Other Sites and Blogs

We can’t hope to bring you every story, but there are plenty of caving and mining blogs out there you can browse at your leisure – so have a read through some of the best! If you know of a blog you’d like us to add to this page please let us know.

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Home Close Hole, Mendip, Somerset

The Passages described below, in total, measured 499m and the digging team were judged winners of the 13th J’Rat Diggers Award (all members of the Shepton Mallet Caving Club, SMCC) on the evening of 19th November 2022. 16th October Well! It has been quite a while since my last visit to Home Close. With Callum […] ...
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Exploring the possibility of extraterrestrial life living in caves

For millennia, caves have served as shelters for prehistoric humans. Caves have also intrigued scholars from early Chinese naturalists to Charles Darwin. A cave ecologist has been in and out of these subterranean ecosystems, examining the unique life f ...
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5th October

Solo Down in the deep South Soft, along the northeast passage and ‘underneath the pissing tree,’ I set to work with the plugs and feathers. The plan being to trim some of the rock and boulders that were jutting out from the passage sidewalls, so that a skip would run more freely along the route […] ...
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24th September

I had an appointment at Bath Racecourse, where there is a vaccination centre, for another (4th) covid jab. Hence, I was unavailable for digging but the rest of the team kept up with the task: Report by Jon: “Three diggers (Jake, Tav and Jon) arrived at the farm at the appointed hour. Jake remembered the […] ...
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INCIDENT 77/2022  SEP. 17th SAT. 21.44 STREAM PASSAGE POT (GAPING GILL SYSTEM), CLAPHAM, NORTH YORKSHIRE – CAVE INCIDENT

A caver (m, 53) was reported to be suffering from exhaustion and unable to continue in Stream Passage Pot. His party of seven or eight (?) left one member with him, exited the pot and called for CRO. As team members were organising to go assist, the tw ...
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17th September

With Brockers, Nick, Jon, and Mike Started the session with a small team, no matter. Brockers and Nick upfront digging, Jon was moving the filled bags back to the pot. The bags were hauled up to the ledge where I unloaded the bucket and carried the filled bags along the passage back towards the entrance. […] ...
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3rd September

With Tav, Jake, Jon, and Duncan Tav and Jake headed off to get digging underway at the end of the NE passage in the deep Soft South. I was all set to take a position on the ledge but went along to the dig to take some photographs before it all steamed up. Duncan settled […] ...
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NEW, SIMPLE, SAFETY ADVICE VIDEOS FOR DALES VISITORS

As readers of the CRO annual incident report, Rescue ’22, may recall, some of our members have been working with colleagues from the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association and volunteers from Mosaic (the organisation which aims to connect ...
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16th July

With Jake, Brockers, Duncan, and Nick Me and Jake down in the deep Soft South forging ahead along the NE passage, Brockers on the ledge, Duncan at the bottom of the entrance, Nick on the surface. Following the set quota of 20 bags per number of participants, a total of 100 bags were filled, hauled, […] ...
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2nd July

With Brockers, Nick, Jake, and Duncan Brockers and Nick digging so a regular supply of well-filled bags was to be expected. I was on the ledge catching the hauling bucket and transferring its load to the next skip to be hauled away by Duncan positioned at the bottom of the entrance. Jake was on the […] ...
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11th June

No digging took place last weekend (4th June) I was in the Yorkshire Dales (BCRA CA SIG Field Meeting at Lower Winskill, Settle) and the team took advantage of the longer [Jubilee] bank holiday. With Brockers, Jon, Jake, and Nick Nick and Jake were today’s digging team down in the deep Soft South heading NE, […] ...
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7th May

With Brockers, Jon, Jake, Tav and Duncan. Brockers and Jon digging in the deep Soft South following the northeast trending passage. I was on the not so slippery ledge, it’s drying up nicely now, emptying one skip and loading another to be hauled away by Duncan, who was in position at the bottom of the […] ...
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30th April

With Jon, Brockers, Phil, Jake and Tav. Jake and Tav digging in the deep Soft South, Brockers on the ledge, Phil at the bottom of the entrance, leaving me and Jon on the surface. Jon and I alternated the tasks of hauling and emptying bags, adding any rocks to the various terrace walls, and generally […] ...
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OBSERVATIONS AT SHERFORD CAVE, NEAR PLYMOUTH, DEVON.

Joint Mitnor Cave deposit
Centred on NGR SX 5476 5377 Introduction: A doline and associated network of cave passages were uncovered during infrastructure works for a major building development at Sherford, near Plymouth, Devon. In late July 2021, the author was asked to undertake a site visit and assessment when  it was established that the talus material  within the […] ...
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26th March

With Brockers, Jake, Jon, Duncan, and Mike turned up later in the morning. Me and Brocker digging, alternating the loosening sediment/filling bags, and hauling the spoil up to the ledge. Jake was on the ledge, catching the bucket and transferring its contents to the skip to be hauled away by Duncan, at the bottom of […] ...
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25th March

Update on recent activities by Tav: “Hallowe’en Rift – 19.03.2022  Tav and Jon digging, Duncan on the ledge, Brockers and later Nick on the haul and Jake and Brockers on the surface. 110+ bags plus rocks.   Hallowe’en Rift – 12.03.2022  Jake and Brockers digging, Nick on the ledge, Tav hauling and stacking at the […] ...
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Incident 2nd March 2022

Mendip Cave Rescue were called by Avon and Somerset Police at 13:26 on 2nd March 2022, concerning a caver physically stuck in Swildons Hole in Priddy. One caver from a party of two had been unable to climb the '20 foot' ladder pitch in the upper stream ...
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Stalagmites trace climate history and impact from volcanic eruptions

The soils and vegetation of Patagonia's fjord regions form a unique and highly sensitive ecosystem that is closely linked to marine ecosystems, sediment deposition and carbon storage in the ocean. A research team has been working on reconstructing the ...
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