№ 07Underground · Yorkshire Dales, England

Gaping Gill

One of Britain's biggest cave chambers opens to the public twice a year — by winch, straight down the waterfall shaft.

A caver in an orange oversuit and white helmet stands dwarfed at the edge of Gaping Gill's floodlit main chamber, tiny figures crossing the boulder floor far beyond. — Pl. IICavers dwarfed in the main chamber

The dark mouth of Gaping Gill opens beneath a limestone lip in a grassy hollow of Ingleborough's moor, a worn path winding down to its edge. — Pl. IIIThe unassuming mouth on the moor

Photographs Mark S Jobling (Mjobling at English Wikipedia) (Public domain) · Paul Buckingham (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Peter Bond (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons

On the flank of Ingleborough, the stream called Fell Beck simply disappears: it plunges about a hundred metres down a limestone shaft into a chamber so large it's routinely described as big enough to hold a cathedral. The falling water is among the highest unbroken waterfalls in Britain — it just happens to be underground.

Twice a year, around the late-May and late-August Bank Holidays, the Bradford and Craven pothole clubs rig a winch over the shaft and lower anyone who queues down into the dark on a bosun's chair. The clubs' old joke still stands: the descent is free — it's the return journey you pay for.

Field notes

The knowledge

Getting there: Walk up from Clapham village in the Yorkshire Dales, past Ingleborough Cave — about ninety minutes each way.
Best time: The winch meets, around the late-May and late-August Bank Holidays. Queues form early; some people camp.
Local tip: Bring a waterproof. They divert the waterfall for the winch meets, but 'diverted' is a relative term.

Field position54.1460° N · 2.3830° W

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