The Old East Passage, Gaping Gill

A few days ago we paid another visit to Gaping Gill, a pothole in Yorkshire with a 110m drop from the surface. Once inside we went off to explore the Old East Passage.

After climbing the east slope and scaling a small ladder we entered a wide low passage. Progress along the passage varied between stooping and a crawl.

The passage is well decorated with an abundance of stalactites :-)

Gaping Gill

This weekend we visited the Gaping Gill winch meet organised by the Craven Pothole Club. Gaping Gill is a pothole descending 104m from the slopes of Ingleborough and entering Britain's largest underground chamber, 140m long and 27m wide.

The first descent was made by Édouard Martel in 1895 by knotted rope and rope ladder. Édouard spent over an hour exploring the Main Chamber before finally returning to the surface. Our descent was made by bosun's chair winched down on a steel cable.

Although a few temporary floodlights are placed in the main chamber it's only just possible to see from the eastern slope to the far west side. After informing the organisers of our whereabouts we went off to climb the east slope and explore the Old East Passage...

Dragonfly

I suspect this dragonfly I spotted a few minutes ago is a blue hawker, another insect that isn't mentioned in Complete British Wildlife :-)

Whitton's Wrapped Bread

“We Sell Whitton's Wrapped Bread”

A ghost sign on Lincoln High Street is a reminder of a shop long since gone...

The View from Victoria Cave

Victoria Cave is in King's Scar high above the village of Langcliffe and offers a fantastic view to the distant hills. :-)

The River Ribble

I spent last weekend camping near Settle where the River Ribble flows on it's way to meet the Irish Sea at Lytham. :-)

Spider

I visited a few caves over the weekend. Now I know how Spider Cave earned it's name - it's full of spiders :-(