Peak Cavern and Derwent Reservoirs

We finished our cave tours today by traveling to Peak Cavern, just behind Castleton.  To get there we took a lovely footpath through a small street behind our hotel.

The entrance to Peak Cavern is known to be the largest cave opening in England and was historically used by people up until the early parts of the 20th century.  It was primarily used for ropemaking, since the temperature was relatively stable on the interior and it was protected from rain.  The ropemakers lived as true troglodytes, keeping livestock, their homes, and their families in the cave.

Our tour guide did a ropemaking demonstration, showing the process of taking the raw fiber and making ropes for the mining operations in the area.  Historically children as young as 4 were put to work in the caves helping to make rope or keep the animals that were rendered for tallow to waterproof the rope.

Most of the cave was fairly navigable with modern lighting and steps.  There were some low ceilings--especially in an area called Lumbago Walk.  Some areas were artificially carved out for a visit by Queen Victoria to see the cavern.

The cavern has been used for concerts and will host some summer concerts this year.  The natural acoustics of the cavern makes for a natural amphitheater.

The cave has underground rivers and a massive cavern called Titan (not accessible to the general tours) that was discovered in 2006.  The cave is actually even connected to Speedwell, which we visited yesterday and is .5 km down the road.  Water can flow into the cave and then drain through holes in the interior, which when raining occurs it makes a flatulent sound.  The sound gave the cavern its alternate name--the Devil's Arse.

After being underground we traveled a few miles over to the Derwent reservoir, formed by a series of dams that hold the water for the nearby towns including the large city of Sheffield.

The dams are quite beautiful in their architecture and each one is different.  This one, Derwent Dam, resembles a castle in structure.  This area was used for training by squadrons during World War II that planned to destroy German dams by bouncing bombs along the water to collide with the dam.  The account of this squadron was fictionalized in the film The Dam Busters.

Tomorrow we will leave Castleton and head for Lyme Park, which should be our last chance to see some of the Derbyshire countryside.