CNCC
cleanup on Ingleborough
Shake hole between P5 and Christmas Pot
On 21st March a team of 10 including Fred
Rattray, Terry Devaney, Ged, Tim Rowan, Andy Farrow, Andrew Hinde and myself gathered
at this deep shake hole above Clapham Bottoms. This was part of the “Stories in
Stone” conservation project in the Dales supervised by Andrew Hinde. The object
was to clear out vast amounts of metal rubbish from the shake hole, some of
which had been there for at least 30 years. Andrew and Ged had brought up two
vehicles from Newby with assorted equipment, while the rest of us walked up
from Clapham on a pleasant dry day.
The operation gave us chance to make use of the new CNCC Capstan
winch. This was anchored to the ground above the depression and proved very
useful, as with Fred connecting stuff on at the bottom it was possible to haul
up larger amounts of fence wire and other metal rubbish than we could have
managed by man poor alone. Care was needed at the bottom with lots of sharp
metal and barbed wire. Three of us worked at the bottom of the hole and various methods were tried to haul out the smaller bits of material using
buckets, rope, plastic bags and pure manpower. (Note for next time, a drag tray
would have been useful).
After a break for lunch we had all the large material out of the
depression and continued to tidy up all the loose small bits of rusty metal from the surface. A very large pile now
lay on the surface of the fell and this will be taken away by contractors in
the near future. By the middle of the afternoon we had opened up an interesting hole through
rocks as the base of the shake hole, a
future digging site, perhaps.
Once we had fenced off the rubbish we went for a
look round the surrounding cave entrances including Christmas Cracker, a BPC
dig and retrieved some more rubbish from there. A useful and fun day out with
an enthusiastic team.
Andy
Hall