); anon., 2022c (summer logbook); anon., 2023b (Easter logbook); anon., 2023c (summer logbook); anon., 2023e (Christmas logbook)anon., 2024a (January, February logbook); anon., 2024b (Easter logbook)
Entrance pictures : entrance : view from entrance : entrance, November 2016 : entrance August 2017
Underground picture(s): formations 1 2 3 4 5 6 : November 2016 : August 2017 (ND) : August 2017 (CM) : April 2019 : January 2020 : summer 2021 : Chamber with sunbeam and jaw bone, summer 2023,
Video: Using 360o camera (YouTube, November 2016) : Families visit April 2023
Detailed Survey :
| 1964 | known cave | low res | high res |
| 1975 | known cave | low res | high res |
| 2017 - 2019 | known cave | in hand |
