MuddyGirlDSC09685On July 14, 1935 Penelope Powell and Graham Balcombe made what is considered to be the first cave dive. It was conducted at Wookey Hole in England. This historic site is still open to the small membership of divers belonging to the Cave Divers Group (CDG). On the day following the anniversary Jill Heinerth was invited to dive by members Duncan Price, Gavin Newman and Claire Cohen. Swimming from the cave resurgence through to Sump 22 fulfilled a dream for Heinerth who has had her sight focussed on visiting the historic site for more than 20 years. Wookey Hole is both a show cave and mine with tens of thousands of visitors walking through tunnels in the rock each year. On Heinerth’s visit, she was invited by a working explosives team to detonate charges that were used to enable a new tourist passage in the hillside. Nearing midnight, Heinerth and colleagues from Suunto UK pressed the button from the safety of a side passage and participated in what will be the next phase of expansion for the destination.

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Author Jill Heinerth

Cave diving explorer, author, photographer, artist

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