The Underground Movement

It was the holy grail for cavers – finding the route linking Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria deep underground. Now Dave Haigh and John Cordingley have included this and other dangerous quests in their new book

THE news of a cave system 90 kilometres long and spanning three counties, from Casterton Fell in Cumbria to Leck Fell in Lancashire and Yorkshire, made national headlines.

After many years of dedicated, sometimes dangerous hard graft by teams of cavers, the three counties were finally physically connected underground. However, the true grit stories of exploration by the caving heroes involved have not been publicly told – until now, that is.

A chapter within this new book, Adventures Underground, written jointly with expert Lancashire caver John Cordingley, regales the reader with exciting stories of the trials, tribulation, tears and elation experienced by the combatants while striving to achieve their goal.

For the first time, readers of Lancashire Life can read this extract relating how the caves of Lancashire and Yorkshire were finally connected:

First, the Yorkshire connection – Ireby Fell Cavern to Rift Pot, where a War of the Roses was about to be replayed. This joining of Yorkshire Caves to those in Cumbria and Lancashire may not have been a genuine war, but it certainly involved many a heroic battle.

From around the beginning of the 21st century a large number of caving clubs have actively pursued this coveted goal and greatly contributed, both independently and in mixed teams, to achieving that end.