Covid continues to create certainty for events organisers, with some cancelled and others moving online, but there might be light at the end of the tunnel … unless it’s a caver coming the other way. Hidden Earth: the National Caving Conference The following announcement has been made by the Hidden Earth team: “We are sorry…
The following information has been provided by the Council of Southern Caving Clubs regarding access to Singing River Mine on Mendip.
In a world first, British caver, polar explorer and climate change scientist Gina Moseley is preparing to lead an expedition to the planet’s northernmost caves in Greenland. While the expedition will explore several caves, there is one giant cave in particular that Gina is captivated by. She first found out about it in a conversation…
The following note has been received from Dave King of ATLAS (the Association of Thrupe Lane Advanced Speleologists) “Following concerns and requests from local residents who have young children a CSCC padlock will be fitted to the entrance gate of Thrupe Lane Swallet. This will be fitted during the week commencing 14th June. Note that…
, If you want to know why a couple of Aussie cavers have had two new species of cave spider named after them get your mitts on the new issue of Descent, which brings you caving news from around the world. Descent 280 should now have reached you by now, but if not, it’s time…
It is an honour to have been given the opportunity to review Aquanaut, and to immerse myself in Rick Stanton’s account of his numerous cave diving exploits, and his unique perspective on the now universally acclaimed 2018 rescue of the Wild Boars from Tham Luang Nang Non in Thailand. Book reviews are not generally at…
A BCRA field trip to the karst of the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty will be held on Saturday 17th July, led by Phil Murphy. The striking landscape around Arnside and Silverdale in north west England consists of a series of partially-wooded limestone hills (knolls) separated by areas of water-logged low-lying ground,…
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…
The Thai cave rescue had everyone on the edge of their seats as what might have been the grimmest reality TV show ever was played out in the full spotlight of the world’s media. In Rick Stanton’s eagerly awaited autobiography, you can now read the inside story of the rescue and understand how Rick’s caving…
Descent 280 will be on its way shortly, so you’ll be able to relax after a caving trip with a beer and something to read. And take a moment to check your subscription is up to date! If you don’t already read Descent, we hope we can tempt you to start now. Finding cavers supporting…
The latest issue of Cave and Karst Science opens with a comparison of straw stalactites in caves and those beneath bridges and buildings. Later papers include work on conservation in the tropics, bears in late-glacial Yorkshire and an account of early speleobiological work. The issue contains four major papers. in the first, Garry K. Smith…
The European Speleological Federation have just released their April 2021 newsletter including news about the 2021 International Year of Caves and Karst and much more. You can download the English version from their website or simply read it below. The French version can be downloaded from here. To navigate through all six pages, hover over…
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…
The series of monthly talks by AditNow members continues on May 6th. As usual, it will be broadcast via the Zoom platform, details available in the Event Calendar. Mining historian Rob Vernon will speak on the subject of the Hathorn Davy Company of Leeds. This company manufactured and supplied mine pumping machinery for mines throughout…
It’s time to catch up with caving news from around the world again. There’s even a trip to Mars … Descent 279 should now have reached you by now, but if not, it’s time to head over to Wildplaces Publishing to subscribe or if you’re lucky enough to have a caving shop anywhere near you,…
Following the earlier report of a rockfall in the area of the Waterfall Climb in G.B. Cavern, Mendip, the following information has been received from Charterhouse Caving Company Ltd. Following the rockfall notified and publicised in early February, a further inspection trip was scheduled for 6 April, following the relaxation of covid restrictions. On 5th…
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…
Yorkshire CRO have warned of a potentially lethal rockfall in Wretched Rabbit on Casterton Fell.
The fourth monthly talk in a series by AditNow members is at 20:30 on April 1st. As usual, it will be broadcast via the Zoom platform, details available in the Event Calendar. Chris Jones will be speaking on the iron-mining heritage of the Furness area in Cumbria. These talks have proved to be popular and…
Descent 279 will be on its way shortly, and with some light at the end of the tunnel, this is a great time to catch up with news at home and abroad so get ready for an excellent read, and take a moment to check your subscription is up to date! And if you don’t…
The hearthstone mines at Betchworth in Surrey will be the subject of the next online presentation in the ongoing series by AditNow members. Darkness Below editor Peter Burgess will present the talk, which will describe the nature of the hearthstone trade, what it was used for, where it was found, and how it was extracted….
Another excellent issue from the Descent team is packed with interesting and exciting content including a trip in the “world’s largest cave”! As is so often the case now, Newsdesk starts with items about the current pandemic, including a catch-up on its effects on caving in the UK alongside some news about the international research…
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.
A rockfall has been reported in GB near the waterfall climb in Main Chamber. There has been a recent fall of mud, gravel and smallish boulders on the left (when viewed facing downstream) of the waterfall climb, near the bottom of Main Chamber. The wall above the last part of the climb (the big steps)…
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…
Mine explorers have found their favourite online communication channel out of action in recent days. The AditNow website was set up in 2005 by mine enthusiast Simon Lowe, as a place to share photos and information about the mines he and his friends were exploring. Since those early days, the website has grown into an…
Descent 278 will be out shortly, and although we’re back in lockdown again, there’s plenty to read about so do make sure your subscription is up to date! And if you don’t already read Descent, now is a really good time to start! In this issue there’s more news of the major breakthrough in Cussey…
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…
The latest issue of Cave and Karst Science kicks off with two detailed biological papers, detailing work in Meghalaya and the Caucasus. Other papers are based on work in the UK and include LiDAR survey, fracture displacement monitoring and Palaeoenvironmental studies. This issue contains six major papers. The first two are concerned with biological studies….
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…
In this newsletter: BCRA Caves and Karst online seminars, Publications, Membership Renewals, AGM Report, Cave Studies Booklets, BCRA’s Facebook page. BCRA Caves and Karst online seminars BCRA is arranging a series of monthly online seminars for 2021 in support of the International Year of Caves and Karst (IYCK). IYCK is an initiative of the International…
Despite the worldwide challenges of covid-19, 2020 was a busy year for caving news. We published four news round ups throughout the year, linked below, and here’s the last one for 2020. If you see anything you think we might have missed, do drop us a line. Many thanks to Herman de Swart for his…
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…
A friend reported a solo Three Peaks walker (m, 44) ‘lost . . . . cold, alone and disorientated . . . . with minimum food and not appropriately dressed . . . . approximately 500m from the top of Ingleborough and now lost’. T…
Descent 277 is now here. It’s yet another great issue from the Descent team with interesting and exciting content, including some great exploration stories. There is so much to tell that this issue has eight extra pages! We start with Newsdesk where, of course Covid-19 gets a mention or two. Probably the most useful is…
YAS asked for CRO’s assistance when a walker (f, 70) was reported to have fallen at the top of Malham Cove. Although she had sustained a painful shoulder injury, she was determined to set off to walk back down the steps at the side of the Cove, w…
A motorist called NYP when he and his partner became stuck in the first snow of the winter on the road to Deepdale/Dentdale, above Kingsdale Head. A small CRO team, in a Land Rover, soon recovered them and a supermarket delivery van. ‘CRO makes i…
The European Speleological Federation have just released their November 2020 newsletter including news about the 2021 International Year of Caves and Karst and the UIS Congress to be held in France in July 2021. You can download the English version from their website or simply read it below. The French version can be downloaded from…
As members were back at Clapham, cleaning the Whernside mud from equipment, a further call was received. A member of a family party (f, 13) was reported to have separated from her parents on Blea Moor at about 14.30. When the parents returned to their …
A walker (f, 14) slipped, then tumbled five or six metres down the steep path, where it leaves the Whernside summit ridge towards Bruntscar, sustaining head and possible elbow injuries. After assessment and treatment by a team doctor, she was ‘pa…
Two cavers have snapped up some of the spotlight in a national writing and photography competition. Descent editor Chris Howes won the photography category and Chris Scaife was highly commended in the technical feature category in the annual contest run by the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild. It was a sixth award for Descent editor…
Descent 277 will be on its way soon, and despite a second lockdown, there’s plenty of news plus reports of some very significant breakthroughs around the country so check your subscription is up to date! And if you don’t already read Descent, now is a really good time to start! In Derbyshire, exploration has…
NYP asked for assistance in finding someone, believed to be at risk, missing in the Airton area since about 15.40. However, just as the first team member arrived on scene, police officers found her ‘safe and well’, so team members stood dow…
Delegates from more than 30 countries came together virtually to take part in the 31st Cave Science Symposium of the British Cave Research Association on 14th November 2020. Peter Burgess reports from the comfort of his armchair … The meeting was arranged and hosted online jointly by Northumbria University and the British Geological Survey. Mike…
Bowland Pennine MRT asked for CRO’s support when they found themselves short-handed on the way to an incident in Gisburn Forest. A cyclist (m, 30) had come off his mountain bike, sustaining a shoulder injury. However, as a CRO controller was text…
A walker (f, ) slipped on the steep (temporary diversion) path on the Chapel-le-Dale side of Ingleborough, sometime after 15.00 hrs. As neither the injured person nor her father could get a signal on their mobile phones, a passer-by called 999 and aske…
The BCRA Cave Science Symposium is being held by Zoom on Saturday 14th November. You can still register for free. BCRA Newsletter In this newsletter: Cave Science Symposium – how to register, Annual General Meeting – how to register, BCRA Review 2019 – now published. Cave Science Symposium Our annual cave science symposium will be…
Following the announcement of the new lockdown measures, the Council of Southern Caving Clubs (CSCC) and Mendip Cave Rescue (MCR) have issued a joint statement to southern cavers. This statement has also been endorsed by the Charterhouse Caving Company Ltd and the Fairy Cave Quarry Management Committee.
The results are in! No, we don’t mean the results of the US elections, we mean the results of the 2020 BCA AGM voting and ballot. Before the BCA’s recent online AGM it was announced that all elections and subsequent ballot on proposals and constitutional amendments would be dealt with by electronic voting after the…
At 6pm on Saturday 1st November BCA’s webservers were taken offline for essential maintenance by their web hosting provider. This included the voting website for the online ballot, and so BCA have extended the voting deadline by 24 hours to midnight tonight, Sunday 1st November (23:59, 01/11/2020). BCA will also delay the results release by…
Owing to COVID19, there will not be an event held in the Hunters for 2020 for the presentation of the Silver Shovel for Mendip and Scotland finds, but we don’t want the finds since 1st November 2019 to 31st October 2020 to go unrewarded and unnoticed! Our plan is to create a short video for…
Alan Jeffreys dips into his bookshelf again to take a look at another caving classic. Back in the day when I was just starting out on a speleological career, seeking books from public libraries almost inevitably involved reading French authors. Although there was a smattering of British volumes, most of them dated from the turn…
In this newsletter: Cave Science Symposium, Annual General Meeting, BCRA Review 2019 now in press. Cave Science Symposium Our annual cave science symposium will be an online event this year, taking place via Zoom on Saturday 14 November. Details are being finalised and will be posted to our social media outlets as soon as possible….
Cumbria Police were contacted by the wife of a caver who was apparently overdue after setting off to do a through trip from Lancaster Hole to Wretched Rabbit. Having passed the call to the team, neither the Police nor team controllers were able to call…
Since summer, cavers have been making the most of the relaxation of lockdown rules. However, with local lockdown areas increasingly being established as winter approaches, it is more important than ever to plan activities as safely as possible to minimise the risk of spreading Covid-19. The resources to check are listed below: Current lockdown rules…
A group of five walkers (m 48; m, f, f, f, all 20/21), having started the Three Peaks Walk in Horton in Ribblesdale at 04.00, reached Chapel le Dale at 16.00, then climbed Ingleborough as their last peak, but reported themselves lost on the descent. NY…
