Dig in: a family adventure in the caves of North Yorkshire

The caves near How Stean Gorge are particularly suited to young explorers – especially when a day of gorge-scrambling is topped off with an underground feast and chalet stay

The road to Upper Nidderdale is a road to nowhere. Somewhere ahead of us, the ashphalt runs out and farm tracks take over. In the village of Bewerley, my son points out the slow-down road signs illustrated with comic rubber ducks. We pass a beer garden shaded by a two-storey waterwheel carcass, like a long-abandoned prop from the mines of Moria in the Lord of the Rings.

Tourists don’t end up in this remote part of the North Yorkshire – an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the border the Yorkshire Dales national park – by chance, and historically that’s been part of the challenge for the little-known adventure hub at How Stean Gorge, where I’m heading for a family weekend of caving and gorge scrambling. I spend the last few miles of our journey holding my breath as we edge past tractors between mossy drystone walls.