Into the abyss

For two weeks each year, members of the public have the chance to descend into the depths of spectacular Gaping Gill. Jonathan Manning dons his boots, waterproofs and hard hat…

Years ago, on a school adventure holiday, I stood trembling with classmates at the top of an abseiling cliff. Our instructor reassured us that the rope was strong enough to bear the weight of a Ford Escort and a packet of Polos, at which point we all emptied our pockets of sweets. The same primal fear of stepping off a ledge and into the unknown courses through my veins as I hang in a metal-framed chair, suspended over an abyss.

The floor of the Main Chamber is reached by a winched chair

Below my boots is 110m of nothingness. A dark, damp void that opens into a cavern with cathedral-like splendour. This is the ’Main Chamber’ at Gaping Gill, in North Yorkshire, a natural wonder to rival High Cup Nick or Cheddar Gorge. I’ve put on a hard hat, checked there’s no confectionery in my pockets, and double-checked the seat’s harness when the lift operator leans over.

“You’re the first one going down today, so you’ve got one responsibility – scream your head off to terrify everyone waiting in the queue!”

Then the false floor is opened, the winch starts unspooling and the chair begins its descent, appearing to accelerate once it has passed the rocky ledges at the mouth of the cave. Less than a minute later I’m on terra firma again, although I can see nothing. Friendly voices unclip the seat’s guard rails and I stand to one side waiting for my eyes to adjust to the surroundings.

Slowly I am able to appreciate the most extraordinary view. This could be a scene from a sci-fi film, a shampoo commercial or an Indiana Jones adventure. It’s cinematic to an epic degree, a towering waterfall filling the air with spray, a mist-filled window of sky high above, and half a dozen spotlights illuminating the vast scale of the cavern.

The spectacular Main Chamber

Statistics suggest the space is large enough to consume York Minster, but to reduce Gaping Gill to measurements would do it the same injustice as assessing the cathedral by the dimensions of its nave and height of its ceiling. The cave stands alone as a genuine marvel, an unforgettable phenomenon dissolved from limestone over millennia by the steady drip, drip of acidic water. At a time when life seems to be impatiently calibrated in milliseconds, this giant fissure is a powerful reminder that nature’s masterpieces are created over millions of years.

The cavern may be massive, but it’s also very difficult to access. In 1845, John Birkbeck managed to climb halfway down the shaft to a depth of 55m, before being thwarted at a ledge that now carries his name. Half a century later, Édouard-Alfred Martel, a French speleologist, finally reached the foot of the cave, using a rope ladder and lighting his way with a candle.

These days, for just two weeks a year, visitors can enjoy what Martel saw first, thanks to the skill and generosity of two local potholing clubs. In May, Bradford Pothole Club does the honours, while in August, Craven Pothole Club takes charge of the winch.

And it takes much more than an Alton Towers-style ride in a yellow metal chair to explore the cave. A visit to Gaping Gill requires a two-mile uphill walk along a rocky trail from Clapham, following the path that leads to Ingleborough, one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks. It’s only walking back to the pretty village, once day has well and truly broken, that I notice how limestone pavements, outcrops and cliffs embellish the moorland, the squeeze through Trow Gill gorge being a prime ‘Insta’ location.

Five hours earlier, in the dark, it’s an entirely different prospect. The Gaping Gill winch event is such a popular attraction, with such limited capacity – just 20 descents per hour – that the queue had closed at 7.20am over the first weekend.

The prospect of setting off at 6am, hiking for 90 minutes into the Yorkshire Dales, only to be turned away because entries had closed, would have pushed my toys to the precipice of my pram. So, it’s 4.30am when I turn off the ignition, hold my credit card against the car park ticket machine, sling on my rucksack and start walking. I’ve already spied a pair of walkers, which adds a sense of urgency to my steps. The race is on.

The Main Chamber waterfall

The narrow beam of my headtorch picks out ruts and rocks, and as I pass through a farm gate I’m hoping the boulders by the side of the track don’t have rings through their noses. The first smudge of natural light breaches the horizon as I join a smoother road, and catch up with Geoff, who turns out to be a Club member camping at Giffords CL just outside Clapham.

“I never knew there were two 4 o’clocks in the day!” he says as a welcome, and we strike an easy conversation between occasional pauses to catch our breath. We can see no one ahead, and the closest voices behind sound a long way back, so I relax my pace, confident that I will make the cut-off.

The sky is a delicate pink as we catch sight of the small encampment of tents at Gaping Gill, where the potholing club is sleeping. The early start has paid dividends – at 5.30am I’m second in the queue, although the first descent won’t be until after 9am.

Highlights of a memorable day in North Yorkshire

Within a few minutes there are more arrivals and the conversation soon sounds like Monty Python’s ‘Four Yorkshiremen’ sketch as walkers boast about how they got up half-an-hour before they went to bed to be sure of a place. People have come from all over, some staying nearby, others leaving home in the early hours. The chat helps time pass quickly, and soon I’m selecting a high-vis helmet from a crate, pulling on my waterproofs, and crossing my arms in the winch chair.

It’s a wet descent. Britain’s tallest unbroken waterfall, Fell Beck, tumbles through the same hole as the winch into a subterranean world of wonder. Gaping Gill is absolutely breathtaking, not only in size and scale, but also in terms of the sharp angles of its walls – it feels almost as though it has been quarried rather than the result of aeons of erosion. One of the Craven potholers explains how kilometres of tunnels branch off from the cavern into a Dales underworld of caves, shafts and passageways – but it’s thrilling simply to be able to amble around this colossal arena and watch other adventurers enjoy their descents.

My only wish is that the chair would pause for a few seconds on its climb back to the surface. From half way up, with my eyes fully adjusted to the dimness of the cavern, the view is one of the most magnificent sights in the UK.

Information

The descent into Gaping Gill costs £20. For May 2025, see bpc-cave.org.uk. For August 2025, see cravenpotholeclub.org. Check the websites for updates, ticketing details and visitor guides.

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