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. […]
Vince, Nick, Jake, Duncan, Jon and Tav. A grey, overcast morning but it seemed that the heavy rain had passed over and would not spoil the lunchtime picnic. Morning session, me and Nick digging, Jon and Tav clearing away, Jake and Duncan on the surface. We decided to start removing the lower bench to widen […]
UWFRA forwarded an alert from North Yorkshire Police regarding two Three Peaks walkers who had become separated from a bigger group after losing the path on Ingleborough. Reportedly, they had made their 999 call from a mobile phone with 1% battery. Whe…
Vince, Jake, Nick, Tav, Jon, Brockers and Duncan. Following my 2nd covid vaccination jab on Tuesday I have been suffering with an ‘iffy’ shoulder, hauling stuff out to the surface and digging is off the agenda for me. I settled down at the bottom of the entrance and transferred the spoil from skip to skip, […]
Vince, Brockers, Jake, Nick, Tav, and later, Caroline. A lovely sunny day perfect for digging, and long may it continue. Tav turned up laden with digging skips and a rope net expertly constructed by Dave Brook and kindly donated to the cause by Alison Moody. These were to be put into use as soon as […]
Vince, Jake, Brockers and Tav. A depleted team today, some have gone diving and another has vehicular and mobility problems. No matter just means we will have to stack stuff in the entrance and work in shifts. All underground, Jake digging, Tav and Brockers clearing away the filled bags and I stacked the spoil in […]
Vince, Jake, Brockers, Nick, Tav, Jon, Duncan, and Mike. A ‘full’ complement of participants today, we split into two groups; one group on the surface consisting of me, Jake and Brockers, the second group underground. The extra pair of hands on the surface enabled spoil heap management to be undertaken and the slope was redistributed. […]
To see a summary of incidents attended for 2020, as well as our annual report, please click on the link below. Usually we try to make the report cost neutral – the fees paid by our advertisers usually cover most if not all of the cost of producin…
YAS called CRO following a report that a child (m, 8) had a leg injury and was on the ‘side of a cliff, waterfall at bottom, halfway up on rocky verge, stuck unable to get down, equivalent of 4 floors up’. With other members on stand-by and…
A sport cyclist (m, 18) landed badly from a home-made ‘jump’, complaining of rib, face, shoulder and back pain. Arriving at the accident site, the YAS paramedics asked for CRO’s assistance and equipment, in order to immobilise the cas…
A walker (f, 23) twisted an ankle on rough and boggy terrain, so that she was unable to put weight on the injured leg. A companion rang the Police for help and CRO team members responded. After assessment by a team doctor, the patient was stretchered t…
At last breaking free from lockdown and the digging team assembled for the first time in 2021. After a quick chat underground, I returned to the surface with Brockers to haul-out and empty bags, etc. The rest of the team mixed it up underground and shared the duties. The filled bags emerged from the cave […]
Vince and Roz.
Vince and Roz
The team has sadly decided that this years challenge will not now go ahead. You can read more here.
Almost 80 years after its discovery, a large shell from the ornate Marsoulas Cave in the Pyrenees has been studied by a multidisciplinary team: it is believed to be the oldest wind instrument of its type.
North Yorkshire Police requested CRO’s assistance after they found a missing person (Sadly, deceased.) at the foot of Malham Cove. Team members searched an area at the top of the Cove for personal effects and carried the deceased by stretcher, th…
Along with representatives of all the other MRTs operating across the County, CRO’s ‘Silver’ reps were alerted to a flooding forecast (‘Storm Christoph’) through the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum. They put the Org…
A four-year study concludes that the fungal disease, white-nose syndrome, poses a severe threat to many western North American bats.
A walker (m, 24) called for help, saying he was stranded on the summit of Whernside, couldn’t find his way off and couldn’t breathe, because of his asthma. A small group of CRO members set off on foot and a controller telephoned the ‘…
Two visitors (m, f), walking from Clapham, reached the summit shelter on Ingleborough, but were unable to find the way off at dusk, in low cloud and on trampled snow and ice. A small team drove to the top of Fell Lane, Ingleton, then continued up on fo…
Just me today. Some spoil management required, the morning spent trying to extricate my boots from especially glutinous mud!
A low turnout for the first digging session of 2021 but, not wholly unexpected. The UK government has imposed more corona-virus pandemic restrictions, that includes an ever-fluctuating and rather confusing “Tier” system. And, the weather is not great, temperatures are just about at freezing point or below and the roads are icy. As a follow […]
A walker (f, 50) slipped on steep, frozen ground, sustaining a suspected ankle fracture. The first team members on scene kept her warm until others arrived. Then, after being given pain relief and attention from a YAS paramedic and team doctor, she was…
Lancashire Constabulary asked CRO to investigate a request for help when a man and two small children became stranded in their car on Lythe Fell (on the High Bentham to Slaidburn road, 8 km / 5 miles South of High Bentham). The duty controller confirme…
Part of the attraction of caving for me is pitting myself against nature and these 5 caving trips are amongst the most technically difficult trips I’ve done in my thirty plus years of cave exploration.Completing each trip in the knowledge that I’m one …
