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From The Times
May 19, 2008

Into the deep... Britain's biggest underground cave opens to public

Gaping Gill cavern, Britain's biggest known cave chamber

The public was given a rare chance to dangle deep inside Britain's largest known underground chamber, Gaping Gill, at the weekend.

The Bradford Potholing Club winched more than a hundred people one by one into the cave through a pothole in North Yorkshire. It was a quick descent, taking visitors, who paid £10 for the experience, about a minute to reach the bottom.

Gaping Gill lies on the heart of a natural fault line and was formed by the Fell Beck stream, which flows from the flank of Ingleborough on to limestone rocks, and plunges more than a 110 metres (360ft), forming Britain's highest unbroken waterfall at twice the height of Niagara Falls.

The main chamber itself is 145 metres long, 25 metres wide and 35 metres to the height of the roof, almost large enough to contain York Minster.

The Whitsun Gaping Gill Winch Meet has been held by the Bradford Potholing Club for more than 50 years, offering people with no caving experience an opportunity to visit the cave safely.

The cave was specially floodlit for the meet and many visitors took videos of their descent on their mobile phones and posted the clips online on YouTube.

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