The team were called by North Yorkshire Police to a report of a sheep that had fallen down Gritstone Pot. When the duty controller spoke to the reporting person it transpired that there was also a second sheep down Boggarts Roaring Hole, but some cavers who were planning to go down that cave were intending to try and rescue it on their way.
A small team was assembled and headed up to Gritstone Pot in CRO 4, our ATV. On arrival they found that the two Craven Pothole Club members had indeed rescued the sheep from Boggarts and were starting to rig Gritstone Pot to help the sheep down there. Whilst the cavers descended CRO team members set up a haul system to recover the sheep back to the surface and then hauled the lamb and ewe that were down there back up to safety. A quick check over of the animals on the surface found that the lamb had an injury to its front leg so enquiries were made to find out which farmer was responsible for it – Ingleborough is common land and a number of farms graze their sheep on its flanks. Once the lamb’s owner had been notified he headed up to meet the team and collect it from them and the team stood down.
The team would like to thank the two public spirited cavers who gave their time to assist in this rescue, after already rescuing another sheep on their own.
Volunteer hours: 16