Disappointment Pot
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| Disappointment Pot | |
|---|---|
 Negotiating the duck in Disappointment Pot | |
  Showing location of Disappointment Pot in North Yorkshire | |
| Location | Ingleborough, North Yorkshire |
| OS grid | SD 7505 7260 |
| Coordinates | 54°08′55″N 2°23′01″W / 54.14857°N 2.383527°W[1] |
| Depth | 110 metres (360 ft) (To Hensler's Master Cave)[1] |
| Length | 500 metres (1,600 ft)[1] |
| Elevation | 395 metres (1,296 ft)[1] |
| Discovery | 1912[2] |
| Geology | Carboniferous limestone |
| Entrances | 3 |
| Difficulty | IV[1] |
| Hazards | water, verticality[1] |
| Access | Permit [3] |
| Cave survey | On Cavemaps |
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.[4]
A 10-metre (33 ft) climb at the base of the grassy shakehole drops into a stream passage. Upstream, a climb enters a passage which after 100 metres (330 ft) leads to the stream sink and the Motley Pot exit. Downstream, a narrow meandering streamway leads to a short flat-out section, followed by a duck, a short section with minimal airspace. The passage becomes larger as it approaches the first of its five short pitches. Shortly before the third pitch, a high aven is where Marilyn, the third entrance, enters the system. The fifth pitch is the largest at 14 metres (46 ft), and this enters a large chamber. The way on is down a boulder ruckle and along a spacious passage for some 80 metres (260 ft) to the connection with Hensler's Master Cave in the main Gaping Gill System.
Motley Pot, (54°08′57″N 2°23′05″W / 54.149047°N 2.384708°W), currently blocked, enters some small passages carrying the main stream from the adjacent sink to a 4 metres (13 ft) climb down just upstream of the main entrance.[5]
Marilyn, (54°08′49″N 2°22′50″W / 54.147000°N 2.380520°W), drops directly down a couple of pitches, 25 metres (82 ft) and 23 metres (75 ft), to enter Disappointment Pot just before the third pitch, hence bypassing the tight meanders and the wet crawls.[6]
A number of fossil and active inlet passages have been explored in the roof of the main streamway.[1]