Very random but tonight i took the better half on her first trip into prid, a very easy cave, we were in junction chamber on our way to the top of the mud slide when we had stopped then all of a sudden heard a screeching, almost like a vixen crying or a lady screaming, but being so far into the system it seems unlikely a fox was in there and no other groups due to the chalk board and me knowing the system very well, i made an excuse to the other half that sometimes the batterys on our duos make that kind of noise not to freak her out,.... Ok shit excuse i know! However it was loud and not the typical hearing voices/noises when lots of drips/water noise but there was also a time when me and two others were climbing out of the deep well area when we heard a rumbling then young kids laughing and joking but when we went around there was no one this is backed up by the chalk board showing no ine chalked in bearing in mind that this was at 2330 hrs at least! Im not a person who thinks oooo ghosts etc but im hoping someone could possibly lend an idea to this or previous experience to overcome this situation ie rock movement

Not unusual for caves to emanate screeching/screaming noises (Otter Hole and Wookey being two which spring to mind). Air being forced through narrow gaps by rising (?or falling?) water levels is the cause, IIRC.

Cap'n Chris said:

Not unusual for caves to emanate screeching/screaming noises (Otter Hole and Wookey being two which spring to mind). Air being forced through narrow gaps by rising (?or falling?) water levels is the cause, IIRC.

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Nah, it's the wailing of the tormented souls of doomed BEC members.

Or the wails of those who can't get a trip because the leader isn't available

Cartwright26 said:

i made an excuse to the other half that sometimes the batterys on our duos make that kind of noise not to freak her out,....

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Brilliant! Did she buy it?

I have heard the noises in Otter Hole and they ain't wailing by any stretch. Also water levels in Pridhamsleigh are quite low at present I imagine and the flow is minimal then (but see my Hidden Earth presentation).

Also some years back somebody in Dog Hole heard another party which wasn't in Doghole - on that occasion they assumed they were in Pridhamsleigh and there was some link unknown. So noises of other people have been heard on several occasions.

I think it is worth testing how far sound does travel in the system Joe. Get several people on your next trip to distribute themselves through the cave and then get somebody to do some loud shouting/noise making in the entrance chamber. It may be that sound is travelling a lot further than you think - could even as you say be a vixen outside the cave. Also it might help to narrow down where the noises are coming from because if it is air compression effects that is very very interesting.

This sort of phenomenon is fascinating and worth researching rather than just making a joke of it.

I suppose it could have been a vixen if there is a fox hole in the vicinity as Prid isn't very far below the surface in places.

From the description I would lay money on it being a vixen. When I first moved to a rural area I remember being woken to the sound of a young woman being attacked, the screams were blood curdling.... I leapt out of bed in just my boxers and out into the storm I ran, armed with a dragon light trying to come to the aid of the poor young lady.

I felt pretty foolish when I returned 30 minutes later, soaking wet and freezing cold................ I'll never forget those screams and up until that night, I had never heard a fox

It's just your conscience Joe, Playing up for bribing the misses to go underground with that cave pearl necklace you gave her.

Thanks for the replies, pete i like you idea and i may well see if we can do that and also between prid around orange grotto and dog hole, it was very peculiar, damo i think she did at the as she wanted to believe it haha.
Joe Jens dad said earlier in reference to the pearls, ere joe have you heard any more about them moon marbles?  Quote if the month found it so funny! I think at next years hidden earth i may put the suggestion forward to rename cave pearls moon marbles 

Also the water levels are the lowest ive seen before ie the stocks and cellars are nothing more than alarge silty puddle not ducks at all, the mystery pool crawls/sumps are almost dry to! When we heard voices it was at the beginning of the year where the water levels were insanely high! Ie the letter box bit after the cellars was sumped! The lake well it was a sporting duck from grand gallery to lake chamber where you could swim and pull your self into the roof voids

graham said:

Cap'n Chris said:

Not unusual for caves to emanate screeching/screaming noises (Otter Hole and Wookey being two which spring to mind). Air being forced through narrow gaps by rising (?or falling?) water levels is the cause, IIRC.

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Nah, it's the wailing of the tormented souls of doomed BEC members.

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Nay, it's the Hurtle Pot Boggart taking his annual holiday in Devon.

Cartwright26 said:

Also the water levels are the lowest ive seen before ie the stocks and cellars are nothing more than alarge silty puddle not ducks at all, the mystery pool crawls/sumps are almost dry to! When we heard voices it was at the beginning of the year where the water levels were insanely high! Ie the letter box bit after the cellars was sumped! The lake well it was a sporting duck from grand gallery to lake chamber where you could swim and pull your self into the roof voids

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Pound to a penny then that the voices unless you can recall specific words and phrases was water flowing as it can make sounds like chattering.

I think (but stand to be corrected) that the Deep Well area is actually quite near the entrance (but in a round about way, and with no passable connection) as I have heard others coming into the cave whilst we were in the passages near Deep Well. There may well be a passage, impassable to us humans but able to channel sounds into that area, this would support the vixen idea... 

You are right Les.