Cave Descriptions

HERON POT

Through trip via traditional route

1 2 4 1 hour

Through trip via high level traverse

3 3 2 1 hour

Heron Pot is a short, clean and interesting trip with some superb short pitches, two different SRT routes, and a lower entrance to enable a through-trip. There is a lot of variety and some fine situations in this short and reasonably easy cave.

The lower entrance is a very wet crawl in the stream and in wet weather may be sumped; however you can return back out the top entrance.

A trip down Heron Pot can be combined with a visit to the nearby Yordas Cave and Yordas Pot on the opposite side of the valley, to provide an entertaining afternoon of uncomplicated caving.

Parking:

Park in some laybys on the side of the Kingsdale Road near the gates below Yordas wood (a walled, wooded area on the left as you approach the head of the valley) (grid reference SD 7070 7913)

Location:

Grid reference for upper entrance SD 7144 7877

Just downhill from the parking area, cross the wall and approach Kingsdale Beck (the main river at the centre of the valley). A smaller stream joins the main river here. Follow this upstream and after 100m turn right up an even smaller (probably dry) gully leading up towards the wall at the top of the hill. Pass through a gap in the wall at the top of this gully. Follow the small valley straight ahead for another 150m to find the top entrance of Heron Pot. This is a small hole on the right hand side.

Note: All of the streams mentioned above may be dry during summer months.

Navigation:

Drop down into the entrance. The route onwards is behind you, underneath the boulder beneath the entrance hole. The passage starts as a crawl, however after a few minutes you meet the stream and the passage becomes mostly walking-sized.

Note that if exiting from the cave here, take care not miss this junction on the way out (i.e. if exiting, turn right out of the stream as soon as the crawling commences).

Continue downstream to enjoy 10-15 minutes of excellent and easy passage, leading eventually to the pitches. One route of descent is two short, easy pitches following the water (this may be quite wet). The other route is up a rope above the first pitch to an exposed traverse with a rope for protection. Long legs will be rewarded here! The traverse is 10m long and reaches a splendid pitch, which hangs away from the falling water.

The ropes from the two routes land only 5-10m apart in the draughty chamber at the bottom.

From the bottom of the pitches, the water can be followed downstream along some fine walking-sized passage. After about 10 minutes, the passage lowers to a long wet crawl which becomes a very wet low bedding crawl leading to a low-airspace duck out to the surface. You emerge just below, and further along the wall that you crossed through on the way up the hill earlier.

Additional reading:

Selected Caves (page 63) or Northern Caving (page 84).

Location Map: