Habitat point records from 1985-87 Procter Torbay caves survey

The massive limestone promontory of Berry Head is probably the most impressive outcrop of Devonian limestone in south Devon. Forming the southern tip of Torbay, the head shelters the fishing port of Brixham, which has grown up in the protection it gives from the prevailing southwesterly gales. Berry Head has a long history; apart from it's importance to shipping, it is surrounded on three sides by the sea and forms and excellent defensive position. There was once an iron age fort here and today the scene is dominated by two Napoleonic forts: one on Berry Head, the other on Oxley Head a few hundred metres to the southwest. To the naturalist the head is better known for the many unusual plants, insects and birds that can be seen there. Among the plants are such spectacular rarities as white rock rose, tree mallow and six species of orchids: the birds include the largest breeding colony of auks (mainly guillemots) on the Channel coast together with a variety of other breeding seabirds. The north side of the headland is scarred by the disused Berry Head Quarry. Work here ceased in 1969 after the quarry had been worked to the limits of the lease and down to sea level. Faced with imminent closure, the quarry company produced a series of proposals to remove even more of the headland, accompanied by increasingly silly ideas for turning the resultant devastation into a tourist attraction. These ranged from landscaping the cliffs with piles of boulders to restaurants, marinas, bridges over the quarry, an ornamental seawater lagoon, and escalator stairways up the cliff. Fortunately they were all rejected. Strangely, until recently Berry Head has received little attention from cavers. Before 1983 the only recorded caves were Ash Hole, a few in the quarry, and the sea caves in the cliffs to the south. Sporadic work by various people turned up other caves , but since they were never recorded they were duly lost again. All this changed in 1983, when Peter Glanvill started a systematic investigation of sea level caves on the south side of the head. In 1984 the Devon Spelaeological Society explored Hogberry Cave at the east end of the quarry. The following year Corbridge Cave was explored, again by DSS. A systematic exploration of the headland was then begun by some DSS members and new finds followed rapidly, with the result that today there are over 50 caves on record. What has been revealed is a complex of coastal caves that is unique in Great Britain. The area can now provide some very interesting caving. The Corbridge-Cavern system offers a maze like system over 200 metres long with a series of tidal pools at low level. Several smaller caves in the quarry are also worth visiting, and some of the quarry caves are well decorated. A collectors piece is the 43 metres deep vertical rift system of Sweetwater Pot, which has one of the deepest sumps in Devon and is reached by an unnerving abseil down the quarry face. Under the quarry floor and on the south side of Berry Head, flooded sea level caves give decidedly `different` caving, in which careful timing of trips to coincide with low tide can be essential. Further south, the underground lakes of Durl Head Cave and Oxley Head Cave can be explored by boat or swimming, and provide some entertaining diving. A feature of all the sea level caves is the abundant and often spectacular marine life, which even penetrates into the pools of Corbridge Cave, where prawns, eels and other animals have been found. The Berry Head caves have a number of features of particular scientific interest. Most of the caves are solutional in origin, showing the features of phreatic (sub water-table) development. Much of the horizontal passage development is at an altitude of a round 24m O.D, just below the level of an old marine erosion platform visible on the south side of the Head at 28m O.D. Horizontal cave development at low level also lies just below fossil marine platforms, at levels of +8.5m O.D and 4m O.D. The marine platforms mark former periods of higher sea level. Horizontal passage networks probably formed just below sea level, within or at the base of a thin freshwater layer overlying a seawater aquifer which extended under the whole headland (seawater is saturated with calcium carbonate and cannot dissolve limestone to form caves). A second mechanism of cave formation is mechanical erosion by the sea, which has formed the large sea caves to the south of Berry Head. Where the sea has broken into pre-existing solution caves, a hybrid type is seen, where a large sea cave passage leads into a network of smaller solutional passages i.e. Garfish Cave. It is possible that in future Berry Head will prove to be important in the study of former sea levels ; the well preserved caves and their sediments may provide a more detailed record of change than surface evidence which has often been destroyed. The biology of the caves is still being investigated. A small bat colony regularly roosts in the dry caves, but of potentially greater interest is the marine fauna of the flooded low level caves. The most spectacular life is seen in short submerged caves along the coast, and in the threshold zone of larger caves in the same situation. Here the passage walls and roof are covered with encrusting animals. Sponges, hydroids, red sea squirts and anenomes are usually present, with one or two species often completely dominant in any one place. Further in, otherwise bare walls may be dotted with odd sponges, anenomes, cup corals and tube worms competing for existence in an environment where lessened water movement brings less food. Such forms may penetrate well into the dark zone, as in Garfish Cave. The most extreme marine cave environment as yet studied on Berry Head is the underground `creek` that runs up through Corbridge Cave, connecting a large pool in the west bay of the quarry to the sea. The only water movement is a tidal flow that reverses every few hours as water flows in and out of the system, and due to freshwater dilution the water is brackish. The Corbridge Cave tidal sumps provide a window into the `creek`; the sea anenome Cerianthus lloydii has been found burrowing in thick mud on the floor and a few worms and other forms hang on where tidal currents keep mud from settling on the walls, but generally life is sparse. The shallow tidal pool in the west bay of the quarry, connected to the sea only by this underground `creek`, is in effect an isolated brackish lake. In the 20 years since it was quarried out, it has been colonised by various estuarine worms, molluscs and crustacea. Larger mobile marine animals are also present. In caves that open directly to the sea, many fish and crustaceans can be found, notably prawns, which like bats in a dry cave use it as a daytime retreat. Prawns regularly penetrate into Corbridge Cave; common eels have been seen in Corbridge Cave and in the tidal pool beyond it. The results of the first stage of the investigation of the Berry Head caves - their survey - are presented here. This atlas is concerned mainly with Berry Head itself, and surveys of all the significant caves within this area are included. A list of the minor sites is given at the end of the survey section. The area covered does not include any of the well known `Berry Head Sea Caves` since none of these are actually on the head: they are scattered along the coast between Berry Head and St Mary's Bay to the south. Since they are popularly associated with Berry Head, however, descriptions of them are given in a separate section at the back. Thus in total the area covered encompasses all the limestone area east of Brixham. The present publication is intended to cover all caves known up to July 1987: I would be very grateful for information about any errors, ommissions and new discoveries, so that the atlas can be kept up to date and as accurate as possible. ACCESS Apart from Ash Hole, the Berry Head Caves lie within Berry Head Country Park, and in November 1986 became a site of special scientific interest on account of the bat colony and other special features of the caves. Permission is necessary to visit all caves in the country park; intending visitors should contact the warden. At present permission can only normally be given to members of a recognised caving club. The following special CORBRIDGE CAVE, HOGBERRY CAVE, SHAKY CAVE, HIGHER SHAKY CAVE. Gated: the owner has specified that all parties must be led - please please give advance notice so that a leader can be arranged. SWEETWATER POT, BATHBERRY CAVE, SPAR CAVE. Acessible only by a 55m abseil down the quarry face: tackle 60m rope and long belays to dubious fence post on cliff tops (use more than one). SEA LEVEL CAVES. Most are accessible only at low tide and in calm water. A wetsuit is necessary, and remember there are strong currents round the headland. Anyone wishing to carry out exploratory or scientific work is requested to obtain permission before doing so, in order to avoid conflicts with conservation interests and those of other workers. Berry Head is first and foremost a nature reserve, and it is essential that the wishes of the warden and the owners (Torbay Borough Council) be respected if cavers wish to keep access to the caves. Ash Hole is privately owned, but there has been free access for many yaers and the currentsituation seems to be that no permission is needed. The sea caves south of Berry Head are similarly without access restrictions, though a boat is necesary to visit the caves on Oxley Head. The bird colony below Oxley Head is covered by an area of special protection, and no climbing on the cliffs is permitted between March 15th and July 31st: this includes Rock Dove cave which is thus innaccessible for this period. Anyone boating near nesting seabirds is asked to keep nois to an absolute minimum. Loud noises may frighten the birds and result in eggs and nestlings being knocked from the cliff ledges.

Berry Head 的庞大石灰岩岬角可能是南德文郡最引人注目的志留纪石灰岩露头。它构成了托贝湾的南端，保护着布里克斯汉渔港，该港得益于其所提供的抵御盛行西南风的保护而得以发展。Berry Head 拥有悠久的历史；除了对航运的重要性外，它三面环海，形成了一个极佳的防御位置。这里曾有一座铁器时代的堡垒，如今景象为两座拿破仑时代的堡垒所主导：一座位于 Berry Head，另一座位于西南方向数百米的 Oxley Head。对于自然学家而言，Berry Head 更以其众多独特的植物、昆虫和鸟类而闻名。其中植物包括如白色岩石蔷薇、树状蜀葵以及六种兰科植物：鸟类包括大西洋海岸最大的乌鸦（主要是斑海雀）繁殖群以及其他多种繁殖的海鸟。岬角的北边被废弃的 Berry Head 矿山所破坏。1969 年，在租约的极限和海平面以下开采后，这里的工作停止了。面对即将关闭的威胁，矿山公司提出了一系列方案，以清除更多的岬角，并伴随着将这些后果转变为旅游景点的越来越荒谬的想法。这些想法包括用巨石堆砌悬崖、餐厅、码头、矿坑上的桥梁、装饰性的海水池塘以及通往悬崖的自动扶梯。幸运的是，这些都被拒绝了。奇怪的是，直到最近，Berry Head 收到的洞穴探险者的关注很少。在 1983 年之前，记录在案的洞穴仅有 Ash Hole、矿山中的几个以及南部悬崖上的海洞。各种人在此进行的零星工作发现了其他洞穴，但由于它们从未被记录，因此又失去了。所有这些都改变了，1983 年，Peter Glanvill 开始对岬南部的海平面洞穴进行系统调查。1984 年，德文洞穴学会探索了位于矿山东端的 Hogberry 洞穴。次年，Corbridge 洞穴也被 DSS 探索。此后，一些 DSS 成员开始对岬角进行系统探索，并迅速发现了新的洞穴，结果如今已有超过 50 个洞穴被记录在案。所揭示的是一组在英国独一无二的沿海洞穴。该区域现在可以提供一些非常有趣的洞穴探险。Corbridge-Cavern 系统（超过 200 米长）拥有低处的系列潮汐池。矿山中的一些较小洞穴也值得一游，其中一些矿山洞穴装饰精美。Sweetwater Pot 的 43 米深的垂直裂缝系统是一件收藏品，它在德文郡拥有最深的沉水坑之一，需要通过令人不安的下降到矿山立面才能到达。在矿山地板下方和 Berry Head 南侧，被淹没的海平面洞穴提供了截然不同的洞穴探险，精确地安排旅行与低潮相吻合可能是至关重要的。向南进一步，Durl Head 洞穴和 Oxley Head 洞穴的地下湖泊可以通过船只或游泳探索，并提供一些有趣的潜水。所有海平面洞穴的一个特点是丰富的、往往令人惊叹的海洋生物，这些生物甚至渗透到了 Corbridge 洞穴的池塘中，那里发现了虾、鳗鱼和其他动物。Berry Head 的洞穴拥有许多具有特定科学意义的特征。大多数洞穴都是溶蚀成因，显示出潜流（地下水位以下）发展的特征。大部分水平通道发展高度约为 24 米 O.D，位于可见于头部南侧 28 米 O.D 的古老海蚀平台下方。低水平处的水平洞穴发展也位于化石海洋平台下方，海拔 +8.5 米 O.D 和 4 米 O.D。海洋平台标志着更高海平面时期的标志。水平通道网络可能在海平面以下，在覆盖整个岬角的海水含水层之上的薄淡水层内或在其底部形成。洞穴形成的第二种机制是海水的机械侵蚀，它形成了 Berry Head 南侧的大型海洞。当海水穿透先存的溶蚀洞穴时，就会形成一种混合类型，其中大型海洞通道通向一系列较小的溶蚀通道，例如 Garfish 洞穴。可能在未来，Berry Head 将证明在研究过去海平面方面具有重要意义；保存完好的洞穴及其沉积物可能提供了比表面证据更为详细的记录，因为表面证据常常已被破坏。洞穴的生物学仍在研究中。一个小型的蝙蝠群落定期在干燥的洞穴中栖息，但更感兴趣的是淹没的低水平洞穴中的海洋生物。最壮观的生命在海岸线上的短潜水洞穴以及相同位置的大型洞穴的门槛区中可以看到。在这里，通道墙壁和屋顶覆盖着附着动物。海绵、水螅、红海鞘和水母通常存在，一两个物种往往在任何地方都占主导地位。更深处，其他裸露的墙壁上点缀着奇特的海绵、水母、杯珊瑚和管虫，它们在水流减缓、食物减少的环境中竞争生存。这些形态可能深入到黑暗区域，如 Garfish 洞穴。Berry Head 上研究过的最极端的海洋洞穴环境是贯穿 Corbridge 洞穴的地下“溪流”，它将矿山西湾的一个大型池塘与大海相连。唯一的水流是每几小时就逆转一次的潮汐流动，由于淡水稀释，水流是咸淡水。Corbridge 洞穴的潮汐沉水坑为“溪流”提供了一个窗口；在底部厚厚的泥浆中发现了海葵 Cerianthus lloydii 的钻孔，一些蠕虫和其他形态悬挂在潮汐水流防止泥浆沉降至墙壁的地方，但总体上生命稀少。矿山西湾的浅潮汐池实际上是一个隔离的咸水湖。自从 20 年前被开采出来以来，它已被各种河口蠕虫、软体动物和甲壳类动物所占领。更大的移动海洋动物也存在于其中。在直接面向大海的洞穴中，可以找到许多鱼类和甲壳类动物，特别是虾，它们像在干燥洞穴中的蝙蝠一样，将其用作白天避难所。虾经常进入 Corbridge 洞穴；在 Corbridge 洞穴及其之外的潮汐池中都发现了普通的鳗鱼。 Berry Head 洞穴调查的第一阶段——其测量——在此展示。本图集主要关注 Berry Head 本身，并包括该区域内所有重要洞穴的测量。在调查部分的末尾给出了次要地点的清单。所覆盖的区域不包括任何知名的“Berry Head 海洞”，因为它们实际上都不在岬角上：它们散布在 Berry Head 和南部的 St Mary's Bay 之间。然而，由于它们与 Berry Head 的普遍联系，因此在图集的最后单独给出了它们的描述。因此，总的来说，所覆盖的区域包括 Brixham 东侧的所有石灰岩区域。目前的出版物旨在涵盖到 1987 年 7 月为止所知的所有洞穴：我将非常感谢关于任何错误、遗漏和新发现的任何信息，以便使图集保持最新并尽可能准确。进入：除了 Ash Hole 之外，Berry Head 洞穴位于 Berry Head 国家公园内，并于 1986 年 11 月成为了一个具有特殊科学兴趣的地点，原因是蝙蝠群落和其他洞穴的特殊特征。参观所有洞穴都需要获得许可；有意参观者应联系管理员。目前，通常只能向认可的洞穴俱乐部成员提供许可。以下为特别提到的 CORBRIDGE CAVE、HOGBERRY CAVE、SHAKY CAVE、HIGHER SHAKY CAVE。有门禁：业主指定所有团体必须由引导者带领——请提前通知，以便安排引导者。SWEETWATER POT、BATHBERRY CAVE、SPAR CAVE。只能通过 55 米的下降到矿山立面才能进入：需要 60 米的绳索和长锚固到悬崖顶部的可疑栏杆（使用多个）。海平面洞穴。大多数洞穴只能在低潮和 calm 水中进入。必须穿潜水服，并记住在岬角周围有强流。任何希望在洞穴中进行探险或科学工作的人，在这样做之前应获得许可，以免与保护利益和其他工作者发生冲突。Berry Head 首先是自然保护区，如果洞穴探险者希望保持进入洞穴的权利，就必须尊重管理员和业主（托贝市议会）的意愿。Ash Hole 是私人拥有的，但多年来一直可以自由进入，目前的形势似乎是无需许可。Berry Head 南侧的海洞同样没有进入限制，但需要船只才能参观 Oxley Head 的洞穴。Oxley Head 下方的鸟群受到特殊保护区域，3 月 15 日至 7 月 31 日期间禁止攀登悬崖：这包括 Rock Dove 洞穴，因此在此期间无法进入。任何在筑巢海鸟附近划船的人都被要求将噪音降至最低。大声噪音可能会吓到鸟类，并导致鸟蛋和雏鸟从悬崖边缘掉落。