Pothole country
Last weekend we went exploring the nearest hills of the Dales (but Westmorland not Yorkshire 😁) just east of Kirkby Lonsdale. It's pothole country, riddled with unassuming cracks in the ground that lead to miles of spectacular caves - if you're prepared to get wet, muddy and scared. We stuck to the surface 😄
Setting off from Bullpot Farm cavers' bunkhouse (aka Red Rose Cave club). You can tell from the vegetated walls that it rains a lot up here;
Looking down towards Barbondale;
It rains such a lot that any nutrient is washed from the soil, leaving perfect conditions for insectivorous plants such as this Pinguicula (Butterwort). They catch their own lunch with their sticky leaves which trap any tiny insects and digest them with enzymes.
Looking for somewhere sheltered from the wind to eat our lunch, we homed in on a narrow gully that seemed to offer interesting-looking outcrops of limestone. This seems to be the remains of a limekiln;
Wonderful lichens encrusting the gritstone boulders washed down into the gully;
Looking back down the gully. Just off to the left is a small crater in the ground with a blue perspex lid - the entrance to Aygill Caverns.
Dropping down the gully a bit further, looking vertically down, the vigorous stream vanishes into this hole... Not one to follow I think.
