Deepest cave in England
- Thread starter benshannon
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A_Northerner
Active member
pwhole said:
We'd better get cracking on Layby Shelter then. Pathway to the Master Cave right there.
Pitlamp
Well-known member
mikem said:
Ah - thanks for clarifying that; I thought we'd have heard if these two major caves had actually been connected.
For anyone considering the potential depth from Charterhouse to Goughs Cave, don't forget the deep sumps, which must be well below the entrance to Gough's.
(Pete Hall - I follow your reasoning about contex,t a couple of posts above - thanks.)
I'm still pinning my own hopes on the Malham system. Although the longest known cave in the area at the moment is in excess of 1.8 km, it's still only a tiny fraction of what remains to be found in this Dales "last great problem". Something high up on the moors will go big one day.
Judi Durber
Member
I would love this to be a subject at Hidden Earth, with lots of diagrams and surveys by someone in the know 
(which I am not :-[ :doubt: )
(which I am not :-[ :doubt: )
Pitlamp
Well-known member
Thanks for your encouraging comment above Pete - but I really meant the Malham area generally, not just the efforts of the divers at the Cove. There's a great swathe of land high above which has been largely neglected by cavers (with a few very notable exceptions over the years). If the same degree of effort was put in here which the Ease Gill system (for example) has received, I think a lot more cave would be known by now in the Malham catchment.
braveduck
Active member
I would have thought one of the deepest possibilities would be Pikdaw Calamine Caverns to the Cove .
In Pikdaw there is at least one natural shaft which must have been backfilled by the miners and other natural
leads also backfilled .If these connected with deeper natural stuff it must lead eventualy to the Cove .
Surprised nobody has had a serious dig in there .
In Pikdaw there is at least one natural shaft which must have been backfilled by the miners and other natural
leads also backfilled .If these connected with deeper natural stuff it must lead eventualy to the Cove .
Surprised nobody has had a serious dig in there .
Pitlamp
Well-known member
They have. But there are higher entrances still.
Everybody knows Pikedaw drains to the Cove - right? OK - who? And when?
I tried to answer this a while ago. I couldn't find any reference to a test anywhere. It seems that this "common knowledge" can be traced back over 5 decades to Norman Thornber's 'Pennine Underground books where he makes a throw away comment about Pikedaw's water going to the Cove. (I actually used this forum to ask about this a few years ago, in case this sounds familiar.)
My conclusion was that it had probably never been tested and the comment was based on supposition. There are other risings it could go to. When we were planning the BCRA Malham Hydrology Project in 2016, this was one test we had on the radar. It was rejected late in the game (in favour of testing other sinks) because conditions were far too dry at the time.
As that well known song goes (perhaps somewhat unfairly, overall):
Norman Thornber, master caver,
Wrote a book they called P.U.
But the book was like the author,
Full of b......t through and through!"
Everybody knows Pikedaw drains to the Cove - right? OK - who? And when?
I tried to answer this a while ago. I couldn't find any reference to a test anywhere. It seems that this "common knowledge" can be traced back over 5 decades to Norman Thornber's 'Pennine Underground books where he makes a throw away comment about Pikedaw's water going to the Cove. (I actually used this forum to ask about this a few years ago, in case this sounds familiar.)
My conclusion was that it had probably never been tested and the comment was based on supposition. There are other risings it could go to. When we were planning the BCRA Malham Hydrology Project in 2016, this was one test we had on the radar. It was rejected late in the game (in favour of testing other sinks) because conditions were far too dry at the time.
As that well known song goes (perhaps somewhat unfairly, overall):
Norman Thornber, master caver,
Wrote a book they called P.U.
But the book was like the author,
Full of b......t through and through!"
Duck ditch
New member
I was under the impression Terry Whitaker carried out die testing here in the 80s. Possibly under the umbrella of ULSA. Gorbeck was done. Ftfagos too, as Terry Seemed to indicate to us when a few of us were looking at that squaller show, amongst others around the grizedales. The draught wasn?t reliable. Not sure about Pikedaw.
Good shout for the potential depth record.
Good shout for the potential depth record.
Pitlamp
Well-known member
I think Terry was operating more with NCC folk by the 80s. They did some good work in the area but I wasn't aware that Pikedaw was one of the sites actually tested.
Be great if someone did come forward on here and tell us they have tested Pikedaw properly but no-one did when I asked the question previously.
There was a test attempted a considerable number of years ago but the dye got stuck in the pool it was placed in and was there for a very long time. There is water sinking away in other parts of Pikedaw; careful choice of injection point would be of value.
But to return more to topic, the depth potential here is certainly well over 300 m.
Be great if someone did come forward on here and tell us they have tested Pikedaw properly but no-one did when I asked the question previously.
There was a test attempted a considerable number of years ago but the dye got stuck in the pool it was placed in and was there for a very long time. There is water sinking away in other parts of Pikedaw; careful choice of injection point would be of value.
But to return more to topic, the depth potential here is certainly well over 300 m.