Two days in the Yorkshire Dales to visit caves and to walk : Part 2: Ingleborough Caves

Read the first part HERE: 

The walk to the caves is about an hour or so. A little of it is in the village of Clapham itself. One then reaches an entrance gate where one needs to buy a ticket costing £ 1:00 to walk on a toll road that is over 1.1 miles long. This walk is in the wooded countryside, and it leads up to the actual entrance of the caves. The road is unpaved but decent. It goes past a big water body that was surprisingly very still and devoid of many water birds as most water bodies in the UK will have. There were benches to relax all along the path. At nearly 90% of the way in, there was an old stone "house-like" structure that people often went in to get out of the rain or to just eat or drink. Some photos of the journey: 

This is waterfalls in Clapham village itself

Finally, I arrived at the Ingleborough caves. The reception and ticketing counter is part of a small cafe that serves hot and cold beverages, crisps and chocolates, but little else. I couldn't find anything to enjoy a proper lunch when I finished the caves visit and had to go to a local shop to get something to eat back in the guest house. More about this later. Here are the photos of the caves themselves:

The main entrance

The first cavern

Stalactites forming on the ceiling of these limestone caves

Huge stalactites

This was referred to as the "Sword of Damocles"

The second cavern

A well-lit corridor

Lots of stalagmites here

A large stream of water that runs out of the cave on to the outside

A selfie that shows the mandatory hard hat we must wear

See the size of humans vs the stalactites

Flow stone

Drops of rain hanging from the branches of trees as I move out of the cave

From the exit, I decided to walk ahead - there are many landmarks on the walk outside the caves. I managed to reach just the first one called the Trow Gill. Beyond this, the ground began to rise very fast. The path was strewn with boulders and it started snowing heavily. Hence, I abandoned any further walking and began the long walk back to the guest-house. I think this walk was over 2.5 miles. I arrived in Clapham town, rather famished. I went to this local grocery/store and bought some fruit, crisps and a hot chicken soup with bread, which I took to the guest house and had in the restaurant on the ground floor - out of the cup in which the soup had been supplied. 

Some photos of the walk to Trow Gill:

The cave entrance recedes to the back as I walk ahead

Desolate but beautiful walk

The two walls of adjoining hills come together here - this is the Trow Gill

This is the difficult climb that I did not complete as it started snowing as I was climbing

The return route

A close-up of the ascent 

The return to the guest house was a long path ... but it afforded some lovely sights. Here are a few photos.

This house-like structure was good to get out of the snow/rain

From inside the house, looking out over the dales

Water-drops look so lovely

Mallards inside the river outside the cave walk in Clapham

I finally retired to my room around six p.m. Through the next one and a half hours, I watched some TV. Then went down to the restaurant to have a dinner cooked by Alan. He served cuts of chicken breast with side veggies, and followed it up with a delectable dessert of a chocolate mousse and chocolate chip ice cream and then a pot of tea. After this large dinner, during which I also chatted with other guests who were eating with me but at an adjoining table. For the first time, I realised that many Brits actually took long 4-6 day holidays just to unwind. 

I went to bed around half-past nine, and that was the end of the first day of my two-day holiday. 

Catch the next post HERE.