Those Present - George, Cliff (first time caver), Sooty.
Sunshine greeted us on the morning of 26th October as we arrived in Castleton, Derbyshire.
Our destination, Peak Cavern, one of the largest natural cave openings in the country.
Now advertised, less eloquently, as the ‘Devils Arse‘, this spectacular Show Cave
greets you as you ascend through the winding streets of the quaint market town of
Castleton. Rising high above you, the scale is quite breathtaking, with sound of
birds swirling high up the sheer face of the opening. Kitted out in standard caving
gear, we headed through the public turnstile and then through the Show-Cave, avoiding
the crowds who flock to see this wonderful sight, by arriving before the 10.00 ‘o’
clock opening time. A small man-made helter skelter lets you slide gracefully into
the beginning of the main chamber, depositing you some what un-graciously at the
first descent . The roof slopes down significantly at this point and following some
winding and twisting through some low roofed chambers, you begin to the sense this
is going to be an interesting experience. As any cave, there is a constant flow of
water and initially there are many flooded caverns to negotiate, a refreshing dip
in the cool Derbyshire waters is as good-a-way as any to bring the lucky caver fully
to wakefulness, and a taste of things to come?? The beauty and scale of these caves
reveals itself in many further high ceiling caverns which tower above you from the
narrow twisting river-beds. Each twist and turn reveals more spectacular and pleasing
rock structures ,many showing huge calcifications and plenty of Stalagmites to keep
you interested. We followed the ‘tourist’ route that I would describe as moderate
with plenty of variety and not too much in the way of crawls or long muddy slogs
,a great place for the novice to get a feel of the thrill and some of the challenge
of negotiating caves. Deeper down the water tends to get to waist level and we challenged
ourselves to take a dip under one of the smaller sumps that eventually leads on to
a far more challenging underwater tunnel, wet-suits and breathing apparatus are a
must for these longer passages. There really are a range of challenges in this system
and a visit is strongly recommended, contacting the relevant authorities is necessary
and we found all the people involved on the day
Peak Cavern - 26 October 2003
We met at the TSG hut, changed, walked to the cave, Through the show cave, muddy
ducks, down surprise view up and down the streamway, quick dive through lake sump
and back out.
Also in peak were a group from Glasgow University who, we had been informed, were
going to do a nude photoshoot for a callendar. This seemed like too good an opportunity
to miss. We proceeded through the cave about five minutes behind them (approximately
the time taken to get out of your caving gear). We happened across them (purely by
accident) in the main streamway but our timing was out as they were just starting
to strip. Never mind, we were only a couple of minutes from the sump, so we’d be
back in about five minutes. We were greeted on our return by three semi-naked cavers
rapidly trying to cover themselves up. We loitered for a minute or two but we were
starting to look like perverts so we gave up.
On the way home we stopped for a pint.
