Rachel
Active member
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.
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.