News
24/01/2007
Going underground
A Scout Group displayed their spirit for adventure as they descended into the depths of arguably the deepest natural underground tunnel in England.
The Scouts and Leaders of the 1st Waltham on the Wolds Scout Troop, Melton Mowbray District have been setting themselves a series of Centenary Challenges to celebrate the first 100 years of Scouting. Having recently completed their Surfboarding Beach Party in Mid-Winter on the Norfolk Coast they are now concentrating on their ‘highest’ and lowest challenges. There is no dispute over the highest point in England and in February the Scouts will tackle the summit of Scafell Pike in Cumbria. The lowest point in England is, however, a matter of interpretation. Leader Paul Cooper said ‘the lowest land is thought to be Holme Fen near Peterborough at 2.75 metres below sea level but this wasn’t really much of a challenge. According to Google, the bed of Lake Windermere is 29 metres deep and the foot of the Monkwearmouth mine shaft in Northumberland is some 1,700 feet deep – both technical challenges beyond the Group’s current resources. Hampstead Station on the Northern Line of the London Underground System is 220 metres below the surface, but not the sort of challenge the Scouts were after. However, with the recent discovery of ‘Titan’ the longest natural underground shaft in England, connecting into the Giants Hole-Oxlow-Speedwell-Peak Cavern Cave System in the Peak District, it is now argued by some that this is the deepest underground natural system yet discovered in England.’
The Waltham Scouts and their Leader set off to explore the depths of Giants Hole under the supervision and guidance of the Leicestershire Scouts County Caving Team Instructors. Paul, an experienced Derbyshire pot holer led the ‘exploration’. He said, ‘Giants Hole is a classic extensive limestone caving system with an active streamway and is a perfect example of the erosive power of water over rock especially when, as rainwater absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, it becomes acidic and can dissolve limestone. Although the technically difficult vertical and narrow sections of Giants Hole preclude us from taking the Scouts into the deeper recesses of the system, there are plenty of underground streams, waterfalls, canyons, tubes and rifts to explore and many examples of fossils, flowstone and calcite formations to be found. The underground trip lasted about four hours and the Scouts were able to practise their ropework and ladder technique so that they can go on further into the technical sections of the system on their next visit.’
Other challenges facing the Troop later in the year will include an Air Challenge -Gliding, a Water Challenge-Hydrospeed river descent, a Land Challenge –Canyoning and a ‘Smelly’ Challenge - a trip to a sewage farm.
