Stream Passage Pot

Location
Grid Reference: SD 7485 7252.

Altitude: 410 m

The entrance is at the end of a blind valley near a prominent stream sink 670 m ESE of Gaping Gill.

Description
The presence of three big pitches and a substantial stream made Stream Passage Pot a serious proposition on ladder, but SRT and modern rigging techniques have made it a lot easier and a lot safer. It is, however, still an impressive place and well worth doing.

A short descent through oil drums (rope required) leads to an awkward drop to the head of the first short pitch. This enters a small chamber where the main stream enters from a passage in the roof. A pleasant wander along a high stream passage finishes in a traverse up into a short oxbow passage in the roof where the start of the descent of the main 90 m deep rift starts. This drops rapidly in three pitches, all of which involve traversing out over the pitch heads to avoid the water, and the use of deviations to maintain a dry descent.

The bottom of the fourth pitch drops into Stream Passage in Gaping Gill.

Access
Permission for access should be obtained from the Ingleborough Estate Office

History
The cave was dug into on the 10th March 1949, and explored by the Northern Pennine Club during the following Easter weekend.

In 1979 the cave became the centre of a major rescue when Jeremy Peterson went missing on a solo pull-through trip. He was found alive and well after 57 hours, having fallen down the Mud Pot pitch.

The entrance became blocked in the early 1980s, and in 1984 it was re-opened by the Bradford Pothole Club who installed the current oil drums.