With Tav, Jon,
Dunc, Nick, Jake and Brockers
Jon’s turn in the
“pond”, Dunc chose to be next in-line again and took up position in the small
“chamber” just beyond the former “pinch-point”. It took some time to assemble
the pump and drain away the …
The team were contacted about concerns for a walker doing the 3 peaks who was 2 hours overdue, having not returned home at the expected time, and had also not responded to messages to his phone. Whilst initial enquiries were being made, the walker made…
Solo
Just a brief visit
underground to collect my camera that I managed to leave behind yesterday. Took
a few snaps of the magnificent spoil-heap.
The duty controller was contacted by a team caver staying at Bull Pot Farm to inform of an overdue group of cavers, doing a through trip from Wretched Rabbit to Lancaster Hole. Other cavers at Bull Pot had established that the party had made it to the …
With Jake, Tav,
Nick, Brockers and Duncan
After some heavy
rain during the week, it was obvious to us that Tav’s pump was going to be
required. The pump was set-up and proved to be very effective, the water soon
was drained away.
The water gone…
With Tav,
Brockers, Jon, Nick and Jake
The induced rapid
speleogenesis applied last Sunday morning had the desired effect and we were
presented by a considerable pile of fractured rock and gravel. This took quite
some time and effort to remove. I …
A climber (m, 55) suffered a medical event, fell from the crux of his climb and was left suspended, semi-conscious, in his harness on a narrow ledge. CRO members were able to lower him off so that YAS paramedics could make a preliminary examination. He…
A visitor (m, 52) was reported to have collapsed and lost, then regained consciousness at the top of the steps, above Thornton Force, on the Waterfalls Trail. He was uninjured and declined to be carried, by stretcher, to a team Land Rover, waiting on T…
Two cavers were reported to be ‘trapped’, two hours after entering Roaring Hole, near Southerscales, Ingleton. Ten minutes later they were reported to be on the surface and walking back down to Chapel le Dale, so no further action was requ…
Some Route Finding and Learning Surveys.Having been with Dudley Caving Club for around 5 or 6 months, and getting plenty of trips under my belt, I recently decided its time for me start learning some of the main cave systems with the hope of starting t…
Solo
Another glorious
day weather-wise and it was a warm walk up the hill to the cave with kit.
Lowered the bags down the entrance, then pushed them through to the north-west
passage. There, the bags were clipped together to form a train and I dra…
With Nick, Tav,
Brockers, Jonathon, Jake and Alex
A strong team
today, seven of us. Note that I’ve resisted the temptation to add the prefix
“magnificent”!
For the fourth
week in a row, Nick was dispatched to his pond, although this was almost …
Team: Andy Freem, Antonia Freem, Tim Lewingdon, Andrea Lewingdon, Brendan Hoare, Chloe Thomas, Collin Hoare, Duncan Hornby, Liz Bristow, Mark Lee, Tenzin Lee, Matthew Jones, Jill Brunsdon, Paul Meredith, Haley Meredith, Phill Thomas, Sanita Lustika, Si…
With Nick,
Jonathon, Alex and Jake
The plan was to
continue to enlarge the north-west passage. Unfortunately, Tav didn’t make it
today so, neither did the pump. Nick was, sort of, volunteered to bail-out the
pond of his own making. When he got the…
With Nick,
Jonathon, Tav and a massive welcome back to Jake
A jovial group of
diggers ventured up the hill from the farm to the cave entrance. The loose
bags, left-out to dry at the end of the last digging session, were packed-up
and dispatched to…
Due to some adverse
weather conditions, quite a lot of snow, digging activities for today were
cancelled. Jonathon made a gallant effort to make the Hunter’s but was thwarted
when he came across a damsel in distress on the Old Bristol Road. I think s…
The discovery of a new to science species of rare and primitive arthropod in a cave that was covered by a thick ice sheet until recently is certain to raise questions. Researchers describe a new species of cave-dwelling, insect-like dipluran from the i…
A couple (m 26, f 25), became benighted when trying to detour around the steep crags below Swine Tail (and without map, torch or compass, or winter gear) lost their bearings. A small team was sent to the location given by the Phonefind facility availab…
Earlier today I gained the 50,000th subscriber to my YouTube channel at youtube.com/keithedwardscaver. Channels with more than 100,000 subscribers are awarded a silver wall plaque.In January my subscribers went up by 2,448 – my largest monthly rise, if…
A walker (m,72) slipped and fell on the limestone pavement and sustained a suspected fractured right ankle. The team responded and splinted the injured limb, and then put the casualty onto a stretcher for a carry to the team vehicle. He was then transp…
A team member came across a walker, one of a group of 5, clearly showing signs of mild hypothermia. The casualty was provided with additional warm clothing, food and drink, and the team member requested assistance in getting the casualty off the hill. …
Thanks to Gina Moseley we have some more dates on speleothems sampled from Hallowe’en Rift. 230TH Age (yr BP) Corrected HR1-T 215,221 +/- 2476 HR1-B 219,378 +/- 2429 correlates with MIS7 HR2-T 125,341 +/- 1532 HR2-B 126,834 +/- 2197 correlates with…
With Brockers,
Jonathon, Nick and Tav
After the lurgy
and a week at the University of Sheffield Zooarchaeology Lab, it was good to
get back into Hallowe’en Rift for my first digging session of 2019.
The plan this
session was to continue the enl…
A quad bike rider assisting in a game shoot, rolled his vehicle and sustained back injuries. The team were called by North West Ambulance Service whilst incident number 4 was ongoing, and initially requested to standby, as both a road ambulance and the…
The team were called by North Yorkshire Police to a walker who had slipped whilst descending Whernside, and sustained a suspected ankle fracture. Team members found the casualty being assisted down the hill by his companions, and assessed the casualty,…
A walker (m, 40) slipped on ice and heard a snap from his right ankle, just below the summit of Pen y ghent, on the path towards Hull Pot. CRO members responded, but as many of the team’s most active members were just beginning a day’s casu…
Rumers have been circulating for a while now about a redesigned Petzl Stop being in development and test. The first pictures have now emerged following an expo in China. Thanks to Qi Woo for posting these on the Rope Test … Continue reading →
A mountain biker (m, 60) hit a patch of ice while descending towards Helwith Bridge on an evening ride. He was catapulted from his cycle and dislocated a shoulder. Team members administered analgesics and immobilised the injury, before helping him into…
Biologists have discovered three new species of groundwater salamander in Central Texas, including one living west of Austin that they say is critically endangered. They also determined that an already known salamander species near Georgetown is much m…
The traditional annual roundup video from Caver Keith Studios. 2018 was an eventful year in which I celebrated the 10th anniversary of my first upload and had many more views than any other year, but amongst the highs there was one slight disappointmen…
I had succumbed,
like so many others, to the lurgy and so, was out of action. Jonathon sent the
following summary of the morning’s activity at Hallowe’en Rift, the first session
of the year:
“We were down to
two diggers – Jon and Paul.
Thinking…
A walker (f 69) slipped and fell on the limestone pavement at the top of Malham Cove. Visibility was very poor due to low cloud and the pavement was extremely slippery. The casualty was located by CRO team members and treated for a suspected lower leg …
With Jon and Brockers
Finally managed to hand-over goodwill bag to Mark, who was in the
yard when we arrived at the farm.
Up the hill at Hallowe’en Rift, the loose bags were packed up and
the packs stored underground. We decided to start the qu…
27 th
December 2018: with Roz, Brockers, Nick,
Tav and Jon
Had purchased some
supplies and a good team assembled to help carry the equipment, including drill
bag, sundries bag, drill-bit tube, wire and a 3.5m aluminium ladder, into the
cave. …
A walker (m, 52) reported himself (and dog) ‘lost in fog and pitch black’, near the Ingleborough summit shelter. He was escorted down to a team vehicle, near Crina Bottom, to be brought off the hill. Avoidable. Volunteer time: 17 hours
A walker (f, 46) slipped on mud, on the path from Lower Winskill down to Langcliffe, hearing a ‘snap’ as she injured an ankle. Having given her pain relief, team members put the patient into an insulated casualty bag then carried and sledge…
With Jon, Brockers and Nick.
Nick turned-up with a large, heavy bar to try and deal with an
obstruction underground. At Hallowe’en Rift, Nick went ahead to attempt to
remove the obstructing slab of rock, although he required some assistance to
get…
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has agreed a new Code of Conduct for walkers undertaking the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge, with advice for walkers and event organisers. As the team who respond to the many calls we receive from participants o…
With Jon, Duncan, Nick and Brockers
It was a wet and miserable morning with a cold south-easterly
wind, not a good day to spend too long on the surface, everyone underground.
Brockers digging with assistance from Duncan, Nick was at the mid-way ha…
North Yorkshire Police contacted the Duty Controller when nine cavers were reported overdue from a trip into Aquamole Pot. However, the call was cancelled only a few minutes later, as the group had emerged safely, but with no immediate phone signal. V…
With Jon, Brockers and Nick
Jon digging, Brockers assisting, I went to the mid-way hauling
position because Nick had gone on a quest to explore the ‘north-west passage’.
Bags and the occasional rock were temporarily stashed at the mid-way point
un…
6th December 2018: With Duncan, Jonathon,
Nick, Tav and Alex
The trip through Chamber 20
didn’t appear to be much wetter than last week, in spite of the recent rain. At
the sand dig, the water level had risen c.150-200mm and was encroaching into…
A walker (f, 60) slipped on wet limestone, twisting her knee, so that she couldn’t walk. Having immobilised her leg, CRO members helped her onto a stretcher and sledged/carried her to a team vehicle, then drove her down to Malham car park, to mee…
Volcanoes are not fed by molten magma formed in large chambers finds a new study, overturning classic ideas about volcanic eruptions.
After being rocked gently to sleep by the horrid weather Jess and I awoke refreshed and ready to rumble.We were designated Duty officer this morning and so begun gently with a cuppa and taking the hut fees.Once all had paid up we begun the search for t…
The team were contacted by North Yorkshire Police after a walker reported herself lost and requesting advice, having set out to walk Pen-y-ghent. Despite a poor signal, the police control staff were able to get a location for the caller before losing t…
A call was received from North Yorkshire Police to reports of a man suffering shortness of breath and palpitations. Just after the team was mobilised, and as the first team member arrived at the location, the team was stood down, as it became clear our…
With Nick,
Brockers, Jonathon, Duncan and Alex
Alex, Brockers, Jonathon and Duncan disappeared underground to get
the digging underway and started to fill bags and shift rocks. Nick remained on
the surface for a short time to build some wall, I pa…
Last weeks digging
session was abandoned for the pub when only three of us turned up at Wookey
Hole.
Better turn-out this
week, with Nick, Tav, Jonathon, Duncan, Mike and, course yours truly, all keen
and raring to go, unfortunately Roz got left b…
Shatter photo trip 28th Nov 2018We met up in the priddy good farm shop after the night before having a few pints at the Hunters for the digger awards. There was myself, Tash, Kermit, John and Bev were heading down shatter in fairy quarry, Mark, Jess, P…
Mendips Meet, 17-18 NovTeam: Bill Buxton, Celestine Crabbe, Andy Freem, Antonia Freem, Duncan Hornby, Stephen Johnson, George Linnane, Sanita Lustika, Phill Thomas, Claire Vivian, Clive Westlake. With Miri and Duncan Simey in support.This was the last …
Solo
A gentler, more considered solo digging trip to retrieve some
small mammal bones that Alex had noticed and pointed out on Saturday. The
remains are relatively recent. The animal bones were recorded (photographed)
in-situ before carefully lift…
With Alex, Jonathon, Duncan, Brockers and Nick
We continued the quest to the south-west. My turn to be up-front
digging, Alex was next in line and did some extra widening of the passage, Jonathon,
also moonlighting, in between skips, Duncan and Br…
Continuing our our recent trend of visiting caves new to us we decided on something a little out of the norm for the Mendips with an SRT trip in Rhino rift.Our weekend begun in the Hunters Inn where we met up with Mike, Paulina, Tash and Kay who had sp…
The fossil record of early hominins in South Africa is biased towards periods of drier climate, suggests a study of cave deposits. This finding suggests there are gaps in the fossil record, potentially obscuring evolutionary patterns and affecting our …
A sheep was reported to be stranded on a ledge about 30m up on the quarry face and may have been there for two days. A team member abseiled down to its level, but the combination of criss-crossing, vegetated ledges and a rather lively young ewe made ca…
Scientists are studying a guppy-sized, blind, translucent fish that lives in the cave systems of northern Mexico to figure out why some animals can regenerate their hearts, while others just scar.
With Brockers, Jonathon, Nick and Alex
While the empty bags were being removed from the drying line, I
took the opportunity to go underground and have a quick look at progress so
far. The enlargement of the south-west passage to hands and knees cr…
15th November 2018: with Jonathon, Mike, Nick and Alex Surprisingly, the sand
dig was dry and didn’t appear to have backed-up at all after the very heavy
rain last weekend. However. A seepage of water through the sediments in the
alcove had caused…
With Roz My 500th trip into Hallowe’en Rift.
The purpose of this trip was to try and capture some images of the
low stuff approaching An Unexpected Development, to show it how it really is. The
cave is still very dry. Got some good photos too. …
