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Too many active cavers turned up on Friday evening for one single trip so we had to split into two teams. B-team led by N.H. Steel aimed for a digging on Attermire scar.

Despite Nigel's promise of 10 minutes walk, me and Stuart decided to walk in normal clothes and carry our caving gear in the bag. Nigel didn't start in the best way since he left his helmet at YSS. But luckily he brought his hard hat




after 20 minutes walk we decide to stop off at Victoria's cave. Quite impressive and I cannot believe that I missed such an important cave so far. Will have to come back to have a look more in detail! On the way to our digging target we decide to stop for a quick look to Attermire cave. Nobody had read the description so all of us expect just a quick trip. Luckily Nigel has been to the entrance so he leads us with a high confidence. After 40 minutes we come to the entrance. It's an absolutely stunning evening, the place seems to be so remote. Probably one of the places to get changed in Dales. On a little platform at the cave...we all regret for not bringing our sleeping bags...




After a short crawl we hit a reasonably big chamber from where we walk through big passages. It seems like museum with many old signatures and paintings. One of them belongs to a famous archaeologist...





After the big passages comes a bit more strenuous part of the cave. Stuart disappears in front of us and we all meat at the end of the cave. Stuart finds some spiders which indicates that the end of the cave is not very far from the surface. On the way back Nigel, who crawls on his own as the last one, drops his light (kindly lent by Stuart) into a deep pool and looses all the connection with the environment. Stuart has to come back and pick the light from the pool....

We spent so much time in Attermire cave that at the end there is no time for digging. Nobody really regrets. It's a big part of Yorkshire dales history and we are glad that we had a chance to visit it.





Trip time: Surprisingly 1:30
Party: Nigel, Ales and Stuart

anoyher cave I visited years ago but it did not seem so extensive. perhaps recent digging has extended it. victoria cave at that time was out of bounds as an active historic site

robs wrote:

anoyher cave I visited years ago but it did not seem so extensive. perhaps recent digging has extended it. victoria cave at that time was out of bounds as an active historic site

You should check out the restrictive metalwork in Victoria cave now Rob,



Photo by Cazza from Feb 2013.

Indeed. It's not looking good. But perhaps it really helps to slow down the degradation of the cave. There is also a BCRA logo on that little label.

Nice write up Ales, it was a stunning evening and the cave was much more extensive than I expected.
I would imagine the wet crawl would put off a lot of the random walking up with a torch visitors from going too far into the cave, but with Grafiiti from 1849 towards the end of the cave - it has clearly been accessable for a long time.
We need a potted history of the cave writing up, Nigellus.
Thanks Nige - another hidden gem. Don't go along expecting 1 1/2 hours of sport caving though - we took our time, its all about the history and location.

a trip to Victoria cave now looks out of the question for me now the legs have packed up . I now walk with a stick even to the extent of being offered a bungalow for the disabled. Ah Well! we have our own private hell

Sorry to hear that Rob.

Sounds to me like you could do with a handcycle to tour the dales!

who is doing the hand pedaling. I think I will stick to my VW Up.