White Scar Cave
OS grid reference:- SD 712 745
White Scar Cave, located a mile and a half from Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales National Park is the longest show cave in Britain.
The cave was discovered in 1923, by Christopher Long, a student at Cambridge, while on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales, he came upon a hole in the hillside that seemed to go on for ever.
Further parts of the system were opened up in 1991 by an access tunnel. The cave contains underground waterfalls and streams, and thousands of stalactites.
The curious cave formations include the Devil's Tongue, the Arum Lily, and the remarkably lifelike Judge's Head, a Stalagmite formation which when viewed in profile resembles a judge with his full-bottomed wig. The effect is uncanny. The gnarled rock formations known as the Witch's Fingers, are particularly fascinating.
Visitors are led by guides, who explain the caves features, the paths and well lighted. The highlight of the tour is the 200,000 year old Battlefield Cavern. Originally accessed through a vertical boulder choke, an access tunnel has been cut to includethe cavern it on the visitor trail. Measuring over 330 feet long, with its roof rising in places to 100 feet, this is one of the largest caverns in Britain. A white shape on the rock wall, formed from mineral calcite, bears an uncanny likeness to a human face.
The visitor centre has an eco-friendly turf roof, and an alpine-style café with views over the Yorkshire Dales to the sea. The cave shop sells fine rock and mineral specimens and jewellery.
The entrance is situated on the from the Ribblehead to Ingleton road to the west of Ingleborough.