Red Rose Cave and
Pothole Club - Newsletter Vol 5 No 1 - Spring 1967
AHNOTT HOLE — NEWTON IN
BOWLAND - NGR SD 693 482 Length 1 Mile
This is mentioned in the 1966 Pennine
Underground as 880ft of passages containing 2 shafts - system complex, markers should be left. So in late October Duncan Baldwin
and I went to investigate what turned out to be a zinc carbonate and lead mine
containing many ore cavities making parts of the mine very similar to a cave.
There is in fact three extensive systems
behind. Ashnott farm - one in the quarry: AShnott Hole itself situated in the hillside; and the
drainage level, below the farm. The first system ee cntered was in the Quarry
and in this one we broke into an unrecorded system. This was done by climbing a
tight rift over at rubbish tip (from a shaft above) to the base of a passage
that ascended in a spiral for a vertical distance of 20 ft. We climbed up this
and from all angles passages radiated off this one leading to various mine
levels. The top passage however went the furthest leading to a fairly complex
system containing chambers full of be
beautiful crinoidal fossils.
Later we went to see the main system but
due to lack of tine we only went to the end of the drainage passage (in main mine)
entering an impressive chamber where it is hard to find the way back as the
entrance passage is hidden by a heap of mine debris.
The third system is the drainage
level. Below the farm this has never
been fully explored (and it is essential to carry a candle in this part as the
air can be very bad ) More information about Ashnott Hole can be gained from Northern Cavern
& Mine Research Society but for anyone interested in a dry underground trip
with only a few feet of crawling, this is not a bad place. There is still more to find in this place, especially by
scaling and looking in odd corners - in fact the N. C. M. R. S. found approximately 1/4 mile of passages by
crawling through a short but small tube in one passage.
A. Walsh
