Dales trip suggestions for cavelings

[Katie]

Later this month we are staying at the YSS - 6 caving families with 13 kids between us!
The kids range from 4 to 12 years old.
All the parents are experienced cavers, and the kids have done quite a bit too!

I caved a lot in the Dales as a student, but haven't done much in the Dales with children.

So I am looking for trip suggestions! - what are you top trips for cavelings in the Dales?
Looking for horizontal caves as well as those with small pitches that can be easily laddered or trips with small abseils for the older children.

I suspect we will have a trip to the hoffman kiln at some point, as it is just down the road and great fun ;-)

 

[kay]

Great Douk was my son's favourite at about 10, go in up the waterfall and head upstream. Be prepaed to split into two parties as not everyone will want to do the watery wallow, though going through a hole in the ceiling and popping out into Upper Washfold is fun at any age. Wilsons is another good one, go in quite a long way up the uncovered channel, so there's the fun of gradually getting more bits of roof until you're finally underground. Unless water levels are very low, you might want to ladder the slither and go back out of the top.

 

[alanw]

Long Churn
Valley Entrance as far as the drop into the streamway, perhaps beyond that for the older/more confident children.
Several caves around Ribblehead: Runscar/Thistle, perhaps Gunnerfleet.

This post might have some useful replies https://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?threads/beginner-caves-in-yorkshire-dales-please.30243/

(Ooh look - one of the replies was mine!)

P.S. Note that there are access issues at High Birkwith.

The CNCC site has lots of useful info https://cncc.org.uk/

 

[cavingbiker]

Also High Douk and Katnot caves, Skirwith Cave.
A bit further away the first part of Dow Cave as far as the boulder chokes or Scoska Cave. Could always look into Yordas

 

[Loki]

We’ve had a group of 8-11yo down past pj in county, and to HoMK in mistral. No dramas. Had complete epic trying to get a group of younger ones out the top end of great douk, should have turned and exited downstream.
I did do roger kirk with mine when they were maybe 5&8 but they weren’t fans but still did it.
Short drop is fun and has some good photo ops with the big dangling block. You could do lost johns as far as the new traverse if the bigger ones are still keen after.

 

[JoshW]

with a drop off at the gate of high birkwith, places like old ing, calf holes and browgill become available. Parking at lower birkwith farm is a bit of a trek for littl’uns.

Yordas bottom entrance has several adventurous bits to be got at for youngsters!

 

[Cavematt]

Agree with Loki on a few of those suggestions... Short drop as far as the pitches to the sump / traverse to Gavel - just one short pitch on-route which could be laddered (but it's a fairly decent trip just to the top of that pitch and out again).

Heron Pot as far as the pitches, combined with a visit into Yordas Cave.

Lost Johns' as far as where the water commences the descent of the Monastery route would be excellent.

Sleets Gill to the main passage (only if the weather is, and has been, super dry - probably summer only).

For something a little more tricky (and wet!) for slightly older kids, you could consider Birks Fell as far as the first pitch (very dry weather only).

Calf Holes (has an open-air entrance pitch which could be laddered or an easy abseil, but then all horizontal - the second pitch shown on the CNCC topo can be bypassed by a handline assisted climb (with a strategically positioned adult at the bottom of the final bit).

Crackpot Cave in Swaledale is perfect for youngsters - and a good chance to educate younger cavers on conservation.

As mentioned above, Valley Entrance - to the pitch into KMC and back - or the pitch can be laddered / easily abseiled.

Naturally, Long Churn is probably the most popular trip for novices/kids in our region (dry weather only).

I seem to remember that Long Kin East Cave (which ultimately becomes Long Kin East Pot) is fairly long and a nice little stream passage as far as the first pitch of LKEP, but kids may find themselves objecting to the fairly long walk up there.

 

[Ian Ball]

Rowten to Jingling caves perhaps

 

[Lankyman]

If it's really wet (and you're still determined to get underground) then hunting down the various caves on Giggleswick Scar and/or Attermire might suit?

 

[Cantclimbtom]

For older kids if you have a tripod and suitable camera the Hoffman kiln is a good place to try some simple light painting

 

[kay]

with a drop off at the gate of high birkwith, places like old ing, calf holes and browgill become available. Parking at lower birkwith farm is a bit of a trek for littl’uns.

Yordas bottom entrance has several adventurous bits to be got at for youngsters!

With change of ownership at High Birkwith, Old Ing and Browgill are off the menu. Neither is on access land.

 

[JoshW]

With change of ownership at High Birkwith, Old Ing and Browgill are off the menu. Neither is on access land.

Was more thinking calf holes to browgill and old ing is right next to a footpath so I thought the unofficial line was ‘unlikely to get caught so bugger it’

 

[HardenClimber3]

Was more thinking calf holes to browgill and old ing is right next to a footpath so I thought the unofficial line was ‘unlikely to get caught so bugger it’

The path by Old Ing isn't a PRoW and I suspect if walking up with gear you might easily be spotted. An awkward encounter might be acceptable to you as a group of adults, but might be better avoided with a party of children.

 

[kay]

Was more thinking calf holes to browgill and old ing is right next to a footpath so I thought the unofficial line was ‘unlikely to get caught so bugger it’

PM sent

 

[David Rose]

Thistle and Runscar are nice for younger children; maybe a bit too tame for more adventurous ones. KMC is great for kids who can manage the pitch.

 

[Ian P]

Hi Katie

My suggestions. (Based on taking lots of youngsters and my Grand Daughter)

Runscar and Thistle are a perfect choice for one of the days.
My preference for this trip with younger cavers is:
Start at Runscar 3 and head upstream. The only potential issue here is if water levels are up a bit, there is a narrow section which can be problematic for those with shorter legs.
Daylight is soon reached and a good chance to check everyone is OK.

Next into a hands and knees crawl but only a short section, soon daylight can be seen coming in from above, exit here out of small opening.

After another welfare check, head up into Runscar 1 for a short section before coming back up to daylight.

From here, head over to Thistle cave, you can head Right here up into the upper section, it is a bit muddy and you have to retrace your steps but is a worthwhile trip.

Then head downstream, you will soon come to a small chamber where a regroup is possible. The next section is a really good spot to do as a “lights out” section, make a line of cavers holding each other’s belts and travel down the passage in complete darkness, a pinch point for the grown up at the front signals the end of the section.

From here to the exit there are some really good “worm holes” for the youngsters to explore including the “World famous” Thistle Water slide.
Never done lower Thistle.

After exiting, head back over to where you started and go down downstream and enjoy the delights of “Runscar 4”.

If you could design from scratch a cave for the age group you have, you would struggle to make it better than Runscar and Thistle

Valley entrance is a really good starter cave. To the Pitch head is really simple, however you can get quite wet. Dropping the pitch and exploring upstream is a nice addition.

Long Churn cave is an absolute classic, the younger ones will struggle with the walk up and some of the obstacles will require a lot of help for them, but the older ones will absolutely love it.
Going down Dolly Tubs to the view point would be a challenge but the rewards could be worth it, depending on group size and motivation.

Both Valley Entrance - stream-way and Long Churn Cave would really benefit with wetsuits for the youngsters to enjoy the water, rather than having to avoid it. The addition of a small dinghy or rubber rings would add even more “fun” to the day.

PM me if you want any more details.

Ian

 

[tdobson]

Kingsdale Master cave to the top of the pitch and back was a top kwality trip with my two year old.
I've been forced to rewatch the videos of it about 500 times.

Long Churn and Great douk would currently be unenjoyable for him due to wet feet syndrome, though he did most of Great Douk when he was one, front mounted on my tummy, asleep - and so didn't mind it.

 

[Katie]

Thanks for all the suggestions! We had a great time in the Dales.
There were 6 families, 11 adults and 13 children staying at the YSS.

After arriving on the Monday there wasn't much daylight left by the time we got out caving, so we just went for a look at the Yordas Waterfall, followed by the through trip, downstream and a crawl out the other entrance. Most them decided to pop back in the crawly entrance and back out the walking entrance again.

Tuesday we headed for Long churns. We split into a couple of groups and had a good explore. The stream was a bit high, so we didn't get up to Dr Bannisters, but one group did do the cheese press and have a good explore through baptistry crawl etc.

Wednesday we went to Ribblehead. We started off with upstream Thistle and ended up doing lots of Thistle, inlcuding the very wet duck at the very end which almost all of the children decided to do! Even a 4 year old!
Some then headed back to the cars whilst others did Runscar.

Wednesday night we had a great meal in the Helwith Bridge - they did a great job of catering for 24 of us!

Thursday there were less people out caving. Two adults and two children had a trip in and out the bottom entrance of Great Douk. This included rescuing a massive frog, christened 'the Great Duke'.
Three adults and 4 children did the Great Douk through trip from bottom to top.

Hopefully someone better at photos will stick some pictures on here soon, for you all to enjoy.

Thank you to the YSS for letting us stay. Generally a morning of caving was enough for the children but they enjoyed the opportunity to practice some rope work on the YSS SRT wall in the dry and warm in the afternoons.

 

[Rob]

Here's a few phone snaps from our family adventures... Thanks again for all the suggestions.

Yordas:

Longchurns:

Runscar & Thistle:

Great Duke: