Lost Pot

Lost Pot
Lost Pot
Location	Leck Fell, Lancashire, England
OS grid	SD 67097841
Coordinates	54°12′01″N2°30′21″W / 54.200351°N 2.505841°W
Depth	105 metres (344 ft)
Length	about 80 metres (260 ft)
Elevation	360 metres (1,180 ft)
Discovery	1982
Geology	Carboniferous limestone
Entrances	2
Hazards	verticality, loose boulders
Access	Unrestricted
Cave survey	cavemaps

Last updated December 07, 2024 • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

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.^[1]

Description

The entrance is in a 12-metre (39 ft) cliff-lined fenced shakehole. An excavated 9-metre (30 ft) deep shaft in the south-west corner of the shakehole leads into a chamber, where a further excavated shaft leads down for 8 metres (26 ft) to an unstable boulder slope above a 30 metres (98 ft) pitch. This drops into a high rift passage which passes under a high aven where It's a Cracker enters, and past an outlet passage down which the water flows. At the end of the rift, a small passage is the way through to the top of a 23 metres (75 ft) pitch which drops into one of the two NPC Avens at the top end of Lost Johns' Cave (Boxhead Pot enters from the second aven). The entrance to Lost Pot is currently sealed.^[2]

It's a Cracker ( 54°12′00″N2°30′19″W / 54.199942°N 2.505346°W / 54.199942; -2.505346 (It's a Cracker) ) is a second entrance situated in a shakehole about 50 metres (160 ft) south-west of Lost Pot. A 10-metre (33 ft) deep excavated shaft enters a small chamber with an inlet. Downstream, a few metres of awkward passage leads to the top of the 32-metre (105 ft) deep Paparazzi Pitch. This lands at the head of a small cascade, at the base of which is a platform overlooking the 36 metres (118 ft) Park Bench Pitch. This drops into the large rift below the first pitch of Lost Pot.^[3]

Geology and hydrology

The cave is a solutional cave formed in Visean Great Scar limestone from the Mississippian Series of the Carboniferous period. Its development has been largely determined by a vertical fault and a number of major joints. The streams that flow through the cave originate from small surface sinks, and are the main source of the water that flows through Lost Johns' Master Cave. It eventually emerges from the Leck Beck Head spring in Ease Gill.^[4] The current outlet at the base of Lost Pot is small, but there are a series of abandoned phreatic passages, called the Tate Galleries, 10 metres (33 ft) above the floor of the current outlet, and it is thought that the shafts were formed before the Devensian glaciation, and were originally drained by those passages.^[5]

History

Lost Pot was first mentioned by name in 1922, where it is implied that it was named by S.W. Cutriss.^[6] There were a number of attempts by various clubs since 1968 to locate a cave at the bottom of the shakehole, but it was not until the beginning of 1982 that a concerted effort by members of the Northern Pennine Club succeeded in excavating a shaft through the boulders into the passages below. The boulder slope found at the head of the first big pitch was very unstable, and it was necessary to put in a considerable amount of effort into stabilising it before a descent could be made. The cave was eventually bottomed on 18 February.^[7] Two days later the same boulder slope collapsed whilst a party was at the bottom, severely injuring one member. He was brought out after a particularly hazardous rescue by the Cave Rescue Organisation.^[8] Soon after, the entrance was sealed.

The opening of Boxhead Pot in 1995 which entered down the second of the NPC Avens at the top end of Lost Johns' Cave provided relatively easy access to the area. Tim Allen took advantage of the new entrance to bolt up the big aven found in Lost Pot, followed by the aven discovered above, to a passage which terminated 6 metres (20 ft) below a shakehole near Lost Pot. A shaft was sunk from the surface to open up It's a Cracker in 2012.^[9]

Related Research Articles

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.

Lost Johns' Cave is an extensive cave system on Leck Fell, Lancashire, England. With its three major vertical routes it is a popular place to practise single-rope technique (SRT) because of the opportunity for exchange trips. Also it can be safely visited on wet days because many of the pitches can be rigged out of the water. It is an important part of the Three Counties System.

Named after Eli Simpson, Simpson Pot is a limestone cave in West Kingsdale, North Yorkshire, England. It leads into Swinsto Cave and thence into Kingsdale Master Cave, and it is popular with cavers as it is possible to descend it 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.

Langcliffe Pot is a cave system on the slopes of Great Whernside in Upper Wharfedale, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) SSE of Kettlewell in North Yorkshire. It is part of the Black Keld Site of Special Scientific Interest where the "underground drainage system which feeds the stream resurgence at Black Keld is one of the largest and deepest in Britain, although only a small proportion of its cave passages are accessible at present." Mossdale Caverns is also part of the Black Keld SSSI. Although a considerable length of passage has been explored in Langcliffe Pot, the current end is over 170 metres (560 ft) above the resurgence, and over 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) in distance. A trip to the far end has been described as "one of the most serious undertakings in British caving".

Shannon Cave is an active stream passage cave which straddles the border of County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland and County Cavan in the Republic of Ireland.

Aquamole Pot is a limestone cave in West Kingsdale, North Yorkshire, England. It was originally discovered by cave divers who negotiated 168 metres (551 ft) of sump passage from Rowten Pot in 1974, to enter a high aven above the river passage. All subsequent major explorations were undertaken from below before an entrance was opened up from the surface. It is part of a 27-kilometre (17 mi) long cave system that drains both flanks of Kingsdale.

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 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 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 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 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 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.

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.

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.

Boxhead 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 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.

The Three Counties System is a set of inter-connected limestone solutional cave systems spanning the borders of Cumbria, Lancashire and North Yorkshire in the north of England. The possibility of connecting a number of discrete cave systems in the area to create a single super-system that spans the county borders was first proposed by Dave Brook in 1968, and it was achieved in 2011. The system is currently about 90 kilometres (56 mi) long, making it the longest in the UK and the thirty-fourth longest in the world, and there continues to be scope for considerably extending the system.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Kin East Cave - Rift Pot System</span> Cave system in North Yorkshire, England

The Long Kin East Cave - Rift Pot system is a limestone cave system on the southern flanks of Ingleborough, North Yorkshire in England lying within the designated Ingleborough Site of Special Scientific Interest. Long Kin East Cave starts as a long meandering stream passage but then plummets down a 58-metre (190 ft) deep shaft when it meets a shattered fault into which Rift Pot also descends. At the bottom, the stream flows through some low canals and sumps, to eventually emerge at Austwick Beck Head in Crummackdale.

References

↑ Allen, Tim (February–March 2012). "The True Length Unravelled". Descent (224): 24–25.
↑ Brook, Dave; Griffiths, J; Long, M.H.; Ryder, P.F. (1994). Northern Caves. Volume 3. The Three Counties System and the North-West. Dalesman Publish Company. p. 104. ISBN 1855680831.
↑ Allen, Tim (August–September 2012). "It's a Cracker". Descent (227): 20–21.
↑ Waltham, A.C.; Simms, M.J.; Farrant, A.R.; Goldie, H.S. (1997). Karst and Caves of Great Britain. London: Chapman & Hall. pp. 30–34. ISBN 0412788608.
↑ Waltham, A.C. (1974). Limestone and Caves of North-West England. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 289–290. ISBN 0715361813.
↑ Cutriss, S.W. (1922). "The Leck Fell Pot-Holes". Yorkshire Ramblers' Club Journal. 5 (15). Leeds: YRC: 60–64.
↑ Shaw, Chester (1982). "Lost Pot". Northern Pennine Club Journal. 3 (3): 35–39.
↑ Eyre, Jim; Frankland, John (1988). Race Against Time. Dent, Sedbergh: Lyon Equipment (Books). pp. 137–140.
↑ Allen, Tim (August–September 2012). "It's a Cracker". Descent (227): 20–21.

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[1] Allen, Tim (February–March 2012). "The True Length Unravelled". Descent (224): 24–25.

[2] Brook, Dave; Griffiths, J; Long, M.H.; Ryder, P.F. (1994). Northern Caves. Volume 3. The Three Counties System and the North-West. Dalesman Publish Company. p. 104. ISBN 1855680831.

[3] Allen, Tim (August–September 2012). "It's a Cracker". Descent (227): 20–21.

[4] Waltham, A.C.; Simms, M.J.; Farrant, A.R.; Goldie, H.S. (1997). Karst and Caves of Great Britain. London: Chapman & Hall. pp. 30–34. ISBN 0412788608.

[5] Waltham, A.C. (1974). Limestone and Caves of North-West England. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 289–290. ISBN 0715361813.

[6] Cutriss, S.W. (1922). "The Leck Fell Pot-Holes". Yorkshire Ramblers' Club Journal. 5 (15). Leeds: YRC: 60–64.

[7] Shaw, Chester (1982). "Lost Pot". Northern Pennine Club Journal. 3 (3): 35–39.

[8] Eyre, Jim; Frankland, John (1988). Race Against Time. Dent, Sedbergh: Lyon Equipment (Books). pp. 137–140.

[9] Allen, Tim (August–September 2012). "It's a Cracker". Descent (227): 20–21.

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