Rat Hole, Gaping Gill

During the Yorkshire Ramblers' Club initial explorations of Gaping Gill the entrance to Rat Hole was buried under a bank of boulder clay, but this had washed clear by 1909. The cave was explored by C. Wingfield and E. Addyman as far as the junction with the main stream, and was surveyed by H. Brodrick and L. Slingsby, and with Wingfield, explored as far as the big pitch. This was plumbed to a ledge 33 m above the Main Chamber floor in 1912 by Wingfield, which he succeeded in reaching in 1913 by traversing across from Lateral Shaft, which was used at the time for winch descents. Rat Hole Sink was first identified as a major water sink by the Yorkshire Ramblers' Club in 1912 when they were…

Rat Hole is an inlet feeding the Gaping Gill main shaft complex. A snug crawl of about 25 m with a few bends passes a couple of minor inlets before dropping down a 3 m climb. The passage below almost immediately joins a stream passage flowing from the left, carrying the Rat Hole Sink water. Mousehole terminates in a floor with a window through to the Gaping Gill rift, but the route deviates to the south and finishes on a large well-watered scoop-shaped ledge after a 49 m descent. A short traverse to the east leads to the final 35 m pitch, which lands in the Main Chamber. Rat Hole Sink is located 10 m upstream of the main entrance where the water sinks. The entrance is normally covered with…