Lancaster Hole to County Pot, via the Main Streamway

Lancaster Hole Entrance Series

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;

• The lowest passage leads to The Graveyard.

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

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.

• To the left leads to Montagu Passage West, and an alternative route to Fall Pot.

Bill Taylor's Passage to Fall Pot

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

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.

• Up-slope and to the left, opposite the plaque, is a climb into Montagu Passage East.

Fall Pot to Main Streamway

The route from Fall Pot to the Main Streamway is near the bottom of the chamber, on the left. A couple of metres after a passage to the left under huge chocked boulders (which leads to Lancaster Hole), is a climb down. This leads to a further climb down between boulders. An easy descending route through boulders leads to the top of a 3m high rock. Descending this to the left leads down to a platform overlooking the streamway 4m below. Descending to the right, below the inlet, leads down to the stream.

• Downstream soon leads to the downstream sump.

• Upstream leads to Stake Pot.

Note: the streamway becomes impassible in very wet conditions.

Main Streamway from Fall Pot to Stake Pot

Upstream from Fall Pot is a fine streamway with occasional water chutes and boulder obstacles. Three deeper pools are passed, before, about five minutes from Fall Pot, a boulder choke is reached. An easy route ascends through the boulders. The streamway also ascends, so the route stays quite close to the stream. After a couple of minutes, the route opens out into a much larger space, below Stake Pot.

• The route to Stake Pot is to double-back above the point of entry, and to ascend over and between boulders, following the right-hand wall. This leads to a 2m hand-line climb using staples in the wall. Above, a short mud slope leads to Stake Pot.

• Ahead, the streamway leads to Oxbow Corner.

Main Streamway from Stake Pot to Oxbow Corner

The streamway continues upstream, mostly knee-deep, but with some deeper sections. It is a fine streamway, with good formations.

After about 10 minutes, the streamway hits a boulder choke, with boulders chocked above the stream. Almost immediately upon entering the choke, there is a way up into the high level to the left. [Alternatively, the streamway can be followed through the choke to Oxbow Corner.] Clambering up 5m onto the ledge to the left reaches the bottom of a handline. This is an awkward 3m climb. At the top of the climb, a thin rope acts as a guideline. Following the guideline between boulders soon pops out into large passage.

• Turning slightly left on exiting the choke leads towards Oxbow Corner, the Minarets, and the continuing high-level route towards Easegill.

• Doubling back to the right is the high-level route to Stake Pot.

Oxbow Corner to The Minarets

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

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

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

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

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.

Mainline Terminus to Stop Pot

From Mainline Terminus, the route to Stop Pot is in an alcove to the left (as seen from Monster Cavern). This soon splits; [the route to the left leads to a long dig]. To the right, stooping leads into a wider area, with straws on the roof and stal to the left. The easiest route is to follow the right-hand wall, a slightly precarious route over large boulders. The way narrows to a 2m wide passage. Just before this passage, the best route is down between boulders, before the final boulder: a 2m climb with hidden footholds to the right, followed by an easier 1.5m descent under the final boulder.

Walking passage, 1-2m wide, continues, with boulder obstacles. After two minutes, the way goes up a slope to the left, often with the stream audible; [ahead soon closes down]. A 5m diameter chamber is entered, which narrows again. 5m ahead, there is a route down between boulders, marked by a rope, which leads to the top of a fixed 6m ladder.

The ladder lands at the top of a boulder slope. Following the slope for 40m (with 20m of descent) meets the streamway at Stop Pot. Most of the way down the slope, on the right, is the route to Four Ways, a flood-escape route into Wretched Rabbit.

Stop Pot

Stop Pot is a major junction in the Easegill streamway. It is in a very bouldery area, with a boulder choke downstream.

Several routes lead from Stop Pot. The following are described from a position in the streamway, surrounded by boulders, at the base of the boulder slope leading up to the fixed ladder, where the streamway splits. In a clockwise direction:

• Upstream, following the left-hand wall, leads to Holbeck Junction.

• A few metres upstream, on the right-hand wall, a climb onto a ledge leads to Depot Passages.

• Following the stream downstream to the left, and clambering ahead over boulders leads to a dry route through the choke, towards Eureka Junction.

• Between the two branches of the stream is a large ascending boulder slope; part way up the boulder slope, on the left, is the route to Four Ways, a flood-escape route into Wretched Rabbit.

• At the top of the boulder slope is the Stop Pot ladder, up to Mainline Terminus at the start of the high-level route leading towards Lancaster Hole and Cow Pot, with a connection to Link Pot, Pippikin Pot, Bye George, Peterson Pot, and Mistral.

• Following the stream downstream to the right leads to the wet route through the choke, towards Eureka Junction.

Stop Pot to Eureka Junction

In reasonably dry conditions, the easiest route from Stop Pot to Eureka Junction is to follow the streamway, near the right-hand wall. The route is in, or just above, the stream, all the way through the choke.

[Alternatively, from Stop Pot, a drier route starts by following the stream to the left, into the boulders. A slight left turn leads into a flat-roofed crawl, with some small stal on the left. The crawl becomes lower, and has an orange floor in places. The way opens out beyond the choke, and a short slope leads back down to the streamway, to rejoin the wet route.]

Beyond the choke, two minutes of easy walking in a large stream passage leads to Eureka Junction.

Eureka Junction

Eureka Junction is in the Easegill streamway, where the route from County Pot and the Wretched Rabbit traditional route hit the streamway. Note: this area floods to the roof in wet weather.

• Downstream, a stooping passage leads after a couple of minutes to a choke.

• Upstream leads to Stop Pot.

• To the left of the streamway is an obvious muddy passage. Very soon, this reaches a junction: to the left is Wretched Rabbit; to the right leads to Poetic Justice in County Pot.

Eureka Junction to Pierce's Passage

A muddy passage leads off to the left of the streamway at Eureka Junction. This very soon reaches a junction: [to the left is Wretched Rabbit.] Ahead, the passage continues as a roof oxbow, which soon steps down into a tall stream passage, Pierce's Passage. A few minutes upstream, the floor changes from boulders to bed rock, and two prominent calcite bands mark the climb up to Ignorance is Bliss. Continuing upstream, soon a climb up through boulders reaches another junction, with the streamway entering from the left.

• Following the dry passage, slightly right, leads towards Poetic Justice.

• Following the water upstream, to the left, leads into Trident Series.

Pierce's Passage to Poetic Justice

Ahead, two minutes of easy walking leads to the Poetic Junction pitch (P6), which needs pre-rigging. Ascending this leads to a streamway rift passage (often dry). [Ahead, upstream, is a route to Battle of Britain Chamber.] The normal route is a step up to the right into a bedding plane with stal bosses. A few metres ahead reaches a window looking out over the County Pot streamway. In front of the window is a narrow, 3m calcited chimney, Poetic Justice. Sliding down this drops into the stream.

• Downstream to the right leads to Platypus Junction, passing Ignorance is Bliss.

• Upstream to the left leads towards The Broadway, giving the quickest route to the County Pot Exit.

Poetic Justice to Battle of Britain Junction

From Poetic Justice, the normal route to Broadway is a short crawl in the streamway. [Alternatively, a longer, dry, well-decorated route is to the right.] The two routes unite in Spout Hall, a large chamber, about 10m by 8m, sloping up ahead and to the right.

The normal route is to ascend The Spout, by stepping up from a ledge on the right. [Alternatively, ascending to the right leads to a bypass.] Ahead soon reaches a junction, at two side passages from a ledge on the left.

• The first side passage leads to Battle Of Britain Chamber and Manchester Bypass.
• [The second side passage soon closes down.]
• Ahead leads to The Broadway.

Battle of Britain Junction to The Broadway

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.

Broadway to County Pot Exit

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.