Caves for sale
- Thread starter JohnMCooper
- Start date
bograt
Active member
OUCH!, is there no preservation status on these,(sssi, rigs, etc) that can be used to keep the price down and protect them? I note that the dealers accept no responsibility (ie. they have not done a thorough search) CSCC should make a representation at least, otherwise I see moneymen and showcaves!.
Here cavers form groups/conservancies that ban together and purchase caves. Lots of support from the caver community so stuff gets paid off fast. I know it's not really a UK thing to do, but something to think about? SCCi is the biggest/best one I know about here. Sure they'd be happy to talk to ya about ins and outs of it.
cap n chris
Well-known member
bograt said:
LOL. You've been in Priddy Nine Barrows, then? A showcave, for the public? Coffee spluttered over keyboard. Almost swallowed my tongue.
Amy said:
Actually it is.
OFD.
Local perceived wisdom is that the whole thing will go as one lot (for over 375K).
I agree with Capt Chris, very little potential for a show cave and there could be additional access issues as Nine Barrows has a lot of Badger activity and Sludge entrance is currently blocked with soil slump (so I'm reliably informed).
KevinR
I agree with Capt Chris, very little potential for a show cave and there could be additional access issues as Nine Barrows has a lot of Badger activity and Sludge entrance is currently blocked with soil slump (so I'm reliably informed).
KevinR
bograt
Active member
LOL. You've been in Priddy Nine Barrows, then? A showcave, for the public? Coffee spluttered over keyboard. Almost swallowed my tongue.
Yeh, had a play down there in the 70's.
Any cave can be turned into a show cave by the right engineer; Giants was only stopped on surface planning grounds, (I doubt many remember the 2+ hour trip to Eating House); Pol-Anionian; Even Wookey Sumps!
Although our little stripey friends might have something to say about it unless of course it falls within the cull area.
Yeh, had a play down there in the 70's.
Any cave can be turned into a show cave by the right engineer; Giants was only stopped on surface planning grounds, (I doubt many remember the 2+ hour trip to Eating House); Pol-Anionian; Even Wookey Sumps!
Although our little stripey friends might have something to say about it unless of course it falls within the cull area.
graham
New member
bograt said:
And the world is littered with abandoned show caves that didn't make it financially. How are you going to get the punters, especially the coach loads, all the way up onto the hill to visit a tiny cave like Nine Barrows when they can use the vast car parks at Wookey or Cheddar with all their associated infrastructure?
Even if the idea had any merit from an aesthetic point of view, which it doesn't, the planning issues and the financial issues would be a total nightmare. For a start just consider the costs of buying up land alongside the lane and widening it to take 40 seater coaches.
If you want to see recent examples of show caves done well, take a look at Maxange and Tourtoirac. Consider, especially, how easy they are to access. However, access notwithstanding, no amount of investment is going to turn Nine Barrows into something like that.
Roger W
Well-known member
bograt said:
I think the point Bograt was making is that any cave can be engineered (is that the right word?) into a "show cave" - a bit of Dr Nobel's to make the passages and chambers a bit bigger, some nice pre-cast concrete formations, coloured fairy lights, motorised model gnomes and/or Neanderthals, escalators and chairlifts to get the paying customers in and out...
Whether the resulting monstrosity would be a paying concern or not is an entirely different question.
Yeah I'm.aware of ofd....and its your first aye? Scci owns over a hundred caves. Anyway I just know we do more of it here than ya'all do there. Maybe its time to form a Conservancy?
And egade to the show cave. There is one here that they glued coral to the wall as formations added in a fountain with colored LEDs and broke off the few formations and.put them all to one little formation room glued and wired together. Hideous it is!
And egade to the show cave. There is one here that they glued coral to the wall as formations added in a fountain with colored LEDs and broke off the few formations and.put them all to one little formation room glued and wired together. Hideous it is!
graham
New member
Amy said:
The threats are different in different places. Which is one of the reasons that there is a cultural divide even in your own country about giving out cave locations, for example. There are a number of caves in the UK which are owned by cavers in one way or another, but although it is (arguably) the best way to look after a cave, it may not always be the most appropriate use of scarce resources.
Amy said:
Have you been to Luray Cave in Virginia? Not be confused with Organ Cave in WV, which bring us full circle back to the other thread & the mention of creationism.
axbridgecaver
Member
On page two of the auction notice for the sale of the farm, land and caves Lot 10E states - Nine Barrows Swallet (Crystal Cave). I had never heard of this name so checked in the MCRA Bibliography and it was not there!
On page four of the auction notice is a photograph of inside the cave (it looks as if it has come from a book) the title is "Crystal Chamber, Nine Barrows Cavern, Mendip."
The name Crystal Cave must be poetic licence to up the interest in the sale of this cave - still a bit more romantic than Sludge Pit.
On page four of the auction notice is a photograph of inside the cave (it looks as if it has come from a book) the title is "Crystal Chamber, Nine Barrows Cavern, Mendip."
The name Crystal Cave must be poetic licence to up the interest in the sale of this cave - still a bit more romantic than Sludge Pit.
Amy said:
Have you been to Luray Cave in Virginia? Not be confused with Organ Cave in WV, which bring us full circle back to the other thread & the mention of creationism.
[/quote] I have heard of both, been to neither. The first time I make to cave out there....I have plans for what I want to see already. =) And no....not attending NSS convention this year (it's in WV). Have other (wayyyyy awesome) plans.
rhychydwr1
Active member
I have a dream. OK only a pipe dream. I am 18 y and have half a million GBP. I would buy Eastwater Swallet. I would hire a digger and dig out the entrance ruckle. It has never been the same since OCL played about with Dr Noble's Lictus down there. I am in two minds to install a lift or iron stairway. But at the bottom of the shaft, I would enlarge the passages, and put in concrete foot paths. Primrose Path still gives me nightmares. OK, I can make it walking size, but what about Primrose Pot? An electric winch perhaps. Then I would dig out the base of the pitch and connect it with the rest of the cave to make a round trip.
Just a dream.
Just a dream.
Burt
New member
If the jungle drums ring true, and the whole lot does go for ?375k, I reckon there will not be many local cavers who could put in a serious bid.
It'll probably go to some "escape to the country" ya-hoo types who want a bolt-hole for little Tarquin and India, and who have a budget (sic) of ?400k. You'll see 'em on countryfile playing at farming soon.
It'll probably go to some "escape to the country" ya-hoo types who want a bolt-hole for little Tarquin and India, and who have a budget (sic) of ?400k. You'll see 'em on countryfile playing at farming soon.
cap n chris
Well-known member
Burt said:
And in order to ensure any caver-to-new-owner relations are smooth and cheerful, and access negotiations can be best achieved, this thread will be removed, or at least this post of yours about them will be, Burt.
langcliffe
Well-known member
rhychydwr1 said:
If you were only 18 years old, Tony, you wouldn't need to do any of that!