Gaping Gill - Bar Pot to Main Chamber inc Mud Hall
This place had been a big to-do for sometime now, and as the weather didn't permit us to attempt any other system in the area we headed over to 'Gill' as it's generally regarded as an all weather cave
Situated in the Yorkshire Dales, Gill is famous for the UK's biggest cave chamber, and with a shaft of 105M is the second biggest to Titan at 141M
I wasn't sure if my foot would be up to it, as there is a lot to contend with, as it's a challenging & complex system
After a 45 minute walk, carrying rope and all manner of gear we arrived at the top of the main shaft, the point where the fell beck plummits 105M down into the main chamber
There was an unusual amount of activity, turns out that the Bradford Pothole Club had set up for one of their annual winch meets
We intended to enter the system at Bar Pot and head towards the Main chamber via the trade route, but thought we better say hello out of courtesy (nice bunch of chaps)
Luckily the entrances and some of the traverse's were pre-rigged, so we ditched our rope and made our way over to Bar Pot...
The entrance to Bar Pot is a little tricky, in the fact that there are 2 pitches, the first one being a 20M (a real tight squeeze), I just about made it down!
Once down I had a quick breather and carried on down the second 37M pitch
At the bottom we bumped into a group of beards who had come for a mooch, and watched us ab down
I looked back up thinking fook I've gotta SRT back up that lot later
Along the way was a variety of stooping, crawling, a fair bit of climbing and getting filthy & wet, but it was all worth it just to see the Main Chamber alone
Although we did pass the Main Chamber first, we carried on to take a look at Mud Hall, the name is definately befitting to the conditions in here
Just the one pic, as I was soaked, covered in mud and quite honestly too tired to bother by this point
Sorry the pic doesn't do it justice, as it's one bloody huge chamber!
During such winch meets, they divert the Fell Beck down Rat Hole, another impressive shaft which one day I will have a crack at, but 4 pitches @ 135M that will have to wait for another day
It's equally as impressive in full flow I even managed a quick shower to wash away the mud
Lastly the Main Shaft - 105M of pure win, one day I would love to abseil down here past the waterfall, in the meantime I can only look up and dream
I managed to store enough energy to crawl back and SRT out, it was an amazing experience, but very tiring at the same time
If anyone is interested the winch is open to the public from 28th May - 3rd june
