Latest news with #ChrisArthur
Daily Mail
05-08-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Moment cavers embark on dramatic rescue mission after sheep falls down 90ft fissure
This is the dramatic moment a team of brave cavers took on an epic rescue mission after a sheep fell down a 90ft drop. William Burnett, Chris Arthur and Ami Stidolph fashioned a makeshift sling out of their ropes to lift the female sheep to safety on Sunday. The three cavers were exploring one of their favourite underground routes when Mr Arthur spotted the animal from above. The sheep had taken a huge tumble as the group had descended around 90ft into the cave before spotting the helpless animal. What started as a nice day out at New Rift Pot, Masongill, North Yorkshire, suddenly turned into an hour and a half rescue mission to save the sheep they named Beryl. The members of Kendal Caving Club were careful to not startle the sheep, which would cause it to drop down even further into the abyss. The group slowly abseiled down to the animal's level before attaching her to the harness. Fortunately, the sheep remained calm throughout the mission. After 90 excruciating minutes, Beryl was returned safely to the surface. Mr Burnett, 33, said: 'Chris was up first to rig and quickly got to work scrambling down the entrance climb to the pitch head, closely followed by me and Ami bringing up the rear. 'It wasn't long at all before Chris stopped dead in his tracks and was staring down at something below. 'Low and behold, the rough shape of a sheep's back could be spotted at the bottom of the pitch; it must have taken a tumble from above the entrance into the rift and then at least one other to get to where it was. 'Beryl just sat in her 'harness' completely unfazed with the most chilled out expression on her face. 'On the surface, Beryl had a new lease of life and kicked up a fight whilst Chris was taking off her harness - perhaps she wasn't done with New Rift Pot just yet.'
BBC News
05-08-2025
- General
- BBC News
Cavers rescue sheep trapped underground at New Rift Pot
A group of cavers have rescued a sheep after it became trapped Burnett, Chris Arthur and Ami Stidolph came across the stricken animal at New Rift Pot, in Masongill, North Yorkshire on trio helped lift the sheep, which they nicknamed Beryl, to safety using a makeshift sling made from their equipment before reuniting her with her Burnett, 33, from Kendal Caving Club, said a large part of caving was "about problem-solving, and that's what we came across". Describing the moment they found the sheep, he said: "Chris was putting the ropes in place ready for us to go down and spotted something moving below him."It was directly over an area we needed to pass through, but it was evident it was alive as well, so we didn't want to leave her to pass away down there." He said it had taken about 90 minutes to bring the sheep to safety, with Ms Stidolph doing her best to keep the animal calm by talking to it."We didn't really have all the kit and equipment that you would want for a situation like that so we did a quick inventory and tried to set about making something work," he said."Ami was saying that she felt like sheep should always have old people's names like Barbara and Margaret, and she settled on Beryl and we just started calling her Beryl." He said "life kicked back in" for the sheep upon returning to the surface, and she appeared to be "absolutely fine".He added: "There's no textbook way of getting a sheep out of a cave, you've just got to do it." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
