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Hidden Realms
Hidden Realms by Martyn Farr showcases 100 of the most outstanding caves, potholes and mines across the UK and Ireland.
Martyn is one of the world’s most respected cavers, and he has been at the forefront of cave exploration in the UK and further afield for decades. Throughout Hidden Realms he combines his experience and passion for caving to present his favourite subterranean sites – the best of the best in the UK and Ireland. This is an explorer’s-eye view of the most secret and wild places in the British Isles.
Many of the most highly rated and classic caves and mines are here – Gaping Gill with its almighty chasm and Porth yr Ogof with the swirling waters of White Horse Pool. Also captured are more remote, difficult-to-explore and seldom-visited places – including the challenging-to-reach bivvy site known as Restaurant at the End of the Universe in Ogof Daren Cilau and Circus Maximus in Ogof Draenen. For pure, pristine displays of formations the wonders of Neverland in Upper Flood Swallet cannot be surpassed. Here, too, there are a wide range of mines, today mostly abandoned and silent. Some, such as Nenthead, contain important and intriguing industrial archaeology. Others offer an underground adventure for intrepid explorers: the Tyrolean crossings and bridges of the Croesor–Rhosydd Slate Mine or the thrilling challenges of Cwmorthin Slate Mine which will test the nerve of all comers.
Venture into the world of caving – at its spectacular, mysterious and inspirational best. Martyn’s stunning photographs capture moments held in time that most people have never seen, and the accompanying texts skilfully weave nuggets about the history of the sites hidden beneath us.
We don’t yet know how many more caves and tunnels there are waiting to be explored. Some may be the hardest places in Britain and Ireland to reach, yet enormous scope remains for discovery and original exploration. For most, this is undoubtedly an unknown realm. Within these pages, underground wonders are presented to the wider world to fire the imagination.
Martyn is one of the world’s most respected cavers, and he has been at the forefront of cave exploration in the UK and further afield for decades. Throughout Hidden Realms he combines his experience and passion for caving to present his favourite subterranean sites – the best of the best in the UK and Ireland. This is an explorer’s-eye view of the most secret and wild places in the British Isles.
Many of the most highly rated and classic caves and mines are here – Gaping Gill with its almighty chasm and Porth yr Ogof with the swirling waters of White Horse Pool. Also captured are more remote, difficult-to-explore and seldom-visited places – including the challenging-to-reach bivvy site known as Restaurant at the End of the Universe in Ogof Daren Cilau and Circus Maximus in Ogof Draenen. For pure, pristine displays of formations the wonders of Neverland in Upper Flood Swallet cannot be surpassed. Here, too, there are a wide range of mines, today mostly abandoned and silent. Some, such as Nenthead, contain important and intriguing industrial archaeology. Others offer an underground adventure for intrepid explorers: the Tyrolean crossings and bridges of the Croesor–Rhosydd Slate Mine or the thrilling challenges of Cwmorthin Slate Mine which will test the nerve of all comers.
Venture into the world of caving – at its spectacular, mysterious and inspirational best. Martyn’s stunning photographs capture moments held in time that most people have never seen, and the accompanying texts skilfully weave nuggets about the history of the sites hidden beneath us.
We don’t yet know how many more caves and tunnels there are waiting to be explored. Some may be the hardest places in Britain and Ireland to reach, yet enormous scope remains for discovery and original exploration. For most, this is undoubtedly an unknown realm. Within these pages, underground wonders are presented to the wider world to fire the imagination.
224 pages, Paperback
Published May 11, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 11, 2023
Caving for some people is their worst nightmare. For others it’s a mental and physical challenge that gives you the privilege to see the ‘Hidden Realms’ of the underground. However, it remains very much a minority adventure sport, despite increased opportunity through outdoor activity centres and groups, and even through the development of “indoor” artificial caving facilities. Awareness of the sport has grown – Hollywood horror and daft action films allow the couch explorer to enjoy a bit of claustrophobic and hydrophobic jeopardy, but the dramatic rescue of the 12 boys in Thailand in 2018 brought real life caving and cave diving in particular to worldwide audiences.
Martyn Farr’s book is an elegant and much-needed celebration of 100 of Britain and Ireland’s underworld. The photography is simply stunning and is all thanks to the author himself, who is a much respected caver, cave diver and photographer. He has visited all 100 of the selected caves and mines and his experience and familiarity shines through the accompanying text. Lighting for underground photography has always been a challenge, and without other points of reference a human model is usually required to give scale to the natural beauty of cave passages and formations. Selected action shots effectively convey the physicality of the sport and there are some outstanding examples in the pages for Ogof Daren Cilau, Swildon’s Hole, Juniper Gulf, and Simpson’s Pot.
The accompanying text is just right, mixing snippets of historical background with descriptions of the nature of the cave and what its like to explore it.
The extent of cave exploration in the last few decades has been huge, with major discoveries – for example, the much anticipated link up of the 3 Counties System in 2011 giving a total of 87km of connected passages across Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria, the discovery of Ogof Draenen in South Wales and its growth to 70km, and the opening in 2003 of the UK’s deepest vertical shaft, the 140 metre Titan Shaft in Derbyshire. Many other British and Irish caves and mines have seen significant discoveries and extensions, a trend reflected worldwide, often as a result of cave diving leading the way, a better understanding of karst hydrology and more sophisticated survey methods. On our 1969 expedition to the Grotta di Monte Cucco in Italy, the cave was then the fifth deepest cave in the world at a little over 800 metres deep. Today it does not even make the list of the deepest 100. Techniques, equipment and clothing have moved on from the days of carbide lamps, hawser-laid rope and laddered pitches, but ultimately caving demands the right mindset and physical ability to experience it and to bring to the general public a sense of the beauty that lies beneath our feet. There is still so much that remains unexplored. Martyn Farr has succeeded in combining outstanding photography and commentary in this selective tour of our caves. This is an inspiring book.
Martyn Farr’s book is an elegant and much-needed celebration of 100 of Britain and Ireland’s underworld. The photography is simply stunning and is all thanks to the author himself, who is a much respected caver, cave diver and photographer. He has visited all 100 of the selected caves and mines and his experience and familiarity shines through the accompanying text. Lighting for underground photography has always been a challenge, and without other points of reference a human model is usually required to give scale to the natural beauty of cave passages and formations. Selected action shots effectively convey the physicality of the sport and there are some outstanding examples in the pages for Ogof Daren Cilau, Swildon’s Hole, Juniper Gulf, and Simpson’s Pot.
The accompanying text is just right, mixing snippets of historical background with descriptions of the nature of the cave and what its like to explore it.
The extent of cave exploration in the last few decades has been huge, with major discoveries – for example, the much anticipated link up of the 3 Counties System in 2011 giving a total of 87km of connected passages across Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria, the discovery of Ogof Draenen in South Wales and its growth to 70km, and the opening in 2003 of the UK’s deepest vertical shaft, the 140 metre Titan Shaft in Derbyshire. Many other British and Irish caves and mines have seen significant discoveries and extensions, a trend reflected worldwide, often as a result of cave diving leading the way, a better understanding of karst hydrology and more sophisticated survey methods. On our 1969 expedition to the Grotta di Monte Cucco in Italy, the cave was then the fifth deepest cave in the world at a little over 800 metres deep. Today it does not even make the list of the deepest 100. Techniques, equipment and clothing have moved on from the days of carbide lamps, hawser-laid rope and laddered pitches, but ultimately caving demands the right mindset and physical ability to experience it and to bring to the general public a sense of the beauty that lies beneath our feet. There is still so much that remains unexplored. Martyn Farr has succeeded in combining outstanding photography and commentary in this selective tour of our caves. This is an inspiring book.
July 30, 2023
Hidden Realms by Martyn Farr
This is a fascinating insight into the world below our feet and the people who spend their leisure time, exploring and investigating the numerous underground passages below. The book encompasses the top 100 caves by the author, some you may know, even may have visited a couple, but many you won’t have heard of, never mind seen.
The book is split into different geographical sections of the UK and explores many of the natural caves, but also a few of the man-made caves. The author has visited each cave and provided an overview of the context of the cave, it’s historical and geographical context.
Like me, you may be drawn to an area of interest, mine was Yorkshire and especially the mines at Nenthead, so it was interesting to see the world below, where only a few years ago, men had physically worked these shafts. The book opens the underground world to the public, and this is not a guidebook or a plan of how to explore the caves, it's aimed at a general audience and does not set out to provide guidebook descriptions or access information. Anyone interested in visiting the sites will need to do their own homework, and although certain inferences can be drawn, it’s not easy to work out which sites are not, currently officially accessible and those that need special access.
The main draw of the book for me are the photographs, which are stunning, but I wouldn’t be using this book as guide, it's more of an inspiration for those who would like to venture further into the caving world and find out about those you can visit, just to have a sense of what life is like underground.
This is a fascinating insight into the world below our feet and the people who spend their leisure time, exploring and investigating the numerous underground passages below. The book encompasses the top 100 caves by the author, some you may know, even may have visited a couple, but many you won’t have heard of, never mind seen.
The book is split into different geographical sections of the UK and explores many of the natural caves, but also a few of the man-made caves. The author has visited each cave and provided an overview of the context of the cave, it’s historical and geographical context.
Like me, you may be drawn to an area of interest, mine was Yorkshire and especially the mines at Nenthead, so it was interesting to see the world below, where only a few years ago, men had physically worked these shafts. The book opens the underground world to the public, and this is not a guidebook or a plan of how to explore the caves, it's aimed at a general audience and does not set out to provide guidebook descriptions or access information. Anyone interested in visiting the sites will need to do their own homework, and although certain inferences can be drawn, it’s not easy to work out which sites are not, currently officially accessible and those that need special access.
The main draw of the book for me are the photographs, which are stunning, but I wouldn’t be using this book as guide, it's more of an inspiration for those who would like to venture further into the caving world and find out about those you can visit, just to have a sense of what life is like underground.
July 23, 2023
I have to confess to knowing nothing about caving. I’ve done it once and I wasn’t much of a fan. However I think the world underground is fascinating and Hidden realms is a beautiful book for exploring that world - even if you’re unlikely to visit it.
This isn’t a ‘how to cave’ book but a coffee table book of fabulous caves across the UK. Listed in areas each on is a double page spread of photos and text about the place. As well as caves it also includes some of the fascinating mines we have, and while man made they’re just as interesting to learn about.
Living in the Peak District I’ve visited some of the tourist caves in the area so it was interesting to see them from a cavers perspective.
This isn’t a ‘how to cave’ book but a coffee table book of fabulous caves across the UK. Listed in areas each on is a double page spread of photos and text about the place. As well as caves it also includes some of the fascinating mines we have, and while man made they’re just as interesting to learn about.
Living in the Peak District I’ve visited some of the tourist caves in the area so it was interesting to see them from a cavers perspective.
September 10, 2023
I'm unsure as to which is the most astonishing: the quality of the incredible photographs in this book, bearing in mind the sheer difficulty of getting to some of the locations; the technical skill of the photography in what is a notoriously tricky environment for lighting etc.; the geographical variety of the locations; or the fact that the book is the work of one man.
I have done a little caving and, although no expert, appreciate the beauty of the underground world. This book feels like a life's work for the author, Martyn Farr, and what a life is has been so far!
Highly recommended for anyone who has a fascination of a world that most of us will never see...
I have done a little caving and, although no expert, appreciate the beauty of the underground world. This book feels like a life's work for the author, Martyn Farr, and what a life is has been so far!
Highly recommended for anyone who has a fascination of a world that most of us will never see...
May 11, 2023
I'm not a caver but really enjoyed this. Its a great tour through the UK's caves and is illustrated with stunning photos throughout. As a complete novice I would have appreciated some more background on caving itself but this is a minor complaint overall. This would probably be most appreciated by a beginner enthusiastic caver but would be of interest to anyone interested in the outdoors.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews