19/05/2008 04:48:00
Potholing enthusiasts were given the opportunity to explore one of Britain's largest known underground caverns this weekend.
Gaping Gill in the Yorkshire Dales is 145 metres long, 25 metres wide and 35 metres tall - a space that's large enough to contain York Minster, according to The Times.
During the Whitsun Gaping Gill Winch Meet, the Bradford Potholing Club managed to lower more than 100 people into the cave, with visitors paying £10 for the opportunity. It reportedly took around a minute for each visitor to reach the bottom of the chamber.
The club has been organising the meet for over 50 years, in order for people with no potholing experience to be able to explore the cave safely and in the right conditions. The Craven Pothole Club, which is based in Skipton, organises a similar meet around the time of the August Bank Holiday.
Gaping Gill was formed by the Fell Beck stream, which flows from the mountain of Ingleborough in North Yorkshire and forms Britain's highest unbroken waterfall at 360ft high - twice the height of Niagara Falls.
Until 2006, it was widely believed that the cave was Britain's largest known underground chamber. However, at this time it was revealed that Titan in Derbyshire, which was discovered in 1999, was actually larger than Gaping Gill.