Volunteers repair the Calf Holes stile
On the 17th July, a team of volunteers mostly from the Craven Pothole Club (including Martin Swales, Paul McWhinny, Ali Avison, John Helm and others), supported by CNCC for material purchasing, repaired the stile leading off the public footpath to the Calf Holes entrance near High Birkwith. The stile had mostly rotted away on one side of the wall!
The new build is a superb job and should hopefully last for decades to come. We're thankful to the farmers at Low Birkwith and Scales Farm for allowing this work to take place.
Some great photos above courtesy of John Helm, including some before and after.
Remember, access is currently being refused to the caves owned by High Birkwith Farm (Birkwith Cave, Old Ing, Dismal Hill and Browgill Cave), however, Calf Holes is not on their land, and access remains freely open here.
We encourage groups to visit Calf Holes to ensure cavers maintain a presence in this area.
You can park at Low Birkwith Farm thanks to an arrangement CNCC have with the farmer. The track to Low Birkwith is on the left just before High Birkwith, and is navigable to most vehicles. Park behind their stone barn where there is an honesty box on the wall and pay £5 cash for cars, £15 for minibuses in an envelope (which you should provide) labelled with your registration number. There is no need to call at the farm if nobody is around, but do say hello if you meet the farmers, as they are very friendly to visiting cavers.
Approach via the footpath following Coppy Gill upstream, passing High Birkwith Farm and onto Calf Holes via public footpaths for the entire route until you reach the new stile.
If confronted by the landowner at High Birkwith, explain that you are destined for Calf Holes.
Should you exit at Browgill Cave for whatever reason, it is only a few hundred metres discrete walk along the riverbed to the public footpath at the bridge. If you are confronted during this short journey, be courteous, avoid confrontational dialogue and continue your journey to the public footpath immediately.