skirwith cave

[chacharlee]

can anyone give me some directions to find the entrance?
I hear its easy to find if you know where it is, but it's going to be our first trip there and its going to be dark!

 

[dunc]

Look for a hole in the ground..    
Its easy enough to find the resurgence - follow the stream up! Can you get in that way/cave to the left?? Above the cliff (at the resurgence) and a short distance back from it (can't remember how far, its been a while) is an elongated? hole in the ground which is the easy way in at the old gate.

 

[gus horsley]

I remember there's a short crawl to get in which brings you to a section of passage just beyond the gate but it's a long time since I was there.  On a trip in about 1970 we found several bottles of nitroglycerine which had been dumped in there by the "granite" quarry.

 

[kay]

Park in the gateway at the start of a public footpath about half way between the tope if Ingleton and White Scar Cave - there's room for two cars without blocking the gateway. The footpath runs up the RHS of the fence; the gate opens on to a track on the LHS of the fence.

Walk up the track to the old parking place at the base of the low cliff. Towards the RH end of the cliff there's a flight of steps. If your light is good enough you might just be able to make out the remains of the painted 'to the show cave' on the rocks to the RHS. Head up these to the top.

At the top of the cliff head uphill, but trending slightly to the right till you find a hole in the ground about 30 inches across, not very visible till you're a few feet away. I don't think it's more than 50 yds, but certainly the distance from the road up to the cliff is greater than the distance from the top of the cliff to the cave. If there's several of you, fanning out and moving forward in a line as if on a body hunt might be best.

It's not really a crawl to get in, just a short slither down a 45 deg slope to an open gate and the start of the old show cave floor.

Let us know how you get on

 

[Cavedrone]

I would follow Kay's description. Was in there early in 2006 and we looked a bit further than we should have done.
It is really obvious once you spot it. Slithery slope.
Be careful in the streamway. Some of the old planks that still line the floor have nails sticking out of them.

 

[chacharlee]

We got there eventually - it was dark, and the path was covered in snow on Friday night, so we missed the path that goes off to the left towards the old car park. We ended up going straight up the hill and reached another road, then headed back down hill vearing to the right to look for it, it was cold and just when we were about to give up we found the stairs at the top of the cliff face. We found the entrance not long after, and were relieved to get out of the cold! Thanks for all your helpful replies, was a good trip

 

[Robert Scott]

We got there eventually - it was dark, and the path was covered in snow on Friday night, so we missed the path that goes off to the left towards the old car park. We ended up going straight up the hill and reached another road, then headed back down hill vearing to the right to look for it, it was cold and just when we were about to give up we found the stairs at the top of the cliff face. We found the entrance not long after, and were relieved to get out of the cold! Thanks for all your helpful replies, was a good trip

From CNCC website - For permission call at; Landale, Cold Cotes, Clapham, Lancaster, LA2 8HZ, or phone Mrs.Smith 015242 41788.  9am-6pm  Do not block gate way, agricultural access is required at all times.

 

[gus horsley]

I must have gone in a different way.  It was low down to the right of the gate and popped up just inside the entrance via a hole in the floor with a railing round it.  It was a long time ago....

 

[kay]

It's changed over the years. NC says "Entrance above rising under small cliff is a low bedding plane into rift passage. This emerges into daylight at collapse above cliff. Beyond collapse is main part of old showcave". I've not found the original entrance - the way you go in now is 'beyond collapse'. But it sounds as if you weren't using the original entrance either.

There is a cave entrance under the cliff, under a block, but this is the separate cave described at the end of the Skirwith entry "14m N of rising at old car park is entrance into rift cave which terminates in a small chamber after 39m". I've tried the obvious of walking 14m S of this entrance, but still haven't found the other entrance of Skirwith.

 

[gus horsley]

It sounds like it has changed a fair bit.  It was in about 1972ish when I was last there.  If my memory serves me right (which is doubtful anyway) the entrance I used was within a few feet of the showcave entrance, down to the right under a low cliff.  The nitroglycerine was reported to the police and they had the bomb squad in.  The quarry management weren't aware of its existence and thought it must have been placed there several years before but accepted it was probably their responsibility.  If so, it means hardly anyone did trips into the cave in those days.

 

[BCMCXIV]

There is a cave entrance under the cliff, under a block, but this is the separate cave described at the end of the Skirwith entry "14m N of rising at old car park is entrance into rift cave which terminates in a small chamber after 39m".

I think that's where I ended up when I tried to do it. It just ended at an unstable looking dig... I remember leaving and thinking "is that it?". But then some mates told me that I'd been looking in the wrong place.

Anyway, I'd heard that this was a good cave for novices and last weekend was all set to take a friend of mine on a trip down there who hasn't been caving properly in years. But just as we were about to set off, one of the chaps in Inglesport said that it was a daft cave to do, as it would only take 30 minutes tops. In the end we went off to do Long Churn instead (which I haven't done since I was a nipper), and that was an ok trip, though not particularly great (my friend said that he really enjoyed it though, which is the important thing).

Can anyone tell me if it is worth a visit after all, and what type of caving it entails? I've always quite fancied it, but have now been put off somewhat by what I've heard. Ta.

 

[dunc]

Can anyone tell me if it is worth a visit after all, and what type of caving it entails? I've always quite fancied it, but have now been put off somewhat by what I've heard. Ta.

It is worth a visit, although its not a very long trip so it makes a good evening trip or short day out. Mostly walking passage with the odd lower bit - it used to be a showcave, some formations knocking about too..

 

[HardenClimber2]

Well worth a short trip. Probably only 30min to the pitch with a waterfall (End of the old Show Cave) (which may be what was being referred to)(bit of a poor day if you stopped there). If there is ALOT of water coming down you will need to be creative to continue, But there is a good bit more to see.

 

[kay]

Some pics here:
http://caving.westlancashirescouts.org.uk/

 

[snebbit]

Just got back from Skirwith.

If you head uphill from the top of the steps (next to the hut) you will eventually meet a track going from L-R. cross it and carry on slightly veering to the right and you'll see a short line of ground subsidence with the entrance at the uphill end. It's a low archway that slides down through the old gate into the main passage.

I don't know whether this has been reported or not but the boulder choke (which the steps go up to avoid) seems to have collapsed more. It's not mentioned in my copy of Northern Caves so I don't know how recently this has been like this, if it's old news disregard this. But essentially there's only a small squeeze left at the top of the choke now which brings you out at the top of the staircase. It's not a problem for children or the more slender type, but for fatties it may be a bit tight!

 

[kay]

Sounds like new collapse. I can't remember anything remotely like a small squeeze.

 

[snebbit]

Got a couple of pics if anyone's interested.

First pic - the presumed collapse looking up to small squeeze at top

Second pic - the top of the steps - hand on right is someone coming out of squeeze.

 

[kay]

The 'looking down' pic is much as I remember it. Hard to tell with the 'looking up' pic

 

[dunc]

The 'looking down' pic is much as I remember it. Hard to tell with the 'looking up' pic

Same as I remember it too!

 

[LoneRanger]

There's a trip report here:

http://ukcaving.com/board/index.php/topic,1693.0.html

If you search the forum you will find other references.