Sell Gill the interesting way, some reminders.

[caving_fox]

After some faffing we eventually set off from Horton on the wrong Pennine way, blithely chatting and enjoying the stroll in too much caving gear for the weather. The various Three Peaks walkers looked much better equipped. Eventually we worked out where we'd gone wrong and crossed over to the correct hillside.

About half way along the path between little Hull and Sell there was a stream sink into a small hole. We didn't have time to investigate, anyone know what it is?

Much later than expected we finally reached Sell and split into two parties to rig an exchange trip. All went well even if Goblin is a significantly more airy route than the 'dry'. We couldn't persuade all of the party through the duck even with a foot of airspace, but some reached the crawl to the final pitch in good order. Since I was last there the rigging has been improved with three new non-P-hanger bolts. However  they and the in-situ line were all wrapped in flood debris!

I've only been to the far end a couple of times, but it has always been a dry crawl, the small trickle soaking away in the chamber before. The chamber at the several meters at the bottom of the pitch is also dry with the stream just audible (but not visible) on the right. The battered in-situ rope (otherwise looking new) trailed away down the tight rift to the left, presumably the direction of the receding flood, although not the current stream. Presumably the whole area was full to the roof in the recent past! (we had sensibly brought our own rope).

There was no label n the rope other than '25m' in green tape, but whoever owns it you'll want to retrieve and/or replace it. There's also a few bits of tools crowbar pick etc that could come out.

Exit was again smooth (although one half considerably slower than the other), and we just made the pub for food, sensibly walking back the correct way.

Remember:
Never underestimate how much water goes into a cave!
Don't trust in-situ line - you don't know how many floods it's been in.
If you haven't been to cave for a while look at a map before setting off rather than just trusting your memory.
Guidebook descriptions are not always as detailed as you may imagine.
Prussicking with sun-burn really hurts.

 

[JasonC]

(I realise this is an old thread, but it seemed relevant...)

Last night (after some rare dryish weather this year), I made it to the end of Sell Gill for the first time. As mentioned above, the top of the last pitch was spattered with flood debris. However, the rope looked good, so I had to go down to the bottom.
I saw the tight rift opposite the rope, and had a quick peek, but was conscious that I'd left the rest of the party at the main chamber, and they wouldn't relish the wetting coming to see if I was ok, so turned tail.
So I wondered - does it actually go any further (ie more than the obvious 3 or 4 metres)? And is there an active dig?

Also, there is a rather fine rope ladder going up on the left (on the way in). Again, I didn't have time to investigate, but would be interested to know where it goes ? (if it's not covered by NDAs)

 

[mikem]

The only caves marked on CNCC map "between" little hull and sell gill are haytime hole & diversion pot

 

[cavingbiker]

Haytime Hole isn't on the route between Little Hull and Sell Gill. The path does pass an old dig in a stream bed. I can't remember the exact route the path takes, but there is also Earl Pot and Sting Pot in the area (Northern Caves 2 - The Three Peaks, page 77).

 

[mikem]

No, neither is diversion pot, hence putting between in quotes