An excursion to Hell Gill, which marks the Yorkshire Dales/Lake District border, is often compared to time spent in the belly of Jonah’s whale, a feeling enhanced by the sudden transition from exposed fellside to murky canyon when following the Hell Gill Beck downstream. Ash trees stretch to meet each other 66ft above, shutting out the light.
Not for the faint of heart (or claustrophobic), the peaty water in this 1,640ft-long limestone gash is knee, if not waist, deep and the damp, mossy walls are 3ft wide in places. One suspects only cavers are happy venturing beyond the 5ft waterfall in the middle.
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Kingley Vale, West Sussex: The ancient, twisted yews that are the oldest living things in Britain
Today's Secret Britain spot is a mysterious and magical spot in West Sussex.
Mynydd Carningli, Pembrokeshire: The ancient volcano in the shape of a reclining woman
The peak of this remote mountain in West Wales is the next spot to make our Secret Britain list.
Thorney Island, West Sussex: The beauty spot accessed via a secret button through a barbed wire fence
The beaches of Thorney Island, next to Chichester Harbour, are our Secret Britain selection today.
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How many puppies in the average litter? Country Life Quiz of the DayPlus a 1960s house, Hollywood's most famous cavewoman and more in Friday's quiz.
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Love, sex and death: Our near-universal obsession with the roseNo flower is more entwined with myth, religion, politics and the human form than the humble rose — and now there's a new coffee table book celebrating them in all of their glory.
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St Patrick’s Chapel ruins, Heysham: The mythical Lancashire ruins with a heavenly viewAnnunciata Elwes takes a look at St Patrick’s Chapel ruins, a Morecambe Bay landmark.
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Suisnish, Isle of Skye: The atmospheric ruins of a Clearance villageBeauty now reigns in a tragic spot where hundreds of villagers suffered during the Clearance
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Covehithe beach, Suffolk, where the cliffs crumble like cakeThe most eroded beach in Britain has a post-apocalyptic feel.
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Clydach Ironworks, Monmouthshire: Ruins in the gorge that inspired ShakespeareAn oasis of quiet now stands where the steam hammers thudded at this Welsh ironworks, in a river valley that may have moved Shakespeare to write A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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Royston Cave, Hertfordshire: A mysterious site full of sacred energyOur Secret Britain series continues with a Hertofrdshire cave whose true nature remains unknown.
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John Bunting War Memorial Chapel, Scotch Corner: The painstaking transformation of rubble to War MemorialAnnunciata Elwes celebrates the effort that turned a derelict house into a memorial.
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The Garden of Cosmic Speculation: The surreal space where Lewis Carroll and Willy Wonka meet Capability BrownSurrealism, philosophy, nature and gardening come together at the Garden of Cosmic Speculation, as Annunciata Elwes explains.
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The Airman’s Grave, Ashdown Forest: A touching and little-known memorial to victims of war and fateA wartime tragedy in East Sussex's Ashdown Forest is among our Secret Britain picks, as chosen by Annunciata Elwes.
