Eden Sike Cave | |
Photo Width: | 240 |
Map: | Cumbria |
Location: | Mallerstang, Cumbria, UK |
Coords: | 54.3682°N -2.3366°W |
Grid Ref Uk: | SD 7822 9701 |
Coords Ref: | [1] > |
Geology: | Carboniferous limestone |
Entrance Count: | 1 |
Difficulty: | II |
Survey: | Northern Pennine Club 1960 |
Eden Sike Cave is a small cave in Mallerstang in the Eden valley in Cumbria, England 400m (1,300feet) north of Hell Gill. The entrance is 391m (1,283feet) north west of an obvious resurgence in a small shakehole. This drops into a passage where a wet crawl leads downstream towards the resurgence, and a roomier passage going upstream. The upstream passage soon deteriorates into more awkward going which eventually passes a small but awkward climb into an inlet passage up to the right. The main passage goes to a sump some 9m (30feet) long which has been passed to a further 15m (49feet) before becoming too tight. The right-hand passage passes a section of sharp, steeply angled rock (Bacon Slicer Rift) into a chamber where the way on is a tight, wet passage where the airspace becomes minimal.
The cave was originally explored by members of the Northern Pennine Club in 1960,[2] and extended in 1982 by Ian Broadhurst and Dave Lamont.[3] The sump was dived by members of the Cave Diving Group in 1975.