Browsing Facebook today I came across this post in the Descent group (nothing to do with the magazine).
Looks like Garth Iron Mine to me and the photos there seem to show quite a drop to the floor. Would anyone else rig a hawser-laid handline here? To me, handlines are fine for a short ramp but aren't suitable for a long pitch where a slip could result in a long slide to a hard landing.

Looks a bit dodgy as its a bit long for a handline but the photo might be deceptive, it might not be a very steep slope in which case it will be r8

At least its not blue polyprop rope!!

wormster said:

At least its not blue polyprop rope!!

Click to expand...

Yep, coming out of Coventosa up the smooth slope on polyprop whilst completely zombified after 15 hours of caving was NOT a calm few minutes...  :thumbsdown:

Is this the same hole that the gantry is in? If so, I've done that hand over hand and it wasn't particularly steep, down a rubble slope of some sort, so maybe camera angle.



Robin

That is Garth Iron Mine... and that is the standard fixed rope for the normal entrance.  I can confirm that it does degenerate to thin polyprop lower down, although the top section where it is steep is a nice thick hawser-lay tied to a tree. 

The mine is well worth a visit although the quarry have in recent years made access increasingly difficult, most recently with a 6' security fence with barbed wire preventing access to the entrance shown in the photographs.  Doubtless Jamie Larke and co obtained a key from the quarry manager.