Wellington Rocks, Tunbridge Wells, Kent

 Not cave related, but it is of geological interest!

Tunbridge Wells Common is an open area adjacent to Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent. It is a natural area of heathland and in one area is a cluster of sandstone rocks, called Wellington Rocks. According to the sign board, the rocks were laid down as deposits from a vast freshwater lake around 136 million years ago and sculpted by wind and water erosion during the Ice Age.  

When grazing stopped on the heathland at the start of the 20th century, shrubs took over and covered the rocks. They have since been uncovered again. 

The rocks date to the Cretaceous period. They were named in the 19th century after the Duke of Wellington. 

There are several outcrops of rocks around Tunbridge Wells : 

The rocks around Tunbridge Wells

High Rocks

Harrison Rocks

Grotte de Napoléon , Corsica

Grotte de Napoléon aka Grotte du Casone (also sometimes Grotte Bonaparte) is not a real cave, it is a gap forming a shelter below huge granite rocks. It is located on a hill in the town of Ajaccio, which is the capital of Corsica. 

The cave is shaded by some trees and the young Napoleon went there to retreat, learn his lessons, meditate, or to find some inspiration. The country house where he was raised was located on the same hill as the cave. 

The cave is at the side of the Mémorial Napoléon, this is a huge pyramid of white marble, with a sculpture of Napoleon on top, made of bronze. Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 in Ajaccio.

Looking down at the cave from above -

It seems the cave was a more important tourist site a century ago, there were lots of postcards and pictures of the cave. The name was given to the cave quite early, and its popularity actually started when he was still alive.

source  http://www.panoramio.com/photo/81281400

In town there is a new restaurant named "La grotte Napoleon 1769" and they show a film about the life of Napoleon.

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See more on this show caves page.

Underground London - Ewell grotto

Ewell grotto is not underground and is rather tiny. But because it is called grotto I was curious to see it. It is located in the grounds of Ewell Court house, west of London. The house dates to the Edwardian period, 1870s.

It is known as The Fernery/Grotto.  It was part of a large conservatory attached to the house and was part of beautiful grounds designed by John Henry Bridges and landscaped by Pulhams of Broxbourne. The conservatory  was taken down at the start of World War 2

The inside of the grotto is made from pulhamite. Pulhamite was a patented anthropic rock material invented by James Pulham (1820–1898) of the firm James Pulham and Son of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire. This artificial material is constructed by bricks and rubble coated with cement. It creates natural looking rocks and crannies and enables ferns and orchids to grow on soil pockets. 

The grotto is built on a natural spring which formed part of the watering system. The little pool retains its level naturally. The interior was originally fed by a water system and there is evidence of artificial lighting.

The grotto was heated by a copper kettle boiler with pipe running outside and around to the greenhouse that currently houses the new tearoom. The dome/lantern on top of the grotto could be raised or lowered according to the temperature. This gave heat and steam to allow the ferns and orchids to grow. The hexagonal dome -

See more on The Grotto Directory which gives more info on the house. 

See also Historic England entry. 

Twyfelfontein rock engravings, Namibia

 For a long time I have wanted to see the rock art in Namibia, and I finally got my chance when I went to Twyfelfontein.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage site - Twyfelfontein or /Ui-//aes . This UNESCO page says "Twyfelfontein or /Ui-//aes has one of the largest concentrations of petroglyphs, i.e. rock engravings in Africa. Most of these well-preserved engravings represent rhinoceros, but also includes six painted elephant, ostrich and giraffe, as well as drawings of human and animal footprints in rock shelters with motifs of human figures in red ochre. The objects excavated from two sections, date from the Late Stone Age. The site forms a coherent, extensive and high-quality record of ritual practices relating to hunter-gatherer communities in this part of southern Africa over at least 2,000 years, and eloquently illustrates the links between the ritual and economic practices of hunter-gatherers."

At 2000 years old, they are much younger than the rock art found in Sulawesi, Indonesia, where the paintings have recently been revised to over 50,000 years old. In Australia the rock art is of a similar age, 30,000-50,000 years old.

There is a small permanent spring in the area, and the surveyor who made a report mentioning the engravings in 1921 named the site as Uais - /Ui-//aes= place among rocks or jumping waterhole in Khoekhoegowab, the language of the local Damara people. Later, the land came into the use of farmer David Levin, whose concern over the survival of the spring led ultimately to its being referred to as Twyfelfontein -‘doubtful spring’ in Afrikaans.

I visited at the end of June, which is the dry season. The yellow grass contrasted well against the red sandstone rocks and the blue sky. 

There are over 2000 engravings, so we only saw a very small number. The first rock we came to, at first glance I thought this was part of the art, but it is actually just the weathered "skin" of the rock face -

Next to it is a very detailed collection of engravings. Each engraving has a meaning.

The giraffes were the easiest to spot. Apart from giraffes there are rhinoceroses, zebra, gemsbok antelope and ostriches.

Large human footprints can be seen on these rocks -

Giraffes are very common in Twyfelfontein rock art. They are generally shown without hooves, with legs tapering away into long thin lines. The represents the sensation of rising into the air, as the shaman would feel in a trance. If there are five protrusions on the head this shows the shaman has changed into a giraffe, as it represents the five toes.

There are also sea creatures such as this seal or sea lion. There are also penguins. This shows that the people used to go to the sea. This is also the case in Malaysia where the Gua Tambun rock art depicts what many people think is a dugong.

This panel shows the famous "Lion Man" -

The Lion Man engraving shows five toes on each paw. This deliberate combination of animal and human features shows that this is a shaman who has transformed into a lion. It has a long tail with a rectangular kink and a pugmark (animal footprint) at its tip. It also appears to be eating an antelope -

A close up with my camera shows more texture of the rock -

The white markings on the rock are caused by the rock dassie, or rock hyrax.

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See more on this British Museum page.  

Underground London - Strand "Roman" bath

There is a hidden bathhouse just off The Strand, in London. Located in Strand Lane, it is known as the Roman bathhouse, although it isn't actually Roman.

To get there from The Strand, you walk past the old entrance to the Piccadilly railway, 

then follow this sign

The entrance is through the gate on the right -

According to the National Trust, prior to use as a bath, it was the remains of a cistern built in 1612 to feed a fountain in the gardens of the old Somerset House, then a royal palace. After a long period of neglect and decay the baths were brought back into use in the 1770s as a public cold plunge bath.

"The bath chamber is covered by a full brick and stone vault and contains the bath and a 1920s settling tank built at the eastern end. The bath is made of shallow, wide Tudor bricks, with some patched repairs made from frogged bricks dating after 1750. The brickwork of the walls and vaults hasn’t been officially dated, but most probably dates from the 18th century."

The bath is not normally open to the public, but from 22 May to 2 July 2025, it is housing an audio-visual presentation entitled The River's Stomach (Songs of Empire). I actually found this very weird and won't go into details here. But that is the reason there are plastic "Roman eels" in the bath!

See more on the National Trust page and also on IanVisits and his more recent blog which features the art presentation.