The best caving experiences in Britain

This weekend Lancaster’s Gaping Gill, on the southern slopes of Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales, is opening to the public, allowing non-cavers the opportunity to stand on the floor of Britain’s largest cavern.

The Bradford Pothole Club, which has held a Winch Meet here for more than 60 years, will take visitors down the 100m (330ft) shaft into a space normally only accessible to seasoned cavers (£15; May 25-31 2019; bpc-cave.org.uk).

The biannual meets (Craven Pothole Club offers a similar experience in August) is the only time that the cavern is floodlit, allowing visitors to see the extent of the mighty cavern into which they have just been winched.

Once at the foot of the Main Chamber one of the best views is up. With a shaft of natural light slicing through the darkness at the top of the entrance, it’s possible to make out the point where Fell Back plunges over the edge of the limestone plateau and into the chamber to create Britain’s highest unbroken waterfall.

For cavers, the week promises a look at the Main Chamber of Gaping Gill in all its glory and the rare chance to ascend the Main Shaft. For the rest of the year, the cavern is only accessible by experienced potholers who can explore this compelling system - one of Britain’s longest and most complex - through one of 19 entrances.

According to potholer Ian Walker, Bar Pot is one of the best routes to follow for those able to access Gaping Gill in this way. It is one of the easiest, driest, and has just two vertical pitches to contend with.

“Once you’ve made it down the pitches, the route takes you along a narrow passage”, he says. “As you get closer to the Main Chamber, you can hear the sound of falling water. Eventually, you reach a large chamber - large enough to house the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral - and you look up to see the water coming off the fell above. The sound and spray this makes as it plunges to the ground is breathtaking. There’s nothing like it.”

The winch site opens at 8am each morning during the meet and is open until 5pm or when the book is full. Due to the limited number of people that can be taken down in a day, it is worth arriving early.

If you can’t make it to the Yorkshire Dales this week then fear not, there are plenty of other ways for beginners to explore the natural underbelly of the UK. Here are a few of them.

Alum Pot, Yorkshire

If it’s the Yorkshire Dales you have your heart set on, then there are a number of other caves you can explore year-round in the company of a guide. Of these, Alum Pot is one of the most popular. A dramatic open shaft 80m from the surface on the slopes on Ingleborough, it connects with Long Churns Cave. The Alum Pot route includes an abseil into The Dolly Tubs, a descent into The Window and a stop at The Bridge, where you will get a true sense of the scale of this waterfall-ridden cave complex.

Lost Earth Adventures offer full-day vertical caving trips from £99 per person for groups of four (lostearthadventures.co.uk).

Gough's Cave, Somerset

Part of Cheddar Gorge, Gough's Cave (discovered in 1890 by Richard Cox Gough) is a prehistoric cavern with chambers containing a variety of stalactites, stalagmites and rock formations, extending some 2.1km at a depth of 90m. A carving of a mammoth and the skeleton of Cheddar Man, Britain's earliest known human remains, which date back some 7,150 years, have been found in the cave.

Entrance to Cheddar Gorge and Caves costs from £16.95 for adults and £12.70 for children when booked online. Entrance includes Gough’s Cave, Cox’s Cave, Jacob’s Ladder and more (cheddargorge.co.uk).

Peak Cavern, Derbyshire

Better known as ‘The Devil’s Arse’, Peak Cavern in the Peak District National Park is a gentle experience and fun day out for families. Reached along a riverside walk that takes you into a limestone gorge 85m below Peveril Castle, Peak Cavern has the largest natural cavern entrance in Britain.

Once inside the chambers, you will hear the remarkable acoustics of the Orchestra Gallery in the Great Cave (musical events are held here throughout the year), see the waterfall at Roger Rain’s House and visit the Devil’s Cellar where you will hear the source of the river Styx.

Tours of Peak Cavern last approximately one hour and are not demanding. From £5 for children and £9 for adults (peakcavern.co.uk). For a more adventurous experience in the Peak District, check out Giant’s Hole. Dolomite Training offer beginner courses from £89 (dolomitetraining.co.uk).

Fingal’s Cave, Inner Hebrides

Tucked beneath Staff Island in the Inner Hebrides, Fingal's Cave is accessible only by boat. What makes this waterbound natural 69m-high structure so fascinating are the unusual hexagonal basalt columns yet to be found in any other sea cave in the world.

The cave was the inspiration for Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave) and Sir Walter Scott once described it as “one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it...composed entirely of basaltic pillars as high as the roof of a cathedral, and running deep into the rock, eternally swept by a deep and swelling sea, and paved, as it were, with ruddy marble, baffles all description.”

Staffa tours offer three hour trips to Staffa including an hour ashore from £35 for adults and £17.50 for children. Visit between late-May and August to see the resident colony of puffins (staffatours.com).

Porth yr Ogof, Brecon Beacons

While Peak Cavern has the largest cave entrance in Britain, Porth yr Ogof has the largest in Wales. With more than 2km worth of passageways, there are plenty of route options to explore, making it a great place for both the more experienced caver and beginners. There’s even a couple of options for cave divers. The river Melte runs through the cave making this a decidedly soggy experience and challenges include the Wormhole and intriguingly named Toilet.

Adventure Britain offers caving sessions in the Brecon Beacons from two to three hours up to two days from £55 per person (adventurebritain.com).

Clearwell Caves, Gloucestershire

Lying beneath the Royal Forest of Dean, this natural cave system has been mined for more than 4,500 years. The show caves offer a gentle discovery of the system and include the sound chamber, skeleton pools and bat churn.

If you’re after something a little more challenging, don your hard hat and explore some of the 250 acres of passageways on a guided tour. The Deep Level Caving experience offers the chance to walk, crawl and descend through tunnels to follow natural and manmade routes that miners would have once followed.

Show caverns from £8 for adults and £6 for children. Deep Level Caving costs from £30 for adults and £25 for children over seven (clearwellcaves.com).