Manchester Hole and Goyden Pot

It was a first trip to this area of Yorkshire, Nidderdale, for both myself and Karen and we camped at How Stean Gorge campsite which is 7 miles north-west of Pateley Bridge near Lofhouse. We drove up last night and as we passed through Pateley Bridge and beyond we began to see strings of miniature jerseys coloured green, yellow or white with read spots. There were also many bicycles hanging from houses and shops and other buildings al painted yellow, including seats and tyres. We couldn't work out what this was about until we then saw the AA signs warning the the roads would be closed next week-end for the Tour de France! Of course, the Tour was starting in Leeds next week-end and travelling around parts of Yorkshire and onwards.
Once we had pitched the Force Ten MkV, we spotted Pete Wagstaff's car in another part of the field and presumably his tent. He had gone for a walk and also stopped in the pub and he dropped by on his way back to say “hello”. There were only the three of us on this trip.
We were up at 08:30 and even though the camp-site has a café, it didn't start serving food until 10:00 so Karen and I cooked breakfast in the tent as it was a damp, still morning with a little light rain and when that had stopped, there were midges about.
Luckily it brightened up as we set off from the camp-site just after 10:00 to drive a few miles to park near Scar House Reservoir near the river Nidd.
We walked up to the reservoir to see what water levels were like as Manchester Hole and the other caves are very prone to flooding and even though the forecast was for possible light rain showers, if water levels are high and there is enough wind in the right (or wrong in this case!) direction, water can overflow the dam and flood the cave systems.
The water level was quite low and there was very little wind so we would have no problems. The dam was impressive being made of stone blocks and built in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It was very ornate with lots of castellations and ornate decorations.
After walking back to the cars, we relocated a short way back to a layby next to a tunnel closed with stone blocks which Pete said was built during the construction of the dam and parked there and then got changed into caving gear.
We followed a nearby Public Footpath which dropped down to a fence stile and then across a field to second stile and the dry river bed. The cave entrance was on the opposite side on the other side of another fence and stile.
We set off into the small rectangular entrance which immediately opened into larger passage and a streamway. The roof and walls were covered in sediment and there were lots of evidence of past flooding with sediment and tree branches left in various places. We first went downstream and had a look at various side passages and at one point reached a chamber with a mud back and slope with a handline from above where there was a group being led on a caving trip.
We had a short chat and they went on their way. Karen and Pete had a look at what was at the top og the shirt climb with the knotted handline while I waited and I had a slight groin injury from last week's sojourn on Kinder Scout. Pete had reached the surface at a lidded pot in a field (Back Pot).
Passing the muddy bit we followed lower passage through some pools in the stream until we reached a low section which we found to become toot tight. Karen had noticed another route on the right which was flat-out and although the floor was smooth and worn, the section beyond a squeeze looked like loose flood debris and appeared nit to be well-travelled. So I let Pete have a look! He disappeared and returned after a few minutes to report he had found an entrance in a field called Bax Pot.
We returned past the entrance and went upstream but this soon closed down in a boulder choke.
After returning to the surface, we had a quick look at where the river Nidd was sinking which was a very short distance upstream. The river was simply disappearing into the jumble of small boulders and stoned in the river bed.
We then walked further downstream on the dry riverbed and I found another cave entrance on the left-hand bank by a patch of loose soil at the foot of a small cliff. It was covered by a large circular galvanised steel lid which had a small circular door in it as well, but I simply lifted the whole lid off.
Inside was a circular section of galvanised metal and a short drop to a small ledge and then another short drop to a rocky shelf next to a narrowish rift.
I had a quick look at this and then set off to find the other two.
A little bit further downstream was another larger cave entrance which I took to be Goyden Pot. There was plenty of flood debris just as with Manchester Hole, but here were large tree branches and even tree trunks!
I wandered in the large passage inside the entrance and followed a side route for a short way which passed a large window to a drop to much larger passage below and was blocked with a large tree trunk which I had to swing my legs over. There were three drive-through bolts in place presumably to allow for abseiling into the passage below.
I returned to the main passage way and hear the other two and soon saw their lights further down the Main Chamber at a level below where I was due to large steps in the floor and large fallen blocks and boulders.
I clambered down to join them and we set off along the nice and large streamway.
We eventually followed a hands-and-knees crawl ad reached a five-way junction. I started up another hands-and-knees crawl following the same small stream we had already followed but the water soon disappeared and soon arrived at a small chamber with passages going off and a short climb over flowstone to a higher passage about 2.5 metres higher with a short section of aluminium builder's ladder propped in place!
I climbed up the ladder and was followed by the other two and we soon reached a chamber with a low rock-strewn passage going off to the left and a higher passage on the right which would require a climb up to get to.
We had a look at Pete's photocopied survey which was now damp and suffering from having gone through chest-deep water earlier on as we went thorough a lowish but wet section. We couldn't really make head or tail of where we were for definite other than seeing Five-way Junction and possibly the Ten Foot climb where the ladder was.
We decided we had seen enough for now and headed back to the surface and agreed another trip would be a good idea to see more of this lovely cave.
We got changed out of caving gear and as it was around 14:30 drove back to the camp site and were delighted to find out that the café served chip butties!

Later Pete went for another walk locally while we hung around the tent or later, sat in the car reading.