Mendip Cave Rescue held a rescue practice for the Stone Mine members in Swwan Mine on Saturday 5th March 2022. This was a practice aimed more at the stone mines area, concentrating on the command & control and communication aspects of a search of a…
Alan Gray, the Secretary of Mendip Cave Registry and Archive, has been collating reports of all caving rescue and incidents located in the Mendip Cave Rescue region, from early reports of an incident in Pen Park Hole in 1669 through to the current day….
Vince, Tav, Brockers, Nick, Jon, and Jake Full team available today which means the spoil will be moved, in one go, from dig to surface. At the current dig, down in the deep Soft South at the end of the NE passage below Trick or Treat, Tav worked away in the righthand corner, loosening sediment, […]
With Jon, Jake, and Nick As planned, arrived at HR early with drill and plugs/feathers. Down to the deep Soft South and along to the end of the NE passage and the current dig. There are a couple of large boulders left behind from previous digging sessions that require some reduction in size. The boulders […]
Following on from the enjoyable quiz night that was run pre-pandemic, Mendip Cave Rescue will be running another Cavers Quiz Night at the Hunters Lodge Inn, Priddy on Saturday 18th March 2023, starting at 19:30. All questions will be (vaguely) caving r…
At 10:30 on Saturday 3rd December 2022, an experienced male caver slipped in Goatchurch Cavern, dislocating his shoulder. Mendip Cave Rescue members were already at Goatchurch Cavern, setting up for a training session. The training session was quickly …
At 10:30 on Saturday 3rd December 2022, an experienced male caver slipped in Goatchurch Cavern, dislocating his shoulder. Mendip Cave Rescue members were already at Goatchurch Cavern, setting up for a training session. The training session was quickly …
With Jon, Nick, Brockers, and Mike The boulders bite back! I was upfront digging under the pissing tree, well actually, somewhere close to Trick or Treat, at the current end of the NE passage in the deep Soft South. Jon was next in line filling bags and shifting away the rocks as I loosened the […]
With Brockers and Jake A bit thin on the ground today but I am sure we will manage to get plenty done. Brockers and Jake headed to the Soft South to start digging, I went in another direction making my way towards Trick or Treat. Decided against going through Toil and Trouble so off to […]
Having descended through Lower Long Churn into Alum Pot, a caver (m, 38) fell a distance of up to 5 or 6m from the bottom pitch, sustaining suspected injuries to ankle, femur, lower back and chest. CRO members descended to the casualty, assessed his in…
Solo The plan was to break-up some large boulders left to one side underneath the pissing tree. The northside of the hill was blanketed in thick fog, however, gaining height onto the plateau the sun was shining and it was a pleasant drive over to the southside, still in sunshine. Got to the farm, changed, […]
29th November: Fog, frost, sunshine, and goats. A midday walk around Cheddar Gorge.
With Brockers, Mike, Duncan, and Jake Smaller team this weekend. Down at the current end of the NE passage in the deep Soft South, Brockers was busily digging underneath the pissing tree, Mike was clearing away the spoil back to the pot. I was on the slippery ledge (clipped in for safety), Duncan at the […]
A caver (m, 54), on an exchange trip from Lancaster Hole to Cow Pot, slipped from the traverse in Bridge Hall, sustaining a slight head injury and knocking himself out briefly on landing. A loose rock also fell, landing on the caver’s wrist, caus…
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 […]
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…
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 […]
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 […]
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…
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. […]
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 […]
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 …
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, […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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…
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 …
With Tav, Duncan, Jake, Jon, Brockers, and Nick Me and Tav on surface duties after digging last weekend, we alternated emptying bags, building a wall, and hauling. Duncan and Jake took up position at the bottom of the entrance and the junction, respectively. Brockers was in isolation on the ledge, leaving Jon and Nick to […]
CRO were called out by Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) to assist them with an incident about half a mile along the Pennine Bridleway from the road head at Clay Pits Plantation. When CRO arrived we found that YAS had been able to drive their off-road …
With Tav, Jon, Jake, Duncan, Nick, Brockers, and Caroline The first task of the session was completed by the Technical Manager, Brockers installed a swivel on the pulley attached to the pot hauling system. Me and Tav were digging, alternating the filling of bags, and hauling the bucket up to Jon on the slippery ledge. […]
The recently discovered Sherford Cave appears to be hypogenic in origin with later epigenic processes evident. There is also evidence for the effects of Pleistocene frost and ice freeze/thaw processes throughout the extensive and complex network of cave passages. The cave and doline entrance is partially filled by talus (scree) material containing a Devensian (MIS […]
With Jon, Jake, Tav, Brockers, and Nick Brockers and Nick down in the deep Soft South, Tav on the ledge, Jake at the junction, me at the base of the entrance leaving Jon on the surface. New bags had been supplied to add to the c.100 we already had, it was going to be a […]
Three cavers (m,22; f,21; m,21) were reported overdue on a Peterson Pot to Pippikin Pot through trip (with Mistral Hole as an alternative early exit, if short of time). Having sent a PhoneFind text and confirmed that their car was at Bull Pot Farm, the…
Mendip Cave Rescue were called by Avon and Somerset Police via SARCALL at 21:24 on 26th January 2022, concerning a caver physically stuck in Reads Cavern in Burrington Combe. A party of 7 had entered the cave, and one caver had attempted an awkward squ…
With Jon, Brockers, Jake, Duncan, Nick, and Tav After digging last weekend, me and Jon were on the surface; Duncan was at the bottom of the entrance, resting his knee following a trip into Wookey 22 yesterday. Brockers and Nick were digging, this left Jake and Tav to occupy the ledge and the junction (I […]
I was on a trip to the Peak District attend the BCRA Cave Science Symposium being held at Hulland Ward, near Ashbourne. Decided to stay at the Orpheus Caving Club hut. The passing of Storm Arwen sort of changed our plans and we spent nearly 5 hours digging snow off the track leading up the […]
With Brockers, Jake, Jon, and Nick Earlier start for me, some large boulders to start reduction to more manageable pieces. Underground about 09:00am. The largest of the boulders was much thicker than expected and only achieved in trimming off the edges. So, concentrated my efforts on the slightly smaller rock and almost finished when Brockers […]
A caver (m, 38) fell about 8m, sustaining multiple injuries in the cave complex of Ogof Ffynnon Ddu, near Penwyllt, at the head of the Swansea Valley, South Wales, at lunchtime on Saturday. South & Mid-Wales Cave Rescue Team, realising the potentia…
Mendip Cave Rescue were informed at 16:57 on Saturday 6th November 2021 and put on standby for a major incident in Ogof Ffynnon Ddu (“OFD”), a major cave system in South Wales. A caver had sustained significant multiple injuries after a fall, at approx…
Precambrian cratons — some of Earth’s oldest rocks — were uninhabitable for microbes for much of their existence, with the longest period of habitability not much beyond a billion years, and many only for the past 50 million to 300 million years, acc…
Mendip Cave Rescue were called by Avon and Somerset Police via SARCALL at 00:49 on 21st October 2021, concerning an overdue party visiting Eastwater Cavern in Priddy. A mixed group of 5 cavers were trapped beyond the entrance boulder ruckle due to risi…
Vince, Brockers, Jon, Jake, Duncan, Nick, and [French] Matt (?) As planned, I got to the farm early, changed, kit sorted and walked up across the fields to the cave. Underground by 0900hrs. Set to work with the plugs & feathers reducing the sizeable boulders at the bottom of the pot in the deep Soft […]
With Jake, Jon, Brockers, and Tav. Jon and Tav took the first digging shift, Jake and Brockers shuttling the spoil from the ledge to the bottom of the entrance, I was on the surface. 100 filled bags were hauled out of the cave, emptied onto the spoil heaps, and even managed to add a few […]
Team: Duncan Hornby, Simon Lowis, David Mullin, Claire Vivian, Clive Westlake, Tomasz ZalewskiDates: 28th August 2021Passage in Little Neath River Cave. Photo by Tomasz Zalewski.So the 28th August 2021 was a big day for SWCC, it was the 75th anniversar…
With Brockers, Jake, Tav, Nick, and Duncan (for the morning session). A bit of fettling of the pulley system and hangers beforehand, some discussion about the best position for pulling up the skip, we settled on the diggers hauling the spoil from the bottom of the pot. Jake and Tav were digging for the morning […]
Vince, Brockers, Jake, Jon, and Tav. Me, underground by 09:00 as planned, got the kit laid out and set to work breaking up boulders. Sometime after 10:00 Brockers turned up and made a start on bagging up the loose gravel and fine sediment. Then Jake arrived followed by Jon and a bit later, Tav. Jake […]
A farmer had seen one of his sheep, apparently stranded on a ledge of Mealbank Quarry, on Sunday. He kept trying to tempt it back to safety by shaking a bag of sheep nuts, but eventually asked for CRO’s assistance. A small team set up an abseil, …
Solo Finished work at home at a reasonable time, so I decided to head over to HR and reduce the boulders there to manageable pieces rather than going over early Saturday to do it. The large boulder turned out to be a bit of a pig – it was heavily mineralised and just wouldn’t fracture […]
Vince, Brockers, Tav, Nick, Duncan. Jon, and Jake. Met with Brockers at the farm 08:30 where we got our respective bits of kit together and walked up to the cave entrance. Underground by 09:00. I got on with the task of reducing boulders to a manageable size using plugs and feathers while Brockers sorted out […]
With Brockers, Jake, Jon, Nick, Tav, and Duncan. Morning session: Tav and Jon digging in the deep (and getting deeper) Soft South, Jake on the ledge hauling the skip up out of the pit (c.100+ loads – top effort!) and transferring the contents to the next skip. I was at the junction hauling away the […]
A visitor (f, 20) slipped, while about 300m into White Scar Cave, sustaining a lower leg injury. Show cave staff assessed and treated the casualty’s injured leg, but were unable to evacuate her from the cave. Having splinted her leg, CRO team me…
Vince, Jon, Jake, Brockers, Nick, Tav, and Duncan Morning session: Brockers digging, aided, and abetted by Nick; me and Jon were hauling the skips along the passage from the Soft South back to the entrance. Jake and Tav were on surface, they were joined later in the morning by Duncan. The filled bags were moved […]
The next MCR AGM is to be held on Tuesday 15th June 2021. MCR meetings are usually held in the Hunters Lodge Inn, but due to the current Covid19 restrictions, this AGM will be held online. Please contact the secretary is you wish to attend this meeting…
A walker (m 55) phoned for help, saying that he had collapsed, felt weak and had a pain radiating from the upper left hand side of his chest. He had been walking alone and CRO was able to confirm the walker’s “off-piste” location at t…
Vince, Jake, Nick, Tav, Brockers and Duncan. Some decent weather at last and surface duties were a popular option today. Morning session: me and Jake were on the surface; Brockers and Duncan were digging with Nick and Tav clearing away. Now it had dried out a bit, some spoil heap re-distribution could be carried out. […]
