Titan - the LARGEST natural cave shaft in the UK

On 1st January 2022, Gracie and I set off to descend the largest cave shaft in the United Kingdom - TITAN. This video shows our journey from the top to the bottom and includes a brief history of Titan as well as some insights on what it is like to be in such a huge cave, deep underground.
Corrections:
1) The entire entrance series, including the horizontal shaft was man-made, not just the vertical shaft.
2) Titan was originally discovered on 1st Jan, 1999. It was never accessed by miners and the reference to a shaft in a diary was to Leviathan, a nearby shaft in the same system which was discovered before Titan.
3) The bottom of Titan never forms a lake, even in very wet conditions, as the water sinks entirely through the boulder choke.
Thank you to those who have pointed these out.
More info: northall.me.uk...
00:16 Entrance Shaft
02:20 Entrance Passage
03:33 Top of Titan
04:44 First Pitch
05:39 Event Horizon
09:00 Second Pitch
10:04 Bottom of Titan
11:03 Gracie Ascending
13:15 Photos

[@robeavis1809]

Cool vid, nice to see a Titan one online. Thanks for sharing. As you welcome comments, here's a few corrections/additional info: Titan was first discovered 1st Jan 1999 (exactly 23 years before your trip). The miners never entered it; the large shafts they reported were in JH. The horizontal "passage" between the entrance shaft and the Breakthrough Window into Titan was all mined out by the digging team. A mega effort, in some ways harder than the shaft! The bottom of Titan never fills to form a lake, even in the very wettest conditions. The lowest section of the last pitch does however become impassable due to the waterfall, very occasionally.

[@andrewnorthall]

Thank you so much for your kind comments and the additional information. It’s hard to find stuff online that is well referenced so I’m glad it can be recorded here!

[@johnson3392]

I did Titan on my 60th birthday. We used 9mm ropes and my descender kept jamming. I got seriously hung-up at the Event Horizon and used up a lot of strength sorting myself out. The descent was a series of sudden releases followed by a complete stop with a massive bounce each time. My nerve had completely gone by the time I got to the bottom. Nonetheless, an awe-inspiring cave and your video does it credit. I don’t think I would do it again.

[@romancandlefight1144]

I'll know to wear a brown jumpsuit when I go 👍 cheers

[@geoffreymcdonnell9869]

Yes I had severe problems on crossing over to the last drop and had to be rescued from below and prussic out with the help of ankle ascenders. That was 15 years ago and I am too old and unfit now to ever try doing it again.mind you the awful wet crawls look very unpleasant if you go right through

[@asquietas]

Inspiring video which totally captures the immensity of Titan.

[@kmacksb]

This was amazing. Due to physical limitations this is the only way I can see these natural wonders and I thank you for this very informative as well as very beautiful video.

[@tinafincham8732]

Same here Kate Ebneter.:-)😀x

[@TheSd1cko]

Physical limitations?? I've got none of those and you still wouldn't catch me trying it 🤣 3 cheers for KZbin. I'd have soiled myself just climbing into the top part of the shaft then I'd have climbed straight back out again.

[@silvershoes9724]

@@TheSd1cko yes I can tell you now even if I was in peak physical fitness you would still never get me down there 😩😂

[@mcpheonixx]

In my younger, more adventurous days, I'd be all over this. But all of the rock climbing, whitewater kayaking, and other outdoor pursuits have taken their toll on my body. At 50 I'm still pretty active but this is way beyond what my joints can handle. Great video, thanks for sharing. That shaft is amazing!

[@Mizusui147]

This is really cool! You put a lot of work into the voiceover and it’s really informative! Great footage too!!!

[@georgelippitt7362]

You pair must have balls of steel to do that. Amazing please be safe in all your adventures.

[@anne-marienorthall4381]

Most definitely your best film so far Andrew. What an amazing and awesome cavern.

[@RichDavey]

Fantastic efforts to both of you there. Nerves of steel I must say. Well done both of you 👍

[@grumpycaver1123]

This is a super caving video - informative, gives great impressions of Titan without any unrealistic drama. Love it! I hope the in situ ropes weren't in the way too much, sorry for the faff (they're for digging commutes). The entrance rope will be gone or fixed out of the way soon. The bolts on the r.h.s. on the Event Horizon get marginally less drippy than the left hand ones, hence why I've left them free. Titan remains passable even when it's a lot wetter than in the video, but it is rather unpleasant. Good news is that if you do find it impassable it won't remain so for long, a couple of hours at worst.

[@andrewnorthall]

Thanks for the really informative comment and the kind words. The in-situ ropes were no bother, the pitches are quite spacious enough! Having not been down before, we were a little puzzled by the choice of bolts both at the top of Titan and the Event Horizon - good info for next time. Not sure exactly who you are, but I take it you are involved with managing or digging the cave, so thank you!

[@grumpycaver1123]

@@andrewnorthall I'm not one of the original explorers but behind currently ongoing exploration just a little way on from Titan. Although I did install the stainless steel chain Y hang you probably used, glad to see it get some use.

[@Mizusui147]

@@grumpycaver1123 yes! Being shorter than your average caver I found the stainless steel chain Y hang to be especially helpful while rigging in this video.

[@josoapification]

Impressive cave shaft. I never knew it existed. Thanks for the great footage 👍

[@vidviewer100]

amazing to see the pitch and cavern lit up at the end, you must have some good lights there, thanks enjoyed this...

[@Bulletguy07]

Excellent video footage, well filmed and lit enough for us non-caving spectators to see how huge that place is.....it's massive!!

[@UK-Blue]

I used to work on the ropes with Moose, Dave Nickson. And was working with him when he discovered this. Moose!!!!! Potter here.

[@24934637]

Very impressive that the people who did the digging knew where on the hill to start!

[@tonycook1624]

Called surveying :)

[@richardmann3149]

When i was into caving Gaping Ghyll was THE pitch to do. Did it five times over the years on ladder and SRT, would have loved the chance to try this one but age caught up with me.

[@tonycook1624]

Yes the abseil down Jib Tunnel is awesome as you descend into the light coming down main shaft.

[@stvweir]

Thanks for the video - it gives a great understanding of it. Im also amazed at the scale of the access shaft and work done there. It's a big investment - well done to the groups that did that.

[@andrewnorthall]

Couldn’t agree more Steve.

[@Jackstar970]

Fantastic video, thanks for sharing. Wish I'd had lights and camera's 30 years ago like they have nowadays to film some of the epic shafts I've been down before. Great job.

[@BaraKlinthing-THEEXPLORER]

Hello.. I'm a Cave Explorer from Indonesia. Nice to meet you 🙏😇

[@iplanes1]

I have not been caving for a long time but I visited Castelton many times. I never thought there was anything like this under my feet.

[@thesilentmajority2765]

Could you imagine being the first person to descend this? How crazy

[@chestypuller1300]

Yeah i can hear them now. Hey look mud!!! Oh look over there rocks!!! Ooh and more mud!!! Oh wow we just spent our whole day and didnt find shit but mud rocks and water!!! Wow what an adventure.

[@thesilentmajority2765]

@@chestypuller1300 clearly you dont get it

[@22Kalliopa]

I'm heading down Titan this weekend. Really looking forward to it, especially after this preview!

[@romancandlefight1144]

/Holy f*k Gracie I think I just shat myself!!/ Narrator: "There were times during the descent where we experienced various emotions"

[@mavenmavenpest1750]

Do like a cave video with no daft music👍. Good effort from both of you.

[@IbnBahtuta]

Wow, my Lunar pareidolia now has a relative, Cave pareidolia. Some of the walls looked like they came from the mind of H R Giger. Great upload, loved it. :-)

[@andypughtube]

Eee! When I were a lad if you wanted to abseil down Titan you had to prussik up it first! (I was lucky enough to get that chance shortly after Moose found it as I was peripherally associated with the TSG)

[@rljpdx]

im pretty scared of doing this kind of stuff myself so i sure am glad there are others for vicariousness as i find watching these cave exploring videos really cool. sure i'd like to see the sights for myself but i DO get to see them ;)

[@rljpdx]

how much training do you do for this stuff?

[@andrewnorthall]

For basic caving, not too much training is required. You can learn how to keep yourself safe by going out with a club - there’s not really an official training scheme for recreational caving - we tend to learn off each other and share best practices and techniques. For vertical caving (going up and down ropes), a bit more skill is required, but nothing that the average person cannot achieve with some practice. It’s a very accessible hobby.

[@jonathanb5552]

A very modest reply! Add in balls of steel to do what they did! I really couldn't do it, great to watch someone who can.

[@rljpdx]

@@jonathanb5552 Agreed!

[@karlalton3170]

Ive walked them hills many a time when i lived in Derbyshire and never knew that was below me 😂😂 great video dude 🤘🤘🤘

[@curseu4breathin712]

good video, once was enough for me with titan! The climb out is so tiring!

[@crazyfoot490]

Thank you for giving us this Glimpse inside the Earth. Bouncing back up that rope would be freaky and fun all at the same time.✌❤🙂

[@Shagley87]

Nice video I've not been to this cave before looks fun although that ascend would be plaguing! Haha If I may offer just one piece of constructive criticism?.....A couple of times during your rapell made my heart jump. You mainly used a hand over hand technique and at times looked to be anticipating the realese of your break hand before having full control over the line with your other hand. Please don't take this comment as negative, it's just an observation from one explorer to another, in this environment I'd probably use a running hand on the brake line. Great video, thanks for sharing. Safe exploring!

[@andrewnorthall]

Thank you for taking the time to comment. It’s perfectly valid criticism and I’ll take it on board. It felt quite secure to me at the time but you’re right that potentially there is more room for error there than if I kept a running hand. Cheers!

[@neilclay5835]

I'm here because I wondered what the heck it was under the hatch in the field that I came across. Blimey!

[@HottRoddTodd]

I’m from Braselton, Georgia. We have the largest natural cave in North America. Maybe you can explore it? Ellisons cave in Walker County Georgia. Two university of Florida students tragically lost their lives while getting tangled in their rigging. Neither had experience in caving. Both died from hypothermia because where they were tangles was under a natural waterfall and the water was 50 degrees Fahrenheit and colder. One got hung up and the other was trying to rescue and sadly both perished. It’s still an amazing cave to explore.

[@offimatrix4897]

Dint know there was another huge cave there, Thanks for showing.

[@farqfarq2225]

This is going to be a great channel 😊🙂🙂🙂

[@driftwood1906]

Someone needs to film it in 360o.

[@gotMylky]

The way your ropes bounce and stretch when ascending that gave me the heeby jeebies damn!

[@joshualapworth7650]

Thank you very much for making this video

[@jasonwoods3711]

That's the kind of place I'd expect to find the Templars lost gold ! Especially after seeing a knights helmet shaped in the rock at the end .... The rectangle eye sockets !

[@StarWarsJay]

I was going to make a very inappropriate joke regarding the title of this video and someone I know, but I value my life.

[@scienceandmatter8739]

Tribvtes FROM Germany Europe. I Wish i could have a journay Like this with my das before He died age 36. OUR Family was kajaking,clbing etc. But ive never could Join until i was the only one left . I Love Videos Like this thanks a lot

[@caveman__ogof]

Just found your channel fellow caver, amazing! subscribed ❤

[@andy1962ish]

Awesome video

[@rogerrabbit6522]

Looks awesome, would love to try it but I think I'll need to improve my fitness for the long ascent.

[@mojo888x]

looks insane..

[@mccleod6235]

The most amazing thing about this is how the original miner found it 200 years ago. They must have been brave men. Is anything known about who he was?

[@ThomasGabrielsen]

Beautiful cave! Thank you for sharing. I can't stop thinking about the hard work it must have been to ascend from the cave. I can imagine that some sort of electric winch would've been welcome. 🙂

[@richard01690]

Brilliant. Well done from Ireland.

[@BW_90]

Amazing, imagine how hard it was for the climbers that did it 200 years ago with equipment not as good, they must of had balls of steel

[@nockianlifter661]

As an ex-caver I thoroughly enjoyed that. The rebelay gave that same sense of exposure I would have if I’d actually been there.

[@andrewnorthall]

Thank you. 😀

[@nockianlifter661]

@@andrewnorthall you’re most welcome. Hanging on a rope in freezing spray gave me a chill. I had to do that for almost half an hour on a busy trip to cow pot in mid winter. By the time I emerged I was borderline hypothermic and beginning to hallucinate and had considered getting off the rope and trying to climb up one side of the shaft which had begun to appear almost horizontal. I joined a couple of other guys on the surface who had also been stuck in the same place and appeared to be crying. After about 10 minutes I joined them-my hands began to thaw and the pain was excruciating.

[@andrewnorthall]

@@nockianlifter661 it’s lovely to hear your story! It was quite wet when we went down Titan and the roar of the water was something to behold - I remember us discussing whether it would actually be passable or not. I managed to get down Cow Pot for the first time last week - a tricky pitch for sure, luckily it was absolutely bone dry.

[@nockianlifter661]

@@andrewnorthall I read about Titan a couple of years back when my brother bought me a caving book for Christmas. I never imagined there would be anything bigger than GG in Britain, amazing how things have continued to move on with new finds. I was one of the first down large Pot after its discovery in 1982 with the Colossus shaft, but Titan is something else.

[@harrypalmer7169]

Stunning.

[@Trab8900]

Thanks for sharing this quality video :)

[@sawyerdave1]

Excellent video, but better you than me 👍😜

[@jknight1415]

Amazing I'd love to go

[@jonjones3449]

Well done ... 👌

[@adambane1719]

That was amazing. Well done. Scary place.... you could have just gone to the beach you know.

[@martincarroll8637]

Mesmerizing

[@bruceholroyd7063]

Incredible exploration! The unknown beckons! What fantastic secrets lie concealed down there in that subterranean void, waiting for the illumination of your lamps to reveal what has lain in perpetual darkness since the dawn of time? Sound like a movie trailer script, don't I? Well, this 'movie trailer' is now a subscriber! Thanks for sharing your magnificent journey!

[@yasminenazarine1629]

what brave people go down there deep in hole 🧐😳😬😬😬 I'm ganna have heart attack 😬😬😬😬

[@dalesmithies9051]

Blimey,and hears me thinking that gapeing gill was enormous.The Guardian Newspaper had produced some photos of the shaft and i can comfirm it looks huge.

[@RootsLion]

mad ist ive heard of such an amazing place cheers

[@mspeachpeach5651]

Excellent video, well voiced.

[@drinkingripa3928]

Nice vid!

[@drewd4491]

4:48 sounds like many voices screaming

[@schmiddy1473]

This is absolutely crazy. 4:02 when you look off the edge that made me weak at the knees. Can’t wait to show the Outside Your Zone boys this, unreal video. Deffo subscribed.

[@andrewnorthall]

Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it

[@feeman3345]

Thanks.

[@williamorford6966]

Wow what a pitch. A pitch used to a ladder chucked over the edge and a lot of grunting. Well done you two.

[@wanderingwhere]

wow brilliant video thank you

[@ifwemadeit]

most terrifying thins gis seen all day.

[@landtechnik4k]

a while ago, after a good drink at the Pub, I've lost my way and walked down there.. on foot. Pretty amazing but cold. so i walked back home so my wife wont get angry

[@andrewnorthall]

😝

[@markyoung7737]

Epic!

[@tylersowa3858]

Amazing video!!!!

[@doughobbs7706]

It's a bit Titanious as one of the diggers reffered to it 😆 Brilliant stuff, done it down and up lots of times now and it never ever fails to impress! Did you go up the inlet at the event horizon or have a look down the abandoned dig at the base of the entrance shaft whilst there?

[@andrewnorthall]

Hi Doug, unfortunately we didn’t make it across the Event Horizon traverse or into the dig. We were fairly tired (it was the day after New Year’s Eve after all…) and we were a bit inappropriately dressed - we didn’t realise quite how wet we were going to get and as such didn’t have wetsuits on. I’d love to go back at some point this year and visit both - have you been into them?

[@scoobysienna]

id love to go down there..

[@robtebay1]

I'm just trying to imagine the power and scale of the water that formed Titan.

[@Purenaggs]

the most boringly exciting thing on KZbin

[@James-yl3kk]

Imagine your batteries going flat down there.

[@messamommy]

This is giving me massive anxiety to watch. Wow that looks like a claustrophobic's nightmare.

[@JennyBurrowsPhoto]

Great effort videoing it though I think if I had seen it before I was already committed and halfway down it might have put me off!

[@Timesend]

🔥🔥

[@robtebay2]

Is there a possible way on at the bottom? A sump, perhaps?

[@lindaj5492]

Have to say it bothers me that just the two of you went down with no backup: I’d thought the “golden rule” for caving & climbing was to have at least three in the group, so one can stay with an injured person whilst the third goes for help. I guess no mobile signal down there?

[@andrewnorthall]

Don't let it bother you! No, there is no mobile signal.

[@letmeoffthisplanet6208]

I guess you've never been solo then,it's therapeutic...

[@tonycook1624]

@@letmeoffthisplanet6208 It certainly is. My best day out was Gouffre Berger entrance to Hall of the 13 and back out - 16 hours of solitude :) :) :). But it was hard work as I was derigging and moving bags of rope and a deflated dingy back up Aldo's etc.

[@addictivegamesfanclub2468]

Need a metal heart for that one

[@spaceman8839]

When using the Petzl Simple you use it without any backup?

[@theaspieman6126]

I'd love to do this one, though I'd come out of peak cavern (devils arse) route rather than climb back up! Lol

[@tekay44]

the original guys thought, thank god, no more effing digging. lol.

[@andrewnorthall]

🤣

[@Teddy_Bass]

I wouldn’t be able to do that. I would freak out

[@JCO2002]

That was great, thanks. May I ask if you've ever tried a rack for descent? A couple of the people in our group use bobbins sometimes, but it seems like more work to me - having to hold the rope up like that. With my rack, my brake hand is always down by my right hip. Also, a number of our ropes are 11mm pit rope, and don't fit well in a bobbin. If it's of interest, our deepest straight shaft here is about 150m, with one rebelay at -95m, at Morgans Pond Hole. A fun descent, but a hell of a lot of work to get back up. RS Stewart - Jamaican Caves Organisation.

[@andrewnorthall]

Hi there, racks aren’t particularly common in the UK and I’ve never used one. They are about, and some cavers do use them, but most of our caves are relatively short pitches with many rebelays, so racks end up making less sense. I would like to buy one to try, but it’s pretty low down on my priority list, as there just isn’t a strong need for one. A rack would be ideal for a big pitch like Titan, I’m sure!

[@JCO2002]

@@andrewnorthall Many thanks for the reply. Understood. Most of our pitches are straight drops, sometimes stepping over somewhat on the way down, so we seldom do rebelays. We usually just use a big tree at the top as an anchor and feed in an 11mm pit rope (we have some very long ones). The points of contact aren't sharp enough to damage the ropes, and it speeds things up. A lot of our caving is exploration - new sites, or ones that were only done with cable ladders decades ago - so we don't want to waste time rigging. But if you ever have some spare cash, try a rack! You can really control speed on long drops. On ones here about 100m, I can sail down in the middle part.

[@andrewnorthall]

@@JCO2002 makes sense my friend - we have very little exploratory caving in this country relative to others - we do a lot of sport caving as the vast, vast majority of (easy to find) sites are already discovered and mapped. Many UK cavers travel to Europe regularly to get their exploratory caving hit.

[@JCO2002]

@@andrewnorthall It might be sport caving, but under conditions I can't imagine. Our minimum temperature in caves here is about 20C. Watching you guys in that cold water - I don't know how you do it.

[@tonycook1624]

They used to be very common in the 80's when I started caving and SRT was new fangled. I still use one. One thing to be aware of is the rack love bite when you get to the bottom and crouch down to loose the rope stretch - dont let the red hot rack loop touch your neck!

[@oligould8575]

This looks like an awesome cave to explore. I live on the edge of the Peak District in stoke so this isn't far away at all, and I'm hoping to get into caving myself soon. I'm just wondering what's the best way for a quick learner to get into it locally?

[@andrewnorthall]

Sorry it took me so long to see this Oli. There are a number of caving clubs in the Peak District you can get in touch with to go on some trips. TSG (Technical Speleology Group on Google) is the first that comes to mind. You can also check out newtocaving.com for some more advice. I hope you give it a go!

[@irnbrubhoy]

Was there a cafe at the bottom?

[@nigeldalebisram]

What's so natural about this?

[@catzkeet4860]

The cave is natural other than the initial access shaft which is lined.

[@simonharding3109]

Fab video but I always wonder why?

[@jamesfrench8610]

Ladies first!

[@garlandremingtoniii1338]

I did find it entertaining. But no way in hell would I ever do it!!

[@tomtom4405]

I agree, I advise against down and up. It's even better to do the through trip down Titan and out Peak Cavern show cave (permission needed) ;)

[@DaveDexterMusic]

qualifying, like spiders, in my "fascinating, beautiful, but NOPE" list out of interest, that access shaft must have cost a lot to achieve. I'm not saying cavers don't deserve nice things, but as engineering projects go, it surely enriches the lives of a far smaller number of people than other potential uses of the funding and resources. without challenging the legitimacy of it, because I do think it's cool, how did it get funded and made when it seems so remote and specific? or was it a private venture? I don't see how it could be, though, that's some serious work.

[@andrewnorthall]

You raise some interesting points, although I’ll spare us a deeper debate about the redistribution of wealth. I’m afraid I don’t actually know the answer to how it was funded, although I had wondered the same myself.

[@DaveDexterMusic]

​@@andrewnorthall It's not as if an access tunnel cancels out a pediatric ward or anything so it's fine in that sense. just genuinely curious how you'd even go about getting funding for such an esoteric project. I watched to the end, it really is a spectacular cave. edit: I went googling and it seems it was a privately funded/arranged operation led by Nixon after gaining the appropriate permissions to excavate on the land. I just assumed such a mammoth task would be "official", but fair play to Nixon and whoever helped him. I wondered if there'd be a planning permission record but it's not the easiest site to navigate so I gave up. Apparently the initial sideways excavation through the mine to Titan was seven years, not three - not sure if that's true though, given how facts can get distorted when everything is based on a single report or interview.

[@andrewnorthall]

That’s really interesting Dave, thank you for taking the time to look that up and sharing it here.

[@tonycook1624]

Virtually all UK cave digs are privately funded. You get very adept at sourcing materials on the cheap. We use a lot of scaffold poles in our boulder choke digs and have discovered sources of "retired" scaffold poles that the building companies are only too pleased that we take away for them. The recuring expenditure on our digs are Hilti caps, rock drill batteries and angle grinder disks. We haven't yet upgraded to concrete drain pipes (getting those cheap must be a feat) - we are still using industrial round metal waste bins (again ones that no longer work as bins)

[@josephinebennington7247]

Did you say the current re-discovery found it from entering at the bottom?

[@andrewnorthall]

Yes - they found it from the bottom and then climbed it, and dug the entrance. It was an error in the video (sorry!) to say re-discovery - they found it for the first time. Miners did not find it first.

[@josephinebennington7247]

@@andrewnorthall . 👍👍👍. Best explanatory view I’ve seen of it since it was announced. Fascinated by such holes in the ground, but you won’t get me in them. Or down them…standing at the maw of Gaping Ghyll was enough for me.

[@arifhafizamhamzah32]

There must be another way out somewhere in the cave

[@andrewnorthall]

There are! It connects to the Peak-Speedwell system which has three main entrances, including Titan.

[@paulwinstanleyoutdoors9413]

a good video but I'll give that one a miss I think

[@nileist6666]

Sure would like to know how this cave formed???? It cant all be water erosion

[@andrewnorthall]

It is indeed all erosion and collapses.

[@catzkeet4860]

Why do people seem to have difficulty in believing that water carved out a cave? Water can topple bridges, throw around articulated trucks, and in a concentrated jet, cut steel. Yes water created this.

[@ExplodeTheCake]

What does it smell like down there? All that sitting water must be nasty

[@tonycook1624]

It all flows through and out at Peak Cavern. Even that "sitting" water is slowly being flushed out by inlet water.