On the UNCC Christmas weekend, I joined Black Rose’s very own Jonathan Finch for a trip down Jackdaw Hole. The cave is easily found in the tree-lined, fenced enclosure left of the Pennine Way, about five minutes walk past Sell Gill Holes. We rigged our 15m rope off a tree hanging over the southern end of the impressive shaft.
From the foot of the pitch it looks as though there should be a huge cave beyond, but sadly not.
The cave is very interesting though, with some muddy crawls, a traverse, enjoyable climbs and a narrow stream way.
Afterwards we went to Scramble Pot, which some bastard has destroyed by dumping farm waste into the shakehole. I very carefully tried to avoid rusty barbed wire and decayed planks of wood in order to get myself a few metres underground. If there is a prize for the cave with the highest ratio of risk to enjoyment, I think Scramble Pot wins.
Finch then jetted off to Northumberland, but I stayed behind and got drunk with a bunch of students. The following day I went for the excellent hangover options of Upper Long Churn, a very wet Wilson’s Cave and the very short Selside Cave.
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