Fell Beck
Fell Beck is a stream near the foot of Ingleborough, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is notable for running into Gaping Gill, the second-largest natural cave shaft in the UK (after Titan). As it falls down the shaft for 110 metres it is the tallest unbroken waterfall in the UK. At times it is blocked off by a temporary dam to allow members of the public to descend the Gaping Gill shaft on a winch. It later emerges as Clapham Beck in Beck Head Cave, adjacent to Ingleborough Cave. This was confirmed by cave divers in 1983, and by fluorescent dye tests many years before. Beyond the village of Clapham, Clapham Beck flows into the River Wenning, which in turn flows into the River Lune and thence to the Irish Sea.
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5 m
Jib Tunnel
Jib Tunnel, also known as Lateral Passage is one of the entrances into the Gaping Gill cave system in North Yorkshire, 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.
10 m
Gaping Gill
Gaping Gill (also known as Gaping Ghyll) 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.
The shaft was the deepest known in Britain, until Titan in Derbyshire was discovered in 1999. Gaping Gill still retains the records for the highest unbroken waterfall in England and the largest underground chamber naturally open to the surface.
29 m
Rat Hole, Gaping Gill
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.
120 m
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.
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