tightest passage in the UK?

[cap n chris]

That must be a very quick squeeze

Yep: birthday squeeze in Swildon's Hole, entrance squeeze in Draenen (plus the boulder choke squeeze in the streamway), Sidcot Swallet Lobster Pot bypass, entrance T-slot in Otter etc. - all do-able if you're big and breath out and go through in one neat* manoeuvre.

* and sometimes not-so-neat!

 

[cap n chris]

This thread has some similarity with the UKDwarfs.co.uk thread on the relative merits of stepladders when shopping for jazzmags in newsagents. It's basically about being physically different from other people while trying to solve the same problems, innit?

 

[epik]

Sidcot Swallet Lobster Pot bypass - all do-able if you're big and breath out and go through in one neat* manoeuvre.

* and sometimes not-so-neat!

Just out of interest did you use a rope on lobster pot bypass to get back up the shaft (hand over hand) or did you manage to free climb the shaft?

 

[Mrs Trellis]

Agony crawl in Bagshawe was always intimidating - especially when Joe left his Park Drive dimps in the only place to put your face. :roll:

Anywhere in Stoney Midd but especially Porth Crawl and Collier's Peril.

Dr. Jackson's yep and the Iron maiden in Perryfoot - but that was widened to enable a rescue.

There's also one on Great Orme called the Corkscrew and Bung.

 

[andymorgan]

The squeeze in Goatchurch, between the boulder chamber and water chamber, referred to above as "f'ing tight and for kids" (I understood it was called the Z-bend), I've got through, and I'm the best part of 14 stone.

Where is f***ing tight then? Or is it just a rumoured piece of passage? Also where is the Z-bend?

Another cave that is supposed to be tight is Ban-yr-Gor in the Forest of Dean. (I have never been there so I can't comment

 

[Andy Sparrow]

The squeeze in Goatchurch, between the boulder chamber and water chamber, referred to above as "f'ing tight and for kids" (I understood it was called the Z-bend), I've got through, and I'm the best part of 14 stone.

Where is f***ing tight then? Or is it just a rumoured piece of passage? Also where is the Z-bend?

The problem is that several spots in Goatchurch have 'unofficial' names and this causes confusion - especially when the same name is applied to different places by different people. The squeeze in the floor of the Boulder Chamber has no name but 'Z'bend' is an apt description. As for 'F***ing Tight' - I apply this to the tiny tube that connects the passage below Hellish Tight back to the Water Chamber - a squeeze only passable by small children.

 

[epik]

Where is f***ing tight then? Or is it just a rumoured piece of passage? Also where is the Z-bend?

I'm not a guidebook type person so crap at names but isn't "bloody tight" or "f**king tight" in the maze! And if i remember correctly its more "annoyingly nobbley" than tight!

 

[nickwilliams]

Top of the second pitch in Large Pot. First time I went, I made the mistake of going head first and had to reverse in order to turn round. Not particularly tight, but enough to be bloody awkward if travelling feet-first uphill and simultaneously round a right angle bend.

Second time in the cave I went feet first, but on the way out my footloops broke just at the bottom of the tight bit on the way up the second pitch, which was also a bit of a pisser as we were on a deadline for dinner.

In Derbyshire, try the passage to the top of £100 pot in P7 (ask me if you want a key). Definitely a collector's piece since it's much easier to go via the White Room to the same place. There were as few other places in the cave which were quite tight too, but funnily enough they don't seem that way now I've been there a few times...

 

[cucc Paul]

Taffs well (south wales) Go down the furthest pitch through the squeeze at the botom and up through a crack and then there is a squeeze six foot up in the air. the only way your getting through it is by giving some one a leggy up then pushing your self between the two walls and bundling them through. I pushed someone through then couldn't follow my self. I've seen tighter but its still hard due to its location. Unless your a bean stalk any way.

 

[andymorgan]

Where is f***ing tight then? Or is it just a rumoured piece of passage? Also where is the Z-bend?

I'm not a guidebook type person so crap at names but isn't "bloody tight" or "f**king tight" in the maze! And if i remember correctly its more "annoyingly nobbley" than tight!

'Bloody tight' is near the maze but is not tight!

 

[sadbastard]

Lost Johns to Rumbling connection isn't ridiculously tight - it's just intimidating.

Going from the Lost Johns end you have a series of 90 degree bends that have to be negotiated at floor level, which is widish, so you need shortish legs to get round the bends. And then you have a short ducky canal followed by a duck under 'sump'.

And through it all there is nowhere to turn round. But it is all reversible - I checked!

 

[Langthwaite Pot]

so you need shortish legs to get round the bends

Bugger.

(George - 6'2")

 

[danthecavingman]

The tube - Lost John's to Boxhead Pot - that's small and wet. If you've got long legs you're buggered!

 

[Wolfart]

i'm definatly buggered then,long legs

 

[epik]

Ok so quite a few suggestions which i will try in due coarse but starting with Mendip (as i'll try them at new years);

1: to the lake in cuckoo cleeves
2: lobster pot bypass (done before)
3: lower series of Pierre's Pot (done before)
4: Boulder Chamber to Water Chamber in Goatchurch
5: Primrose Pot Eastwater
6: Halleluiah Hole Eastwater
7: Oxford Extension in Dallimores (cave doesn't sound very nice)
8: U Bend in St Dunstans Well
9: passages passed drainpipe in Goatchurch (done before)
10: Hairy Passage Bypass Swildons
11: Hellish tight back to Water Chamber in Goatchurch (done before)

If there are any on there people think aren't tight enough then feel free to say (11 is a fair few to do in a weekend)! I took out a few in swildons and other places that were suggested as i've done them before and know they aren't tight enough!

Cheers all for the suggestions!

 

[Rob]

In Lost John's last night. Never been there before so don't really know what was what. We went up stream to the boulder choke and took the bypass up the short rope. Once at the streamway again went upstream. After about 5-10 mins it got to crawling in water, then opened up again, still kind of wading in places, past a rifty aven on the left. Then there was a stal blockage with the water coming out from below but you could get over the top pretty easily (better than the duck below as the levels were pretty high). Then there was a second one, but the hole above was much smaller. So i went underneath in the flow. Pretty awquard having to turn over to get your legs to bend the right way while your underwater. This lead to the bottom of an aven with loads of water coming down, easily freeclimbable. At this point i decided to go back to the others but decided to have a go at the squeeze instead of attempting drowning again.
I'm pretty small and i think this is the smallest i have done in a tourist cave trip (so not including digs). Needed helmet and belt off. Does anybody know the name of this passage/squeeze and where it connects to (there was an awesome draft!).

 

[pisshead]

Sidcot Swallet Lobster Pot bypass

my scariest moment caving was had there - i really thought i was stuck forever - i didn't even do the bypass - i just went in the top to have a look, but couldn't get back out again!!

managed it after removing my battery and passing it through to the people i was with - but apparently the look of sheer terror never left my face!

 

[epik]

my scariest moment caving was had there (sidcot lobster pot bypass) - i really thought i was stuck forever!

Had similar "ohh my god im stuck" moments getting through! Once got stuck in the second hole going feet first and got helmet stuck so couldnt move. Had to smash my torch to get through!

Also took a mate through and he wasnt happy with the drop so put him on a rope and a italian hitch on his belt. Bad idea as it jammed just going through the second hole so he had gone too far to come back but couldnt go down! Took a fair while for him to wiggle the ittalian hithc free, fair play to him for not getting completely hysterical!

All good fun though!

 

[MSD]

My worst tight caving experience was when cave diving in Gods Bridge in Chapel-le-Dale. I was maybe 35 in, where the cave is a very low bedding plane, requiring you to zig-zag about.

To cut a long story short, my demand valve completely failed in the very tightest bit, right at the limit of exploration. I checked the tank pressure and the tap, pressed the purge button, but there was still no air. I had my reserve in my hand (an essential precaution in a very tight spot), but I couldn't turn my head around. I tried to poke the reserve through under my chin, but I couldn't. Nor could I manage to release my helmet strap. Now I was a bit desperate, but I could see it got a bit bigger further ahead. So I struggled forward through the sqeeze until finally I could turn my head around and change valve. After a minute to recover myself, I made my way out very slowly and carefully!

I never went in there again, but it has been pushed a bit further since....

I think I was pretty lucky that day!

Mark

 

[danthecavingman]

Eh up Rob!

Sounds like you went through to the bottom of Boxhead! Did the bend go round to the left? What I remember is having to go in a passage half full of cold water that was small, get to an awkward left hand bend that requires a contortion. You then end up at the bottom of a sloping rifty climb with water hissing down it, easy climb up on bedding holds to the bottom of the massive avens.