The BCA Newsletter 37 – February 2020 is now available. Editor David Rose has put out a bumper edition which is both visually attractive, thanks to laying out work by Matt Ewles and Gary Douthwaite, and packed full of BCA news and other features.
There are two main feature articles – a piece by Andy Sparrow about some of the classic through trips in the Dent de Crolles system in the Chartreuse massif near Grenoble, and a meditation on the art of digging by inveterate Dales excavator Frank Pearson.
The editorial, In Praise of Old Farts, celebrates the fact that so many cavers stay active into late middle age or longer, suggesting that this is evidence of caving’s multi-faceted fascination – the reason why more young people now seem to be attracted to it to.
A late news item concerns the long-running debate over access to caves under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 – Natural Resources Wales have just issued a definitive statement to Cambrian Caving Council’s Access Officer Stuart France that in their view, caving is NOT an open air activity, as defined by the Act, and hence not within its provisions. No doubt this will be discussed when the BCA Council meets next on April 4.
The Newsletter is available at the BCA website and by email to members who have opted in. Printed hard copies are being distributed to shops and clubs.
Correspondent: David Rose.
