UK Trip 2005

Even so, it is of course pitch black in there, and you certainly wouldn't want to be in there without a light. Yet that is the challenge various people have taken up over the years. Various rumours regarding hauntings of the caves have evolved over time, and for while during the early-to-mid 20th century there was a standing challenge that anyone who managed to spend a whole night alone in the caves would win the princely sum of five pounds. In the event only one person, a policeman, managed to win the bet in the 1950s, and he passed the time by carving a horse on the wall where he was camped. He reports feeling as though there was someone behind him all the time and that he didn't dare turn around to find out. Another attempt ended in the man who was trying to win the bet going into a blind panic after ten minutes alone in the dark, running straight into a wall and knocking himself out. The last to attempt the overnight challenge was a pair of guides at the caves in 1985. Under the rules they camped in different locations around the corner from each other. When one was woken by a bloodcurdling scream from the other at 2am and the screamer was found to be sporting a dislocated shoulder, which the hospital said was consistent with someone (or something) trying to pull the arm out of its socket, the owner of the caves site put the mockers on anyone else ever staying in the caves overnight again. (It has been suggested that the screamer actually did the damage himself during a mild epileptic fit). Our guide was rather good at debunking several of the myths and mysteries that make Chislehurst Caves an interesting place to visit in the first place! But it was still terrific fun, for me mainly because of the remaining evidence of WWII shelter life in there, such as the surviving berth numbers on the walls where three-tier bunks were installed for the population. The caves have also been used for various filming over the years, including "Dr Who - The Mutants" in 1972, "Neverwhere" and, erm, "Inseminoid" as well. Next Previous

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Andrew L

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ukmay05@yahoo.co.uk