Caving

In the beginning...

For those who like to spend their time exploring under the ground beneath our feet, Buxton and indeed, the Peak District, has the very ingredient to meet with your demands, Carboniferous Limestone.

Over millions of years, rain water has percolated down through weaknesses in the Limestone to create wide fissures, passageways and caverns. This action is going on all the time, and will continue for as long as there is rain to carry out this task. In this world beneath us, huge curtains of Stalactites hang from the cavern roof, while Stalagmites rise up to greet them from the floor. There are chambers that are larger than houses, and caves that were once used by early man. These mysterious places have natural life in them, one that has adapted itself to living in complete darkness. The adventure begins, for this is Limestone country...

Along with the town of Buxton, others such as Castleton, Eyam and Matlock are meccas for the speleologist. These areas have more holes than a Swiss cheese, and most certainly, to such enthusiasts, they are far more exciting! Many caves, potholes and mines are still revealing their secrets to their explorers, even today. Quite a number of these are little more than small depressions in the ground, or rock face. Some extend for a few metres, and others a few hundred. However, due to the nature of the limestone within these areas, some are quite extensive underground systems, often measuring up to several miles in length.

A number of the mines have intersected caverns that would otherwise have remained undiscovered. The early miners, in their quest for Galena (lead ore), would occasionally find natural openings and caverns as they cut their way through the rock.

Today's cave hunters are busy pushing for new discoveries. They work extremely hard, Sometimes digging in very cramped, confined and wet conditions, eagerly searching for new passages and possible links with other caves and potholes. Their work is dangerous, but it is also very exciting and highly rewarding.

One such discovery named Titan by its founder, caver Dave Nixon, is the largest open cavern in the UK today. After many years of sweat and toil, digging away and shifting thousands of tons of rock, mud and freezing water, Dave and his friends finally broke through into an open chamber during 2002 to reveal the king of the underworld, Titan.

So, if you are one of those people who don't mind getting dirty, or crawling along on your stomach in tight muddy passages, have water cascading in on top of your head while clinging to an electron ladder, and be far away from the public show caves, then this area has all that you could dream for, and a whole lot more besides.

Take note : For those with no experience of caving whatsoever, our advice is to begin by going along with a group who know the ropes, so to speak. All caves, potholes and mines are dangerous places by their very nature. Respect them, and you should come to no harm in return. If you are a beginner, then know your physical limitations. To go underground can be exhausting and it is easy to suffer an accident, or fall prey to hypothermia if you are not fully prepared beforehand. Some caves etc., can be wet, or even flooded in places during heavy rains. So, be wary...be safe!

There are several specialist day courses on underground exploration, and they are available within this area. Do try one of these first, but above all don't venture underground on your own and ill-equipped for the task.

There are also a number of Caving equipment suppliers who can provide you with all the necessary lighting, footwear and protective clothing etc.,. We can recommend that you obtain a copy of "The Caves of the Peak District" by Dalesman Books. It is packed with details of all the present known caves, potholes and mines in this region. There are also a number of plans of some of these systems, in its pages. Alas, Titan is not included in the current edition.

Caving can be an enormous amount of fun. So, play it safe and enjoy everything that Buxton and the rest of the Peak District has to offer you in this fascinating sport.

Axe Edge

The gritstone that forms the bleak and lofty heights of Axe Edge, meets and dominates the limestone area known as Stanley Moor.

Many steams disappear and wend their way underground from this location, only to reappear some distance away in either Poole's cavern, or along the stream that takes its water from Brook Bottom, then Northeast to join the distant river Wye along Ashwood Dale.

Stanley moor has long been one of the most likely areas close to Buxton, where the caver can find a number of short, and sometimes difficult underground passages and potholes worthy of their attention. Unlike the reef limestones that give way to the much larger pothole and cave systems that can be found near Castleton in the Hope valley, the limestones around Buxton, can only offer much smaller and often tighter systems to explore.

With names such as Perseverance pot, Axe hole, Virgin pot, Old Bill's swallet and Jake's hole, among many others to be found, these have been formed mainly along the junction between the gritstone and the limestone rocks. Although the longest of the caves in this area is Poole's cavern, a quite impressive show cave, the next in size on the moor itself, is, Axe hole. This pothole has approximately 200 feet in length consisting mainly of tight passages.