Ribblehead Caves

[Rachel]

hiya all,

I've got a non caving friend who is doing some work about the history of the shanty towns that were built at Ribblehead in the late 1800s, when the Settle to Carslisle railway was being built. She's interested in whether the people living there at that time would have been aware of the caves or not. It's my guess that they would have been handy as a large scale larder and I can't imagine anyone living and working right on top of them without noticing the odd hole in the ground. The question is ...how to prove that? The dates in northern caves suggest that the first recorded (not necessarily the first ever) exploration was much later, but it would be interesting to know how the caves were found, ie did someone just walk in with a candle one day or were they dug? Any comments, ideas etc would be very welcome.

 

[langcliffe]

James Hutton penetrated Katnot Cave as a tourist in about 1779 (before 1780, at any rate), using "candles and torches" for what was probably about 300m, so it seems likely that the locals were well acquainted with all of the more accessible caves before then.

 

[Rachel]

Thanks langcliffe

 

[dunc]

According to W Mitchells 'Ingleborough - Big Blue Hill book' :
"Some cave names found their way on to Land Surveys, especially those connected with enclosure awards. <snip>. In 1847, Chapmans Hole is recorded where the Midland Railway were to build Ribblehead viaduct " - To appear on a survey it must have been one of the obvious entrances around the area.

 

[Mr Fell]

Why not try a ooigie board !

 

[Rachel]

Thanks Dunc, will pass that info on.