Stump Cross Caverns: Yorkshire attraction where an 80,000 year old Wolverine bone was discovered to open first cave to the public in 25 years

The Bowerman family have owned Stump Cross Caverns since 2003 and it has been managed by Lisa, also known as Cavewoman.

As part of a new generation overhaul, Lisa’s son Oliver has taken over the business and marketing side of the attraction and will be implementing some new creative ideas hoping to draw in more visitors.

One of these new changes is opening up a cave which will be the first in 25 years.

“We’re so proud that it’s going into the second generation,” Ms Bowerman said. “He’s wanting to open up a new part of the cave system which is magnificent.

“He took us there to show us his vision and he’s already got the potholers going this winter with a vision to start work on it to open it up to the public.

“It’s a totally new cave. The public have never seen it before and he’s invested his own money into that, so he’s very invested in the business.

“He appreciates it’s a family business, whilst he is going to be in control, we are still very much a family.”

The last cave opened at Stump Cross Caverns was in 2000, which was the reindeer cavern and the family have maintained the show caves ever since.

They are expecting the new feature caves to attract even more visitors.

“[Oliver’s] long term vision is to make a circular visitor flow within the cave,” Ms Bowerman said.

“So instead of going down three blind ends, you would come back on yourself, but in the short term he’s going to open part of it up to start with so that people can visit and appreciate it and enjoy it.

“There’s so much mud in there and that’s what’s really exciting because that’s where we found the Ice Age animals from before. I’m sure that they are going to unlock some secrets.

“He wants the customers to have the best experience possible. Already the reviews [are positive] and it’s increased the footfall.

“People are really excited about it because we are going to get the Natural History Museum down there. They’re going to be sifting through all the glacial mud to see if there are any more Ice Age animals down there.

“They are going to get to experience the cave for the first time and it will increase visitor flow.”

Ms Bowerman said they have already discovered remnants of Ice Age animals and a tool from the Stone Age which dates back thousands of years.

“We’ve already found reindeer, bison and wolverine bones that are all recorded at the Natural History Museum,” she said.

“We found a spear that was a tool from the Stone Age, so it’s very exciting. It was about 10,000 years old.

“It is being analysed at the moment at the Natural History Museum in Sheffield to see whether people actually lived in the caves or in fact whether they were washed in by the water.

“The wolverine bone is about 80,000 years old and they believe that they got washed in by water during the last Ice Age.

“I must admit, when we went into the chamber, it was quite eerie in there. You could almost feel that there were secrets to be told and things were going to come out. Why wouldn’t they? It’s a really exciting time.”

Mr Bowerman is planning on keeping the educational aspects of the attraction which means his mother will have more time to work on her Cavewoman alter ego.

“The thing I’m most proud of is that Oliver is invested in the education side of it and that’s what means the world to me,” she said.

“Cavewoman is about bringing the caves to life for the children and the visitors, so you don’t just wander around, looking at rock, and not understanding it.

“It’s wonderful to come and understand how it’s here, why it’s here, what it’s doing, it’s still living, what it means.

“They really get a lovely fulfilling day out of it and take away a little bit of learning, but fun learning.

“Oliver wants to give people a valuable experience day, so he wants them to come and learn about the cave and the education side. He wants them to learn about the Stone Age, the Ice Age and the animals [from that time].

“The thing that fascinates me is the fact that the Victorians saw and witnessed the cave in the same light that we’ve [seen them] because they’ve barely grown; they grow about an inch every 200 years.”

The process of opening the caves takes a long time but they are hoping they will be opened over the next couple of years.

“The potholers are going in this year and they start work in the winter,” Ms Bowerman said.

“I would love it to have some of it open in the first year, but it could take two years to open up the first part and then maybe another year to open up the whole thing because it’s quite a big chamber.

“It depends how they get on this year. There’s quite a lot of manual work involved and also they have to make sure they look after the formations as well. Nothing is easy when you’re underground at seven degrees constantly.”