B.C.C on B.B.C.
B.C.C. was approached in the late autumn of 2000 by the B.B.C Radio Four programme "Open Country" who were broadcasting a programme about Lancashire country life. They specifically wished to experience caving themselves, as the programme, which focussed on countryside activities, had not covered caving. The approach to B.C.C. was made as a result of visiting the B.C.C website.
After a few telephone discussions arrangements were finalised. However the programme had to be set in a Lancashire cave and the crew only had one hour to spare to include changing, walking to the cave and recording of the programme underground. This obviously limited selection of the cave to one near the road suitable for a novice carrying expensive recording equipment in Lancashire. Yordas cave was the only choice as this enabled the team to visit the cave without having to don oversuits and undersuits. As the programme was being recorded on a Tuesday or Wednesday due to other commitments the only B.C.C. members available were Wayne Brown and Tina Jones.
The programme was recorded on 13 December 2000 on a wet Wednesday after weeks of rain. The presenter Richard Urich was accompanied by the producer Gabby Fisher with Wayne Brown and Tina Jones as guides.
Despite extensive preparations and rehearsals the B.C.C members proceeded to spout the most ridiculous nonsense as soon as a microphone was placed in front of them. The producer who before venturing underground was talkative and friendly was strangely quiet whilst underground, perhaps hesitant about disturbing the recording or more likely shocked at the way the program was progressing.
Nevertheless the program was broadcast at 0630 16 December 2000 and repeated on the afternoon of the following Thursday. Some sections of the recording weren't broadcast; a section at Chapterhouse waterfall was edited out presumably due to the background noise levels, and a further discussion of caving generally was edited out perhaps due to time constraints. The following is a transcript of the program as transmitted.
(Sound of dripping water).
Wayne: Right we've just approached the entrance to the cave mouth now as you can see there's water dripping down from the actual cave mouth, which is the water from the surface. We're going to go down into a steep muddy slope and to the left you will see where the water flows round from the base of the cave out underground. You can see that theres all white froth near the surface, this is an indication of how far the water levels have been recently which have subsided now but it shows the level to which the water rises in the cave. Its a keen part of the actual caving to keep an eye on the weather forecast so you know what the weather has been like recently and whilst underground.
Richard: There's one word to describe the way the weather has been recently that's wet.
Wayne: Very wet.
Richard: I'm with Wayne Brown from Burnley Caving Club and we are about to enter into the dark unknown. Dark and unknown for me you've been down here before, so what can I expect?
Wayne: We're going to go down a steep muddy slope which can be slippy so you've got to take a bit of care with and look where you're putting your feet. We're going to hit the actual main chamber which is a rocky surface where there's normally water flowing. We'll walk across the main chamber and have a look at the waterfall at the end and look at the size of the chamber. The actual chamber size is about sort of sixty-foot high and about one hundred-foot round. So it's quite a large chamber really. It used to be an old show cave in Victorian times when it was lit by candles but of course advances in sort of travel and transport and peoples expectations have meant it closed down as a show cave and we can now enjoy it just with the lights fastened to our helmets.
Richard: I've got an electric light on my head but yours is like a Victorian candle what's all that about?
Wayne: Well this is a carbide lamp its run off calcium carbide which generates acetylene when water is dripped on to it and gives a warmer more diffuse light to the cave environment. The electric lights like you have are good for spotting things at a distance and seeing where your feet are, but the carbide light shows off the full cave environment and lights the surrounding area so you can appreciate the actual environment that you're in.
Richard: Smells a bit doesn't it?
Wayne: Unfortunately one of the by-products of this is that it does smell and it does soot up a little bit as well. Which means some caves have special restrictions that you can't use carbide inside them because of the sooting and also because of the harm it does the cave environment.
Richard: Right there's no more putting it off is there?
Wayne: I'm afraid not. Okay then so just as I said watch out for the mud slope where it's a bit slippy and we'll enter underground now.
Richard: The thing that I've noticed almost straight away just ten to fifteen paces into the cave, apart from the obvious thing the darkness, blinking rapidly to get my eyes accustomed to it, is the roar of that flowing water has got a fair bit louder in just that short distance.
Wayne: This is how caves are formed, the action of the water on the limestone dissolves away the limestone over a large period of times and most caves do have some degree of water flow through. Obviously in view of the recent weather conditions this cave has considerably more water than it would normally have, this is why the sound level is so much higher.
Richard: The other sound that people can hear is my heart beating more rapidly, maybe the waters drowning that out. Down this way is it?
Wayne: Yes straight on down here, as I said just keep an eye on where you're putting your feet it can be a little bit slippy. I will venture forth into it and see how far we get.
Richard: Shout to me if it's safe to cross alright.
(Shouting at a distance) Wayne: Right its safe to cross, it's about a metre er.... welly height at this point, it gets a bit shallower up here.
Richard: I'm following on. I'm busy looking down at what's under my feet, its like sort of picking your way across a swift flowing river in darkness. It's a bit unnerving but looking up that's the magnificent part.
Wayne: It's quite an impressive place this is one of the beauties of going underground is that you experience these environments that most people cannot see or even dream of.
Richard: Is that a part of the charm? Obviously the question that people ask you and mountaineers and all sorts of adventure sports people is you know why?
Wayne: Yes this is exactly the reason why. There is the challenge and excitement of venturing into a place where few people go, where there is a small element of risk which you can minimise by taking sensible precautions, but you can see something that very few people see and appreciate - a wonder of nature. Just looking over at the far side of the chamber you can see if you look over in the distance the level where you can see the water has been in recent times, which is above head height.
Richard: And I suppose the thing is that when you're underground if the weather changes suddenly on the surface, you have no indication of that and these water levels can rise and can trap you on the other side.
Wayne: Most cave the flooding risks are well known and there are areas of caves where it is quite safe to sit out flooding risks and like this cave the risk of flooding is relatively little.
Richard: Which way is onwards?
Wayne: Right we're going to go up to the end of the chamber now its slightly uphill here. As you can see in the centre of the floor here we have a very large tree trunk, or part of a tree trunk, which has obviously been washed down here by floodwater. The tree trunk is about six-foot long and it would be impossible for one man to lift. It gives some indication of the strength of the water that can flow through here in flood conditions. Right over here we are at a large portion of rock which is actually sticking out from the side. This is called the Bishops Throne. Cave formations are fancifully given names by the explorers to highlight them and this was called the Bishops Throne. This sits at the base of what's called a large aven, which is large passage that leads up towards the surface. Eventually over the passage of time this aven will eventually break through to the surface and you will get a vertical shaft. This is where of course potholes are formed which are vertical shafts as opposed to caves, which are horizontal passages.
Richard: I'm being dripped on well and truly here. At his point let me turn to Tina Jones who is down here with us as well. You're getting as wet as I am.
Tina: I am its very wet me lights failed as well (laughing).
Richard: How long have you been caving potholing it?
Tina: Well only about five years but yeah we enjoy it. The children go too.
Richard: Was it the children that got you into it in the first place?
Tina: No it was actually a family day out. We went to How Stean Gorge where they have some show caves, and the children enjoyed it so we thought we would sort of take them out to relatively easy walk through caves, and we've all enjoyed it. Usually when we take the children its walk through caves we don't do any abseiling or anything dangerous.
Richard: But is it a sport for all the family?
Tina: It is yeah we've even taken the two-year-old caving.
Richard: The roar of the water is getting ever louder Wayne.
Wayne: Yes we're approaching the Chapterhouse waterfall, which is a waterfall that drops down about twenty-five feet at the end of the chamber. Obviously in view of the weather conditions the waterfall will be quite powerful and we could get very very wet. So what we'll do is have a walk up and take a look at the waterfall and assess how near we can get to it.
Richard: Lead on McDuff.
Wayne: Right.
(Roar of waterfall)
Richard: I'm relying on you to lead me back to the surface now Wayne and Tina, off you go.
Wayne: Right we'll go down this slope again. Now our wellies have got wet its time to be extra careful when walking out that so we don't slip and fall.
Richard: Tina is there always a sense of relief when you finally get to the surface again back in the....
Tina (interrupting): Oh yes
Richard: ......comfortable world?
Tina: Oh yes I love it, I really love it yeah I like to get out get back to the car get changed and get warm and have a nice cup of coffee.
Richard: An underground question for this week's Open Country competition, Wayne.
Wayne: Right in caves you get many sorts of formations which are formed by gradual deposit of calcium calcite over thousands of years. You get stalactites and stalagmites forming in the caves. The question for this week is the other type of formation you often get is helictites; can anyone tell me what helictites are and where they form?
Richard: Right that's a teaser, but if you know what a helictite is you should jot your answer down on the back of a postcard or sealed down envelope and send it to Open Country BBC Radio Four Birmingham B5 7QQ. And the prize is as another cold, icy cold, drop of water wriggles its way down my neck and sends a shiver down my spine, a nice snug warming Open Country fleece.
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