Winnats Pass

Winnats Pass, Castleton, is a long collapsed limestone cave system. The name Winnats is short for 'Windygates' and on a windy day you will see why it came by that name, for the wind seems to swirl around everywhere.

The 'pass' part of the name is something of a misnomer - Winnats is a steep-sided limestone valley with cliffs on all sides, which climbs out of the Hope Valley onto the limestone plateau area above. The valley was created by the action of water eating away at the limestone rock - water gradually dissolves the limestone and the streams tend to find their way underground by gradually enlarging the natural cracks and fissures in the rock.

There are numerous underground stream systems in this area and one of these created a large cave system beneath the edge of the cliff overlooking Castleton. Eventually the rock underground was worn away until the whole cave system collapsed, leaving the steep-sided valley you can see now.

The sides of the valley contain a number of known pot-holes and Speedwell Cavern (one of the area's many show caves) has its entrance at the foot of Winnats Pass.

There are numerous footpaths around Winnats Pass and a short walk up the pass and down by another route is recommended.