Gaping Gill Explorations
August 1951 to May 1952
by G. W. B. W. Parker
If anyone finds something new in Gaping Gill these days a certain section of the pot-holing fraternity becomes alarmed lest it results in some fellow club triumphantly finding a way through it into Clapham Cave. These fears are always groundless when one dispassionately considers the problems involved. However, they do assume real proportions when seen through the rosy spectacles of wistful optimists. Rosy spectacles are standard equipment for the true pot-holer, otherwise the game would have been given up a long time ago.
This may explain why John Lovett, on hearing of the Brindle brothers’ new pitch, immediately telephoned the secretary of the Craven Potholers’ Club, Arnold Waterfall, for further details. Waterfall agreed that the Brindle brothers had found a new pitch, a deep one, but he didn’t know much about it. Lovett, his fears confirmed by this seeming reluctance to part with information, rang up David Brown in Knaresborough and an expedition was arranged for the next week-end in late August, 1951. August, 1951
Accompanied by B. Wilkinson the party descended Bar Pot on the Friday evening and proceeded to search Gaping Gill for this new pitch. Main Chamber was carefully explored and a bit of digging produced a small pitch followed by a short, tight, passage. Abandoning this dead end and one or two other tight places round the west end of the hall, a thorough examination of East Passage was begun. Excitement became tense when a tight passage was found running southeast out of the rock jamb at the bottom of Boulder Chamber, but progress along it showed signs of a previous visit, in point of fact the passage has been known since 1927. At the end of this passage they came across and descended the two known pots and then encouraged by a distant roar in a nearby fissure, they crawled through to what appeared to be another pitch. This distant roar of water is a remarkable feature of the far end of this passage. It is now thought to be an acoustic illusion; the rocks apparently amplify the sound of a very small stream over 100 feet below. However, this was not known at the time and the roar was the Sirens’ song which lured the party to make several further visits. As tackle was now exhausted this pitch could not be explored, so a retreat was called and the surface regained about two o’clock on the Saturday afternoon.
After a meal and a rest they returned to Bar Pot late that night. Brown and Lovett descended, Wilkinson declining to go down, quite rightly as this was his first pot-holing expedition and he was feeling pretty tired. By the time the new pitch was reached both men were having trouble with their lights, Lovett being reduced to burning candles. Fifty feet of nylon ladder was placed in position down the pitch which, owing to its extremely tight and awkward approach, had to be entered head first and descended this way until a ledge was reached where it was possible to turn round. Brown reached the end of the ladder and found himself still a long way from the bottom. Lovett came down to him with a second fifty feet of ladder, which was then attached to the first. It is a tricky manoeuvre attaching an extension on to the ladder on which one is standing, especially when the pitch is very loose and every movement results in a shower of stones.
Inspection showed the bottom to contain two small eyelet holes from which ran a short crawl. At the end of this, just out of reach, was a small stream which seemed to disappear over a waterfall but bad lights made an accurate account of the surroundings difficult and it was therefore decided to withdraw.
Both Brown and Lovett were at this time convinced that they had found a new pitch of their own, but some time later when they went down to Wales and there met the Brindle brothers, they found on comparing notes that they had only re-discovered the same pitch. The Craven Potholers’ Club men, who had presumably had a better look at the place, declared that further progress was unlikely and that as far as they were concerned the Yorkshire Ramblers’ Club could help themselves to it. December, 1951
In December another assault was arranged and five people turned up:—D. Adams, D. Brown, J. Lovett, G. Scovell and myself, four of us making the descent. Flood conditions prevailed in the pot and everyone was wet through before the bottom of Bar Pot was reached. Water was thundering down the misnamed Flood Exit Pot (no one could retreat that way in a flood) and crossing this involved a thorough showerbath. Main Chamber was filled with spray and noise but it was still possible to walk about some parts of the floor where we carried out some experiments with an ex R.A.F. Mark XIV sensitive altimeter for survey purposes. This meter looks like proving a valuable instrument in pot surveys once the proper technique has been worked out. East Pot was unapproachable owing to the torrent of water running into it, over knee deep at that end of the hall.
Entrance to East Passage was only accomplished by crawling through a waterfall, and another fall much larger barred the entrance to Boulder Chamber Passage. However, this was negotiated and the new pitch reached. Brown went down and reported about fifteen feet of water in the bottom, making further exploration impossible. We returned to East Passage and continued further along looking for other likely digs, stopping at the place where the main fissure of East Passage peters out, the main passage bearing to the right. Here Adams produced a Primus stove and made a hot drink which greatly helped the ingestion of some wet, gritty, sandwiches.
It was noticed that a candle placed in the narrow fissure straight ahead was deflected by a strong draught. The indefatigable Brown crawled into this wet, muddy, hole and declared that just beyond the point where he had become stuck the passage seemed to open out. Everyone agreed that we had had enough for the day and we retraced our way out arriving at the top of Bar Pot at about 8.0 a.m. in a very exhausted condition having been underground thirteen hours. Exhaustion was aggravated by the ensuing walk down to Clapdale carrying sopping wet tackle through a beating rainstorm. January, 1952
Another expedition went down on the 13 th January to show some members of the Fell and Rock Club round the pot. Brown took the opportunity of digging at the windy crack in far East Passage. He crawled through into a small aven but after a few feet progress was again barred, the draught continuing through a narrow horizontal fissure on the far side. The new pitch or Avalanche Pot as D. Brindle named it (see The Craven Pot-hole Club Journal, Vol. I, No. 3) was not visited on that occasion. April, 1952
Saturday the 26th April found Adams, Brown, Lovett, Harry Stembridge and myself assembled at Bar Pot again, all except Stembridge going in about noon. We had lunch in Mud Hall at 3.0 p.m. and were descending Avalanche Pot at about 4.30 p.m. The entrance to the pitch was enlarged by Brown so that it is now possible to enter feet first. In the process he broke the head off our only hammer and this dropped down an adjacent pitch. He was sent down to recover it, not without some of those expletives so deplored by Mr. ” C.H.” of the C.P.C. Adams, who seems to be able to produce any mortal thing in a pot found a large knife in the remoter parts of his kit-bag and with this the hammer head was reshafted.
During the four hours that Lovett and Brown were banging away at the bottom of the pitch Adams produced his usual stove pans, and the rest of the makings of a brew of cocoa. It should be mentioned that he is an acetylene fan as far as lights are concerned thus his kit-bag contains, besides cooking gear and food, all the surprising apparatus associated with keeping those infernal devices going, thus in a pot-hole he has the appearance of a travelling ironmonger.
Following a prodigious amount of banging and stone moving, the two diggers, after nearly walling themselves in, reported that no further progress was possible with their inadequate tools and that a further expedition would be necessary. Everyone was out of the pot well before midnight after a very smooth-running expedition. May, 1952
A fortnight later, at the meet at Dent, an encouraging number of members visited the Upper Ease Gill cave system, some finding their way via ” Poetic Justice ” to the lower Lancaster Pot regions. From these it was hoped to raise a large party to knock the bottom out of Avalanche Pot the following week-end. Enthusiasm was lacking and apart from the members of the last expedition only Wharldall and A. Tallon promised to come.
The following Friday evening four of us left for Austwick where we collected the ladders and went up to Bar Pot. Some B.S.A. members were putting in their ladders when we arrived so we took a walk round the moor until they had finished. The weather had been very dry and little water was flowing over the lip of Gaping Gill.
On our return to Bar Pot we found theB.S.A. ladderers coming out. We rigged the pot alongside their ladders without any difficulty from crossed tackle, and returned to enjoy the hospitality of Sheila Lovett at Harden, where we were joined by Tallon and Wharldall.
Everyone was up at 5.30 a.m. the next morning and we entered Bar Pot before 7.30 a.m. Avalanche Pot was quickly reached and rigged. A large crowbar and a hammer were thrown down the pitch, together with some sacks for transporting stores. As we anticipated a long stay, a telephone was also rigged. Brown went down first, his report over the phone was that he was unable to find the hammer or the sacks, not a very good start. Lovett followed him down and entered the small passage, making rapid progress with the crowbar. Brown eventually found the sacks and hammer head with no shaft. Wharldall was next to go down and when about half way a shout of ” below ” announced the start of an alarming avalanche of stones. After an agonising pause Brown announced over the phone that he was all right but that several rungs towards the bottom of the ladder had been smashed.
Much banging and movement of bags of stones was followed by the entry into a small short stream passage which runs parallel to East Passage and towards Mud Hall. This has a waterfall going down a crack about twelve feet deep. The bottom of this must be over 480 ft. below the surface, probably lower than some of the higher bedding planes of Clapham Cave. When we visited this pitch in flood conditions the water was backing up at least twenty feet above this level. Probably in times of very high flood, when several feet of water collect in Main Chamber, the water backs up this pitch to a higher level, and might even appear in the bottom of Mud Hall, as the lowest part of its floor is only about forty feet higher. Should an expedition visit the system under these very wet conditions they should note if there is any water standing in Mud Hall. This might throw some light on the theory that a large master drain runs under Mud Hall.
The three men at the bottom of the pitch all had a go at the crack but it will only just admit a body which then acts as a cork and the water begins to collect round one. This tightness precludes further descent and despite encouragement and finally threats over the phone the project was abandoned.
Once again the realists who sat at home and shook their heads have been proved right, the law of diminishing returns has set in on Gaping Gill with a vengeance. But look at a survey of the area, slowly that gap between Gaping Gill and Clapham Cave is being filled. As Edward Calvert said at the end of his paper in the first volume of our Journal (Y.R.C.J., Vol. I, No. 2, page 132).
” These expeditions prove that if it be possible to pass from Gaping Gill to the upper part of Clapham Cave, the way is difficult to find and difficult to follow.”