Mossdale Caverns#1967 tragedy
{{Short description|Cave system in the Yorkshire Dales, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox Cave
| name = Mossdale Caverns
| photo = Mossdale_Scar_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1286270.jpg
| photo_caption = Mossdale Scar
| location = Yorkshire Dales
| depth = {{convert|76|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| length = {{convert|10.5|km|mi|1|abbr=on}}
| coords = {{coord|54|07|25|N|1|58|36|W|region:GB-NYK_type:landmark}}
| survey = [http://cavemaps.org/surveys/ulsa/full/ULSA%20XXXX%20Mossdale.png Online ULSA survey]
| survey_electronic_format =
| discovery = 1941
| geology = Carboniferous limestone
| entrance_count = 1
| difficulty = Grade 5
| hazards = Flooding
| access = not granted
| translation =
| language =
| pronunciation =
}}
Mossdale Caverns is a cave system in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is about {{convert|5|km|mi|1}} north of Grassington, and east of Conistone, where Mossdale Beck sinks at the base of Mossdale Scar. It lies at an altitude of {{convert|425|m|ft|0}} on the eastern flank of Wharfedale, and extends south-east beneath Grassington Moor.
The cave system is formed within the Middle Limestone of the Yoredale Series.{{cite book|title=Caves and Karst of the Yorkshire Dales|publisher=British Cave Research Association|isbn=978-0-900265-46-4|page=22|editor-first1=Tony |editor-last1=Waltham |editor-first2=David |editor-last2=Lowe|year=2013}} The large stream (average flow 100 litres/second) has been shown by dye testing to resurge at Black Keld, some {{convert|4.4|km|mi|1}} to the WNW {{convert|225|m|ft|0}} lower.{{cite journal|last=Myers|first=J. O.|title=The Mossdale Problem. The Problem of the Underground Water Flow|journal=Transactions of the Cave Research Group|year=1950|volume=1|issue=4|pages=21–30}}
Speleology
Eli Simpson, a founder of the British Speleological Association, had become convinced there was a large undiscovered cave system in the area and devoted much of his time to finding it. Simpson later enlisted the help of fellow B.S.A. member Bob Leakey, who recruited a team of female co-workers from Yeadon aircraft factory to help the exploration of Mossdale Scar. (The Second World War had created a local shortage of able-bodied males.) On 31 May 1941, while searching for a fallen tobacco pipe, Leakey found an entrance which led to the subsequent exploration of Mossdale Caverns.{{cite web|url=https://www.michaelmelvin.co.uk/mossdale/The%20Mossdale%20Tragedy.pdf |title=The Mossdale Tragedy 1967 |accessdate= 4 September 2022}}
It is a very challenging cave system prone to flooding, with many passages involving long wet crawls while other sections can be neck-deep in water; many of Leakey's explorations were conducted solo as few contemporaries had the necessary endurance. The end was finally reached again in 1964 by Mike Boon and Pete Livesey.{{cite book|last=Boone|first=J. M.|title=Down to a Sunless Sea|year=1977|publisher=The Stalactite Press|location=Edmonton|pages=31–47}} A return trip to the far end takes between eight and ten hours.{{cite book|last=Cooper|first=Mike|title=Not for the Faint-Hearted|year=2006|publisher=Purprise Press|location=Hebden Bridge|isbn=978-0-9554139-0-2|pages=42–46}}
Legal permission to enter the caves is no longer granted because of the tragedy that occurred in 1967, but exploration does still take place on an unofficial basis. It is thought that the cave system (known as the 'missing link') may hold the key to breaking into the Great Scar Limestone and the extensive cave that exists behind Black Keld.{{Cite web |date=21 January 2024 |title=What lies beneath: Mossdale caving disaster |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/what-lies-beneath-mossdale-caving-disaster-794268.html |quote="The unexplored cave between the two points would be one of the deepest and longest in Britain. It is for some an obsession to find the fabled missing link."}}
1967 tragedy
File:Memorial Plaque at Mossdale Scar. - geograph.org.uk - 565322.jpg
The cave system is notorious amongst cavers in the United Kingdom for a tragedy that occurred on 24 June 1967. On that day, ten cavers entered the system. Three hours later, four members of the party decided not to continue and exited the cave system. One of the four – Morag
Forbes – returned to the entrance shortly afterwards, only to find it completely submerged, recent rainfall having swollen Mossdale Beck. Realising immediately that the six cavers who remained inside the cave system were in danger, she ran {{convert|4|km|mi|1}} across the moor to raise the alarm.
Cave rescue teams arrived at the scene, but the high water levels prevented access to the cave. The waters of Mossdale Beck had to be diverted away from the cave entrance by digging a trench. Even then the rescue operation could not be started because of the high water levels inside.
It was not until the following day that entry was possible. The cave rescue teams found the bodies of five of the cavers in the Far Marathon Crawls, and Bob Leakey led a search party to a location where he believed the sixth might have survived, without success.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10036648/Bob-Leakey.html|title=Obituaries: Bob Leakey|newspaper=Daily Telegraph|location=London|date= 3 May 2013|accessdate=7 May 2013}} The sixth body was located the following day. The bodies were left in situ. The coroner decided the cave should be sealed, and concrete was poured down the only safe entrance. This was later re-opened and in 1971, with the agreement of their families, the bodies were buried by their colleagues from the ULSA in "Mud Caverns", a chamber at the far end of the system.{{cite journal|last=Brook|first=Dave|title=Mossdale Caverns 1971|journal=University of Leeds Speleological Association Review|date=July 1971|issue=8|pages=24, 25}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mcra.org.uk/logbooks/picture.php?/13044/category/258|title=Page 068 | MCRA Logbooks and Journals|website=mcra.org.uk|accessdate=26 November 2022}}
This is to date the most deadly incident in British caving.{{cite news|last1=White|first1=Clive|title=Mossdale Caverns tragedy commemorated 50 years after the pothole disaster.|url=http://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/15354015.Mossdale_Caverns_tragedy_commemorated_50_years_after_the_pothole_disaster_/?ref=mrb&lp=20|accessdate=25 June 2017|work=Craven Herald|date=17 June 2017|language=en}} A memorial plaque is affixed to the cliff above the entrance.
On the moors above is a memorial cairn. The plaque on the cairn reads: "Mossdale memorial cairn – over the place in the cave where the bodies were found".{{cite book|last1=Brook |first1=Alan |title=The Mossdale Tragedy 1967 |url=https://www.michaelmelvin.co.uk/mossdale/The%20Mossdale%20Tragedy.pdf |editor-last=Melvin|editor-first=Michael|chapter=Building the Mossdale Cairn|via=michaelmelvin.co.uk |access-date=4 June 2022 |page=60}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite magazine|last=Beck|first=Simon|title=Shadowplay|magazine=Descent| date=2016|publisher=Ambit|pages=42–44|issn=0046-0036}}
External links
- [http://www.yorkshire-guide.co.uk/mossdale.aspx Pictures of the memorial cairn]
- [http://caving-library.org.uk/audio/selected.php?id=207 An interview] on the British Cave Research Association library website with Bob Leakey where he discusses his original Mossdale Caverns explorations]
- [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/what-lies-beneath-mossdale-caving-disaster-794268.html What lies beneath – The Mossdale caving disaster], Roy Kershaw, The Independent Magazine, 15 March 2008, pp. 29–32
- [http://caving-library.org.uk/audio/selected.php?id=135 An interview with Jack Pickup about the tragedy] on the British Cave Research Association library website
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009fwy6 In Living memory 1967 Mossdale caverns Tragedy (on the BBC)]
Category:1967 disasters in the United Kingdom