An unusual rescue...

[aricooperdavis]

Whilst not strictly a cave rescue, the BBC is reporting on the rescue of a walker who ended up dangling above a comedy gig at Peak Cavern.

John Shuttleworth cave concert abandoned due to cliff rescue

A walker got lost, slipped and was left clinging to a tree 100ft (30m) above the cave entrance.

www.bbc.co.uk

I wonder if he was hoping to avoid the £22.50 ticket price - certainly brings a new meaning to the phrase "eavesdrop"...

 

[Katie]

Peak Cavern's facebook post about this is a little more jugdemental.
Although I suspect they are a bit annoyed about the concert being cancelled and all those refunds!
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[aricooperdavis]

Oof, I can see why they're upset, but I really dislike public shaming like that - and the comments are vitriolic!

 

[AR]

Given it was caused by someone blindly following phone satnav instructions, climbing over multiple fences and paying no attention to the fact there's a bloody big cliff, I think John Harrison has good cause to be vitriolic...

 

[Speleofish]

Given that the world is overpopulated, could this have started as an honourable entry for a Darwin award? If not, it's pretty embarrassing. If I was Dave from London, I'd try very, very hard to keep my surname private.

 

[RobinGriffiths]

Ooof. I wouldn't mind betting that some of the audience who are familiar with John's material thought it was part of the show - a setup by John's often heard, but never seen Manager and Sole Agent - TV's Clarinet Man - Ken Worthington. Especially if they had spotted a man with a perm and cuban heels a bit earlier.

 

[pwhole]

That spot is really, really hard to get to, coming from Cave Dale, so I can only assume he came from the west ridge of Middle Bank - but that's also really hard to get to once you've climbed over the, er, barbed wire fences. Something about this story just does not add up. Who needs a satnav to find Peak Cavern anyway? Doesn't he have eyes?

 

[Ian Ball]

Largest cave entrance in the country.
It is a tourist attraction, perhaps they should review their signage if a customer couldn't find it hoho

 

[mikem]

It says he was walking there, rather than driving (but doesn't say where from)...

 

[pwhole]

Potentially he was camping at Rowter Farm, which is the only possible route I can think of from 'overnight accommodation'. But really, if there, Winnats Pass is hard to miss, and the only other way down from the farm is via the public footpath along New Rake past Hurdlow Barn, which would have taken him roughly to the correct spot.,. but then he clearly left the footpath, plunged into the trees and over the safety fencing and over the edge. I suspect something else was going on here.

 

[Goydenman]

reminds me of when I was in my youth a guide there and 2-3 youths climbed over from Peveril Castle onto the scree slope above the resurgence and slid down, over the cliff, it was awful. If this guy was on the same slope he was fortunate to grab a tree and stop falling over the cliff.

 

[SamT]

reminds me of when I was in my youth a guide there and 2-3 youths climbed over from Peveril Castle onto the scree slope above the resurgence and slid down, over the cliff, it was awful. If this guy was on the same slope he was fortunate to grab a tree and stop falling over the cliff.

I just about remember that. Though it might have been before we arrived in Castleton. I think all 3 died IIRC. Something about chasing a football, which in hindsight, seems unlikely. I sometimes wondered if it was a tale told to local lads to warn them off from exploring/playing up there.

 

[mrodoc]

I must say I laughed my socks off. Nearly a prime entry for this year's Darwin awards. The newspaper headline was unusual to say the least.

 

[Ian Ball]

I must say I laughed my socks off. Nearly a prime entry for this year's Darwin awards. The newspaper headline was unusual to say the least.

I'm going soft, I didn't find three kids falling to their death very amusing at all.

edit:
Although that would not be for this year Darwin award so your response was to the original thread! apologies.

 

[SamT]

I notice they've taken down the post linked above and replaced it with a slightly more diplomatic one.

 

[mrodoc]

There is a lot more of this silliness about. You see it on the coast when people don't check tide tables and then don't want to get wet so involve the coast guard. They need to develop their coasteering skills (coasteering: something most of us have done for years but needed a nice commercial name).

 

[Speleofish]

I thought the term Coasteering was first coined by John Cleare or Edward Pyatt in the late 1960s (see ' A Climber in the West Country') long before it became applied to the commercial activity.

 

[mikem]

It's been happening for centuries, they just didn't used to have mobile phones to call for help!

 

[A_Northerner]

There is a lot more of this silliness about. You see it on the coast when people don't check tide tables and then don't want to get wet so involve the coast guard. They need to develop their coasteering skills (coasteering: something most of us have done for years but needed a nice commercial name).

I'm pretty sure if social media and forums were about in previous decades, and the access to rescue reports was just as at-your-fingertips, you'd have seen just as much silliness back in the day. Unfortunately the constant news and media stream that we consume each day leads us to believe that it's happening more often.

 

[mrodoc]

I am not so sure. A culture has developed where is something is not flagged up as dangerous it must be safe. Cave Dale will now be smothered in warning signs I expect!