Mocking Hurth Cave

After the early morning at Gibson´s Cave I drove to Langdon Beck, parked at the Hotel and walked up the small tarmac lane towards Valence Lodge Farm. My target was the Ice Age cave at the top of the crag. I had to go through the farmyard and cross a gated bridge across Langdon Beck. Two dogs - fortunately inside - viciously barked at me so I was really glad when I was able to shut the gate behind me after having crossed the bridge. Uphill I was aiming for an abandoned lime Kiln which was visible from the Farm photo #5. I was not sure where to find the cave and after I had a look around at the Lime Kiln I simply followed the Public Footpath signs further up the hill. I took a gate through a fantastic looking stone wall which I followed along the ridge. The difference of the two sides of the same wall, the south facing side towards Teesdale being free of moss an dthe north facing side being covered in moss. The two horses were the only spectators. The view across towards Cronkley Fell and with lonely Widdy Bank Farm in the distance were outstanding. After a while I checked the map and was convinced that the crag with the cave should be underneath the wall somewhere. There was no gate so I managed to climb across the wall in a corner and after a couple of hundred yards I reached the entrance of the cave.

One of the most important cave archaeology finds in the region. Particularly important for the range of wild animal species found in the debris, particularly lynx. It was explored in 1880 by the renowned naturalist and Quaker J Backhouse of Darlington.

The rocks on the old drawing from the geographic journal have an astonishing similarity to my photo of the entrance, don´t you think.
It was a fantastic experience! The view from the cave entrance across Teesdale were wonderful. Being on my own I did not dare to go deeper into the cave. But the experience was really great.

I took the same way back and started worrying about the dogs at the farm. When I crossed the bridge again I saw dog number one running around in the farmyard!

But he turned out to be very friendly. The farmer was also there getting his Quad ready. We had a long conversation. He told me that there had been a second cave but the entrance was blocked by another lime kiln. One day he intended to break it open and see what´s in it.

Since it was in the news the day before that Putin threatened to nuke England he remarked quite sarcasticly: "If Putin throws the Bomb at us I am going to hide in that cave".

I than decided to have my picnic at Cow Green Reservoir which is only a short drive from Langdon Beck. I had a great rest there and enjoyed the scenery in front of me (see last photo which is a long while after the cave entrance photo...).