Speedwell Cavern

Much of Richard's Cambridge group was together this morningin Castleton at breakfast after the arrival of the last two, Matt and Charlotte, yesterday evening.  Charlotte was up from London and her husband Matt managed to arrive delayed from China and turned it around quickly enough to catch a train in London after his flight and meet up with us here in Castleton.  Matt is a CFO for an African mining company and Charlotte works as an HR director for a graphics design firm in London.  Completing the group are Richard's friend Richard (we know him as Dickie) and his partner Rasa, along with their 10-month old daughter Elinor. Both Richard and Rasa work for the Royal Mail.  Dickie and Matt were ushers at our wedding.





Here are Richard, Rasa and Elinor.  My Richard was taking a picture for them at the same time as this one--I find it funny that the adults were looking at one camera while Elinor was looking at mine and smiling quite nicely.  We spent the day with them touring Speedwell Cavern.  Most impressive was the durability of a 10-month old managing to stay fairly cheerful in spite of going down into a cave, sitting on a boat in the dark, and staying strapped to her dad throughout.  She is thus far a very resilient child.

Speedwell Cavern is a former lead mine now turned over to tourism.  The countryside is full of abandoned mines but some have been put back into service for visitors.  Speedwell did not make money during its time and was abandoned, and once the pumps stopped the mine filled with water.  So tours of the mine now require descent down a long staircase followed by a boat ride on the water filling the abandoned shafts.

It can be a bit frightening in the dark on a boat when you don't know quite how deep the water is, how far underground you are, and in a space not much larger than the boat.  Quite often the boat tips a little far to one side and feels like it might capsize, or happens to run into the rock with a crashing sound.

The guides give a bit of history of the mine and its failure.  You reach the end of the cavern and then have to get off the boat and step into the area where below is known as the Bottomless Pit.  In the meantime a previous group gets in your now-vacant boat and leaves you in the cavern.  It does make for a bit of concern, perhaps, but fortunately another group does come along and you take their boat.  One wonders what happens to the last group in the cave, of course.

So generally it was not as full of a day as others but still some new sights.  Richard's parents arrived today from Leeds and we plan a second cavern tour tomorrow with them in Peak Cavern, otherwise known as the Devil's Arse.  We'll try to explain why that is once we've toured it.