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Iris Cave

Skye, Coille Gaireallach, Invernessshire.

Uphill [from Cave of Broken Glass] Noticed a hole at the bottom of a recess in small cliffs near the end of High Pasture Cave.

Awkward wriggle among stones & mud showed passage big enough to turn around. After heaving small stones & boulders out of hole, slipped in feet first, kicking stubborn boulder ahead into spacious looking passage. Found myself in chamber where I could crouch & sit comfortably and at far end, open passage continued. Followed this a number of metres until I came to split level junction. Both [ways] looked tight so returned to surface pleased with new find. Pushed cave [with Ritchie Simpson] later that evening. From split level junction, set off along upper level - not as tight as first thought - through heavily moon-milked chamber to 2nd less decorated chamber and complete choke. Meanwhile Ritchie pushed lower passage, too low but diggable. On the way out, digging downhill from inside entrance opened low chamber 6 m x 1.5 m with hole back to the surface. We called it Bovine Chamber after unearthing cow's leg bone. Also decided to call cave Iris Cave after many iris plants around area. Next day, Monday, Ritchie returned alone and did some digging in lower passage to reach lintel feature which needed dug to continue. I joined him in the evening and started mining below lintel. Ritchie squeezed under and found more passage but silted up to near roof. Line surveyed system, surprised to find total length about 50 m.

Cave appears to be heading for last elbow bend in High Pasture Cave & survey suggested only 10 metres (in straight line) separates the two caves. I did some surface measurements one evening, helped by my two daughters, Leah (11) who held the tape as I read the compass bearings, and Keira (5) who chased nearby sheep. Not sure how accurate measurements are but they put the end of the dig quite near a boulder pile at the end of High Pasture Cave, but uphill about 18 m.

Visit at start of July by Toby Speight of Red Rose C.P.C. found us at dig in Iris Cave. We had some lengths of rope and a plastic basin along with various digging tools including a hoe. After attaching rope to each end of basin (drag tray, skip?) it could be shuttled from dig back to end of lower passage & spoil dumped in larger passage beyond. Toby digging feverishly & me dragging full skips out & guiding the empties back in, made slow progress. Even joined later by Ritchie, we had only gained 2 - 2.5 metres at the most. The main problem is restricted air space. Passage needs lowering for forward progress. Further visits to Iris Cave have found calcited bones, some teeth and other bones which appear to have been butchered. This seems to suggest a link with High Pasture Cave, and if this is found then this would make it the longest cave on Skye!

Alternative Names: None recorded.