Flood Entrance: Gaping Ghyll
By W. H. Greenwood.
Given two hundred feet of ladder, a life line and a party of five, and Gaping Ghyll can now be descended in two or three hours – one man with no rope and no life line can do it in twice as many seconds, but that would be another story. It would seem therefore that Gaping Ghyll has now been brought within the reach of all, but, lest any sporting Rambler should fear that the passages will become congested with sight-seers, we hasten to explain that the descent by the Main Hole and the winch is a pleasant jaunt in comparison with that by the route now to be described. Most people, again, who have acquired a fondness for easy descents have been impelled thereto by an increase of weight which usually betrays itself in the medial cross-section of the body, and as to enter the new passage there is a testing-gauge of eight inches width, this will effectually bar all but the select few.
The credit of this discovery, one of the most important yet made in connection with Gaping Ghyll, is due to the members of the Yorkshire Speleological Association and is the result not of a lucky chance but of scientific observation and induction. During their exploration of the S.E. Passage of Gaping Ghyll[1] in August 1908, several observations were made, which may be summarised as follows:-
(1). The roof of the S.E. Passage rises to a great height over the S.E. Pot-hole, or the Two Hundred-foot Pot as it is usually called, (although, by the way, it has a depth of only 160 feet), and out of the darkness descends a cascade the height of which was found to be over 100 feet.
(2). At the bottom of the Two Hundred-foot Pot were found several flies and a red worm. This latter remarkable creature was still alive, after its descent of 500 feet, and apparently in good spirits.
(3). In that part of the S.E. Passage between the Great Chamber and the Two Hundred-foot Pot a strong current of air was felt, but no trace of one beyond.
These observations pointed to the certainty of a communication between the roof and the upper surface, and to the possibility of a large and free communication by a passage. It was hoped that the upper end of this passage would be at a place vertically above the Two Hundred-foot Pot, and to find out the exact spot, very accurate measurements of the distance and direction of this pot from the Great Chamber were made with the help of the Y.S.A.’s plan of the S.E. Passage, and then, commencing from the Main Hole, these measurements were planned out on the moor above. In this way a spot was fixed upon which it was thought would be vertically above the Two Hundred-foot Pot, and, with this as a centre, search was made all around for a promising opening, which it was thought would most probably be found in a line of shake-holes situated to the N. of the marked spot, as these holes probably denoted the jointing line of the rock. After some disappointments, a small hole, blocked by glacial matter, was entered and appeared promising, as its sides were well fluted by water action, and, moreover, underground water could be heard splashing and falling with that musical chink which so frequently means a “way through.” Several visits to this hole were made before it could be partially freed from the glacial débris, but at length it was entered, and the explorations were pushed further and further in successive visits until, in August.
1909, three men succeeded in descending into the S.E. Passage, and two others, who had entered Gaping Ghyll by the Main Hole, made their exit in the opposite direction. The passage was thereupon named “Flood Entrance,” as it seemed to offer the possibility of an entrance into Gaping Ghyll, even with Fell Beck in flood.
The descent by Flood Entrance is as exhilarating and varied a trip as the heart of any pot-holer could wish for. Indeed, to do the “Round Tour,” i.e. down Flood Entrance, along the S.E. Passage, and up the Main Hole by winch, makes probably the finest pot-holing excursion possible in this country.
The entrance to the passage lies 850 feet to the S. (by 10° W.) of Gaping Ghyll, and is the small black hole in the shallow depression immediately below the central figure in the photograph. This hole widens immediately into a small chamber which is apparently closed, but a search will reveal in one corner a small vertical crack, 8 or 9 inches wide, called “The Bottle Neck,” (Plan A, Section a). This is entered feet first, and if one of the chosen few, you drop by the action of gravity some six or eight feet. Those called but not chosen are with difficulty persuaded by their friends above to return. In the first days of the exploration this Bottle Neck gave great trouble, as it was only five inches wide, and had to be enlarged by chipping off the edges with a hammer. The first man to go through was chosen on account of his extreme attenuation, and the next, whose figure was more mellowed, literally scraped through, and then only when one man stood on his shoulders above while another swung on his legs below. After the scraps of clothing and skin had been removed from the rock it was deemed advisable to make the opening a little wider. Now it is eight or nine inches wide and the more willowy refer to it scornfully as “an exposed face climb.”
From the Bottle Neck the passage slopes downwards for a distance, until the floor, composed of fallen stones, gives out entirely, and nothing is left of the passage but the walls. These walls are only eight or nine inches apart and it is necessary to drop vertically down between them for a distance of over 40 feet. A ladder can be fixed, but after the first few feet it only gives hold to the left hand and left foot. The descent of this “Forty-Foot Squeeze,” (Plan B, Section b), will not be very difficult to the average pot-holer, but the ascent, after some hours below, may prove extremely exhausting, as there are no holds whatever on the rock and no help can be given from either above or below. In pot-holing, an accident at any time is awkward, but one that happened below this pitch would be something worse. At the bottom of the Squeeze is a passage called “The S-shaped Tube,” which gives useful practice in contortion.
From this point onwards for a long distance the passage is almost level and for the most part very low, requiring continuous crawling in mud and water. In this section the hope of keeping dry, which springs eternal in the pot-holer’s breast, is finally extinguished, and in its stead comes that fine recklessness which makes the wading of the pools at the end a matter of indifference. Here too, have been found a large number of bones, and as the noses of successive parties have passed close over them many speculations as to their origin have been indulged in, the wildest of which is that they are the bones of exhausted prisoners lost in attempting to escape from Gaping Ghyll after being lowered into it by the Romans, who are said to have used the Main Chamber as an oubliette![2] This theory, however, does not explain the presence among the bones of a fine cloven hoof.
After passing the pools and an aven one enters a small chamber which affords a welcome opportunity for a rest and straightening of the back. This chamber from the day of its discovery has been called “The Cigarette Chamber,” (Plan C, Section c), for reasons not to be publicly made known. Proceeding, it is necessary to lie full length and drag oneself along the bed of a trickle of water which flows away underneath the rock wall on the right, and, some distance further on, one reaches a drop of 13 feet, (Plan D, Section d). It is just possible to climb this, but a knotted rope is advisable, as there is a large pool at the bottom.
Next comes a wide and low bedding-plane along which one can crawl in every direction. Two large pot-holes and a fair sized chamber have been found to open from it, and it is quite possible that other features of interest yet remain to be discovered. The route lies by the pot-hole on the right – the other has not yet been descended – and this is quite a ‘museum piece,’ as collectors say, with its little waterfall, cylindrical shape and vertical walls. It is 42 feet deep and is usually referred to as the Forty-foot Pot (Plan E, Section e). To descend this a ladder is for the first time necessary, unless a man is left at the top, when a knotted rope can be used – the method adopted at the first descent. At the bottom are two passages and that along which the water flows away is followed. For a considerable distance the air-current is so strong that, as yet, it has been found impossible to keep a naked candle alight.
The passage now becomes larger, the descent steeper, and the re-echoing sound of falling water suggests an open chamber of some size. In two or three places, (Plan F, Section f), the slope is so steep that it is necessary to climb, and to climb too with great care, as the rocks are exceedingly brittle. On two occasions members of the first party found large handholds snap off, in one case leaving a clean rock fracture nine inches long. At length the passage enters a chamber in the middle of which yawns a really imposing chasm, (Plan G, Section g). This is in fact the chamber over the Two hundred-foot Pot of the S.E. Passage, and a dropped stone falls 135 feet upon the edge of the pot below. A good belay offers anchorage for the line of ladders, which should be placed as far as possible to the right, because from this point they will hang quite freely. The descent is merely monotonous and is only enlivened about half way by a pleasing shower bath. The lower end of the ladder hangs near the edge of the pot but not too near for safety. Thus Gaping Ghyll is reached and if the winch is in operation the “Round Tour” can be completed. If the return journey has to be made by the Flood Entrance, it must not be forgotten that the conveyance of tackle proves more than a mere weariness, and that the most difficult part of the return is at the end.
To those who wish to explore the extreme end of the S.E. Passage it may be mentioned that the first section, (Plan H, Section h), is rather dangerous, as the floor on which one has to walk consists of an arch of fallen stones spanning the Two Hundred-foot Pot. These stones are continually giving way and as they have a sheer fall to the bottom of the first pitch, an exploring party should consist of not less than three, with a rope.
During the exploration of Flood Entrance, an innovation in lighting was introduced, in the shape of a miner’s open lamp, burning acetylene, and it proved an unqualified success. Once filled with carbide it gave a most brilliant and steady light for over eight hours and this light remained steady in a strong draught when all candle-lights had been blown out. The flame is not easily extinguished by falling water, as was shown when the first Round Tour was made, the lamp used by the party remaining unquenched through the shower-baths of Flood Entrance and the heavier waterfall of the Main Shaft. That it is strong enough for the rough usage inseparable from pot-holing was proved during a recent visit, when a lamp was accidentally knocked down the Forty-Foot Squeeze and after reaching the bottom continued to burn quite steadily and showed no sign of damage.
“Would the Flood Entrance afford a means of escape to a party water-bound in Gaping Ghyll?” is a question which has been much discussed, and on which there is a wide divergence of opinion. This much is very probable: that a rescue-party could reach the head of the long pitch over the Two Hundred-foot Pot, for so much of the descent has twice been made when Fell Beck was in high flood. On those occasions shower-baths were frequently passed through but no heavy volume of water was encountered until the steep slope above the final 135 foot pitch, (Plan G, Section g), was reached, when the stream attained a fair size before taking its long leap. Whether a man could ascend through this waterfall is the question on which opinions differ and will continue to differ until some unlucky party provides the correct answer.