Manchester Bypass, from Mainline Terminus to County Pot

Manchester Bypass, from Mainline Terminus to Showerbath Passage

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.

• To the left (upstream) leads to Broadway;
• To the right (downstream) leads to Poetic Justice.