One of the most spectacular stalactite displays in the UK, the Dream Cave lies within Treak Cliff Cavern at Castleton. It contains a beautiful collection of stalactites (hanging), stalagmites (standing), helictites (strangely curved stalactites) and rippled flowstone banks.
The Dream Cave is so-called owing to the many shapes, figures and pictures formed by the hundreds of formations when viewed from various angles in the dim light.
These calcium deposits have formed over a period of over 100,000 years. The longest stalactite in the Dream Cave, known as "The Stork", is the central feature of this image - it's a little over a metre in length and is about 40mm away from meeting the stalagmite below it. Measurements some time ago made over a period of 3 years indicated that it will be another 1000 years before the two formations meet.
This point of the cavern lies approximately 50 metres below ground and was discovered along with a group of adjoining passages and caves by miners in 1926. The miners were working the existing caverns for Blue John Stone which is a special variety of fluorspar with beautifully arranged bands of colour ranging from the deepest blue-black, through shades of purple and blue, to the purest white. Castleton is famous for its collection of caverns which have been a rich source of Blue John for hundreds of years. Mining continues to this day, although on a much lower scale. The caverns are now open to the public and protected for future generations.
I'd like to thank the friendly staff at Treak Cliff Cavern for kindly allowing access to the Dream Cave. For more information about the cavern please visit www.bluejohnstone.com.
