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Wednesday 17 January 2018

Going caving


I met up with my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters at White Scar Caves recently, to do a spot of caving! White Scar is up near Ingleton, on the western edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, deep underneath Ingleborough, one of the famous Yorkshire 'Three Peaks'. It is the longest 'show cave' (ie: those that the general public can enter) in Britain, as visitors can walk about half a mile inside the system, though experienced cavers have, of course, explored much further into the whole system of tunnels.

The system was first discovered in the 1920s but some of the guided walk we took was opened up much more recently. There is a trail of natural tunnels that have had concrete paths laid, metal walkways with streams flowing beneath and some long staircases; some sections require you to double over and creep under low overhangs. The hard hats were mandatory and very necessary. I'm not a great fan of being underground in enclosed spaces... You'd never get me actually potholing, even when I was younger. But the visitor trail is safe inside, even for little children to walk through, and the caves are very interesting. It does sometimes flood, but they have a careful monitoring system and would not allow you inside if there was any danger. The children had to wear woolly hats under their safety helmets. Even then, the littlest one managed to knock hers off (there was no chin strap) and lose it in the abyss!

11 comments:

  1. I remember visiting the caves on a rainy day during a walking holiday. It was a great experience, though I think I still prefer staying up top.

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  2. Looks like fun Jenny.. and thankfully safe ☺

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  3. How exciting! I ve been for a similar underground adventure in Fermanagh.

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  4. It sounds like fun! It's been a long while since I've been in a cave. There's one a couple of hours drive away from here.

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  5. I found out my own claustrophobia by going into caves willingly, and having discovered that fear I let it win.

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  6. Hi Jenny - fabulous photos and what a lovely experience for the grandchildren - I've caved in South Africa and backed out of narrow tummy crawling stretch - decided it wasn't for me - I think my mother went though!! Cheers Hilary

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  7. There is an exciting cave system near Perm. Permafrost leads to waterfalls of ice which assuming different colours are a photographer's dream!

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  8. I've never been in a cave - not sure how I would react.

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  9. That is a lovely photo Jenny, your granddaughters are delightful. The caves sound really good. I will only go into ones that I can stand up in.

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  10. Love the family portrait. Your daughter was made from the same mold that made you!

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  11. Sounds like fun. Great shot of the family

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