The entrance to this cave is getting a bit overgrown, there's lots of dead wood and a fire pit mar the extreme beauty within, so after a bit of a tidy up I take to photographing this apparently small cave.
The cave has a smaller cave at the back, but it is a short dead end. Another smaller grotto goes into the right wall, but it is an even shorter dead end. The left wall of the main chamber kind of resembles elephant teeth, between one of the teeth is a small passage, crouching low I waddle inwards, as the passage turns right it goes over a step and I'm able to stand up. The walls have red stuff running down them, the bleeding heart of Elderbush cave it's like i'm in a living beast. Then the battery went in my camera and I'm entombed in darkness, after a short but intense freak out I put my clothes back on and wriggle free of the small tight space, blinking in the bright light in the main chamber, I try to coax my camera into a few more pictures but it's well and truly dead, not pining for the Fjords, just dead.
I'd need about a dozen pictures to convey the wonderful loveliness in this cave, it is everything Tolkien would have liked, as well as the elves themselves, I can imagine sitting in this cave, fully clothed, just as the sinking sun poured it's magical embrace all over us, I'd really like that I think.
Ps, I never take my clothes off at ancient places, I've thought about it, but never have, don't be scared.
Elderbush Cave is located on the SW of Thor's Crag; follow the path around from Thor's Cave to the back of the hill and look for a lone Elder Bush, SK0978 5488. The caves entrance is just below and to the side of this bush. A large round entrance leads into a single chamber, a narrow squeeze leads down from the floor to lower chambers, but you'll need a bit of caving experience to get down into them.
It's a nice enough place and nearly at the very top of the crag. Some steaming views over Ladyside.
Excavated on a serious scale by Wilson and Bramwell in the 1930's - 1950's, the cave contained 1 human burial, dated to Neolithic/Bronze Age.
Also in the cave were Neolithic and Bronze Age flint tools, and Bronze Age pottery.
Carbon dated charcoal showed the cave had been in use at least as far back as 7000BC.
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