Strans Gill

[Broken Chris]

OK, so having convinced my wife to get me a copy of Not for the Faint Hearted for my birthday, I'm now trying to decide which of the many 'fun' trips to do.

The one that I keep coming back to is Strans Gill so, two questions:

(1) I know it's very tight, but can someone that's been there give me their thoughts about it, is it really as bad as its reputation I'd say I'm the usual lanky(ish) average caver build.
(2) Is the farmer friendly - the recent ULSA trip report suggests you might need to avoid him.

It all looks well and good from the comfort of my arm chair - thoughts welcome.

cheers,
Chris

 

[Simon Beck]

No it's not that bad at all, just my opinion though, the main difficulties are all in the first 100metres or so and once the big pitch is reached it's a lot easier, but moving tackle is awkward in places, the squeezes were getting on been some of the tightest stuff i've done but 2 out of the 3 were only very short (a few moves) and psychologically there're far worse tight stuff out there, i guess it just boils down to what you've done before, if you've done the likes of quaking pot or swan dyke or hammer and similar stuff along those lines then strans gill would probably be a walk in the park, but if not then i guess there's only one thing i can suggest....Go and have a crack at it.



 

 

[graham]

Agree, it's tight but it's not that bad as the tight sections are quite short.

I only remember two squeezes, but then it was quite a long time ago.

 

[Broken Chris]

Cool, thanks. I've not done any of those, but Swan Dike is definitely on my 'to do list' as well. Guess I'll just see what happens!

Any idea what the chances of getting access granted are?

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Simon Beck]

Chris i've sent u a private message regarding access......

 

[Cumbrian Neil]

I'd advise you to go down the entrance pitch with everything in a place where it won't get snagged.  I spent an hour in the entrance very hung up AFTER getting past the constriction.  I never did go back... and now I am too fat to be bothered.



CN.

 

[Dickie]

Watch the weather though.

In wet weather the crawl to the last pitch fills up, the crawl from the bottom of the big pitch may get impassable and the next pitch is definitely impassable.

We had a 28-hour sit down there once - apparently the entrance was merely a whirlpool in the beck!!

I actually had to corkscrew around in the crawl before the last pitch to stick my nose against the roof, and it sumped a few minutes later. Never has the Passage of Time been so thoroughly photographed!!

 

[paulf]

I might be Stupid  :-\  but

I actually had to corkscrew around in the crawl before the last pitch to stick my nose against the roof, and it sumped a few minutes later. Never has the Passage of Time been so thoroughly photographed!!

I'm hoping this isn't a silly Question " Any chance of seeing them Photos ?"  :-\
Cheers Paul

 

[Dickie]

Ah well, you'll have to talk to Clive Westlake about that - I was merely a flashgun driver.

(BTW - it was 1973!)

 

[paulf]

Phew I'm glad there's photos 
Cheers Paul

 

[footleg]

Some members of my club recently took some pictures down there. The following rantbook entries show some of the delights of this pothole:
http://www.ulsa.org.uk/rants/rant.php?rant_id=557
http://www.ulsa.org.uk/rants/rant.php?rant_id=561

 

[ditzy 24//7]

i like the forth one down (the straws)on the first link and the third one down on the second link (picture of Sluice Pitch)

 

[Paul_L]

Sluice pitch looks like a fun entry for the "larger" caver!

 

[ditzy 24//7]

Me thinks that for some it may be a case of just going down in their birthday suit!

 

[SamT]

good looking pics of a good looking cave  , just added that to the very long list of yorkshire caves I might one day get round to doing.

 

[Broken Chris]

Yeah, must admit, it was the ULSA rants page (along with NFTFH) that made me put this one up at the top of the list. Only 8 weeks until Christmas and my trip to Yorkshire - hooray! I need a speleo-advent calendar.