Descent 258 will be winging its way to your doormat very soon! If you’re not up to date with your subscription, now is the time to renew. The lovely folks at Wildplaces Publishing will be happy to lay out the red carpet to welcome you into the fold, but remember to wipe your wellies first…

There’s a lot to look forward to in the new issue. As well as caving and mining news from around the regions, Descent is packed with high-quality feature articles and its usual stunning array of photos. The following is just a sample of the highlights on offer.

On the home front, it’s been ten years since Excalibur Pot on the North York Moors was discovered; now Descent has the full story of how it has been linked with Jenga Pot, complete with a two-page survey. Abroad, the Shepton Mallet Caving Club’s expeditions to Thailand have proved immensely successful, no less so than their latest to the mountains of Doi Phu Kha. There’s a report on the International Congress of Speleology held in Sydney, and a little bird has told us that Descent editor Chris Howes did rather well in the photography section. Further south, it’s been fifty years since Mendip’s Sludge Pit was first discovered. Take a look inside this attractive but relatively little-known cave. The Green Canal in Dan yr Ogof also features, along with its notorious habit of swallowing anything dropped by careless cavers.

On the cave science front, an article on Ffynnon Beuno Cave in North Wales tells us about this important archaeological site, the last known occupied site of Northern European Neanderthals in Britain and the first inhabited by modern man. In the gear review slot, John Cordingley describes his latest find, an incredibly light and useful emergency bag, the SOL Emergency Bivvy.

Viewpont focusses on the thorny subject of conservation vs. exploration and asks the difficult question of where should we draw the line in the mud.

The front cover will feature a stunning photo of the bat flight in Deer Cave, Mulu taken by Chris Howes and the back cover will have a shot of Tuglow Cave and a close-up of formations in the Barralong Cave, Jenolan, New South Wales. The photographs were shot by Philippe Crochet during the International Congress of Speleology in Australia

All this and more for only the price of a couple of pints of beer per issue. We’ll be bringing you a full report as soon as Descent arrives on the mat, but in the meantime, we hope the above is enough to whet your appetite and send you over to Wildplaces Publishing subscriptions page to ensure yours is up to date!