Lancaster Hole to County Pot, via the High-Level Route and Manchester Bypass

From Ease Gill

Lancaster Hole Entrance Series[edit | edit source]

The entrance pitch is 30m deep.

  • 40m rope (with minimal rigging); Y-hang from drilled thread and bolt; rebelay from one or two bolts at -1.5m; Y-hang from two bolts at -5m. (The pitch has many superfluous bolts, which should be ignored.)

The pitch lands in a 5m diameter chamber. Two rifts lead off. [The left-hand rift, to the south, leads to Slug World.] The way on is to the right. A short climb reaches a ledge. The continuing passage soon crosses a ridge and descends a long boulder slope. Several routes lead off from the slope.

  • The first two passages lead to Sand Caverns;

At the bottom of the slope is Bridge Hall, a large chamber containing a rock arch.

  • [Ahead leads towards the Colonnades.]
  • The normal way on is at the bottom of the chamber, a descent through boulders, Kath's Way, leading to Bill Taylor's Passage.

Bill Taylor's Passage[edit | edit source]

Kath's Way descends through boulders, past two scaffold bars. This drops into a stooping/crawling passage with a small stream trench. The passage gradually enlarges. It passes a chamber with water entering from the roof. The main passage then turns to the left; [ahead leads to Sand Caverns]. This leads to a slightly awkward climb through a V-shaped slot between a large boulder and the left-hand wall, or a stoop underneath to the right. Beyond, the passage splits.

  • To the right is the quickest route to Fall Pot.

Bill Taylor's Passage to Fall Pot[edit | edit source]

From the junction at the end of Bill Taylor's Passage, turning right gives the choice of two ascending mud slopes. Ascending the left-hand slope leads up to a slot, and then a descending mud slope.

[Turning left at the bottom of the slope leads to a careful step across a hole. Beyond, the mud slope leads up to Montagu Passage West, while turning left soon leads back to the junction at the end of Bill Taylor's Passage.]

Turning right at the bottom of the mud slope, and following the right-hand side of the passage, passes a hole in the floor; care: the hole drops into the main streamway. The passage soon leads to a balcony overlooking Fall Pot, with the sound of inlets entering. At the start of the balcony, on the right, is the top of an 8m hand-line climb down between boulders (rope in situ, March 2016).

At the base of the climb, to the left leads after a few steps to a rift between a very large boulder and the right wall. This opens out by a stal boss with large stals above. A choice of two routes, either to the right, or descending to the left under huge jammed boulders, leads to Fall Pot.

Fall Pot[edit | edit source]

Fall Pot is a major junction in Lancaster Hole.

In extremely wet weather, the streamway backs up from the sump, and floods the whole of this area.

The following are described from near a memorial plaque on the wall, in a clockwise direction.

  • Up-slope and to the right, just to the left of the plaque, is the start of the route towards Bill Taylor's Passage, leading to Lancaster Hole exit.
  • Down-slope, just to the right of the plaque, a route below huge jammed boulders joins the previous route.
  • Down-slope, at the bottom of the chamber, is a route down to the Main Streamway.

Montagu Passage East, from Fall Pot to Stake Pot[edit | edit source]

From Fall Pot, ascending the slope opposite the plaque leads to a 4m hand-line climb. At the top of the climb, crawling forward through boulders leads to a climb up through boulders; [alternatively, a more exposed climb above the rope reaches the same point.]

Montagu Passage starts as a fine 5m wide, 5m high passage, with an arched roof; it is mostly mud floored with some boulders. The holes in the floor should be avoided, as they drop into the main streamway: the best route is to the left part way along, then crossing to the right, and then back to the left for the final section.

After about four minutes, a rope on the left is reached, with the streamway audible below. The rope is is the top of an 8m climb down to Stake Pot.

Stake Pot[edit | edit source]

Stake Pot is a major junction on the high level route between Lancaster Hole and the caves of Easegill, with a connection down to the man streamway. The following are described in clockwise order. Each route has an in situ handline (March 2016).

  • Ascending to the left of the stream route leads to Montagu Passage East, leading to Fall Pot in Lancaster Hole.

Stake Pot to E.P.C. Series Junction[edit | edit source]

From Stake Pot, ascending the short mud slope to the east leads to a 3m hand-line climb. 30m ahead is an important junction.

  • To the right, behind some boulders, is an irregular-shaped hole, marking the start of the E.P.C. Series, leading to Link Pot.

E.P.C. Series Junction to Oxbow Corner[edit | edit source]

From the junction with the E.P.C. Series, the high level route continues as a very large passage. The route, slippery in places, passes formations. After about five minutes, a 4m hand-line climb leads up to the right. At the top of the climb is the fine Painter's Palette formations.

Three minutes ahead reaches Scylla, a large hole dropping to the streamway. This is bypassed by a ledge on the right, with a traverse line; take care to avoid damaging the footholds here.

Very soon ahead is Charybdis, another large hole dropping to the streamway. This is again bypassed by a ledge on the right, the first part with a traverse line.

A couple of minutes ahead, the floor rises towards the roof, forcing an easy crawl. The crawl opens up again.

About two minutes ahead, the passage becomes more bouldery, the left-hand wall starts to become undercut, and the right-hand wall becomes streaked with calcite. At this point is an easily missed junction.

  • 3m to the left of the trodden path is a 50cm by 70cm hole down between boulders. One metre into the hole is the start of a thin rope that acts as a guideline. Following the guideline soon leads to an awkward 3m hand-line climb down. A further 5m clamber down reaches the streamway. Downstream leads towards Stake Pot. [Upstream leads through a choke to Oxbow Corner.]
  • Continuing ahead is Oxbow Corner, and the continuing high-level route towards Easegill.

Oxbow Corner to The Minarets[edit | edit source]

Ahead, the passage soon reaches Oxbow Corner, where the passage slopes down to the left. [Descending the slope reaches the streamway; downstream, the stream can be followed through a choke towards Stake Pot.] Keeping high to the right, leads to a crawl on a mud ledge overlooking Oxbow Corner. The roof rises to allow walking in a chamber, and then lowers again into continuing crawl. Soon the roof rises again at a climb up boulders to the left into larger passage.

Clambering up boulders passes taped-off formations to the right. A short narrower section opens out at the start off the very large Oakes Cavern. The route through the cavern passes a pile of large boulders chocked against the roof, with stal bosses. The chamber soon splits near taped off formations. The way on is to the left, where a well-trodden route heads into an alcove, where a hole steps down into The Minarets.

Minarets to Cornes Cavern[edit | edit source]

The Minarets are a series of parallel minaret-shaped passages. The first passage runs for 30m to a low crawl on the right. The next passage runs back to the right for 10m to another low crawl, to the left. The final passage leads for another 10m, to a choice of climbs up to the left into Cornes Cavern.

Cornes Cavern is an extremely large chamber. A gulley can be followed through the middle of the passage. At the end of the cavern are two routes.

  • Slightly to the right, the cavern narrows into a 3m wide passage, which leads to Snail Cavern.
  • Hidden behind a very large boulder on the right at the end of Cornes Cavern, just before the route to Snail Cavern, is the start of the Mancunian Way.

Snail Cavern to Monster Cavern[edit | edit source]

From the end of Cornes Cavern, a 3m wide passage soon opens out into Snail Cavern, with formations taped-off to the left. Snail Cavern is another very large boulder-strewn passage. After about two minutes, a boulder slope leads down to the start of Monster Cavern. Three side passages are met at this point.

  • About 4m up the right-hand wall is a window, which is the end of Mainline Passage; reaching the passage requires pre-rigging: it is normally entered from the other end, near Mainline Terminus.
  • A few metres to the right of Mainline Passage, about 6m up, is another window, with a rope leading up to it (February 2016); this is Sideline Passage.
  • Below and to the right of Sideline Passage is a steep descent, which leads into Lower Snail Cavern.

Straight ahead is Monster Cavern, leading to Mainline Terminus.

Monster Cavern to Mainline Terminus[edit | edit source]

Monster Cavern is another very large (20m wide in places), boulder-strewn passage. The passage passes a blind alcove to the left. After about four minutes, Mainline Terminus is reached.

Main Line Terminus[edit | edit source]

Main Line Terminus is at the eastern end of the high-level series leading from Lancaster Hole to Easegill. Several routes lead from Main Line Terminus; in a clockwise direction:

  • To the west is the very large Monster Cavern, leading towards Lancaster Hole.
  • To the left (as seen from Monster Cavern) is an alcove, leading to a split of routes: [to the left leads to a long dug passage]; to the right leads towards Stop Pot.
  • Ahead, and slightly right (as seen from Monster Cavern), leads after 20m to a junction: to the left leads to Carrot Chamber; to the right over a mud bank is Manchester Bypass, an important flood escape route leading to County Pot.

Manchester Bypass, from Mainline Terminus to Showerbath Passage[edit | edit source]

From Mainline Terminus, the passage to the east leads, after 20m, to a junction. [To the left, a very low crawl leads to Carrot Chamber.] To the right, over a mud bank, is another junction; [to the right is Main Line Passage.] Ahead, three minutes of walking passage, with occasional boulder obstacles, and straws and stal bosses, reaches a crawl, where the floor rises. The crawl soon reaches a junction. [Ahead leads to Carrot Chamber.] Up to the right leads up into Old English Chamber.

Old English Chamber slopes up steeply. The way on is a hole by the left wall, leading downwards into Spangle Passage. The start is best tackled feet-first. Ahead is a mix of walking and crawling. Part way along, the rift can be passed at either roof or floor level. After five minutes, the rift narrows and leads down to the top of a 3m climb, which drops into Brown and Smelly Chamber; a knotted handline is in-situ (February 2016).

Brown and Smelly Passage is 5m diameter, and contains stal bosses. A hole to the left drops into a rift leading to the right. An ascent over boulders leads to the top of a 4m fixed iron ladder. [The ladder can be bypassed by a tight crawl, Coño Crawl, starting from the top.]

The ladder drops into a 10m by 2m chamber. At the far end, an ascent leads to a crawl, from where a 3m climb drops into a rift. A crawl under a perched boulder leads to a junction. To the right, a crawl leads down into Battle of Britain Chamber.

From Battle of Britain Chamber, the way to County Pot is slightly to the right. A 0.5m ascent [with another crawl below] leads into a crawl. This soon raises to walking passage, leading to Showerbath Passage in County Pot.

Battle of Britain Junction to The Broadway[edit | edit source]

From Battle of Britain Junction, the streamway soon splits at Confusion Corner. [To the left is The Snake.] [The Spout bypass enters on a ledge on the right.] After a few minutes, the Showerbath is reached. Round the corner to the right leads to a slope down into The Broadway.

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.

Broadway to County Pot Exit[edit | edit source]

From the Broadway, the route towards County Pot entrance is a 3m climb on the left-hand side of the passage (when looking upstream), part way along the largest part of the passage. Some cavers find the climb difficult: there is a foothold for the left foot near the top which makes it easier.

At the top of the climb [to the left, a boulder slope ascends to The Snake.] Round the corner to the right, is the first pitch (which needs pre-rigging; see County Pot Entrance Series).

Above the pitch is a pleasant well-sculpted passage, with a few short narrow climbs. [An inlet on the right leads to a pitch down.] After about 10 minutes caving, the entrance is reached: a 4m climb, starting on a ledge on the left.