County Pot to Mainline Terminus via Manchester Bypass

County Pot Entrance Series

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

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

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.

• [The first passage soon closes down.]
• The second passage leads to Battle Of Britain Chamber, leading to Manchester Bypass and Trident Series.

Ahead leads towards Poetic Justice.

Manchester Bypass, from County Pot to Main Line Terminus

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.