Warrendale Knotts Cave

Warrendale Dale Knotts Cave is hidden on Warrendale Knotts 60m above the Settle to Attermire footpath. The cave isn't the easiest to find, located behind a limestone block and a patch of nettles. There are approx 20m of passage, all crawling :-(

Spider Cave

Spider Cave is a high opening in Beacon Scar. The debris strewn passage quickly lowers to a crawl which enters a small chamber. A squeeze through to the left enters a passage which is too narrow to follow :-(

Brent Scar Cave

Brent Scar Cave is a high fissure to the south of Victoria Cave. The passage closes in after about 5 metres :-(

Spider

I visited a few caves over the weekend. Now I know how Spider Cave earned it's name - it's full of spiders :-(

Formations in Gough's Cave

Gough's Cave is one of the show caves in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset. The cave was originally know as Sand Hole. A retired local, Richard Cox Gough, spent 8 years excavating the cave before discovering Saint Paul's Chamber and opening it to the public.

In 1903 a human skeleton was discovered just inside the entrance, buried beneath 9000 years of debris. Cheddar Man was about 23 years old when he died and dates from 7150BC. Excavation revealed evidence of human occupation from approx 12000BC to Romano-British times.

Storr's Cave, Ingleton

Storr's Cave has two prominent entrances close to the road east of Ingleton. A large passage joins the two with smaller passages leading off. A low passage to the south descends to a dried up streamway. A narrow passage leads north, waiting to be explored another day ;-)

A hidden third entrance used to be an easy climb to a dry chamber full of small bones. However, the entrance has been enlarged and the chamber strewn with clay and debris from a new passage that's being excavated. I can't help wondering who's digging and what they've discovered :-)

Victoria Cave, King's Scar

Victoria Cave was originally a small opening in King's Scar known as the Fox Holes. In 1837 Michael Horner followed a dog through the opening and discovered a series of chambers. The artefacts discovered inside let to a full scale excavation, enlarging the entrance to it's present size.

The excavation revealed the story of the cave through the ages. 120000 years ago the cave had been a hyena den. Towards the end of the last ice age the cave was a place of refuge for hunter-gatherers and in Romano-British times the cave was used as a shrine.

CaveMaps.org has a detailed map of Victoria Cave. :-)

Inside Bivi Cave

Here's a closer look at Bivi Cave which is close to the footpath from Settle to the Attermire area.

There's a great view from inside Bivi Cave looking towards Sugar Loaf Hill. The cave is only a couple of metres deep so technically it's classed as a rock shelter.

Bivi Cave, Attermire

In Walks in Limestone Country, Wainwright describes Bivi Cave as a small cave so snug and dry a refugé in wet weather that one regrets going past on a fine day.

Personally I think the nearby Spider Cave is a much better place to shelter. :-)

Cave Formations in Gough's Cave

There are some amazing formations in Gough's Cave, but I can never see what they're supposed to be. What do they look like to you?

Reflections of the Swiss Village

The Swiss Village is a formation in Gough's Cave, Cheddar. The picture and clip both show the village's reflection in a shallow pool below the formation.

Beck Head Stream Cave

After climbing down about 3m in a tight rift and wriggling another 5m through a low passage, Beck Head Stream Cave opens out onto the sandy bank of an underground stream.

Not wanting to take my camera any further I took this one photo before braving the icy waters! After wading for ages upstream the passage reaches an underground waterfall and the end of my exploration, Broadbent Falls.

Hunt Pot, Yorkshire Dales

Unknown Cave, Yorkshire Dales

Spider Cave, Yorkshire Dales

There are two Spider Caves close to Settle, one to the east below Warrendale Knots, the other to the west in Giggleswick Scar.

Spider Cave to the east is an opening in Beacon Scar, easily noticed from the footpath to Attermire. Luckily I've been once before because this time visibility was so bad I couldn't even see the scar!

A boulder strewn vertical fault leads to a narrowing of the passing. Through the squeeze leads into a small chamber with a side passage to the left which becomes too narrow.

Raven's Rift, Yorkshire Dales National Park

Raven's Rift, near Settle, Yorkshire

Benscar Cave, Attermire Area, Yorkshire

Rock arch outside Reynard's Cave, Dove Dale

Twinkle Cave, Langcliffe