Hope Cove

A subtidal seacave with a fairly rectangular entrance, facing SSE. It goes in 35m, then narrows and curves gently right. Just before the narrows, there is an apse going W out of sight, 5m or so up on the left (W) side. There are some dripping speleothems opposite this, high on the right.

Notes: Alt and VR at entrance measured by Nigel Feilden in 2019. Length to first narrows 35 m measured 9/9/20. Length from there to the end 26 m 25/8/21.

Access: By sea only. Going beyond the narrows requires very low swell and is best in the bottom quarter of the tide. A light is essential for this.

Links and Resources:

1st Ed OS 25in places 'Hope Cove' near the above NGR, but has no indication that, as the Namebook makes clear, it is a cave . The modern OS used by Canmore has no cave dot.
OS Namebook: "A cave in the cliff South of Trelung Bay." - which at least establishes that it is a cave, rather than a bay or inlet, although the location described is not at all precise.
Photo1 shows Hope Cove entrance in the background.
Photo 2 shows the entrance from closer to.
Photo 3 shows the alcove on the W side. There is a flowstone covered with algae/lichen high at the right. Low down, there is a bit of water leading to the narrower tunnel.
Photo 4 looking into the narrower part of the tunnel on 9 Sep 20. On that day some further progress was made beyond this point - but a larger swell made it clear that a lower tide level was needed for safe navigation ....
Photo 5 similar to photo 4, but at 10:24 BST 25 Aug 21, bang on a 0.5 m ACD low tide.
Photo 6 taken just after photo 5, from a bit further in. Even with rather low N swell, there was still a bit of white at the far end.
Photo 7 a sleeping seal inside this cave on 9 Sep 20. It was very soundly asleep and this is the 2nd photo I took.

This entry was last updated: 2024-02-03 16:24:54

Errors or omissions in this information? Submit corrections/additions/comments for this entry to the registrars.

NGR:	NO 87884 81086
WGS84:	56.92092, -2.20064
Length:	61 m
Vert. Range:	18 m
Altitude:	-7 m
Geology:	Whitehouse Conglomerate Formation
Tags:	Cave, SeaCave, SSSI
Registry:	main

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