White Scar Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Yorkshire Dales National Park. White Scar Cave is 2,5 km from Ingleton on the B6255 road to Hawes.
Open:	FEB to OCT daily 10-17:30 (last tour). NOV to JAN Sat, Sun, Hol 10-17:30 (last tour). 25-DEC closed. [2006]
Fee:	Adults GBP 6.95, Children (3-18) GBP 3.95, Family GBP 20. Groups (12+): Adults GBP 5.70, Children (3-18) GBP 3.25. [2006]
Classification:	Karst cave
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	L=19,300 m.
Guided tours:	L=1,600 m, D=80 min. V=66,000/a [2000]
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	White Scar Cave, Ingleton, North Yorkshire LA6 3AW, Tel: +44-1524-241244, Fax: +44-1524-241700, E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1923	discovered by the student Christopher Long.

Description

White Scar Cave is the longest show cave in Britain. It is situated near World Ingleton in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The tour begins near the original entrance found by Christopher Long in 1923. The path winds its way past cascading waterfalls, between massive banks of flowstone, and through galleries decorated with cream and carrot-coloured stalactites and stalagmites. Under the steel-grid walkways you can see the stream rushing and foaming on its way.

The highlight of the tour is the 200,000 year old Battlefield Cavern. Over 100 m long, with its roof soaring in places to 30 m, this is one of the largest caverns in Britain. It contains thousands of stalactites, which hang from the roof in great clusters. The guide shows curious formations, called the Devil's Tongue, the Arum Lily, or the Judge's Head.

The original entrance to this cave was a mere crack, through which it was necessary to wriggle, forcing a path through the stream, and trying to get enough air space between roof and water to carry on. It was first penetrated in 1923 by Christopher Long, a Cambridge undergraduate. Today, however, a wide tunnel has been blasted for 600 feet to the point where Long first entered the cave, at the first waterfall. Here, in the First Waterfall Chamber, are many beautiful formations, but more exciting than these is the dull roar of the subterranean river Greta in the distance. In fact, the show section follows this watercourse for the most part, the visitors being conducted along duckboards over the river. One has all the excitement of surmounting underground waterfalls, without the discomfort of getting wet.

Formations of every sort, helictites, gours, stalagmites and stalactites are numerous throughout the cave, and have been given names such as the Buddha, the Elephant's Head, and the Madonna and Child.

Where the show section ends, half a mile from the entrance and 600 feet below the surface, a barrier has been put across the passage. However, it is possible to see the cave continuing into the distance, and one can appreciate what the cave was like before the paths were put in, and the exciting time the original explorers had as they made their way upstream, using only candles for lights.

Text from: Tony and Anne Oldham (1972): Discovering Caves - A guide to the Show Caves of Britain. With kind permission by Tony Oldham.