County Pot to Mainline Terminus via Manchester Bypass

From Ease Gill

County Pot Entrance Series[edit | edit source]

An easy 4m climb down leads into a pleasant winding passage. [An inlet on the left leads to a pitch down.] Five minutes pleasant caving in a well-sculpted passage with short climbs leads to the first pitch.

  • Ladder descent: 8m ladder rigged to two P-bolts; 20m lifeline.
  • SRT descent: 12m rope; back-up to P-bolt; Y-hang off two P-bolts.

There are two ways on from the bottom of the pitch.

  • The normal route is a 3m climb down, just round the corner from the pitch. This lands in The Broadway.
  • Ascending a boulder slope to the right reaches a crawl to The Snake.

The Broadway[edit | edit source]

The Broadway is a large passage in the County Pot entrance series. There are four routes from the Broadway.

  • Upstream, the stream can be followed for a few minutes until the roof lowers; eventually an aven is reached.
  • Downstream to the left, following the stream, is Razor Passage, leading to Molluscan Hall.
  • Downstream to the right, over a rock slope, is Showerbath Passage, leading to Trident Series, the Manchester Bypass, and Eureka Junction.
  • Part way along the largest part, on the left (looking upstream), is a 3m climb up into the County Pot Exit Series.

Showerbath Passage, from Broadway to Battle of Britain Junction[edit | edit source]

Showerbath Passage is easy walking passage. The Showerbath itself is on the first bend, bringing in a sizeable streamway.

Downstream, an inlet on the right leads to a climb, [and then becomes small.] After a few minutes, Confusion Corner is reached. [To the right is The Snake, the original route from Oxford Pot]. [On a ledge on the left is the start of a crawl, which rejoins the main route in Spout Hall; this provides a useful bypass to The Spout in bad weather.]

Shortly after, are two side passages on a ledge on the right.

Ahead leads towards Poetic Justice.

Manchester Bypass, from County Pot to Main Line Terminus[edit | edit source]

The Manchester Bypass is usually reached from Showerbath Passage in County Pot, starting on a ledge on the right, 1m above the stream, a few metres upstream of The Spout. A walking-size passage leads, after about 10m, to a junction. To the left, a crawl leads into Battle Of Britain Chamber, a low flat-roofed chamber. A stream flows through the chamber in very wet weather.

The way into Manchester Bypass is slightly to the right, a crawl up over boulders. About 5m from the centre of Battle of Britain Chamber, where the passage becomes taller, is a crawl off to the left. This leads over boulders and below perched boulders, into a taller passage. A few steps ahead, a 3m climb up the rift leads to a crawl, which opens up at the top of a descent into a 10m by 2m chamber. At the far end of the chamber is a 4m fixed iron ladder.

At the top of the ladder, a rift leads off to the left. [The ladder can by bypassed by a tight crawl, Coño Crawl, entering on the right at the top of the ladder.] The passage soon closes down. The way on is through a window to the left at head height, which enters Brown and Smelly Chamber, a 5m diameter chamber with stal bosses.

To the right in Brown and Smelly Chamber is a 3m climb up, with an in-situ knotted handline (February 2016). This enters Spangle Passage, which starts as a narrow ascending rift, but soon widens. A mix of walking and crawling leads after five minutes to Old English Chamber, sloping up to the left.

The way on is a hole down on the right at the bottom of the chamber, which soon reaches a junction of crawls. [To the right, a very low crawl leads to Carrot Chamber.] To the left, the floor soon lowers to reach comfortable walking passage with straws and stal bosses. Ahead, three minutes of walking, with occasional boulder obstacles, reaches a junction. [To the left is Main Line Passage.] Ahead, a step up and over a mud bank reaches another junction. [To the right leads to Carrot Chamber.] 20m ahead is Main Line Terminus.