Johnny and Jude, preparing for a wedding beneath the Yorkshire Dales
Two outdoor enthusiasts will tie the knot deep below the Yorkshire Dales, and the bride will wear special ‘weddington boots’.
Cave Rescue Organisation volunteer Jude Onions and her partner Johnny Latimer will have a subterranean marriage blessing next month before walking to a nearby church for the main service.
The 27-year-old teaching assistant is encouraging guests at the wedding to don their own elaborately decorated wellies for the ceremony in Ingleborough Cave, near the couple’s home in Clapham, North Yorkshire.
Jude Onions and her sister and chief bridesmaid Rachel, with mum Teresa, left, ready to be winched down Gaping Gill for the hen party
The bride-to-be also chose an underground venue for her hen party, when she and 25 friends descended into one of the country’s biggest caverns for a celebration.
A band joined guests who were winched down 105m (360ft) into Gaping Gill, the limestone cave on the slopes of Ingleborough. Jude and her hen party contingent took advantage of the twice-yearly winch set up to enable non-potholers to enter the subterranean world usually only visited by enthusiastic cavers.
The women wore feather boas and helmets, and Jude’s protective headgear supplanted by a wedding veil.
“On many occasions I have unsuccessfully tried to entice friends and family members underground, but always heard the same words cropping up: dark, cold, wet, muddy and claustrophobic,” Jude said.
Jude with her hen party guests
“So it was very satisfying to be amongst a glamorous bunch of ladies in gorgeous attire all smiling and awestruck at Gaping Gill’s grandeur.
“There were a few girls who were a bit nervous about the winch but everybody managed to fight their fear and take the plunge.
“The chamber was lit up so that threw ‘dark’ out of the window; we were geared up in down jackets, waterproofs and had handwarmers so no-one got too cold.
“It was a tad damp sitting in the winch chair but we soon escaped to a dry corner so no-one got too wet. Mud is just part and parcel of caving. However a good slather of cave mud on your face is far cheaper and more natural than any spa treatment.
“Finally, no-one could get claustrophobic in that place as it could fit St Paul’s Cathedral inside, I’m told!”
The main shaft and chamber of Gaping Gill
Jude met Johnny on a Christmas expedition when their eyes met in the dim light of the sump in Ireby Fell Cavern in the western Dales in 2007. He proposed to her Christmas Eve 2009 after the pair had spent the day on Ingleborough. “He was trying to teach me to snowboard and ski. I spent most of the day on my bottom but it was great fun, I’m always up for trying something new.”
The proposal was made in an equally unconventional way: inside an oven. It’s a cavers’ tradition for to cram into the tiny space at Old Manor House in Clapham when they propose. The couple emerged from the pub’s bread oven, covered in flour, to cheers and a champagne toast from gathered friends.
Jude, a keen walker, climber and mountain biker, has been a member of the Clapham-based Cave Rescue Organisation for two years, becoming a full surface and underground member of the team, which carries out both fell and cave rescues, about a year ago.
She has taken part in a couple of callouts in the past few months, despite recovering from a knee injury.
Jude will marry 32-year-old engineer Johnny at St James’s Church, Clapham, at the end of July and honeymoon in Spain – caving of course.
The main chamber of Gaping Gill held the status of Britain’s biggest cave until the discovery of the even more cavernous Titan in the Derbyshire Dales five years ago.
Bradford Pothole Club and Craven Pothole Club each set up the winch once a year to allow members of the public to be lowered down to the floor of the main chamber.
