EuroSpeleo 2016

Peak District Round-Up

Oral|Mr Simon Brooks

Abstract

The Peak District that predominantly lies within the Counties of Derbyshire and Staffordshire is one of Britain’s oldest National Parks, famous for its stunning limestone and gritstone landscapes. Within what is essentially a Limestone Plateau there are many fine caves with documentation of these extending back to the 16th Century.

Lead miners, also known as ‘t’owd man, who were very active in the Peak District had knowledge of many of the more well know caves, particularly where these had been intersected by Lead Mines.

With some of the more notable cave discoveries taking place from the late 1920’s onwards the casual observer could be forgiven for thinking that most of ‘what could be found, has been found’. However, ongoing exploration is still very active within the Peak district and particularly in the last 10 years there have been some significant discoveries.

This lecture gives an overview of the landscapes of the Peak District, the Geology and the Caves. Outlining significant milestones in discovery from 1926 onwards, focusing on the finds of the last 10 years the latest caving activities, digs and discoveries in the Peak District during 2015 – 2016.

Access and Gating are always controversial topics and in respect of the latter the Peak District has some very fine examples.