I visited Gaping Gill a few days ago to drop the main shaft with a few friends. The pitch was spectacularly wet and quite awesome. However, something else caught my interest too.
It was freezing cold with a covering of snow all around the edge of the shaft. The stream was partially frozen, with icicles everywhere and all static water solid. In short it was fairly lethal. What surprised me was the amount of footprints in the snow right up to the very edge ? literally trampled flat all around. GG is close to a main footpath after all and is visited by hundreds of people some days. Even when there is no ice there are obvious and not so obvious dangers.
In other threads [on insurance, liability, mines, etc] public safety has been suggested as a reason to lock, gate or otherwise secure access to prevent the public hurting themselves. But not here apparently ? not even a fence, right on the edge of a slippery 98m drop. Why is that?
There has been at least one fatality here in the past and an attempt to sue the owners. It is not that the owners don?t care ? they do, they are both caring and responsible. These are not the only popular places which present a potential danger to the public. Rowten Pot is right next to a green lane and the grassy banks around Hull Pot are frequented by picnickers in the summer months.
So why do the public need protecting from some caves but not others? Makes no sense.
It was freezing cold with a covering of snow all around the edge of the shaft. The stream was partially frozen, with icicles everywhere and all static water solid. In short it was fairly lethal. What surprised me was the amount of footprints in the snow right up to the very edge ? literally trampled flat all around. GG is close to a main footpath after all and is visited by hundreds of people some days. Even when there is no ice there are obvious and not so obvious dangers.
In other threads [on insurance, liability, mines, etc] public safety has been suggested as a reason to lock, gate or otherwise secure access to prevent the public hurting themselves. But not here apparently ? not even a fence, right on the edge of a slippery 98m drop. Why is that?
There has been at least one fatality here in the past and an attempt to sue the owners. It is not that the owners don?t care ? they do, they are both caring and responsible. These are not the only popular places which present a potential danger to the public. Rowten Pot is right next to a green lane and the grassy banks around Hull Pot are frequented by picnickers in the summer months.
So why do the public need protecting from some caves but not others? Makes no sense.