Titan is the name given to the longest natural underground shaft (145m) in the UK. Discovered in 2000 by cave explorer Dave ‘Moose’ Nixon after several years of digging in collapsed sections of the Peak/Speedwell Cave System, this shaft has now been connected to the surface by a team of dedicated ‘cave diggers’. I was fortunate to be a member of this team. We spent over four years digging and blasting a 2m diameter shaft from the surface to a depth of 35m. At this point a level was driven along a clay wayboard* towards the Titan shaft which eventually broke out onto a small balcony around 10m below the top of the chamber. This shaft is not just the longest, it must also be the most spectacular. With normal lighting the caver never gets to see the real size and splendour of it but, during the digging and subsequent photographic trips with well-known cave photographer Robbie Shone , the chamber was lit with large floodlights giving a rare visual experience to those of us who were involved. From the balcony a 70m pitch lands on a ledge known as The Event Horizon in this hour-glass shaped shaft. From here a re-belay is passed onto a 57m shaft to the boulder choke at the bottom. For details of the full caving trip see The Peak-Speedwell System *wayboard - a thin layer or band which separates or defines the boundaries of thicker strata.

Written by  Dave Clucas.

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