Leck Fell Big news

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
Leck Fell moves to online booking


The CNCC are pleased to announce that the on-line cave booking system will apply to Leck Fell with immediate effect.  The caves of Leck, many of which form part of the 90km long Three Counties System, offer some of the best sporting trips in the country.  Lost Johns, Notts Pot, Gavel, Rumbling, Deaths Head and Shuttleworth, to name but a few, are now available to anyone who registers to use the on-line system.

The on-line booking system was developed initially to cover the caves of the Ingleborough estate but always with a view that the system could be expanded to include other areas.  Leck Fell is designated as access land but the landowner prefers a managed access system for the caves and so CNCC have developed the on-line system as a compromise which offers a consensual solution and an alternative to the old restricted permit systems of the past.  The new system has been widely embraced by the caving community on Ingleborough, not only to respect the wishes of the estate, but also to allow cavers to see what entrances are free each day and to self-manage their own access to avoid congestion.  The CNCC hope this will continue to be the case on Leck Fell.

A major point for cavers to note is that there will be no closed season for the foreseeable future.  Under the previous permit system, the fell was closed to cavers for three months of the year.  Also of note is that there is no restriction on what type of caver can use the online system.  So whether you are a club or independent caver, BCA member or not, it is open to you all. As per Ingleborough the system is based on one booking per day per entrance per day.

Following our negotiations with the Leck Estate we ask all cavers to acknowledge and follow these recommendations;

* Car parking is limited on Leck Fell.  Please make sure you car share as much as possible and park responsibly so that farmers and other land users have clear access.  Please leave any unnecessary cars behind at your accommodation or a designated car park such as the one at Cowan Bridge (where you turn off the main road to drive up to Leck Fell).

  * For conservation reasons we advise that caving groups should not exceed eight persons.

  * Please abide by the Countryside Code and Minimal Impact Caving Guidelines.

  * This booking system is for recreational caving only.  Cave instructors undertaking recreational or personal training trips are welcome but for any trips of a commercial nature separate arrangements must be made directly with the estate office.

  * For information on digging please refer to the CNCC guidelines.



We hope that cavers will embrace the online system for Leck Fell; not only out of respect to the landowner who has requested that this be used, but also out of respect to other cavers. The online system has proved popular as cavers feel that it provides a secondary benefit of distributing caver traffic and avoiding congestion on the deeper potholes. The CNCC do not control access or police access on behalf of landowners but we do try hard to facilitate the best possible access for cavers in the north of England.

This outcome has been the result of several years of careful negotiation.  As well as my own efforts the CNCC webmaster, Gary Douthwaite, has played a vital role in the design and operation of the system together with Geoff Whittaker who administers the system on a day to day basis.  Also fair credit is due to the CNCC secretary, fellow officers and the whole Committee for their close support.

Tim Allen
CNCC Access Officer
 

mikem

Well-known member
The cave booking tab is not the most obvious on the website (top right):
https://cncc.org.uk/booking/
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
That's a win/win both for landowner and the caving community; thank you to those who have clearly put in a great deal of work to achieve this.  (y)
 

chunky

Well-known member
Used the new booking system for our Dudley CC weekend. As we often leave it quite late to arrange plans this system made it so much easier to sort trips. Great work everyone involved many thanks [emoji106]

Sent from my SM-A730F using Tapatalk

 

Ed

Active member
Access land and public road.....  ;)

Just joking.....but nothing stopping walkers parking and walking
 

CNCC

Well-known member
Absolutely right Ed. It would be interesting to know some stats about who is parking on Leck Fell... but I suspect that on many days, it is cavers rather than walkers that represent the lions share of the parked cars. Therefore, if cavers can do their bit to reduce unnecessary cars taken up there then it will certainly help keep good relations; and of course leave space for other cavers, walkers etc. It's less about putting specific restrictions on cavers and more about encouraging cavers to doing their bit to help the situation :)
 
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