Does anyone know the owner of the ropes in Brown Hill Pot? Presumably they are also the owner of the harness hanging part way down the first pitch.

I generally have no problem with rigging being left in place for long term projects, but some of the rigging in Brown Hill is a bit annoying for other visitors. Some knots have been attached to anchors both with small loops of rope as well as with karabiners/snapgates, meaning there is little room in the anchors for anyone who would rather use their own gear. Unclipping the karabiners from the anchors temporarily isn't an option because they have been in there for a sufficiently long time that they are too corroded to do so.

The last pitch was a total mess, with two manky knotted lines rigged from a thread, and two further ropes rigged from the anchors. One of these ended about 3 m off the floor and the other had a long damaged section trailing towards the sump. We removed the damaged section and de-rigged the too-short rope, which is now coiled at the start of the traverse. We could not remove the metalwork from the anchors due to the corrosion.

Unfortunately the state of disrepair of the metalwork means that it will probably need a hacksaw or an angle grinder to remove most of it. I hope it has not been forgotten by whoever installed it.

I think it was down there for a diving project. I think I can guess who own's it but I don't want to name them here.

Alex! I read this thread and thought a retrieval mission would suit the tough BRCC team 

Except I have a bad track record of undoing crabs.

The owner of at least some of the gear has been tracked down and notified. Thanks to those that PM'ed me.

Just to keep this topic up to date, it seems that the origin of the karabiners is still unknown and that they were not part of the original rigging. It was originally rigged with loops of rope specifically to avoid this problem.

It is the karabiners that are the main problem, and will also be the hardest thing to sort. If anyone is planning a trip then it might be useful to take a set of mole grips and see how much of the corroded metalwork can be removed that way before anyone resorts to having to cut it off.

apologies I have admit one of those crabs is mine from a few years ago, I rigged it over the insitu one and forgot to take it back out again!

MarkS said:

Just to keep this topic up to date, it seems that the origin of the karabiners is still unknown and that they were not part of the original rigging. It was originally rigged with loops of rope specifically to avoid this problem.

It is the karabiners that are the main problem, and will also be the hardest thing to sort. If anyone is planning a trip then it might be useful to take a set of mole grips and see how much of the corroded metalwork can be removed that way before anyone resorts to having to cut it off.

Click to expand...

Bolt cutters. Job done