258 Torcón de la Calleja Rebollo (Toad in the Hole)
Seldesuto VN48879528 Alt. 305m Length 6470m Vertical range +9m -65m

Updated 30th August 1998; 19th February 1999; 12th December 1999; 21st January 2001

Very incomplete description.

The entrance is located in a rather sloppy shakehole and a rope is useful for the grassy descent. A tight pitch of 6m down between loose boulders enters a small room. The passage to the right descends to a large calcite- floored chamber which slopes down past two blind holes on the right.

Walking between mud banks ends at the Maypole Pitch of 6m up. The passage at the top splits. The left hand branch meets an 8m rope and ladder pitch into a passage which, to the left ends at an aven and to the right finishes at a draughting boulder choke. A squeeze past a large jammed block within Baz's Choke reaches a lower level which was dug at Easter '96 through clay to a small chamber. Further progress and the break-through came at Easter 1998, when Baz's Chamber was entered. A small passage up-slope to the left was dug though in 1998 to a well decorated passage, Correspondent's Capers, with a 5m pitch in the floor with a tight continuation. The way on at the far end of Baz's Chamber is a squeeze under a flowstone floor which leads to a second chamber via a 3m climb down a mud wall. Several holes in the floor become too tight. A passage or aven can be seen where water comes out of the roof. The route forward is a climb up mud on the right to a shelf where a squeeze enters another chamber. Here, a 9m ladder pitch in a rift on the left leads to a 28m wet pitch, rigged for SRT. At the foot, a small stream passage ends at a chamber where the way on may be up a rift on the left. Part way down the wet pitch, a tube leads via a climb and 12m pitch into the final chamber. This series ends at the deepest part of the cave, some 60m below the entrance at an altitude of about 240m. In the chamber after the 9m ladder pitch, a tube on the left enteres a chamber where a climb up on the left leads to a choke where it draughts, but the way on has not been located. At the base of the wet 5m pitch in this series, upstream draughts but becomes very tight and awkward. In 1999 a pitch was dropped in the penultimate chamber to a low level via p28.

1987 Extensions
The right hand branch leads to a 20m pitch into a small passage which suddenly enters a large chamber, 50m across. This contains some excellent helictites and, at its southern end a complex phreatic maze (not shown on the survey in P3) which has not been pushed to a conclusion. A chamber to the east of the hall contains a massive stalagmite boss and some impressive gour pools.

Back at the entrance, the passage to the left is an oxbow which meets the main passage at the blind holes.

Before Baz's Choke, an opening on the left leads into Chocolate Slice - a crawl which has been excavated to allow fatties through. This enters larger passage where a slot on the left leads to a roped traverse (cow's tails). The passage beyond passes several shafts and climbs, not all pushed to conclusion. This is followed by a 12m ladder pitch down (a bolt on the right and naturals). A bolt traverse over the pitch on the left revealed nothing.

At the bottom of the pitch, Misty Series is to the right and the main way on to the left. Misty Series - a passage carrying small stream is followed to where several routes up lead into a large aven. A draughting crawl on the left in the base of the aven Diamond Lil, leads to a choke where no way on has been found. In 1993 Misty Series was again looked at: A passage on the left in the lower part of the Misty Series aven is a small crawl into a small chamber with a draughting hole. This leads to a small rift and a silty floor which was dug through to another 10m of passage to a drippy choke. There may be several tight ways upwards. On the right, just before the aven which is climbable and draughts down. this needs a return. A hole in the boulder floor of the Misty Series aven was investigated and no way on was found. The opposite wall to the draughting crawl was investigated via a traverse / climb: the passage descended for approximated 7m before ending. In 1995, the choke at the end of the Misty Series was described as suicidal.

The main route from the base of the pitch is a climb down following the stream from Misty Series, which soon disappears in a clean-washed pit in the floor at a junction. The pit has been free-climbed down for 15m to where it closed off. The main way on is a climb up into a narrow rift to the right hand side, but by following the continuation of the rift up a climb and over another pit, St Ann‘s Passage is gained, first entered in the summer of 1996. Two hundred metres of narrow rift containing a good draught leads via several small phreatic chambers and crawls to a dug boulder choke. This contains a ”squeeze" under a loose block and care must be taken. A breakdown chamber beyond contains several choked pits and there are two ways out, both of which draught. Straight ahead with the main draught a continuation of the narrow rift gains a complex area containing an upper, low phreatic passage which seems to follow the rift below. The upper level eventually stops at a roof collapse with a possible dig to a continuation that draughts. The rift at floor level draughts strongly and continues very tight and needs pushing. A hole in the left hand wall of the chamber after the dug choke leads past two side passages which both soon get too small without more digging. Traversing over a rift, a side passage on the right has been pushed to a tight continuation which can be dug. This contains a reasonable draught. Further up the passage a low chamber with a lower level is reached. Here, and straight ahead, several climbs and avens exist (30m+?) which need ascending. The most northerly contains a slightly draughting calcite hole. A hole in the left hand side of the chamber Paul‘s Putrid Passage leads via an extremely muddy rift into a boulder choke with several ways off - all of which soon close down.

Back at the clean-washed pit, the main route on is a climb up over the hole, followed by a traverse rising to the right. The route continues passing a draughting hole down, then a number of routes up connecting to larger passage. The route continues to Sandy Junction where Cocoa Series leads off to the left, mostly fair-sized passage, which ends at points close to the surface. Right at Sandy Junction leads to pitches up of 8m and 5m (single ropes in place). These lead to the Lost Series where a couple of routes lead to Saville Row, a large chamber. Several routes via short climbs up and a large aven, connect to a 4m pitch up (single rope in place) to Two Owls Passage. A rope was installed on the traverse in the main route beyond here at Easter 1998. In 1997, small extensions were made in the area of Saville Row.

In 1998, extensions off Patrick's Silly Passage - the Peardrop Series - were explored. A squeeze leads to a roped traverse and a climb up of 4m in a draughting passage to a 6m pitch and a 5m pitch (which can be bypassed) into a 6m wide chamber which chokes in both directions. In 1999 1st Return was extended past an exposed bold step into the continuation of the passage over an area of high vertical rifts. About 60m of rift/tube to a tall rift with an aven at one end. The draught is lost. In 1999 the large Fossil Chamber back on the main route was surveyed and was found to contain a couple of 100m+ avens. In Two Owls Passage, before the traverse, a couple of pitches were dropped; one, a very muddy 11m blind shaft; two, rigged off the traverse line on the main route, is a climb down to a 10m pitch which chokes to the left and to the right goes 5m to a window to a further 5m drop, undescended.

References: anon., 1981 (logbook); Corrin J et al, 1981a (survey and photo); Corrin J, 1981; Corrin J, 1983c; material in file; anon., 1987 (logbook); Corrin J and Knights S, 1988 (survey and photo); anon., 1988 (logbook); Cawthorne B and Neill A, 1990; Davis J and Corrin J, 1989; Cawthorne R, 1987; anon., 1989 (logbook); Neill A et al, 1989; Corrin J, 1990 (photo); anon., 1991 (logbook); Neill Ali, 1991; Corrin J, 1992a; Corrin J, 1992b (survey); anon., 1993b (logbook); Neill Alasdair and Jackson Keith, 1993; Corrin J, 1994a; Corrin Juan, 1995b; Corrin J, 1994b (survey); anon., 1995a (Easter logbook); anon., 1995b (Whit logbook); anon., 1995c (logbook); anon., 1996a (Easter logbook); Corrin Juan, 1997a; Corrin Juan, 1997b; anon., 1997b (logbook); Corrin Juan, 1998; anon., 1998a (Easter logbook); anon., 1998d (logbook); García José León, 1997 (survey); Corrin Juan, 1997c; Corrin Juan, 1999; anon., 1999c (logbook); Corrin Juan, 2000 
Entrance picture :
Underground picture(s): entrance passage
Scanned slides by Alisdair Neill (1996). Click to enlarge.

traverse	Chocolate Slice	St Ann's Passage
Surveying in St Ann's	p12 between Choc Slice and St Ann's	Traverse into St Ann's

Detailed Survey : 1:1000 (226kb gif file)
Line Survey :
On area survey : North Vega caves - line survey
Survex file :