An Afternoon Down Roaring Hole
It was 3 p.m. at the Hill
Inn on a photogenic day as we set off towards the grandeur of Ingleborough.
Tourists gaped at us as I carried a crowbar, rope, ladders, cement, a bucket and
a scaffolding pole. Frank Walker carried an even odder selection of spades,
etc. - our aim - a promising dig 400 feet underground, leading upstream towards
Sunset Hole and to de-tackle & take out sledge hammers, etc.
The pot itself is somewhat bizarre, consisting of short stream passages and
several large but totally different chambers. The steep boulder floors of these
chambers mean one descends very quickly with very few pitches to a stream
passage and a blind pot. There is a traverse round this, then two minor pitches
into a short but atmospheric passage, the water from Sunset Hole which suddenly
thunders down a 30 foot shaft into a very deep sump The hole is 440 feet deep -
a total of 80 feet having been dug!!.
We were soon at the entrance dig and dropped into Machu Pichu chamber then via
the next dig into the huge Auditorium Chamber. Poles & tackle were pushed
and dropped down the next excavated hole end soon we scrambled through to the
Morecambe Pier dig, 30 foot deep, is name arising from it’s building materials
and also as a flood warning. We then descended 150 feet via this and Mason
& Slab Chambers to the next bit of streamway, picking up more tackle and
cementing a pole in to support some dicey boulders en route. Soon we arrived at
the blind pitch, put a pole in ‘for a belay and descended taking with us a mass
of tackle in a large net sack. At the bottom, a large mass of river type
boulders lead up & over to an obvious flood rising from Sunset, 500 feet
away.
We dug along the low crawl, ten feet away the roof obviously lifted - soon we were in a short rift passage, then a fissure to a 4 foot drop which was forced with a bit of hammering. Onward lay a phreatic ramp sloping downwards. The obvious fact that tennis ball sized boulders had been forced up this and the 4 foot climb made one uneasy - this was not a hydro jet tube but more like a volcano vent. In front lay a U-tube where digging was impossible and not desirable. Sunset was now only 400 feet away on the same rift..
We now had the task of
taking out our present digging tools and all the others strewn about the cave.
Fortunately most fitted into the net sack which with the aid of a rope was
dragged along. Eventually we arrived at Mud Chamber where Frank got the idea of
cleaning it up. This included coiling up 100 feet of six inch fire hose -
thankfully too ‘heavy’ to drag out. Then we gathered up the really heavy gear
and set off to the first pitch where we hid the scaling pole and demolished the
dam. The cave roared back into its normal life. On nearing the entrance, Frank
even decided to remove the wooden ladders - these were taken out and used as a
stretcher for the huge bag of gear. Just
as well, it was too
heayy. for our backs as we stumbled and fell towards the car.
Tackle required :- 1st Pitch. 25 foot
ladder.
Slab Chamber. 25 foot ladder or rope.
Blind Pitch Traverse, Rope essential.
2nd. Pitch. 15 foot ladder.
3rd. Pitch. 15 foot ladder.
Last Pitch 30 foot ladder, long
belay.
Blind Pitch, 25 foot Ladder.
Hazards:— In extreme conditions even the dig to the first pitch has been a millrace sump. Despite its Bar Pot- like location, water from Sweetwater Hole & Meregill Diversion enter the cave.
A.
Walsh.