Potholing trip was 'perfectly reasonable'

AFTER reading the rather mean-spirited letter from J Towers (Mail Box, October 10) “Foolish potholers took up valuable resources”, I feel I ought to address some of the misinformation in it.

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I'm not a member of a rescue team, but have been caving and hill-walking/mountaineering since the early 1970s and have done the trip in question several times.

The rescue took place, not in Derbyshire, but in North Yorkshire in the Dowber Gill Passage, near the village of Kettlewell in Upper Wharfdale. The rescue was led by Upper Wharfdale Fell Rescue Association (UWFRA) with assistance from: Calder Valley Search & Rescue Team, Cave Rescue Organisation (CRO), RAF Mountain Rescue Service, Derbyshire Cave Rescue Association (DCRO) and Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team; a total of 100 highly skilled and trained volunteers.

The cavers in question entered the cave on Thursday morning, with water levels normal and Storm Amy forecast to arrive on Friday afternoon.