Alex
Well-known member
East Kings dale gets a lot of traffic, and has a hard reputation however what we had in mind was something different. I had recently heard of a couple decent sized caves that no one seems to ever go down. One being Catamite, 300m and Lord Tots 500m long. They had got to be worth a look.
We decided to do Lord Tots hole first. We removed the bits of rotten timbers that would not even hold up a rabbit never-mind a sheep and set about trying to rig the entrance shaft of 7m. We could not find a thing, though. So we made our own...
You wont find this stake on any of the rigging guides as we found it in a near by shake hole. We hammered it in with a rock, until we sunk it two and a half feet into the earth, enabling entry into Lord Tot's hole. Would have been better if there was a second stake, but Alas one would have to do. I sat against it in-case it moved too much while Don bravely abseiled in. Happy with our "belay" I followed without the person safety net. The pitch is constricted at the top but soon opens out.
Shortly afterwards was the second pitch, the anchors were in okay state (as okay as possible for spits of 20 year at-least vintage) but that was not our major problem...
Although we dangled the rope down we did not follow it, that rotten bit of wood was all that was holding the floor up ending our day at Lord Tots.
We had also found some scaffolding bars in a nearby shakehole and used this instead of the now defunct timbers along with the original tin covering. It can still do with some more work though as we did not have enough to cover it fully
Onwards to Catamite. Again we had the same issue, what do we rig off? After a quick search we spotted a wooden stake in the ground, a stake? More like a bloody peg.
Not only was it small it was also half rotten and I had as much confidence as I would have abseiling off a clump of grass. So I used the "Don" backup belay. He braced himself against the side of a shake the hole as I inched myself down the slope to the big open hole. Thankfully at the edge of the slope there was a buried but usable y-hang. I was glad, as I was not willing to go much further as I was effectively attached to Don. (5m~, from end of slope, rope protector needed for overhang at edge)
After a quick chat with the new landowner and his 4 dogs, Don joined me at the bottom. By all accounts he was a nice chap. A shored shaft followed, in far better condition than the one in Lord Tot's (10m~). My 30m rope ran out conveniently on a ledge and it was a doddle to climb down the last 3m. More short stepped climbs followed until we reached another shaft of about 15m~. We rigged from Scaff belays and a re-belay bolt on a large ledge a couple of meters down.
From the bottom of here here things got small...
The passage continued as narrow passage before the way on became a flat out crawl and then impassible. It seems the stream has become silted up over time. Ahead it looked to lower even further, maybe a couple of inches but it issued a good draft. I will need some digging to open up again. We were disappointed but at least we actually got underground.
We were not satisfied and decided to down one more hole.
Don bravely went first, though we more confidence in our belay than our last holes. The fence we rigged to was in far better condition than that bit of wood at Catamite.
I am not sure the name of this hole but it went no-where and was rather tight and sharp. A bit rubbish really (there was also plenty of that).
Still it was a fun day out but its a pity both of these caves are blocked not far in, with Slanting blocked on the other-side of the valley, our exploration of lesser known caves is having little luck. I guess that's why no one goes down them!
We decided to do Lord Tots hole first. We removed the bits of rotten timbers that would not even hold up a rabbit never-mind a sheep and set about trying to rig the entrance shaft of 7m. We could not find a thing, though. So we made our own...
You wont find this stake on any of the rigging guides as we found it in a near by shake hole. We hammered it in with a rock, until we sunk it two and a half feet into the earth, enabling entry into Lord Tot's hole. Would have been better if there was a second stake, but Alas one would have to do. I sat against it in-case it moved too much while Don bravely abseiled in. Happy with our "belay" I followed without the person safety net. The pitch is constricted at the top but soon opens out.
Shortly afterwards was the second pitch, the anchors were in okay state (as okay as possible for spits of 20 year at-least vintage) but that was not our major problem...
Although we dangled the rope down we did not follow it, that rotten bit of wood was all that was holding the floor up ending our day at Lord Tots.
We had also found some scaffolding bars in a nearby shakehole and used this instead of the now defunct timbers along with the original tin covering. It can still do with some more work though as we did not have enough to cover it fully
Onwards to Catamite. Again we had the same issue, what do we rig off? After a quick search we spotted a wooden stake in the ground, a stake? More like a bloody peg.
Not only was it small it was also half rotten and I had as much confidence as I would have abseiling off a clump of grass. So I used the "Don" backup belay. He braced himself against the side of a shake the hole as I inched myself down the slope to the big open hole. Thankfully at the edge of the slope there was a buried but usable y-hang. I was glad, as I was not willing to go much further as I was effectively attached to Don. (5m~, from end of slope, rope protector needed for overhang at edge)
After a quick chat with the new landowner and his 4 dogs, Don joined me at the bottom. By all accounts he was a nice chap. A shored shaft followed, in far better condition than the one in Lord Tot's (10m~). My 30m rope ran out conveniently on a ledge and it was a doddle to climb down the last 3m. More short stepped climbs followed until we reached another shaft of about 15m~. We rigged from Scaff belays and a re-belay bolt on a large ledge a couple of meters down.
From the bottom of here here things got small...
The passage continued as narrow passage before the way on became a flat out crawl and then impassible. It seems the stream has become silted up over time. Ahead it looked to lower even further, maybe a couple of inches but it issued a good draft. I will need some digging to open up again. We were disappointed but at least we actually got underground.
We were not satisfied and decided to down one more hole.
Don bravely went first, though we more confidence in our belay than our last holes. The fence we rigged to was in far better condition than that bit of wood at Catamite.
I am not sure the name of this hole but it went no-where and was rather tight and sharp. A bit rubbish really (there was also plenty of that).
Still it was a fun day out but its a pity both of these caves are blocked not far in, with Slanting blocked on the other-side of the valley, our exploration of lesser known caves is having little luck. I guess that's why no one goes down them!
