Podcast - November '17
Click here to listen to a new podcast published by Atlantic Edge who interviewed us inside the cave.
Orkney Trip - October '17
So after a challenging summer season due to the cave being continuously flooded, the Smoo crew headed over to Orkney. before leaving we had collected a number of bones from a dig we are doing at Loch Borralie Cave. We were hoping to impress Ingrid Mainland, bone specialist at the University Highlands & Islands in Kirkwall archeology dept. We have long felt a connection with Orkney as the flint like chert found in Smoo Cave appears in many Neolithic sites in Orkney, Skara Brae, Tomb of the Eagles etc.
We are looking forward to digging again in this important cave, hopefully with the support of UHI archeology Dept. Pictures are from Skara Brae, Tomb of the eagles and Muriel (Fraser's mother and keen digger) entering Maeshowe burial chamber. We also had a close run in with a press gang leaving a bar in Stromness and had to go off fighting in the famous Napoleonic ice-cream wars of 1789/99... see picture of us in our new barracks trying on our uniforms. Thankfully we managed to abscond and are back digging.
Finally, a big thank you to everyone who came on our tour this year. You're keeping us digging, thank you.
We are looking forward to digging again in this important cave, hopefully with the support of UHI archeology Dept. Pictures are from Skara Brae, Tomb of the eagles and Muriel (Fraser's mother and keen digger) entering Maeshowe burial chamber. We also had a close run in with a press gang leaving a bar in Stromness and had to go off fighting in the famous Napoleonic ice-cream wars of 1789/99... see picture of us in our new barracks trying on our uniforms. Thankfully we managed to abscond and are back digging.
Finally, a big thank you to everyone who came on our tour this year. You're keeping us digging, thank you.
Tour Video - March '17
Extreme Pancake Flipping at Smoo Cave! - February '17
Smoo Crew on Tour - Mendip Oct '16
24th October at 3pm and we officially finish Smoo Cave tours for the year. Fast forward a couple of days to 27th October at 3pm, taking a bit of holiday time... and the 'Smoo Crew' find themselves exploring the UK's largest cave chamber!
This was a long weekend expedition to the Mendip region of Somerset leading up to the Grampian Speleological Group annual dinner 2016. The first day involved a tiring visit to Reservoir Hole, which after several hundred metres of tight crawls and awkward climbs led into the 'Frozen Deep', a chamber over 200ft long and over 100ft in height containing 5m high stalactites that was only discovered in 2012. Access to this cave is very limited due to the presence of hibernating bats, hence big thanks go to local caver Peter Glanvill for guiding us down on an exclusive visit.
Although an honourable mention goes to 'EB the Swan' who joined us on our tours around the village of Wells (or 'Sandford' in the film Hot Fuzz), the massive thanks go out to our friends Jake and Rebecca (and Champie Dog) who accommodated us for the length of our stay (and got us to help with a bit more cave digging). A great time was had by all, and we shall return!
Cave photos © Peter Glanvill
Annual Health and Safety Report 2015
Standing on the hidden ledge of the waterfall chamber, water up to my ankles.
Every year I do a health and safety report for Highland Council. Last years report questioned my safety procedures of why I do not supply lifejackets to those who come on my tour. I want to explain why I don't give my customers lifejackets. Opposite to what people may think, lifejackets are actually unsafe for caving. Lifejackets are unsafe while caving because they can hold you underwater, unable to summerse to surface to breathe. For example, if you fall into the water, the water can push you under overhanging rock and if you're wearing a lifejacket you'll get stuck. As a memeber of the Scottish Cave Rescue Organization, it would be a challenging rescue and a dangerous situation for both.
So if someone does fall into the water without a lifejacket they will be able to reach the surface. At that moment I will be close by instructing them to hang on to the grabrope that surrounds the raft. Then I can manoeuver the raft to the massive ledge (see picture) that stretches from the waterfall to the entrance of the third chamber. The person can then easily stand up and step back into the raft.
Don't worry, I'll look after ye! In thirty years of doing this job no one has ever fallen into the water. That's health and safety for ye.
So if someone does fall into the water without a lifejacket they will be able to reach the surface. At that moment I will be close by instructing them to hang on to the grabrope that surrounds the raft. Then I can manoeuver the raft to the massive ledge (see picture) that stretches from the waterfall to the entrance of the third chamber. The person can then easily stand up and step back into the raft.
Don't worry, I'll look after ye! In thirty years of doing this job no one has ever fallen into the water. That's health and safety for ye.
Drone invades Smoo Cave! (April '15)
Winter Photos
Seeing as the vast majority of visitors to Smoo Cave only see the site during the summer months, here are some pictures of it during the winter...
Tours Finished For 2014 (15/10/14)
That's me now finished tours for the season until the 1st April 2015. Now the real hard work begins with the digging projects over the winter!
Smoo Cave on German TV (05/10/14)
To all the people from Germany who visted the cave this summer - you lucky people will soon be able to see Smoo Cave on television! The programme is called 'Scotland the German Way' and it will be shown on the station NDR on 5th October at 18:15. Look out for 'Sven' inside the new dig.
Waterfall Chamber Reopens (26/08/14)
The walkway which was damaged by Hurricane Bertha has now been fully repaired. The public can now access the waterfall chamber and tours of the cave are taking place as normal again (weather dependent).
Hurricane Bertha (August '14)
Mother Nature has been doing a little bit of 'redecorating' around Smoo Cave this month. On the 10th August, Durness was hit by the remnants of Hurricane Bertha, resulting in 152mm of rain which fell in just three hours. Most of this around Durness ended up in the Allt Smoo stream which then flowed into Smoo Cave via the largest waterfall in living memory. I went into the cave to find that the wooden walkway into the waterfall chamber had been severely damaged where 4 inch posts had been snapped like match sticks. Due to me finding the walkway remnants being covered with rather large amounts of heather, I suspect that the culprit was a heavy peat bank which would have been ripped away from the river bank during the flash flood and smashed through the walkway. As a result, Highland Council have been forced to close entry to the waterfall chamber which means I am not able to conduct any tours for a few days until repairs are carried out.
Much of the main chamber has been reshaped with the outflow river now being found on the opposite side of the cave and large areas which were formerly covered in sand and gravel now being covered with erratic boulders which formerly lived at the bottom of the lake. One enormous boulder which I estimate to weigh around five tonnes was even moved a few metres downstream, highlighting just how powerful the torrent must have been.
BBC: Parts of Scotland affected by ex-hurricane Bertha
Much of the main chamber has been reshaped with the outflow river now being found on the opposite side of the cave and large areas which were formerly covered in sand and gravel now being covered with erratic boulders which formerly lived at the bottom of the lake. One enormous boulder which I estimate to weigh around five tonnes was even moved a few metres downstream, highlighting just how powerful the torrent must have been.
BBC: Parts of Scotland affected by ex-hurricane Bertha
Dye Testing (July '14)
Smoo Cave has temporarily been looking a little brighter recently as Iain and I dyed the surface stream and parts of the cave bright green. This was to officially confirm whether or not the water which suddenly appears from both the sump at the rear of cave and from within my new dig is connected to a notable sink point upstream of Smoo Cave. During spells of drought, the Allt Smoo (which normally feeds the cave's waterfall chamber) disappears almost entirely into a (now boulder-choked) cave entrance around 180m upstream of the main cave. Using an environmentally friendly water based dye allows us to see where this water eventually goes with the length of time taken giving clues about the route taken underground.
The results: The green dye which was sent underground upstream of Smoo Cave appeared in both the sump and new dig and was still being detected easily using a UV torch a fortnight after the dye was put into the stream. This confirms that over 200m of new cave is yet to be discovered / explored in order to feed both springs with a vertical component of 30m. It also implies that something, somewhere is preventing the water simply being swept through - possibly another hidden lake chamber???
The results: The green dye which was sent underground upstream of Smoo Cave appeared in both the sump and new dig and was still being detected easily using a UV torch a fortnight after the dye was put into the stream. This confirms that over 200m of new cave is yet to be discovered / explored in order to feed both springs with a vertical component of 30m. It also implies that something, somewhere is preventing the water simply being swept through - possibly another hidden lake chamber???
The following rough plot shows the distances which the dye has travelled from the (upstream) sink and the location of the various large shakeholes (SH) visible on the surface:
New Cave Found!!! (May '14)
Whilst visiting from Germany, my good friends Arie and Dagmar were walking along the beach on the Kyle of Durness, and discovered a new cave. This came to light at dinner on Saturday the 3rd of May, when they showed me photographs they had taken of it. Quickly realising that this was a new cave which had been revealed after a storm removed a sand dune, we made arrangements to meet the next day, so they could show me the exact location.
Click here for photos
Click here for photos
New Passage in Smoo Cave (October '12)
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A GSG annual dinner in Durness brought a group of cavers to Smoo Cave and using a 30ft set of extendable ladders which we borrowed, we set to explore the vertical aven at the very rear of the cave which would have been far too difficult to climb due to an overhang otherwise. Smoo Crew extraordinaire Iain managed to climb/squeeze through a tight spot to the top of the ladder and then free-climb the tightening vertical tube a further 20ft where a previously unknown section of cave was visible branching off to the side. This led into a tight section of dry, horizontal open passage which extended to a small chamber before the passage became too tight.
However, sitting at the side of the exciting new chamber was a serious archaeological find - a cigarette packet from what we reckon is the 1960's! This couldn't have been washed in from the surface in one piece so whoever managed to get there in the past must have been one serious climber. Although a visit to Durness by the Forest of Dean Caving Club was recorded in the 60's, as the section itself is not recorded anywhere we have named this 'new' upper level of Smoo Cave 'Fag Packet Passage'. 
Cross section updated to include the new passage.
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The archaeological find
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