|
Wookey
Hole Caves are considered to be the birthplace
of British cave diving.
Until
1935, Chamber 3 represented the limit of cave
exploration on foot. Chamber 4 had been flooded
by the mill leat and raised sluice gates since
the 1850s, and nobody had penetrated further in
recent times.
In
1935 two courageous divers, led by Graham Balcombe,
walked along the river bed from Chamber 3 to Chamber
4.
The
heavy and cumbersome deep sea diving equipment
was not at all suitable for exploring caves. In
spite of this, Balcombe reached Chamber 7 later
that year. And in 1948, using oxygen equipment
developed during the 2nd World War, he and his
colleagues reached Chamber 9, now known as Cathedral
Cave.
This
is one of the most famous caverns in the history
of cave diving. It is 100 feet high, its green
water 70 feet deep, its vast walls red with iron
oxide and shining with "flowstone" stalactite
formations.
High
on one wall is a beautiful "curtain"
stalactite. And, most valuable of all for the
divers, there is a wide curve of mud bank above
the green water, enough for men and supplies to
remain dry.
Chamber 9 was to become a forward diving base
for all the explorations to follow over the next
30 years. The blasting of a manmade tunnel, and
advances in modern diving technology have now
allowed divers to explore as far as Chamber 25.
On the 29th of Sept 2004 John Volanthen and Rick
Slanton with their dedicated team reached a depth
of over 149feet setting a new British cave diving
record.
Link
to Cave Diving pages with a plan of the caves
|
Welcome
