Heidehof Farm Dassie Cave

A.Hitchcock, P.Swart, August 2003

Cave Description

This cave was called Bone Cave by CPSS, but is known to the Schweglers as Dassie Cave. It is situated at the base of a cliff at the head of the same valley where Bat cave is found. The entrance to the cave leads to small chamber, via a narrow slot passage about 6m long. A very low, narrow tube leads to another small chamber. The young members easily popped through into the chamber and helped Stephan Moser widen the constriction until he could squeeze through. The cave divides into three small passages of which one is big enough to enter. This passage continues up a slope and then doubles back into a narrow corridor and ends in a small round chamber. Opposite the entrance to the upper passage is a low crawl to the side. This leads to a narrow slot. From here, voice connections were made back to the constriction chamber, and Stephan’s excavation entrance. (See survey)

Survey and Exploration

Andrea found the narrow entrance to this cave, and an enticing breeze was issuing from the hole. After pushing through about 3 metres of tight passage, Stephan found himself in a small chamber. He was unable to proceed, as the narrow tube leading on was just too narrow for him. Douglas squeezed though quite easily, and was followed by Eugenie and Mark. They reported that the cave went on, so Stephan resorted to a hammer and chisel, and widened the tube until he could get through. The passage went on for another 6m. A low slope to the west looked to be the most likely way forward. This is the “voice connection” passage.

Andrea found a second entrance about 10m to the left of the main entrance, but it too needed widening. Stephan tackled the job, but was stopped by a large boulder, about 5m from the entrance. This is were the voice connection was made.

On the next trip, the farmer’s (4 year old?) grandson David lead the assault on the cave, while Anthony started the survey. David crawled through the constricted passage, and sat on the other side shouting “Come Peter, come through” over and over again. Much to his dismay, Peter was not able to get through the tube, and resorted to using Stephan’s hammer and chisel to widen the tube some more. Although the narrowness of the tube made the digging difficult, the rock was not hard. It seemed to have a hard outer crust, which when removed, revealed a layer of damp, white clay.

Once through Peter, David and Douglas explored the rest of the cave and found the upper passage. By this time, the surveyor had caught up with the miners, so Anthony and Peter completed the survey.

The next day, Stephan returned to dig at his side entrance, and Peter dug in the western side passage. They were able to establish a clear voice link between the side passage and Stephan’s new excavation. Further excavation in this passage would probably connect the caves with relatively little effort. A trenching tool is all that is required.

The compass was not calibrated, so there may be errors in the north sign on the survey.

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