Ten strange or quirky facts about White Scar Cave

Eyes!  In the absence of man the cave becomes a realm of absolute darkness.  Insects, worms, shrimps and spiders (mainly of microscopic size) have been found.  These are of interest to biospeleologists, who study cave life.

Helictites. There are several examples at White Scar.

A disembodied murmuring voice follows the last guide out of the cave. Scary?

A wedding.  The bride’s dress was spotless white, and the ceremony was conducted in the echoing splendour of the natural vault.

He used candles which he stuck in the brim of his hat.

1780.  The book is entitled “A Tour to the Caves, in the environs of Ingleborough and Settle, in the West-Riding of Yorkshire”.  It was one of the first books in the world to treat caves as places to visit and enjoy.

A seam of coal.  The limestone was once covered by vast swamps, whose rotting vegetation formed coal deposits.  Coal was once mined at the nearby village of Ingleton.

From the colour of the steep craggy outcrops of rock which tower 600 feet above the cave entrance.  They are called scars, a term derived from the Old Norse word sker meaning  ‘low reef in the sea’
 

Cave lore refers to the accumulating body of knowledge, legends, traditions and happenings about a particular cave.  It sounds peculiar, but people who have lived and worked around White Scar for many years will tell you that the cave has a personality, with moods that vary from day to day.  A little like us!

Big Bertha is the name given to a massive boulder in the stream cave beyond the visitor trail.  Elsewhere in the system are Jailhouse Rock, Carrot Hall and Taffy Turnip’s Trepidation.