• The Derbyshire Caver, No. 158

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First cave rescue?

David Rose

David Rose

Active member
Hello, UKcaving hive mind. Does anyone know if the rescue mounted by the YRC from Sunset Hole in 1910 (as described in the YRC journal that year) the first in either British or global caving history?
 
Babyhagrid

Babyhagrid

Well-known member
Persephone was successfully "rescued" through negotiations. But had to return every year. Odysseus and his Men do a sort of self rescue via sheep from the cave of Polyphemus as well
 
David Rose

David Rose

Active member
I meant in terms of the extraction of an injured casualty - W.F. Boyd, the caver extracted from the bottom of Sunset, had a fractured femur. Pretty serious!
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
That was 1869, he gave a lecture about it in 1873. There are no details about the rescue, but he was injured & subsequently lost a lung.
 
Pitlamp

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Wasn't there that bloke who attempted to free dive through Peak Cavern's Buxton Water Sump in the late 1700s who (I suspect) became disorientated and had to be dragged out (i.e. rescued) and "remained speechless for some time"?

From memory the details are recounted in Bill Whitehouse's introduction in a 1980s edition of Cave Science which was themed around a sump rescue symposium held at Castleton. (You should be able to locate this fairly easily using the search facility.)
 
Martin Wright

Martin Wright

Member
The pool at the end of the cave where the roof slopes down to meet the water meant that ‘dry’ cavers could go no further, and their exploration was brought to an abrupt and disappointing halt. Many of them must have wondered what lay beyond and it was only a matter of time before someone resorted to diving in an attempt to find out. Sporadic attempts have been made in the past to pass through such pools to reach a hoped-for continuation passage above the water level. Most went unrecorded, but William Bray in 1777 wrote about what was probably the earliest attempt in the UK, a dive in the Buxton Water rising at Peak Cavern.
His account tells us: ‘At the distance of about 750 yards from the entrance, the rock comes down so close to the surface of the water, that it precludes all further passage. Not long since [about four years ago] a gentleman determined to try if he could not dive under this rock, and rise in the cavern which is supposed to be still beyond it; he plunged in, but, as might be expected, struck his head against the rock, and fell motionless to the bottom, from which the attendants, with difficulty, dragged him out.’
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
John Cordingley mentions it on peakspeedwell.info:
The first recorded cave dive was in 1773 when a tourist tried to free dive through Buxton Water Sump, I think he survived.
Click to expand...
& from justgottadive.com:
The first recorded cave dive was a free dive, conducted by an avid British spelunker named Mr. Day. He attempted to pass through the Buxton Water Sump at Peak Cavern in 1773, holding his breath while trying to get through a section of submerged passageway. Not surprisingly, Mr. Day soon found himself in dire straits and was rescued by another member of his exploration party who dragged him out by the arm.
Click to expand...
 
pwhole

pwhole

Well-known member
The roof of the passage leading to Buxton Water Sump from the dam has been raised by gunpowder for much of its length above water (see below), so perhaps the free dive was attempted by one of the miners? It's possible they erroneously believed to be the other end of the Speedwell sump. There are also shotholes all through the roof arches in The Wallows, most of them pointing out toward the entrance, so they were driven from inside, presumably to make the small boat possible that Puttrell and co. found later. Even if mining in Peak Cavern though, the Barmaster would still dispute driving to simply enlarge a watercourse, as there's clearly no vein present. Unless this was all done by a particularly adventurous 18th C showcave owner?

I'll definitely be getting a copy of the book, BTW ;)

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