Inside the stunning lost cave discovered in 164-year-old tourist attraction

Stunning photos have captured the inside of a cave only seen before by potholers, as it opens to the public as part of a planned expansion.

Stump Cross Caverns, near Pateley Bridge, in North Yorkshire is set to open its first cave in 25 years.

The family-run business has been open to the public since it was discovered by lead miners in Greenhow Hill in the beautifully rugged Yorkshire Dales in 1860.

In recent years, new passageways have been opened up with remains of prehistoric creatures such as wolverines and reindeer found in the caves.

Now, owner Lisa Bowerman's son Oliver is taking over the business and opening a new cave to attract more visitors.

Ms Bowerman said: 'We're so proud that it's going into the second generation.

'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 new cave has been known since the Victoria era but has not been accessible before.

Work is now underway to excavate the site and make it accessible to visitors.

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

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

Lisa added: 'Oliver's long-term vision is to make a circular visitor flow within the cave, 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.

She added: '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.

'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.'

Oliver Bowerman said the project could take two or three years before it is open to the public.

He said the caves were part of his upbringing along with his Jacob, 27, and sister Evie, 23.

Mr Bowerman said: 'We've lived on the site since 2003. We had a normal life before the cave. We lived in Alnwick in Northumberland, and then my parents said 'we're moving to a cave' I was terrified to go down originally.

'They wanted to move back to Yorkshire – my dad was a plumber and mum was a children's nurse - they saw a newspaper advert for the caves and bought them.'

The limestone caves were discovered by lead miners in the 1860s and have been privately owned ever since.

In the future Mr Bowerman said he wants to install new lighting in the caves and expand the visitor centre.

He added: 'We put on events and have a cinema.

'We do fossil experiences for kids and a Stone Age experience. We also do a dark skies event – anything to do with natural history.'