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  • Caverns around Castleton
  • thorlz
    Free Member

    Over the summer holidays I am looking at taking my lad (7) for a day out around Castleton.
    I am thinking of doing one of the many cavern tours(Speedwell / Blue John / Peak etc)followed by a walk up to Mam Tor and a picnic. I think he will love the caverns and I am after advise on which one to go for.

    I know you can get joint tickets to Speedwell and Peak but I think one may be enough for him.

    Any advise from people who have been to any of them will be much appreciated.

    Cheers

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    Can’t help on the Caverns but the landslipped road should be cool for him to see, read the notice board about multiple slips and road rebuilding. Makes geography and engineering seem a bit more real than just text books.

    mcnultycop
    Full Member

    I’ve done Blue John; it’s good. I can’t compare it to the others.

    eth3er
    Free Member

    Treak and Devils Arse are fun interesting walk/talk/tour guide affairs but Speedwell is done in a Gondola and there’s an Ice Cream shop at the entrance/exit.

    handybendyhendo
    Free Member

    Toughie….

    Devils Arse is pretty interesting……nice walk to it…..clamber under a low roof…….get to say arse a lot……

    Speedwell is down, down, down…….whatever the temp outside….its cold and damp inside…..and a cool boat ride propelled by a blokes legs on the roof of the cave!

    boxelder
    Full Member

    I used to work in Speedwell – it’s a boat trip, so not down (though the steps down to it are I guess). More to see in Blue John I reckon.

    handybendyhendo
    Free Member

    So it is down then ffs…….and quite a long way too (with a 7 yr old)

    If it was down and in a boat it would be waterfall.

    Garry_Lager
    Full Member

    Treak cavern is good – Blue John mine [below the one called Blue John cavern] on Mam Tor. Quite a bit to see.

    Speedwell is hard to say whether it’s worth it – it’s a boat ride on a flooded horizontal mineshaft, which is unusual and exciting for the kids. But there’s very little to see beyond that. We queued for a decent stretch for it [the boat means it’s only a few in at a time] and felt it wasn’t worth the wait, but if you could get in without a big queue then it prob would be.

    slowoldman
    Full Member

    It,s years since I did any of them but I recall enjoying Speedwell, though probably mostly for the amusing guide.

    Since you fancy Mam Tor too I would suggest going down Blue John then come back up and continue straight up Mam Tor.

    thorlz
    Free Member

    Cheers for all your help.

    Looking like Blue John followed by broken road and Mam Tor.

    ivorlott
    Free Member

    If you want to give him a proper exciting pothole experience, then this

    Might be a bit of a walk in for a 7-year old though, nearly three miles up to the entrance.

    And if you do decide to do it, get there stupidly early; done it a couple of times with BPC in May and even arriving at 7am, still number 40 in the queue!

    cb
    Full Member

    Not sure if things have changed but in my day Ivorlott’s suggestion was a single seat descent which might not work for your lad? Good fun though!

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    Minimum age for the winch meet is 7, but I don’t know if any of mine would get in the seat for that (and they’re 13)!

    If he’s exceptionally plucky, and not especially tiny for his age, it might be for you.

    There’s always Ingleborough Cave on the walk-in if he bottles it though…

    thorlz
    Free Member

    Cheers for that suggestion.

    He’s a tall lad for his age and certainly plucky, but looking at that single seat decent I think it’s a touch too far.

    Most definitely one to remember for a year or two’s times though.

    Looks great to me.

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

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