• Black Sheep Diggers presentation - March 29th 7pm

    In the Crown Hotel Middlesmoor the Black Sheep Diggers are going to provide an evening presentation to locals and other cavers.

    We will be highlighting with slides and explanations the explorations we have been doing over the years and that of cave divers plus research of the fascinating world of nearby lead mines.

    Click here for more details

North End Pot

Didn't look around much but there is the hole through hanging death in the end choke which looks intriguing. This is mentioned in Beardy's write up. Although how you access it without getting squashed I do not know.
Tirforing out boulders from the safety of the chamber floor was our rough plan. Personally, the disgusting mud in the pig trough was the main disincentive to put it into action! I’m looking forward to seeing how you get on with it...
 
We're thinking of subcontracting it out ;). Dr Nobel could play a part but neither that nor a tirfor would help stabilise everything else which is loose and over head. It's a difficult one.
 
We're thinking of subcontracting it out ;). Dr Nobel could play a part but neither that nor a tirfor would help stabilise everything else which is loose and over head. It's a difficult one.
Subcontracting it to somebody expendable presumably 😉
 
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Just messin 😉
 
Thanks for your valiant efforts which have only slight crossover into the realms of insanity. Excited to go and have a look when able.
 
Just to update people, the new entrance is now called North by North End Pot as the original Earby dig at the other end of the shake hole is called North End Pot and you can't have two things with the same name.
Most of Sam's original exploration ropes have now been removed (or were planned to have been) so the Masongill traverse team probably only got down them by the skin of their teeth.
To repeat others, can people keep away a little while longer whilst things get finished up. The survey needs another trip to tie into the bottom of Llean Bean and I really don't want to be wandering about down there in my own little survey world with people coming in from above. Sam also has stuff to finish off at the top of the aven which is high above the connection point.
 
Hi all

We have now finished our work down North by North End Pot. The entrance dig has been tidied up and made stock proof, survey work is complete and new conservation taping installed around Llean Bean Aven and up to the Pig Trough. All our ropes and gear have been pulled out. Sam has installed resin anchors under the CNCC scheme and a topo will, no doubt, be published in due course.

BE WARNED - There is a lot of loose rock from the entrance dig to the connection with the Eastern Front. In places, around Llean Bean and the short pitch below, there is a real danger of dislodging rocks onto people below. Gardening just makes it worse, revealing more loose stuff so it will never be as safe a descent as most other Dales caves.

I suggest it is a trip most suited to small groups of experienced SRT cavers who understand how to tread carefully around loose rock and manage tackle accordingly. It can be a rewarding trip to the end of the Eastern Front. There is some great passage but also a lot of sticky mud in the Pig Trough. The mud is a hazard in itself and accompanies you all the way out creating some very heavy tackle bags.

There are some great formations. Mostly in the big stuff where cavers should stick to the obvious paths. There is one crystal pool, right next to a flat out crawl, and this needs special care to avoid. It is well taped.

I'll post a couple of videos to give you an idea of the main pitch.

Enjoy.
 
I haven't finished. Please could I ask people to stay out for one more week. I would have finished sooner but have had problems with my back. Just to reiterate that loose rock and mud are massively abundant through out. Caution is required here, this cave is nothing like other caves with resin bonded anchors the potential for being squashed is vast. Bits of wall have spontantiously peeled off on two recent trips.
 
I haven't finished. Please could I ask people to stay out for one more week. I would have finished sooner but have had problems with my back. Just to reiterate that loose rock and mud are massively abundant through out. Caution is required here, this cave is nothing like other caves with resin bonded anchors the potential for being squashed is vast. Bits of wall have spontantiously peeled off on two recent trips.
Oops, sorry Sam if I jumped the gun. I thought you were done.
 
I haven't finished in terms of a couple of climbs but there is no reason for people not to visit*. I'd request that the fixed ropes that lead off in varous places are not used and are left alone, these are all the thick nasty mud covered ropes, that aren't yours. These are being removed once I have finished, two short climbs left to do, I was saving these for a wet day which might be sooner than I thought. I appear to have lost a gilet that I had taken to carrying for my installers assistant, it was stuffed inside its own pocket and it is likely to now be mud coloured, I would like it back if anyone spots it.

*Other than if you consider Badlad's warning "BE WARNED - There is a lot of loose rock from the entrance dig to the connection with the Eastern Front. In places, around Llean Bean and the short pitch below, there is a real danger of dislodging rocks onto people below. Gardening just makes it worse, revealing more loose stuff so it will never be as safe a descent as most other Dales caves."
 
As announced elsewhere there is now a rigging topo for North by North End Pot.


Also I am grateful to Ray of KCC for placing a couple of conservation signs either side of the crystal pool. This is a delicate structure you have to crawl besides, often when very muddy, and without flicking mud onto the formation. The signs were left over from the conservation project in Hopeless Pot on Leck Fell where the printing costs were covered by CNCC.

Lets be careful down there.

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