Birks Fell Cave (Upper Wharfedale)
Entrance crawls are particularly flood-prone and lower sections fill to the roof. Settled weather for a couple of days prior to, and during your trip is needed.
Access
Closed season: 1st March - 30th April
Club access only with CNCC permit which must be shown at Redmire Farm, Buckden on route to the cave. No permits issued during March or April (following renegotiation of the access agreement in January 2016) due to lambing.
The entrance crawls of Birks Fell are heavily flood responsive. In the event of uncertain or poor weather, the farmer (who is given a monthly list of all permits issued) is often willing to extend existing permits to another date that month. Call at Redmire Farm to discuss this if necessary.
Apply for a permit
Your permit secretary for Upper Wharfedale is Ric Halliwell and you can apply by the following methods...
Book Online
Sorry, Birks Fell Cave is not part of the online booking system yet. We hope to expand it to include more areas in the future.
By Email
adsrah@outlook.com
Where possible, should be sent from an email address associated with your club (e.g. officer@cavingclub.co.uk), or from an address that can be easily validated as being associated to your club (via your club website for example). Other email addresses are fine, but first applications should be accompanied by a letter (an attached scan, or by post), with club letterhead, signed by an officer of the club. This will authenticate the email address for all future permit applications.
By Post
Ric Halliwell
23 Hull Road
Cottingham
East Yorkshire
HU16 4PN
Location
NGR: SD 9309 7700
Lat/long: 54.1887210205037,-2.10739048808839
Please note that grid references are correct to the best of our knowledge however are often taken from old books so they may not be absolutely accurate and are shown simply as a guide.
Anchors
Birks Fell Cave is equipped with mixture of Eco 'P' resin anchors and IC resin anchors within the BCA Anchor scheme.
Eco-anchors on first pitch and Cascade pitch (alternative) and IC resin anchors on Cascade pitch and Shale pitch. For full rigging details see Descent 250 (June 2016). In summary, the following rope lengths are required as an absolute minimum: 15m rope for first pitch, 17m for Cascade Pitch, and 35m for Shale Pitch.
- More information about CNCC resin anchors
- Report a defective anchor or other hazard
Please note that the CNCC only maintains resin anchors installed by an approved installer as shown on the rigging guides and does not maintain any other fixed aids at present. Read our fixed aids information for more details.
Rigging Topos and Descriptions
- Birks Fell Cave rigging topo (PDF)
- Important information on topos and descriptions
- Birks Fell Cave route descriptions (PDF)A description of the full journey through this stunning Yorkshire cave.Last updated: 02 Sep 2019
- Report a topo or description error
Surveys
No surveys have been added for this cave yet.
Last updated: 10 Jun 2018
