Jib Tunnel

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Jib Tunnel
Jib Tunnel, Gaping Gill, entrance.jpg
The entrance is between the rock wall and the large boulder
Yorkshire Dales NP map-pre-2016.svg
Red pog.svg
Showing location of Jib Tunnel in the Yorkshire Dales
Location Ingleborough, North Yorkshire, UK
OS grid SD 7510 7270
Coordinates 54°08′58″N2°22′57″W / 54.14954°N 2.382613°W / 54.14954; -2.382613 Coordinates: 54°08′58″N2°22′57″W / 54.14954°N 2.382613°W / 54.14954; -2.382613 [1]
Depth98 metres (322 ft) (To floor of Gaping Gill Main Chamber) [2]
Length100 metres (330 ft) (including Spout Tunnel)
Elevation396 metres (1,299 ft) [1]
Discovery1872 [1]
GeologyCarboniferous limestone
Entrances1
DifficultyIV-V [1]
Hazardswater, verticality [1]
AccessPermit [3]
Cave survey 1976 CPC Survey on Cave Maps

Jib Tunnel, also known as Lateral Passage is one of the entrances into the Gaping Gill cave system, located behind a large boulder in the north bank of Fell Beck adjacent to Gaping Gill Main Shaft. Although short, it leads to Lateral Shaft, a direct descent into Gaping Gill Main Chamber which is a popular caving route, and has had considerable significance in the history of the exploration of Gaping Gill. It lies within the designated Ingleborough Site of Special Scientific Interest. [4]

Contents

Description

A short wriggle between the shakehole wall and a large boulder leads into the roomy passage. After 5 metres (16 ft) this abruptly drops 98 metres (322 ft) to the floor of the Main Chamber. Although a direct descent is possible, a considerable waterfall enters from Spout Tunnel 12 metres (39 ft) below the lip, so the modern route, known as Dihedral, deviates away from this to land on a ledge some 50 metres (160 ft) down. The route then leaves the shaft to drop down the rift above the Main Chamber, before emerging through the roof and dropping the final 30 metres (98 ft) to the floor. [1] [5]

Spout Tunnel can be entered by swinging in from a rope or ladder. The passage becomes narrow, and after 37 metres (121 ft) the main water enters down a 9 metres (30 ft) pitch. Above this a further 3 metres (9.8 ft) climb enters 49 metres (161 ft) of passage which gets too small close to a sink in Fell Beck opposite Rat Hole Sink. Below the pitch a small passage continues for another 25 metres (82 ft), and is thought to drain the area just to the east of the blind valley. [1] [6]

History

Professor McKenny Hughes reported that the entrance was blocked with glacial fill until a flood in 1872, when it got washed out. He wriggled round the large boulder and reached the shaft which he estimated as being in excess of 90 metres (300 ft) deep. [7] In 1895 Edward Calvert, of the Yorkshire Ramblers' Club, attempted to replicate Edouard Martel's descent of the Main Shaft of a few weeks earlier, but failed to get beyond Birkbeck's Ledge at −60 metres (−200 ft) because of the quantity of water. Looking up, he could see that the shaft divided behind a curtain. Later in the year he entered Jib Tunnel, and realised that this was the parallel shaft that he had seen, and that a man could be lowered directly to the floor of the Main Chamber from its lip. The following year, he set up a series of jibs and pulleys, and was lowered in a boatswain's chair, becoming the second person to reach the Main Chamber. [8] Jib Tunnel was used for explorations of the system until 1921, when the current system of lowering the winch from a gantry positioned across the corner of the Main Shaft was developed. [9]

There have been three deaths in the cave. In 1982 Ted Holstead died after losing control when abseiling down the shaft. [10] In 1989 Keith Mann died of exposure whilst prusiking up the shaft on rope. [11] In 1995 eleven-year-old Lee Craddock wandered into Jib Tunnel and fell down the shaft to his death whilst on an outing organised by the Scouting Association. [12]

Related Research Articles

Gaping Gill

Gaping Gill is a natural cave in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the unmistakable landmarks on the southern slopes of Ingleborough – a 98-metre (322 ft) deep pothole with the stream Fell Beck flowing into it. After falling through one of the largest known underground chambers in Britain, the water disappears into the bouldery floor and eventually resurges adjacent to Ingleborough Cave.

Titan (cave) natural cavern

Titan is a natural cavern near Castleton in the Derbyshire Peak District, and is the deepest shaft of any known cave in Britain, at 141.5 metres (464 ft). The existence of Titan was revealed in November 2006, following its discovery on 1 January 1999 after cavers discovered connections from the James Hall Over Engine Mine to both Speedwell Cavern and Peak Cavern. Previously, the deepest known underground shaft in Britain had been Gaping Gill on the slopes of Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales.

Ingleborough Cave cave in United Kingdom

Ingleborough Cave is a show cave close to the village of Clapham in North Yorkshire, England adjacent to where the water from Gaping Gill resurges.

Rumbling Hole

Rumbling Hole is a cave on Leck Fell, in Lancashire, England. Its entrance is a 50-metre (160 ft) deep fenced shaft, and it rapidly descends a series of pitches to a low aqueous passage that has been connected to Lost Johns' Cave. It is part of the Three Counties System, an 87-kilometre (54 mi) cave system that spans the borders of Cumbria, Lancashire, and North Yorkshire.

John Birkbeck was a Yorkshireman, banker, alpinist, and pioneer potholer.

Fell Beck

Fell Beck is a stream located near the foot of Ingleborough, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is notable for the fact that it runs into Gaping Gill, the second-largest natural cave shaft in the UK. As it falls down the shaft for 110 metres it is the tallest unbroken waterfall in the UK. It later emerges as Clapham Beck in Beck Head Cave, adjacent to Ingleborough Cave. This was proven by fluorescent dye tests many years ago, but only confirmed by cave divers in the 1983. At times it is blocked off by a temporary dam to allow members of the public to descend the shaft on a winch.

Short Drop Cave - Gavel Pot System

Short Drop Cave and Gavel Pot are different entrances into the same cave system on Leck Fell, in Lancashire, England. The main top entrance, Short Drop Cave, is a small hole in a fenced off shakehole near the main stream sink; Gavel Pot, a window into the system, is a large fenced shakehole some 40-metre (130 ft) deep requiring tackle to descend. There are two other smaller entrances into Short Drop Cave. At its base the system links via a sump with Lost Johns' Cave, and is part of the Three Counties System, an 87 kilometres (54 mi) cave system which spans the borders of Cumbria, Lancashire, and North Yorkshire.

Bar Pot

Bar Pot is one of the entrances to the Gaping Gill cave system being located about 340 metres (370 yd) south of Gaping Gill Main Shaft, on Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales. It is a popular entrance into the system, being one of the easiest, driest, and having just two vertical pitches to contend with. It lies within the designated Ingleborough Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Disappointment Pot

Disappointment Pot is one of the entrances to the Gaping Gill cave system, located in a steep grassy shakehole some 120 metres (130 yd) south-east of Gaping Gill Main Shaft. Its mainly narrow stream passage descends a number of small shafts to enter the main system as a major inlet of Hensler's Master Cave. It lies within the designated Ingleborough Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Stream Passage Pot

Stream Passage Pot is one of the entrances to the Gaping Gill system being located about 320 metres (350 yd) ESE of Gaping Gill Main Shaft. It is a popular and sporting entrance into the system, featuring three well-watered big shafts. It is the highest entrance of the Gaping Gill system, so the full depth of the system, 198 metres (650 ft), is measured from its entrance. It lies within the designated Ingleborough Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Flood Entrance Pot

Flood Entrance Pot is one of the entrances to the Gaping Gill cave system located about 300 metres (330 yd) south of Gaping Gill Main Shaft. It was the first alternative entrance into the main system to be explored, and it is now a popular entrance into the system, with a fine 38-metre (125 ft) pitch landing in Gaping Gill's South-East Passage. It lies within the designated Ingleborough Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Rat Hole, Gaping Gill Cave entrance in North Yorkshire, England

Rat Hole is one of the entrances to the Gaping Gill cave system, located in the north bank of Fell Beck 30 metres (33 yd) upstream of Gaping Gill Main Shaft. A small, awkward, tube-like passage descends into a stream passage, and hence to a 100-metre (330 ft) shaft into Gaping Gill Main Chamber. The sharp and loose nature of the rock, and the quantity of water prevented full exploration for over 80 years, but the current route is described in one guide book as "a technical and exhilarating adventure". It lies within the designated Ingleborough Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Skirwith Cave

Skirwith Cave is a major resurgence solutional cave on Ingleborough in Chapel-le-Dale, North Yorkshire, England; it was a show cave between 1964 and 1974. It is no longer open to the public but is still visited by cavers. It lies within the designated Ingleborough Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Weathercote Cave

Weathercote Cave is a natural solutional cave in Chapel-le-Dale, North Yorkshire, England. It has been renowned as a natural curiosity since the eighteenth century, and was accessible to paying visitors until 1971. The entrance is a large shaft about 20 metres (66 ft) deep, dominated by a waterfall entering at one end. It lies within the designated Ingleborough Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Yordas Cave

Yordas Cave is a solutional cave in Kingsdale, North Yorkshire, England. It has been renowned since the eighteenth century as a natural curiosity, and was a show cave during the nineteenth century. It is now a popular destination for cavers, walkers, and outdoor activity groups.

Deaths Head Hole

Death's Head Hole is a cave on Leck Fell, in Lancashire, England. Its entrance is a 64-metre (210 ft) deep shaft. It leads into Lost Johns' Cave, and is part of the Three Counties System, an 87-kilometre (54 mi) cave system which spans the borders of Cumbria, Lancashire, and North Yorkshire.

Lost Pot

Lost Pot is a cave on Leck Fell, in Lancashire, England. It leads into the top end of Lost Johns' Cave, and is part of the Three Counties System, an 87 kilometres (54 mi) cave system which spans the borders of Cumbria, Lancashire, and North Yorkshire.

Long Drop Cave cave in northern England

Long Drop Cave is a cave on Leck Fell, in Lancashire, England. It leads into Death's Head Hole, and is part of the Three Counties System, an 87-kilometre (54 mi) cave system which spans the borders of Cumbria, Lancashire, and North Yorkshire.

Swinsto Cave Cave in North Yorkshire, England

Swinsto Cave is a limestone cave in West Kingsdale, North Yorkshire, England. It leads into Kingsdale Master Cave and it is popular with cavers as it is possible to descend by abseiling down the pitches, retrieving the rope each time, and exiting through Valley Entrance of Kingsdale Master Cave at the base of the hill. It is part of a 27-kilometre (17 mi) long cave system that drains both flanks of Kingsdale.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Brook, Dave (1991). Northern Caves 2 The Three Peaks. Clapham, via Lancaster: The Dalesman Publishing Company. p. 198. ISBN   1855680335.
  2. Cordingley, John (2002). "The True Depth of Gaping Gill" (PDF). Cave and Karst Science . 29 (3): 136.
  3. "Cave Access Information". Council of Northern Caving Clubs. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  4. "Designated Sites View - Ingleboroough SSI". Natural England. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  5. Elliott, Dave (1987). SRT Rigging Guide. Sedbergh: Lizard Speleo-Systems. pp. 97–99. ISBN   0904405249.
  6. Rule, Alexander (1910). "Gaping Ghyll: Exploration And Survey: Spout Tunnel And Rat Hole". Yorkshire Ramblers' Club Journal. Leeds: Yorkshire Ramblers' Club Committee. 3 (10): 186–192. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  7. Dakyns, J.R. (1890). The Geology of the Country Around Ingleborough with Part of Wensleydale and Wharfedale. H.M. Stationery Office.
  8. Calvert, Edward (1899). "Gaping Ghyll Hole (Part 1)". Yorkshire Ramblers' Club Journal. Leeds: Yorkshire Ramblers' Club Committee. 1 (1): 65–74. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  9. Beck, Howard (1984). Gaping Gill 150 Years of Exploration. London: Robert Hale. pp. 56–57. ISBN   0709015526.
  10. Cordingley, John (August 1982). "Caving Accidents". Caves and Caving. British Cave Research Association (17): 25.
  11. Round, Steve (1989). "A death in Gaping Ghyll". Caves & Caving. British Cave Research Association (44): 18.
  12. Fulbrook, Julian (2005). Outdoor Activities, Negligence, and the Law. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 82–83. ISBN   9780754642350.