In this newsletter…

BCRA Field meeting. Saturday/Sunday 29/30 June 2019 in Alston, Cumbria

This weekend field meeting is entitled “Hypogenic Caves of the North Pennines UNESCO Global Geopark”. This is a joint meeting of the British Cave Research Association (BCRA) and The North Pennines UNESCO Global Geopark (NPUGG). It will be based at Nenthead Village Hall, Nenthead, Alston, Cumbria, CA9 3PH.

The attendance fee is £10 per day or £15 for the weekend. The meeting will comprise a series of talks and field visits. Bunkhouse accommodation has been reserved nearby and should be booked in advance. Camping and camper-van hookups are also available.

This joint field meeting will be an opportunity for cavers, cave scientists, geologists, mine history specialists, quaternary scientists and local residents to gather and share knowledge and enthusiasm for this special but relatively little-visited location. There are several fine cave systems in the North Pennines but the region is most notable for hosting the longest and most complex maze caves in Britain. In contrast to the majority of British caves which are epigenic (formed by descending waters) the maze caves are of hypogenic origin, that is they were formed by rising waters. As such they have no connection to the present land surface and are only accessible because they were intersected by lead miners.

For further information, please see the information sheet and booking form posted to our News Forum. The documents includes timetable, and information on how to book and pay for your place in advance. For late information, the best place to look is probably our Facebook page.

BCRA Field meeting. Saturday 27 April 2019 at Poole’s Cavern, Buxton

This one-day field meeting will be held at our new British Cave Monitoring Centre, situated at Poole’s Cavern, Buxton, on Saturday 27 April.

During the morning there will be four talks and during the afternoon there will be three activities: a tour of Poole’s Cavern viewing instrumentation; a session in front of the computer in the data centre and a walk to the two main springs, Wye Head and Otter Hole.

Unfortunately numbers are limited to a maximum of 27 (three groups of nine) and will be allocated in order of receipt with priority given to BCRA members. The limit is posed by the size of the lecture room and because Poole’s Cavern is a tourist cave that will be very busy on this Saturday at the end of Easter week. Anyone arriving on the day without having pre-booked will not be able to visit the cave unless they purchase a ticket and join a public tour.

For further information, please visit our News Forum.

Correspondent: David Gibson, BCRA Secretary