Upstream, a climb enters a passage which after 100 metres (330 ft) leads to the stream sink and the Motley Pot exit.

The way on is down a boulder ruckle and along a spacious passage for some 80 metres (260 ft) to the connection with Hensler's Master Cave in the main Gaping Gill System.

[2][7] The passages at the bottom, leading from Hensler's Master Cave to the chamber where the last pitch of Disappointment Pot enters the system were found by Eric Hensler in 1937 when he discovered over 1.5 kilometres (1 mi) of passage in Gaping Gill on a solo trip.

[8] In 1944 Bob Leakey stripped naked and dived through the flooded passage at the end of Disappointment Pot which had previously stopped Simpson to find airspace where he could stand.

[7] Motley Pot was dug through by members of Bradford Pothole Club in 1984 to establish an entrance close to the stream sink.