Caverns! Gosh get your minds out of the gutters! đ€Ș
After yesterday’s 17 km, a slow, rest day was absolutely needed, and thatâs exactly how the day started and was intended!
It was a very slow start. Coffee in bed was followed by a late breakfast. It was perhaps more of a brunch, but we didnât care for the time. The dog ate his breakfast and went straight back to bed. It definitely felt like the mood for the day had been set.
A sunny wander into Castleton
Well, that was until the sun came out and acted as though it was going to stay out, which, according to the weather app the night before, it wasnât supposed to!
Being blessed with good weather is never something we take for granted! And whilst we can deal with whatever the weather throws us, we canât snub a beautifully sunny day!
To that end, we decided to go for a mooch into Castleton and see what else the local town had to offer us, so we put on our comfy casual trainers and set off on a leisurely plod.
As we walked into the village, we noticed a few paragliders in the sky! As we walked further into the village and closer to the mountains, this number grew and grew!
There must have been over 50 of them in the sky at one point! The photos donât quite do them justice, and they were up in the sky pretty much all day, it was amazing to see!
Which cavern?
We headed into the Castleton Visitor Centre and The Outdoor Shop, both of which had been closed a couple of days prior (with no purchases made!) before going to be nosey at The Devils Arse Cavern – you couldnât not with a name like that!
We had a look at the tours on offer, what it entailed, dog friendly, price, etc and then thought, well, letâs walk up to the next Cavern, being Speedwell, to see what that one would offer and which we might prefer to do.
We followed a brown signpost that said 300 yards. What it failed to mention was that this 300 yards was a rocky trail up and over a field, not something a pair of vans was really built for!
But it was worth it, for quite possibly the best sign to ever exist!
Feeling our legs from the day before and our hearts pumping was not what we had in mind! But we got to the bottom of Winnats Pass, which was the entrance to Speedwell Cavern, which we found was a boat tour.
We then discussed the option of Blue John Cavern, but we knew it was at the top of Winnats Pass and a further half a mile away, and we didnât want to walk or drive there! It was also something like 300 steps down into the cavern, which didnât take our fancy!
We decided that we didnât need to take the dog down the cavern (he could only join us on Devils Arse) but there was something about an enclosed space, slippery steps and a dog (more precisely, our dog) that just didnât add up!
So we returned to the campsite, trying to pick which cavern to do. Devils Arse was a walk with 100 odd steps plus a walk into the cavern and all about rope making or Speedwell which was again about 100 steps, then a boat tour and all about lead mining. Decisions decisions!
As so often happens, I became distracted by a converted horse box that was giving out fresh milk, so I had to join in! Fresh milk! You canât beat it. They also had various flavours of milkshake, too!
Speedwell Cavern
We got the dog comfortable in the van, with the blinds closed, the skylights open, and a fan on because, again, the sun continued to wear his hat! Michael and I then walked back into town and to Speedwell, our cavern of choice!
We got to the cavern, hoping to join the 14:35 tour, to find out we were the only ones on it – a private tour for the same price! We put on our hard hats and took the 106 steps down to our boat!
Our tour guide was fab. He explained all about the mine and the little amount of lead they actually found there, as well as stories about the miners and the mine system in Castleton!
We then got to our destination, being the cavern and disembarked the boat.
We explored the cavern and looked down at the âBottomless Pitâ had our photos and then got back on the boat.
We then met another boat, coming towards us on our way back, so our guide had to essentially parallel park the boat into a gap known as the âHalfway Houseâ to allow the other boat to pass.
We then reached the end of our tour and climbed back up the 106 steps!
The Speedwell Cavern was ÂŁ23 per person and lasted for roughly an hour. It was perhaps on the expensive side, but we were lucky to get a private tour, and it is a tourist attraction! But hey, when in Rome!
We really enjoyed the experience. Our tour guide was really knowledgeable and happy to answer our questions and take our photos. It was pretty cool to explore a cavern by boat, too – something a bit different!
I wonât give anything more away, I donât want to ruin it, but itâs highly recommended.
One final mooch
We then mooched back into Castleton, bought a flapjack and some Kendal mint cake ready for our walk tomorrow, Michael got an ice cream, and then I saw a sign for another outdoorsy shop off the beaten track where Michael found a hat that he wanted, and I got the dog some steak and kidney bones!
One final stop into the bakery for a Bakewell Tart and then back to the van to chill!
Safe to say the dog was exhausted as he snuggled in to me last night!
Needs some energy for tomorrow! â°ïž
sounds like another busy day. We are enjoying reading the blogs and seeing the photos. The weather is looking good for this week so enjoy xx
The sign for Devil’s Arse was probably the highlight of our recent walk around Mam Tor and Castleton for my cheeky boys đđ
Weve done Blue John mine many years ago, and I’d love to get to some of the others one day, the speedwell one with the boat sounds brilliant!