Gaping Ghyll In Flood

By Alexander Rule.

An expedition of pot-holers to Gaping Ghyll is a matter of such frequent occurrence nowadays as to attract but slight attention from the outside world.  But at Whitsuntide of 1909 the Clerk of the Weather, the real master of the situation on these occasions, was the means of conferring on some members of the Club no little fame, if only of that ephemeral kind which is the outcome of notice in the daily press.

An exceptionally dry spell of weather had aroused visions of a delightful time on Ingleborough, with just sufficient water in Fell Beck to supply the needs of the camp.  But the last week of May saw a return to what one may almost describe as ” normal conditions,” and the advance party which assembled at Clapham on the Friday evening accomplished the long walk up to Gaping Ghyll in pouring rain.

Arrived at the camp ground we set about the erection of tents and got everything, including ourselves, under cover as speedily as possible, and in spite of the deluge passed a very comfortable night.

Next morning sundry energetic individuals roused the camp at the usual unearthly hour, and the preliminaries to a descent, so well known by this time as to make further description unnecessary, were begun in earnest.

The weather had improved considerably, but the beck was running high and rendered our original intention to descend both by ladders and windlass impracticable ; so we decided on the latter method and directed all our energies to turning the water out of the Side Passage into the Main Shaft.

The windlass was rigged up, the camp got ready, and by the time the rest of the party arrived in the evening, everything was in order for the descent. 

The chief object of the expedition was to re-explore and complete the survey of the Old S.E. Passage, of which reference to the earliest plan of Gaping Ghyll^[1] will show a considerable portion was left unsurveyed at the time of its discovery, and we now decided, instead of surveying this portion only, to make a new plan of the whole S.E. system, commencing at the exit from the Great Chamber.

Arrangements were accordingly made for two parties to descend, one for exploration and the other to carry out the survey.

On Saturday evening there were seventeen men in camp, and several others made their headquarters in Clapham village.  We especially welcomed Dr. Norman Collie, who had come up on purpose from London.

As we meant to work through the night, Booth was lowered to the bottom of the Main Shaft at about 6-30 p.m., the telephone wire was run down and fixed and communication with the surface quickly established.  Buckley and Dalton followed, but the amount of water was obviously causing considerable trouble and a message from below told us that the fall was still heavy and there was little prospect of getting the two parties down that night.  It was then decided to postpone further operations until the following morning, in the hope of the stream abating, and the three who had descended were quickly drawn up to the surface again.

Next morning dawned bright and clear, and Fortune seemed to be favouring us at last.  The beck had fallen considerably during the night and when Booth was lowered shortly after 6 a.m., he reported a great improvement in the conditions.  A guy-line was run down through a pulley attached to the chair, and this innovation proved of considerable advantage, as it added to the comfort of the descent by drawing the chair well out of the waterfall and ensured a dry landing place at the bottom.  Work proceeded rapidly and by 2 p.m. thirteen members had assembled in the Great Chamber.  The exploration party, consisting of Dr. Collie, Wingfield and Dalton with Booth in charge, set off, and were followed at 4 p.m. by the surveying party led by Horn and including Chappell, Barstow and myself.  Roberts and Hazard remained at the bottom of the Main Shaft to assist the ascent of those returning to the surface.

No one who has crawled through a cave, loaded with a large amount of tackle, will be surprised to learn that the progress of the surveying party was decidedly slow.  The transport of a delicate surveying instrument in such a place requires considerable care, but when a gallon of methylated spirit, two heavy rucksacks and innumerable candles are added, the possibilities of rapid movement are reduced to a minimum.  However, the work of survey went on steadily, and when we reached the First Stalactite Chamber we met the exploring party on their return journey, and learnt that they had reached the extreme end of the passages and had left the tackle fixed in the Mud Chamber for our use.  After a short rest they went on to the Great Chamber and reached the surface by 10 p.m.

At midnight Roberts and Hazard joined us, just as we were preparing to descend into the Mud Chamber, and this addition to our numbers was very welcome.  We soon reached the ridge at the head of the Mud Slope and cooked a meal before continuing the work.

Roberts was left in charge of the life-line and the rest of us descended the slope to the bottom of the chamber, and after taking bearings and measurements, climbed the steep Scree Slope.  On reaching the passage at the top we noticed a slight fall of water coming down from the roof, which is here very high.  The survey was continued down the long passage beyond the Mud Chamber, but progress again became slow as the floor is very rough, and the difficulties of working with the mining dial increased.  Finally a point was reached where it was necessary to crawl amidst a conglomeration of broken rock, and we came to the conclusion that further survey with the dial was impossible and a prismatic compass would be of much greater use.  As most of us had been underground for about fifteen hours the prospect of a return to the surface was not unwelcome, and at 2 a.m. we turned back.  On reaching the Scree Slope we were surprised to find that the little waterfall, mentioned above, had increased considerably, but we scouted the suggestion that it was due to rain, as when we left the Great Chamber on the previous afternoon the weather had appeared quite settled.

We ascended rapidly to the top of the ridge, hauled up the tackle and began the final stage of the journey, with the prospect of well-earned repose looming large before us.  Nearing the Great Chamber we could not help being struck by the unusual roar of the Waterfall, but this, we argued, might be due to the sudden transition from the stillness of the passages.  When, however, we reached the head of the Boulder Slope at 5 a.m., the first glance down into the Great Chamber told us that much had happened during our absence.  A dim misty patch of light marked the position of the Main Shaft, but elsewhere total darkness prevailed.  A large volume of water was falling and a narrow stream was running rapidly along the floor of the Great Chamber and disappearing beneath the boulders on which we were standing.

Making our way down into the Great Chamber, we found everything saturated with spray from the Waterfall and the telephone almost waterlogged, but with much difficulty we got one message through, and learnt that rain was falling heavily and the conditions too bad to permit of our ascent.  So the situation had to be faced.  Before all else we longed for sleep, and after taking rapid council as to the most suitable position for a bivouac, Horn decided on the New S.E. Passage, and gathering up the spare provisions, candles and oilskins, which were all lying near the telephone, we returned up the Boulder Slope to the passage in the right-hand wall.  We selected a spot not far from the entrance and there cooked a meal and inspected our somewhat scanty food supply.  We had some waterproof sheeting with us, and this and the oilskins we spread out on the rocks, and tried to snatch a little sleep before matters became any worse.  But we soon found that the noise of the Waterfall, becoming louder every minute, made this impossible, so we retreated further along the passage away from the roar, and remained in one place for about an hour, where some of us dozed a little, but in great discomfort.  Everything was dripping with moisture, and roused at length by a bitterly cold draught, we all returned about 6-45 a.m. to our first resting place and soon afterwards heard a whistle from the Great Chamber which naturally caused us some surprise.  It was quickly answered, a light flashed from the slope, and Booth joined us.  He had descended soon after 6 a.m., but had found the candles removed and being only provided with matches, had spent over an hour in the Great Chamber, endeavouring to get an answer to his signals.  He had had an exciting experience on the way down as the full force of the Side Waterfall had struck and driven him against the opposite wall; the lines became entangled and it was only with difficulty that he managed to get them straight again.  He brought with him a rucksack of provisions, so our fears of running short of food were allayed for a time.  The fall of water had increased so rapidly that ten minutes after Booth’s descent further communication with the surface became impossible.  The telephone had also broken down completely, so we were now cut off from all intercourse with the party above.  Booth told us that a dam was being constructed outside the Side Passage, but rain was still falling and the beck was in flood and rising rapidly.  Search was next made for a drier and warmer place in which to try and get a little sleep, and as the Fissure Chamber by the Canal appeared to be the most suitable spot, we dragged the oilskins along with us and settled down there, leaving Booth and Hazard to keep watch at the entrance of the passage.  But the cold draught penetrated even to this remote place and our short periods of repose were broken by intervals of stamping up and down in our endeavours to restore circulation.  Finally the situation became intolerable and we returned to the entrance.  In the meantime Booth had paid a visit to the Great Chamber and found the water still rising rapidly, and a gauge near the telephone showed an increase of four inches in half-an-hour.

We were fortunate in having with us an excellent acetylene lamp and plenty of carbide, and this alone made operations in the Great Chamber possible, as the clouds of spray and strong draughts extinguished the candles immediately.  Booth and Hazard paid constant visits to the Main Shaft, approaching as near to the Waterfall as they could, and with the aid of the lamp searched round the walls and pool for ropes and messages.  The guy-line had already been drawn away from the water and attached to a ladder lying on the floor, but during the morning it was pulled up, together with the ladder, and caused serious entanglement with the other lines.  We tried communication by revolver shots but got no response.  So the morning wore on, and it is of this period about mid-day that I have the liveliest recollections.  We sat on the rocks, not far from the entrance to the passage and talked of many things, but the possibilities and probabilities of the situation were always uppermost in our minds.  Time after time Booth and Hazard descended the slope and made their way along the chamber and we could see the light of their lamp amid what seemed to be an Inferno of waters.  Then they would return with dripping oilskins and nothing to report but an increase of the fall and the impossibility of signalling to those on the surface.  It is no easy task to do full justice to the scene, when the flood was at its height.  Standing on the Boulder Slope and looking along the Great Chamber towards the torrent it was difficult to realize that we were so near civilization.  A situation like ours seemed impossible in this country, and despite the discomforts, we could not help feeling somewhat elated at the strange and unique sight we were privileged to witness.  The Great Chamber is at all times impressive and forms, surely, one of the most wonderful natural curiosities in this country, but no one who has not seen it as we did can form an idea of its appearance in time of flood.  The noise of the Waterfall gradually increased from its usual rush until it became a roar like the discharge of heavy artillery, and from where we stood the whole Main Shaft appeared filled with water and the light was reduced to a dull glimmer.

A wall of spray rose from floor to roof and spread like a curtain right across the cavern to the opposite wall.  At one point on the left of the Main Shaft another waterfall, white and foaming, sprang out from the roof where there is usually only a slight trickle.  This fall, which had never previously been observed, appears to flow from the water that enters a low passage in the right bank of the beck about half way between the Main Hole and the Camp and only fills up in time of flood.  The Waterfall (in the Main Shaft) acted like a force pump, driving the air and spray through the passages, saturating everything with moisture, and the intense cold caused by the draught was the most unpleasant feature of the situation.

On the Boulder Slope we noticed a curious phenomenon: the light from a single candle was sufficient to illuminate the end of the chamber right up to the roof, ands the bands of spar on the walls stood out clear and well defined.  This was probably due to reflection from the innumerable drops of spray which filled the whole chamber.

It is difficult to say how we spent the next few hours, but the rest we had obtained in the morning, disturbed though it was, had done us good, and with the knowledge that a strong and experienced party, in charge of Leach, was doing its utmost on our behalf up above, our spirits rose very considerably.  Moreover every one realised that there was little danger from the water, as we were 45 feet above the floor of the chamber, and at the height of the flood, the depth of water did not exceed 3 feet.  There was a roaring torrent about 25 feet wide running from the pool below the Main Shaft to the Boulder Slope and disappearing amongst the stones, and, whatever its course, the channel seemed wide enough to cope with this flood stream.

The flood increased right up to mid-day, and it was not until about 3.0 p.m. that a change was first noticed.  The noise of the Waterfall diminished and the booming sound gradually ceased.  Seen from the Boulder Slope the fall seemed to be slowly resolving itself into two sections, that from the Main Shaft on the right being much the heavier.  The conditions in the Great Chamber became better and the amount of spray less, the draught, which had troubled us so much in the morning, was now scarcely noticeable, and things began to look so much brighter that we indulged in song under the leadership of Booth, whose energies never seemed to flag for a moment.

Half-hourly visits were paid to the Main Shaft but without result until 7 p.m., when Booth returned with a cigar box which he had found floating in the pool.  It had no lid and we concluded that the message it had no doubt contained was probably lying under three feet of water, but a keen eyed member of the party saw something written on the side and with some difficulty we deciphered the dim characters and learnt that the weather at 6 p.m. was fine, the water going down and an effort was to be made to get us out that night.  This naturally raised our hopes, but another long period of waiting ensued, no ropes appeared, and we decided to inspect the Shaft again at 8.30 p.m., and if there were no further signs of rescue, to turn in and make ourselves comfortable for the night.

Our food stores had been very considerably replenished by the further supply brought down by Booth, but the stock of candles was diminishing rather rapidly in spite of Barstow’s gallant efforts to utilise all waste material.  Horn and I then set off along the passage to select a good sleeping place, and found a recess in the right-hand wall which promised well, and with the aid of a few stones built a screen sufficient to keep off the draught.

At 9.0 p.m. Booth and Hazard descended the Boulder Slope for a final inspection, but their signal whistles met with no response at the moment, and they had just returned to the passage when a gunshot was heard, and we rushed on to the Boulder Slope and saw the Main Shaft brilliantly illuminated for an instant with burning magnesium.  It was obvious that attempts were being made to attract our attention, and Booth and Hazard hurried down into the Great Chamber once more and quickly reached the Waterfall.  A long time seemed to elapse, and the distant whistles and the light of the lamp in the midst of the falling water added strangely to the weirdness of the scene.

Our hopes rose high when we were able to make out in the gloom that a rope had been secured.  Then came another wait, and Booth at length returned with a sack of provisions, and announced, to our astonishment, that Hazard had gone up on the chair.  What was possible for one man was obviously possible for the rest, and almost before we had begun to realize that our term of imprisonment was at an end we were making ready for the ascent.  Chappell joined Booth at the Main Shaft, and after a further spell of waiting, the chair was observed once more lying against the wall.  The weight of water was still great, so we dispensed with the life line in order to avoid the risk of entanglement and consequent stoppage, but with a new windlass rope and the additional security of a strong leather belt all possibility of danger was removed.  No thought was given to our various possessions and they were left lying on the floor of the passage, to be rescued later, and one by one we made the ascent.  A journey under such conditions and through 300 feet of waterfall could hardly fail to he exciting, but it proved strangely devoid of sensation.  For the first 50 feet the glare of the lamp was visible, intensified by the spray; then came darkness and the rush of water and the chair revolved rapidly, but there were none of those unpleasant effects which accompany this motion in daylight; then a gleam of light from the flare-lamp suspended far overhead, and the walls of the shaft began to take shape; then an occasional bump into the rock and a rebound into space again and now the last 100 feet and the passage through the full force of the water from the Side Waterfall, the effect of which was like a shower of stones beating on helmet and oilskins! Out of it for a moment as the chair swung to the wall, then into the deluge again until the weight of water was well nigh overpowering ! A sudden silence, a glare of light and the jib was reached, a cheery welcome echoed along the passage as oilskins and ropes were discarded, and we stepped out on to the moor, amid a perspiring band, working might and main at the windlass, and regained the comforts of the camp.

At midnight, Booth, the last man, reached the surface and then for the first time we learnt of the happenings above ground since our descent nearly forty hours before.  The exploring party had reached the surface safely and a pleasant evening was passed round the camp fire.  Rain came on at midnight and, as it continued, numerous attempts were made to communicate with us by telephone, but they all failed, as we were at that time far away from the instrument.  After Booth’s descent the beck rose very rapidly and the efforts made to build a dam were, perforce, soon abandoned as the Side Passage quickly became flooded and unsafe.  At mid-day the flood was at its height, the beck rushed over the windlass platform, and it became necessary to secure the windlass with ropes to avoid the possibility of its being carried away.  Nothing could be done until the beck abated and then the whole party set to work to build a dam and clear the Side Passage.  A large board, intended primarily for a table top, was fixed across the entrance to the passage, and held in position with sods piled up on either side.  After much exertion the stream was diverted and the Side Passage rendered comparatively dry, but even then the water battered against the dam so much that it became a question whether it would hold.  However the stream was now falling rapidly, and towards evening there appeared a prospect of releasing the imprisoned party, but when darkness came on the chance of accomplishing this seemed remote.  Ropes and messages had been sent down at frequent intervals during the day without attracting the attention of those below, and at 9 p.m. it was decided to lower a stock of provisions on the chair and postpone attempts to get the party out until the following morning.  Mr. Metcalfe of Clapdale kindly lent his gun and it was fired into the Main Hole, burning magnesium was thrown down and the chair lowered.  But, as already stated, the party below, having once secured the chair, took matters into their own hands, and the appearance of Hazard, when the rope was wound up again, was a welcome surprise to those on the surface.

On Tuesday morning several members descended the shaft and recovered the abandoned tackle, but operations were brought to a sudden stop by the approach of a thunderstorm, and with the departure of most of the party that day one of the most eventful expeditions yet made to Gaping Ghyll was brought to a close.

While it lasted the incident was sufficiently exciting, , possibly even unpleasant, but no one was any the worse for the adventure, and the reward for a few hours of discomfort was a sight such as none of us may ever witness again.