Caving in Great Britain
There are four primary caving regions in the UK (and several minor areas). The area with the most vertical caving, and the longest cave in the UK, is the Yorkshire Dales in the north of England. Derbyshire (the Peak District), near Castleton, has the commercial Peak / Speedwell Cavern system, and several other well known caves. South Wales has many long cave systems including Ogof Ffynnon Ddu, Ogof Draenen, Ogof Daren Cilau, and Ogof Agen Allwedd. The Mendip Hills in southwest England has many famous caves including Goatchurch Cavern, Reservoir Hole and Swildon’s Hole.
Cwmorthin slate quarry
In the north of Wales are a number of impressively large slate quarries. Cwmorthin is the largest of these and it has recently been converted into an underground via ferrata.
ofof ffynnon ddu
OFD is the 3rd longest cave in the UK at 61 km, and it is the deepest cave at 294 meters. It is a spectacular cave system with three entrances, and it’s located just next to the South Wales Caving Club hut.
Ogof draenen
Ogof Draenen is in south Wales and was dug open in 1994 by members of the Morgannwg Caving Club. Several clubs were invited to come and help in the exploration and mapping, which progressed extremely quickly. Unfortunately there has been a lot of in-fighting and political strife over ownership and access to the survey data. This doesn’t diminish the amazing large passages and spectacular formations in this cave, which is the second longest in the UK at 70 km.
mendip hills
A short distance outside of Bristol, England lies the Mendip Hills, which contains such famous caving destinations as Burrington Combe, Cheddar Gorge Fairy Caves Quarry, Wookey Hole and Swildon’s Hole.
Reservoir Hole
Within Cheddar Gorge on the southwest side of the Mendip Hills is Reservoir Hole. A major discovery was made in 2012 named the Frozen Deep, which contains the largest cave chamber in the UK by area.