Caving in Yorkshire - Sepia Saturday

I announced previously (in June here) that I was not a caveman so when I saw the Jenolan Caves tour bus in this week's prompt.

I knew I could not compete with the Aussies as we are staring a whitewash in the face. I decided to come back home to Yorkshire where they still know a thing or two about cricket and to go caving instead.

White Scar Caves & Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales

What are now Britain's longest show caves were discovered in August 1923 by Christopher Long and J H Churchill. The summit of Ingleborough is some 4 km away.

How can you get there? 

By Tour Bus of course

Once inside the caves there are many spectacular sights such as this:

Inside White Scar Caves

To make you realise how insignificant we are you can always consult the clock.

Geological Clock

Even the devil will have been there before us and may lick you to death.

The Devil's Tongue - White Scar Caves

While in Yorkshire you do not have to restrict your visit to these caves under Ingleborough in the Chapel-le-Dale Valley in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

You could also take a look at:

Stump Cross Caverns

The caverns make up a limestone cave system between Wharfedale and Nidderdale in North Yorkshire. Their name derives from Stump Cross which in ancient times marked the limit of Knaresborough forest.

So in my Yorkshire tour I have found some caves and a bus, As for men in white coats.

For other prompts all I rely on Clarke Gable

However I suggest that you don't walk away like him before you have visited Sepia-Saturday-209.

Photo attributions:

• White Scar Caves & Ingleborough - Alan Murray Rust - CC BY-SA 2.0, Geograph Project Collection
• Inside White Scar Caves - Sharon Leedell - CC BY-SA 2.0, Geograph Project Collection
• Geological Clock - Immanuel Giel - PD
• The Devil's Tongue, White Scar Caves - Immanuel Giel - PD
• Stump Cross Caverns - Paul Allison - CC BY-SA 2.0, Geograph Project Collection

Spooky Wookey Hole - Sepia Saturday

Not being much of a caveman my heart sank when I saw the Wombeyan cave shot chosen as this week's feature.

However the local flea market came to my rescue when I found this postcard.

Solomon's Temple, Gough's Cave, Cheddar Gorge

Cheddar Gorge in Somerset is famous for its caves; it's a spectacular place to visit and is a favourite for those hardy souls who spend their time rock climbing 

Rift Cave

There can’t be much doubt how that cave’s name came about.

A number of the caves have great shows of stalactites and stalagmites.

Cox's Cave showing stalactites and stalagmites

Some 40,000 years ago the inhabitants were said to have practised cannibalism, yet 200 years ago the Gorge was little known and the track to it had been abandoned following tales of ghostly attacks by beings from the hillside.

Modern ghost busters who spent the night at Cox's Mill nearby reported light anomalies, a sudden feeling of sickness and a face that appeared from the wood panelling around the fireplace.

However if it’s spooks you want, then the place to be in Somerset is undoubted the caves at Wookey Hole.

Wookey Hole Cave and underground river

Human remains, pottery and crude jewellery have provided evidence that the caves were inhabited by Stone Age hunters. 

The caves have been formed by millions of years of erosion by the River Axe. Many stalactites and stalagmites have been left behind. One large stalagmite is said to be the Witch of Wookey, turned to stone for her evil deeds.

The Witch of Wookey

Supposedly, the witch lived in the caves with a goat and its kid as her familiars; crossed in love she cast spells on the Wookey villagers. A monk sent to the cave by the Abbot of Glastonbury sprinkled her with holy water. She turned to stone where she stands today on the bank of the Axe in Wookey’s Great Cave.

In 1912 excavations in the caves discovered the bones of a Romano-British woman with, nearby, the bones of a goat and kid, a comb, a dagger and a round stalagmite like a witch’s crystal ball. The relics are on show in the Wells and Mendip Museum.

Skeleton labelled the Witch of Wookey (Wells and Mendip Museum

My trips underground have been restricted to the Tube and to old copper mines at Alderley Edge in Cheshire – not haunted, I’m pleased to say.

If you fancy yourself as a speleologist then cross over and follow the links at Sepia-saturday-183.

Photo Attributions:

• Rift Cave - Nov 1967 by John Reston - Geograph Project Collection, CC BY-SA 2,0
• Cox's Cave - Oct 2008 by Throwawayhack - CC BY-SA 3,0
• Wookey Hole Cave - April 2012 by Becks - CC BY 2.0
• Wookey Map and the Witch of Wookey - freepages-folklore. ancestry.com
• Skeleton in Wells and Mendip Museum - June 2013 by Rodw - CC BY-SA 3.0