Latest news with #TimNichols
BBC News
6 days ago
- Science
- BBC News
Explorers discover largest cave system found in over ten years
Have you ever gone off on an adventure and found something spectacular?Well, one team of cavers from Gloucester has done exactly that - an "exploratory urge" led them to one of the biggest discoveries in over a found a 10km (6 mile) long network of narrow passages and gaping caverns near English Bicknor in the Forest of team was led by conservation officer and retired physicist Dr Tim Nichols, and he said all their dreams came true when they stepped into it for the first time. The start of the network, called Redhouse Lane Swallet, was actually found first by a man called Paul Taylor in the Dr Tim explained that while exploring this mile-long original system, he felt a strong breeze coming from a passage filled with boulders at one end of it and simply had to investigate further."That exploratory urge to go and find where no person has ever been before is really special."With each trip it just kept getting better and better." It took a lot of hard work, but eventually his team of explorers successfully dug past the boulders in August last Tim said: "You have to pinch yourself, it is a once in a lifetime [find]."Every trip's just been like another birthday present and every trip we've been finding something different."Caves remain one of those things on the planet that are largely undiscovered."True genuine exploration - that's what's exciting about it," Dr Nichols added. Cool cave facts The largest network of caves in the UK is the Three Counties System in the Yorkshire DalesGaping Gill has the largest unbroken waterfall of any cave in the UK, and its main cavern is about 365ft (111m) deep, which is the same height as St Paul's Cathedral in LondonThe deepest known cave in the UK is in Derbyshire - it's called Titan, and is 141.5 meters (464 ft) deep
BBC News
7 days ago
- Science
- BBC News
Caving team discover 'dream' 10km network under Forest of Dean
An "exploratory urge" led to the discovery one of the largest cave systems found in Britain in a decade, with cavers saying it was "a dream come true".The network of passages and giant caverns stretching for 10km (6 miles) was found near English Bicknor in the Forest of first part of the cave system, Redhouse Lane Swallet, was originally found in the 1990s by Paul Taylor, a caver from officer and retired physicist Dr Tim Nichols, who was part of a new generation of explorers which discovered the wider network of caverns, said he did not realise the significance of what they had recently found until they saw it. "The first time when we stepped into the new passage when there was just two of us - all of our dreams had come true," Dr Nichols said."That exploratory urge to go and find where no person has ever been before is really special."With each trip it just kept getting better and better."He explained a strong draught in the boulder filled passage at the end of the original network of caves had inspired him to delve sheer determination his team of explorers successfully dug past the boulders in August last year."You have to pinch yourself, it is a once in a lifetime [find]."Every trip's just been like another birthday present and every trip we've been finding something different.""Caves remain one of those things on the planet that are largely undiscovered."True genuine exploration - that's what's exciting about it," Dr Nichols added. Dr Nichols went on to explain how "it's the biggest find" in the UK in a long last discovery was made in 2010 in what is now the UK's longest cave system called The Three Counties, which was initially thought to be three separate systems. But in 2010, cavers discovered they were in fact interconnected making it 87km (54 miles) long. In the 1990s, Mr Taylor began exploration work on the Redhouse Lane Swallet in the Forest of Dean and after two years of digging discovered the initial cave system which was around a mile Taylor said he is "extremely honoured and proud" to be a part of this history-making discovery."I started caving when I was just 13 years old and I'm 71 years old now," he said."To be the very first person to shine your light down that passage and put your footprints down - it's an amazing experience," Mr Taylor added.
