In the second tale of my Nottingham adventures I had travelled the short distance from Clumber Park to Creswell Crags. A friend had once recommended Creswell Crags to me several years ago, and had mentioned that it contained some of the earliest cave pictures in the country. This was something that I thought I should go and see – not because I’m interested in ancient people per se, but because I often wonder if they have left us clues of their connection with the subtle energies around them. So it was with this in mind that I went into the quiet visitor’s centre and asked if I could do the big tour.
Snags at the Crags
The cave tours aren’t available in the week, so I could only do the exhibition. A major disappointment! Not only was I hoping to do some dowsing in the caves to see what I could find there, but I was also hoping to do a little meditation in order to re-shape my aura now that I had been balanced by the beech tree at Clumber Park. Seems like I would be resigned to peering in through the iron grilles that were across each cave entrance.
I paid for the exhibition in any case and it turned out to be very interesting. There was an interactive screen which challenged you to find and trace the various rock art shapes that are etched into the roofs of the Church Hole cave. This was great fun and quite a test for the eye. I didn’t always agree with the suggestions for what the figures represented, but then this is always going to be a discussion point as we can’t really know the ancient cultures and their environments except for the archaeological evidence, which is only a fraction of the full picture.
In addition to the descriptions of the rock art there was some information on the previous inhabitants of the cave area. Some sharp teeth on display from the hyenas. Yes, hyenas on the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire border! Mind you, if you’ve spent a night out in Nottingham…. 😉
Walking out into the fresh air, through the contrived park paths, I was directed by the dowsing rods to walk around in anti-clockwise direction. I could feel the pull of Church Hole opposite. but I did my best to ignore it. I knew I would have to go towards that point eventually, but first I wanted to examine the other caves. I peered through the iron grilles of each cave. Only Robin Hood’s Cave felt interesting. I would have to come back on a weekend some time when it was warmer.
I visited the final cave on the right-hand side but then my attention was pulled strongly up onto the top of the crags opposite. It wasn’t the Church Hole Cave pulling me, then, it was somewhere on top of the crag! I decided to investigate….
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