Treak Cliff Cavern

Treak Cliff Cavern is a show cave near Castleton in Derbyshire, England. It is part of the Castleton Site of Special Scientific Interest and one of only two sites where the ornamental mineral Blue John is still excavated (the other is the nearby Blue John Cavern). As part of an agreement with English Nature, the Blue John that can be seen in the show cave is not mined but it is extracted in small quantities from other areas of the cave and made into saleable items like bowls, jewellery, and ornaments. The cave comprises three sections, the Old Series, discovered by lead miners in the 18th century, the New Series, discovered during blasting in the 1920s, and the New Series Extensions, discovered in 2014. Only the Old Series contains Blue John, but the New Series is well decorated with flowstone, stalagmites, and stalactites. The New Series Extensions are also highly decorated, but are only accessible by experienced cavers. Three human skeletons and flint implements from the Neolithic era were found in a small cave nearby in 1921.

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Blue John Cavern

The Blue John Cavern is one of the four show caves in Castleton, Derbyshire, England. The others are Peak Cavern, Treak Cliff Cavern and Speedwell Cavern.

Odin Mine

Odin Mine is a disused lead mine in the Peak District National Park, situated at grid reference SK133835. It lies on a site of 25 hectares near the village of Castleton, England. It is the oldest documented mine in Derbyshire and is thought to be one of the oldest lead mines in England. The mine is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and has biological and geological significance within the Castleton Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Speedwell Cavern

Speedwell Cavern is one of the four show caves in Castleton, Derbyshire, England. The cave system consists of a horizontal lead miners' adit (a level passageway driven horizontally into the hillside) 200 metres (660 ft) below ground leading to the cavern itself, a limestone cave. The narrow adit is permanently flooded, so after descending a long staircase, access to the cave is made by boat. At the end of the adit, the cavern opens up with fluorspar veins, stalactites and stalagmites, and the so-called "Bottomless Pit". This chamber has an underground lake with a 20 metres (66 ft) high waterfall and an extremely deep vertical shaft, now choked to within 20 metres (66 ft) of the surface by rock spoil dumped by miners, after driving the continuation of the canal to the natural streamway beyond, which provided the bulk of the water for the canal. The original depth of the shaft has been estimated, from the amount of spoil placed in the shaft over the years, at around 150 metres (490 ft). The mine was developed in the 1770s but the limited lead ore deposits meant that it was not profitable and it was closed down by 1790. At the foot of Winnats Pass, it is a tourist attraction with an underground boat trip to the cavern. Originally the guide propelled the boat by pushing against the walls with his hands, later the boat was legged through, and now it is powered by an electric motor. A connection was discovered in 2006 between the Speedwell Cavern system and Titan, the largest natural shaft in the UK, which is 141.5 metres (464 ft) high.

Winnats Pass

Winnats Pass (or Winnats, as shown on some Ordnance Survey maps) is a hill pass and limestone gorge in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England. The name is a corruption of 'wind gates' due to the swirling winds through the pass. It lies west of the village of Castleton, in the National Trust's High Peak Estate and the High Peak borough of Derbyshire. The road winds through a cleft, surrounded by high limestone ridges. At the foot of the pass is the entrance to Speedwell Cavern, a karst cave accessed through a flooded lead mine, and which is a popular tourist attraction. In the 1930s, Winnats Pass was the location used for annual access rallies in support of greater access to the moorlands or the Peak District, around the time of the Mass Trespass of Kinder Scout. At their peak these were attended by up to 10,000 people. The permanent closure of the main A625 road at Mam Tor in 1979 due to subsidence has resulted in Winnats Pass being heavily used by road traffic. However, the narrowness of the road and its maximum gradient of over 28% has caused it to be closed to buses, coaches and vehicles over 7.5 tonnes (7.4 long tons; 8.3 short tons) in weight. The road regularly features in the Tour of the Peak cycle race each autumn.