A GIANT chamber the size of an aircraft carrier has been discovered by a group featuring cave diggers from Chard.
Dr Peter Glanvill, formerly of the Springmead Surgery and his brother-in-law Nigel Cox, a retired BT engineer from Howley were part of the Tuesday diggers group of eight people who found the 30m high and 60m long cave in Cheddar on September 4.
The cave, which has been named ‘The Frozen Deep’, is thought to be the largest ever found in the Mendip Hills, beating the record previously held by GB Cavern, a 6m wide by 12m high by 90m long chamber discovered in the 1940s.
Together with Nick Chipchase, from Taunton, and other helpers, the pair have been working in the area for around four hours a week since 2010.
Nigel has only been with the group for 18 months and is the engineer working on the technical side of the project, helping to build when things become unstable and taking in cement.
Nigel said: “It is a staggering discovery – I feel extremely lucky to have been doing this for only 18 months and to have found the biggest cave discovered in the Mendips so far.
“The signs were there – there was a lot of water in the area and a constant draft which implied there was something bigger – you always hope but you never know for sure.”
All their efforts proved worthwhile when they gained access to the impressive cave containing stalagmites, stalactites and 5m tall pillars – a sight which at the moment has been seen by fewer people than have stood on the surface of the moon.
The group returned to the cave on Friday carrying out conservation work and were going back yesterday (Tuesday) to continue exploring the chamber – work which is expected to last several months.
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