With Roz. After a decent dry day…it’s still wet and muddy underground! Continuing the expansion works at the current end of Another Emotional Journey. Drilled 4no. 550mm x 12mm holes on the left-side of the rift.
30th January 2018
27th January 2018
With Brockers, Jake, Nick, Jonathon and Tav. Jon digging, Tav, back into action after a few weeks off, was clearing back to Nick, on the slope, Jake, up-top, loading the skip to Brockers on the haul and shuttle. Surface duties for me.
News: The World’s Longest Underwater Cave System
The connection of two of the largest underwater cave systems in the world has produced a new record, bringing the combined length of two caves, Sac Actun and Dos Ojos, to a total length of 347 km.
NewsFlash: Trapped Cavers Freed.
The eight men trapped since Sunday in the Hölloch in Switzerland’s Muotathal valley are now free. The Schwyz cantonal police said that the men had left the cave on Thursday night. They are all unhurt, were in good spirits and have returned home. Originally it had been thought that the group of seven tourists and…
25th January 2018
With Jake, Nick, Brockers, Jonathon and Mike M. After reeling in the wire, I was upfront clearing the rock and gravel back to Jon. Mike, back on the slippery slope was then transferring the spoil up to Brockers. Jake was on the haul and shuttle, Nick…
News: Trapped Cavers Still Waiting For Release.
Eight men have been trapped in the Hölloch cave in Switzerland’s Muotathal valley since 21 January. They will not be released before this weekend at the earliest due to heavy rainfall. They are unhurt and are currently stuck in a water-tight bivouac. The cavers aged between 25 and 55 had entered the cave system last…
News: Descent Coming Soon
Descent 260 will be with you very shortly! If you’re not up to date with your subscription, now is the time to renew. The lovely folks at Wild Places Publishing will be very happy to add you to the subscriptions list so you don’t miss out. As ever there’ll be a packed Newsdesk to bring…
23rd January 2018
With Matt, Brockers and Duncan. It was as wet and mucky as expected. As I drilled the required holes, 4no. 550mm x 12mm, and sorted stuff out, with Matt’s assistance, Brockers replaced the skip on the long haul and then, finally got the better of th…
Joint Statement by the Secretaries of Pwll Du Cave Management Group (PDCMG) and Cambrian Caving Council (CCC).
Joint Statement by the Secretaries of Pwll Du Cave Management Group (PDCMG) and Cambrian Caving Council (CCC). There is a new entrance to Ogof Draenen, excavated within a Scheduled Monument. Following recent publicity, it has come to our attention that some cavers are contacting Cadw to question the closure of Twll Du. Cadw’s position in…
News: Pre Columbian Cave Art in the Caribbean
New research by academics from the University of Leicester and the British Museum, working with colleagues from the British Geological Survey and Cambridge University, outlines the science behind the largest concentration of indigenous pre-Columbian rock art in the Caribbean. Exploration and surveys of around 70 cave systems — part of an interdisciplinary study of past…
20th January 2018
With Brockers, Jake, Nick and Matt. Five go Digging! Nick filling the bags, I was clearing the bags away to Jake, on the slope, passing the spoil up to Matt, who was loading the skip to Brockers on the haul and shuttle.
News: UNEXMIN: An Autonomous Underwater Explorer for Flooded Mines
Thirteen organisations from seven countries across Europe are collaborating in an ambitious project to develop a submersible robotic system for surveying and exploration of flooded mines. The €5 million project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research programme, includes the development of a Robotic Explorer (UX-1) for autonomous 3D mine mapping to gather valuable…
Wealden Cave and Mine Society Wins Radiocarbon Dating Award
In the summer of 2017, I was made aware of a scheme to encourage community archaeological groups to submit material for radiocarbon dating. The scheme is known as the Community Archaeology Radiocarbon Dating (CARD) Fund, and there is a simple online application process for suggesting suitable items for dating. The Wealden Cave and Mine Society…
Incident 3/2018 – Jan. 17th Wed. 12.45 Cross of Greet, Lythe Fell, Lancashire – Mountain Rescue
A call was received by Bowland Pennine MRT from Lancashire Police to a vehicle and three occupants stranded in snow near the Cross of Greet. BPMRT used Sarloc (a mobile phone tracking app) to identify that the vehicle was in CRO’s area, and passe…
Newsflash: Water Release in the Mellte River Affecting Porth yr Ogof on 24th January 2018
Information has been received from Robert Griffiths at Welsh Water/Dwr Cymru that they will be carrying out a scour test at 10am on the morning of the 24/01/2018 as part of their inspections. This may have an impact on Porth yr Ogof. For safety reasons, cavers are advised to avoid the cave and the river…
Draenen – The Geryon
Team: Claire Vivian and Tarquin Wilton-JonesTime: 12 hours. (Saturday 6th January) It all started off so well! Wake up a 5.30am. Yes. Taxi to train station at 6am. Yes. Catch train to Cardiff at 6.30am. Yes. Then things started to go wrong. Leave Neath…
OFD1 to Cwm Dwr
OFD1 to Cwm Dwr – Sun 10 DecemberTeam: Jo White, Helen Hooper, Andy Jones, Darren Mackenzie, Lee Smith, Ariana PrestonTime: 4 hoursNew SWCC provisional member Ariana Preston tells us about her first OFD through-trip. All photos by Darren Mackenzie Our…
Rock of the day
Found last weekend during digging activities by Jonathon, another cobble of lias, with striations etched out along laminations and cleavage (?). This weekend, Brockers recovered this fragmented stalagmite from within the sediment as digging progressed.
13th January 2018
With Brockers, Jonathon and Nick. On the surface, prior to venturing underground, the drier bags were collected, shaken to remove any loose sediment, packed-up and dispatched into the cave, ready to be re-filled. A rather subdued Brockers, suffering…
11th January 2018
With Jonathon, Brockers, Nick and Mike M. Jonathon up-front digging, Brockers clearing away the filled bags to Nick, on the slippery slope, Mike was on top of the slope, loading the skip to me, on the haul and shuttle. It’s still wet and muddy.
Incident 2/2018 – Jan. 9th Wed. 12.45 Thornton Force, Nr. Ingleton, North Yorkshire – Mountain Rescue
The team were called by Yorkshire Ambulance Service to assist a walker (f,26) who had fallen and sustained chest injuries whilst undertaking the Waterfalls Walk. Team members arrived on scene and after verifying that the casualty was able to walk with …
Holmebank Chert Mine
Holmebank Chert Mine Fan Entrance lock installation 9th January 2018 Today I was up at Holmebank Chert Mine near Bakewell on behalf of the Derbyshire Caving Association and the Peak Instructed Caving Affiliation. One of the access points to the …
Incident 1/2018 – Jan. 8th Mon. 13.10 Moughton Scar, Crummackdale, North Yorkshire – Animal Rescue
The team’s first call of 2018 occurred when we were contacted by a local farmer, concerned for a sheep that had become stuck about 40 foot up a crag. A small team attended and met with the farmer, and then proceeded to extricate the sheep.
6th January 2018
With Jonathon, Jake, Nick and Brockers. Festivities over, things return to normality. My turn up front, digging; Jonathon, after three days on his sick-bed had wrested himself away to attend, stood in the ‘drippiest’ spot and cleared away the filled…
A Sterling Job!
December 31st 2017 was a wonderful example of SWCC members coming together and proving that many hands make light of hard work. So read all about it or even better watch the video!Ashford Price, the owner of Dan-Yr-Ogof show cave had very generously of…
