Tuesday morning and I am staying at the New Inn in Clapham, a coaching inn dating from the early 1700s. This is the Yorkshire Dales National Park, one of only ten National Parks in England. Over the next three days I am visiting caves and doing a couple of relatively easy walks in North Yorkshire and Derbyshire.
From the New Inn it is a short stroll through the village to the start of the Ingleborough Estate Nature Trail, the path to Ingleborough Cave. Special arrangements are required to be driven to the entrance. The path is lined with exotic planting, an artificial lake and even a folly, created by the Farrer family, according to the information panels along the way. A mile through the woods and a gate leads onto open moorland, and I arrive at the cave entrance. Third time I have been here and I must confess this my favourite cave in England. The arrival, the setting, the cave itself, the guide, all-in-all a great cave experience.
The underground stream in the cave runs loud and wild, the lighting is excellent and the tour guide as entertaining as ever. Cold mind you, at only 8C (46F) all year, which in winter feels normal but not the case on a warm summer day. This is a showcave, a natural cave adapted for access, with lights, concrete paths, steps and handrails. England has nine showcaves, caves where you do not need any specialist equipment apart from maybe a hard-hat at some. The alternative cave experience is wild caving but, while fun, we will leave those adventures to members of potholing clubs.
The water running through Ingleborough Cave emerges at the entrance and heads down to Clapham, back along the Nature Trail. You can extend the walk past the cave entrance up to Gaping Gill, a spectacular 100-metre deep pothole. It is massive. Every August bank holiday weekend (last weekend usually) the local caving club rigs a rope descent into Gaping Gill. Maybe a way to get interested in wild caving.
Back at the car well before lunch, I drive over to White Scar Caves, less than 15 minutes away. Perched on the hill side is their car park and visitor centre, with “Caves” boldly written in white across the roof. This is the longest cave in Britain with its impressive Battlefield Chamber to see deep under Ingleborough. Yes, we are on the other side of the same mountain. When it rains the cave floods, and fast! The guides are used to this but when they say, time to leave, they mean it, especially if you have just reached Battlefield. You might get wet feet here, especially on a wet day which is, of course, the perfect weather for visiting caves.
White Scar is just outside the village of Ingleton. If you have time, three hours maybe, do the Ingleton Waterfall Trail, a 7km walk alongside the River Twiss, past Pecca and Thornton Force falls, across open moorland, from where you can clearly see the word “Caves” on the other side of the valley, and back down the River Doe with more spectacular waterfalls.
Back in Clapham I head over to the Gamecock in Austwick for dinner, just 2 miles from the New Inn, or 1 mile if you walk. Very nice.
Staying in the Dales and after doing the Ingleton Waterfall Trail, on Wednesday morning I head over to Stump Cross Caverns, a 1-hour hop away, but cannot resist stopping at Malham Cove. Not a cave but another nice walk (15 mins) from the village of Malham up to on of Enland’s iconic geological sites, the towering horseshoe shaped limestone cliff-face, where once a giant waterfall cascaded. Today Malham Beck emerges quietly from the base of the cliff. I lunch in the village at the Buck Inn, only because I was parked outside, and the lounge bar’s roaring fire drew me in but there are other great pubs in the village.
Suitably refreshed on up to Stump Cross, which like the other two caves, is in the middle of nowhere. If you are touring in a motorhome, you can overnight here. Through the door the steps lead up into the ‘Time Room’ as they call it, with clocks of all sizes decorating the walls framing an endless view towards the setting sun. The food and service are great here. Like Ingleborough, this is family run. You access the caves from the middle of the Time Room. Lots of steps here and some stooping but a nice showcave. This one is self-guided. They have a small cinema telling the story of how the cave was discovered which also doubles up for movie-nights. Nice cup of tea and delicious homemade cake and back to Clapham for a sociable evening in the lounge bar.
On Thursday I leave the Yorkshire Dales and head over to Derbyshire, to the village of Castleton, roughly two hours’ drive. This is the Peak District National Park. Castleton has two showcaves, Treak Cliff Cavern and Peak Cavern, and two underground mine attractions at Speedwell and Blue John Cavern. The village has many rock shops because of the famous Blue John stone only found here, valued since Roman times. They say that vases of Blue John stone were unearthed at Pompeii. Treak Cliff Cavern is a mile outside Castleton and here they make jewellery from beautiful purple and blue stone. Family-run, Treak Cliff is a fascinating visit, combining a history of mining with spectacular showcave sections.
After Treak Cliff, I drive over to Speedwell Cavern, only 5 minutes away. Not a showcave this one, as the main attraction is a flooded disused lead mine, but it does have some natural cave sections, as indeed does Blue John Cavern. Here you descend a flight of stairs to an underground dock and board a boat that takes you on a gentle meander to the Bottomless Pit. Lots of fun. Blue John Cavern also has many steps. Back up the 100 or so steps into the daylight of Castleton and I head over to Peak Cavern, only a few minutes away, run by the same family as Speedwell. They use an ancient name in their marketing, the Devil’s Arse. The entrance is massive, large enough for a small village to thrive on a rope-making business going back to the Middle Ages. The space is used for demonstrating the craft and as a venue for shows and concerts. Beyond the first open chamber is the cave proper accessed along Lumbago Walk which, as its name suggests, involves a fair amount of stooping. Lots of choice for lunch in the many pubs in Castleton.
The majestic town of Buxton is half an hour away, a thermal spa town nestled in the centre of the Peak District National Park. Here we find Poole’s Cavern with a high-wire tree top adventure route run by GoApe at the entrance. Guided tours take you through a well-presented showcave. This cave, like many others puts on events all year round, from underground plays and shows, to Santa experiences. I stayed at the Palace Hotel, a large conference hotel, right in the middle of town, comfortable enough and good value. For more than a stop-over a bit of research will find you somewhere far more special to stay in Buxton.
The other three English showcaves are in the south, two in the Mendips in Somerset, Wookey and Cheddar, and the prehistoric caves at Kents Cavern in Devon. You can read about these in my blog Top ten reasons to visit caves in South West England.