Caves in Arkengarthdale, yorkshire
- Thread starter Karstic
- Start date
They have made the moldywarps journals available, e.g.:
yorkcavingclub.org.uk
A couple of faggergill surveys are at:
Apparently BGS have various mine plans:
buddlepit.co.uk
Northern Pennines
The Northern Pennines (the region above Swaledale up to Weardale) remains a relatively untapped area for finding new cave. York Caving Club is hoping to change all of that!
A couple of faggergill surveys are at:
Apparently BGS have various mine plans:
Faggergill Mine - Buddlepit Mine Database
Lead mine in Arkengarthdale, Yorkshire Dales, worked from 1855 to 1913.
buddlepit.co.uk
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Google only brings it up twice - seems water was traced to roughton keld in 1905:
& for those that don't know the area:
becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com
The faggergill surveys are in journals 4 & 8:
& for those that don't know the area:
Faggergill: Out of the Fryingpan into the Mire
BETWEEN Reeth and Tan Hill lies a land of strange names. It’s a country where wild open moors and grassy dales are neatly partitioned by walls built seemingly randomly, and generations of people ha…
becausetheyrethere.wordpress.com
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J4 actually mentions Blacksike Foot before going on to describe digging elsewhere. The August 1967 newsletter says ULSA were working on roughton keld, whilst NPC were supposedly nearby as well...
Caves and karst of the Yorkshire Dales has:
"Caves in Arkengarthdale p.532
Lead miners in the caves p.534
Faggergill Mine Caves p.534"-536
Caves and karst of the Yorkshire Dales has:
"Caves in Arkengarthdale p.532
Lead miners in the caves p.534
Faggergill Mine Caves p.534"-536
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MarkS
Moderator
There's plenty going on in that area currently. @Chris Curry is probably your best bet for info.
Cavematt
Well-known member
We (York Caving Club, with members from NYMCC/RRCPC) are working mostly up on The Stang between Reeth and Barnard Castle, focusing on the caves around Jinglepot Hole and Seavy Sikes Pot. Here, the maze cave (Draughting Hole/Missed Pot) keeps on growing and the system is approaching the 9-10km mark with many walking height open passages (and many smaller ones) still unexplored.
We've done a bit at the sinks around Doorgill Head too, and we have an ongoing project there (albeit ongoing slowly).
As for the sinks and shakeholes higher up on Faggergill Moor, I think some of our team may have looked at these but not extensively. They are on access land which is great, although we'd encourage anyone planning on heading up there for more than a recce to establish some favourable relations with the local gamekeepers particularly as the area is used for shooting.
Obviously, one potential discovery could be a route into the natural caverns of Faggergill, which are currently only accessible via a very long trip through Faggergill Mine. Access there is highly restricted because, I think, the mine contains vulnerable mining heritage, so if you did get into Faggergill then you would need to engage with the local mine exploration community.
The alternative could be the discovery of the fabled Roughton Keld master cave... something we are hoping to find from our end, although it's not totally clear at the moment whether the water sinking around Doorgill Head and Jinglepot Hole goes to Roughton Keld or Eller Beck.
Some of our team have given talks on these things at the last few Hidden Earths.
I know that others on this forum are working in the area from a different angle, and they may wish to comment too (I'm not sure how much they are wanting to discuss/disclose).
This is a pretty bleak place, requiring very long walk-ins from the road, and extremely exposed to the prevailing winds and rain. Even those large and obvious shakeholes are likely to require an extensive effort involving many sessions and lots of equipment. Plus, it requires careful efforts to build and maintain good gamekeeper/landowner relations. It's certainly not an easy area to explore!
However, the whole area probably has a lot of potential for anyone wanting to put in the effort.
We've done a bit at the sinks around Doorgill Head too, and we have an ongoing project there (albeit ongoing slowly).
As for the sinks and shakeholes higher up on Faggergill Moor, I think some of our team may have looked at these but not extensively. They are on access land which is great, although we'd encourage anyone planning on heading up there for more than a recce to establish some favourable relations with the local gamekeepers particularly as the area is used for shooting.
Obviously, one potential discovery could be a route into the natural caverns of Faggergill, which are currently only accessible via a very long trip through Faggergill Mine. Access there is highly restricted because, I think, the mine contains vulnerable mining heritage, so if you did get into Faggergill then you would need to engage with the local mine exploration community.
The alternative could be the discovery of the fabled Roughton Keld master cave... something we are hoping to find from our end, although it's not totally clear at the moment whether the water sinking around Doorgill Head and Jinglepot Hole goes to Roughton Keld or Eller Beck.
Some of our team have given talks on these things at the last few Hidden Earths.
I know that others on this forum are working in the area from a different angle, and they may wish to comment too (I'm not sure how much they are wanting to discuss/disclose).
This is a pretty bleak place, requiring very long walk-ins from the road, and extremely exposed to the prevailing winds and rain. Even those large and obvious shakeholes are likely to require an extensive effort involving many sessions and lots of equipment. Plus, it requires careful efforts to build and maintain good gamekeeper/landowner relations. It's certainly not an easy area to explore!
However, the whole area probably has a lot of potential for anyone wanting to put in the effort.
Chris Curry
Active member
Good morning Karstic,
We broke through into the cave system beneath that bit of hill last year, and it is the subject of an ongoing survey, digging and exploration project. Those involved are a diverse bunch of cavers from MSG, NYMCC, YCC, RRCPC and others. I'm working on a Descent article about the system which I'm hoping to be ready for the next issue (maybe, sorry @Chris Scaife for the delay
). A complete account of what we've been up to will eventually be published in MSG15 which is in the pipeline. There's lots going on in the area as @Cavematt outlines above, including projects at Draughting/Missed, Doorgill Head, Lost Pool Sink/Hazelbush Hole, and lots of natural leads from mine workings. If you're interested in getting involved, do get in touch 
Cheers,
Chris
We broke through into the cave system beneath that bit of hill last year, and it is the subject of an ongoing survey, digging and exploration project. Those involved are a diverse bunch of cavers from MSG, NYMCC, YCC, RRCPC and others. I'm working on a Descent article about the system which I'm hoping to be ready for the next issue (maybe, sorry @Chris Scaife for the delay
). A complete account of what we've been up to will eventually be published in MSG15 which is in the pipeline. There's lots going on in the area as @Cavematt outlines above, including projects at Draughting/Missed, Doorgill Head, Lost Pool Sink/Hazelbush Hole, and lots of natural leads from mine workings. If you're interested in getting involved, do get in touch Cheers,
Chris
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