16/01/22
Rob and I had been meaning to have a look down Mountbatten Pot for a few years now and when we realised there’d only be the two of us caving, it seemed like a good opportunity.
It’s located on the same hill about 300m south of Nettle Pot and we spent some time wandering around in the mist trying to find the small rusty entrance lid. It’s the same lid installed by the club in the early 50s and we had to dig it out of the encroaching moor before we could open it. The last trip I could find by anyone online was in 2016 and I’d be surprised if many people/anyone had been down it in the meantime.
We’d picked up a scaff tube from the hut on our way out and we plonked this over the entrance hole as a backup; not knowing the state of any insitu anchors. About 1m beneath the lid we found the first through-bolt stud sticking out the wall (five in total, hangers and nuts required) and this leads you to a short ~2m pot and then a vertical squeeze through to the top of the shaft proper. Another 2 studs here gives a nice pitch of around 10m down to a relatively roomy section where there was likely a choke in the past. The hole in the floor is the way on and two more studs allow another Y-hang down the final pitch which is noticeably longer and narrower and there is a short tight section about halfway down.
I went down first to have a look at the bottom and was surprised to find bags of rubble stacked high in both sides of the rift, signs of long since abandoned digging. Far from ending in a “a small calcited chamber” as Caves of the Peak District describes it, the rift clearly continues, albeit filled with tightly packed rubble. I couldn’t feel a draught but it felt surprisingly fresh and it looks more promising than I’d anticipated.
Rob had a quick look at the final pitch but got frustrated with the drill bag as it kept getting snagged, so I took some pictures and we headed out.
Good trip and good to have finally gone down the thing. We might be back. (Rob, Mike)
Derbyshire Pennine Club 