The team were called by Yorkshire Ambulance Service to a walker (M 75) who had fallen and hit his head on some rocks in the vicinity of Gaping Gill. The first team members set off in CRO 4, our Honda Pioneer ATV, followed closely by more members in CRO…
The team were called by Yorkshire Ambulance Service to a walker (M 75) who had fallen and hit his head on some rocks in the vicinity of Gaping Gill. The first team members set off in CRO 4, our Honda Pioneer ATV, followed closely by more members in CRO…
As the vehicles returned to base from Incident 55, with Incident 56 ongoing the team received our fourth call of the evening, from North Yorkshire Police, alerting us to a party of three cavers (F 39, F 29, M 26) overdue on a trip through Long Churns d…
Whilst the Duty Controller was starting incident 55, a second call came from North Yorkshire Police (2 seconds between the police messages on the log!) requesting assistance to investigate a report of an injured walker (F) heading very slowly towards H…
As the team were returning to base from the previous incident one of the Assistant Controllers (Underground) who was staying at the Red Rose CPC hostel, at Bull Pot Farm, alerted the Duty Controller that a party of four cavers (all M in 50s) were overd…
The Team were called by North Yorkshire Police to assist with a visitor (F, 24) who had slipped whilst on the Waterfalls Trail and hurt her ankle. She was unable to put weight on the ankle or continue her walk. After an assessment by team RRMTs (Casual…
The team were called by North Yorkshire Police to a report of a walker that had fallen and injured themselves on the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail. As the Duty Controller was making initial enquiries with staff at the Waterfalls Trail they confirmed that t…
The team were called by North Yorkshire Police to a report of a walker that had fallen and injured themselves on the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail. As the Duty Controller was making initial enquiries with staff at the Waterfalls Trail they confirmed that t…
The team were called by Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) to assist with a visitor (f,28) who had fallen on the footpath downstream of the waterfall. It was reported that she was suffering neck and lower limb injuries and was having difficulty with bre…
The team were called by Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) to assist with a visitor (f,28) who had fallen on the footpath downstream of the waterfall. It was reported that she was suffering neck and lower limb injuries and was having difficulty with bre…
Alan Jeffreys heads over to the American mid-West for an enjoyable underground murder romp in company with an appropriately named main character. Crime fiction searches high and low for interesting murder locations, and Maidens of the Cave is no exception. After a suspicious death in an Indiana cave system, the FBI’s Illinois Forensics Branch in…
In just over two weeks time the Bristol Exploration Club (BEC) will be hosting the next Wessex Challenge at the Belfry on Mendip! The event will kick off from 3pm on Saturday 28th of June. The BEC promise the usual fun and games alongside an on-site bar and BBQ open to all. They will now…
A walker (m, 72) became unwell after climbing almost to the top of the steps up the side of Malham Cove. After assessment by YAS paramedics, he was walked very gently back down with support from team members. Accompanied by the paramedics, the walker w…
A walker (m, 72) became unwell after climbing almost to the top of the steps up the side of Malham Cove. After assessment by YAS paramedics, he was walked very gently back down with support from team members. Accompanied by the paramedics, the walker w…
The team were called by North Yorkshire Police to assist a local farmer with a sheep trapped in a small pothole. A small team met the farmer at the location to be confronted with a large sheep that was firmly wedged in a narrow shaft. After two hours o…
The team were called by North Yorkshire Police to assist a local farmer with a sheep trapped in a small pothole. A small team met the farmer at the location to be confronted with a large sheep that was firmly wedged in a narrow shaft. After two hours o…
A local farmer contacted one of the Assistant Controllers to request assistance with one of his lambs that had fallen down a small pothole off Horton Scar Lane. After alerting the Duty Controller, the Assistant Controller went up with the farmer to ass…
North Yorkshire Police asked the team to help with a call reporting concerns for the welfare of a person in the vicinity of the Gaping Gill winch meet. Whilst initial enquiries were being made by the Duty Controller the person in question was assisted …
The team was called by North Yorkshire Police to a missing three peaks walker who had got seperated from his friends on the descent from Ingleborough. Whilst the controllers were making initial enquiries and meeting with the reporting party to get more…
The team were called by North Yorkshire Police to a report of a sheep that had fallen down Gritstone Pot. When the duty controller spoke to the reporting person it transpired that there was also a second sheep down Boggarts Roaring Hole, but some caver…
A human jawbone housed in a small Bristol museum has contributed ancient DNA to ground-breaking research into bacteria. The jawbone was found in Fishmonger’s Swallet, a cave in South Gloucestershire, and is now in the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society’s museum. This was one of four samples from across the UK, ranging from 2,300 to…
A member of the public alerted North Yorkshire Police to a lamb that had fallen to the bottom of Hull Pot, on the side of Pen-y-Ghent, who then requested the team’s assistance to rescue it. As the lamb was in no immediate danger it was decided to…
North Yorkshire Police asked the team to assist with a report of two cavers significantly overdue on a trip into Stile Pot. As the Duty Controllers placed underground members on standby and gathered further information, NYP called back to advise that …
North Yorkshire Police asked the team to assist with a report of two cavers significantly overdue on a trip into Stile Pot. As the Duty Controllers placed underground members on standby and gathered further information, NYP called back to advise that …
The team were called by North Yorkshire Police to assist with an incident involving a walker on the summit of Penyghent. Volunteer hours 46
Symposium – Saturday 11th October 2025 Field trips – Sunday 12th October 2025 School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol FIRST CIRCULAR The British Cave Research Association are pleased to announce details of the 36th Annual Cave Science Symposium and associated field trips. The symposium will be hosted by Professor David Richards, Linda Wilson and…
CRO members have, for several decades, provided rescue cover for competitors in the annual Three Peaks Race. They collaborate with a huge number of other volunteers from the Three Peaks Race Association and RAYNET – The Radio Amateurs Emergency N…
Two Three Peaks walkers (f, 23; f, 22) reported themselves benighted near the ruinous Nick Pot shooting hut on the route from Ingleborough to Horton in Ribblesdale. The battery of one of their mobile phones was completely flat and the other was failing…
North Yorkshire Police asked the team to stand by for a possible incident in the Malham / Malham Moor area. Resolved without team members going out. Volunteer hours: 2
North Yorkshire Police asked the team to stand by for a possible incident in the Malham / Malham Moor area. Resolved without team members going out. Volunteer hours: 2
Yorkshire Ambulance Service asked the team to assist with a walker (m, 72) who had slipped down a crag near Stainforth, injuring his arm and ankle. As the team was assembling in Stainforth, YAS advised that the casualty had managed to get back up the …
For anyone who has ever struggled to explain the allure of venturing underground, Paul Savage recommends taking awhistle-stop tour beneath the Highlands in the company of one of Scotland’s best-known cavers. To say Alan Jeffreys is an expert on Scottish caves is somewhat of an understatement. Alan (or Goon, as he’s better known in caving…
North Yorkshire Police called the team to assist a walker (m, 62) who had slipped going over a stile and tumbled about 12 feet, injuring his back. When the team arrived our brilliant colleagues from Yorkshire Air Ambulance were already on scene provid…
Jim Warny is the latest to break the record for deep cave dives in Ireland and the UK – even if he did admit that having his wife and dog waiting on the surface added to the pressure of the challenge! Since 2008, Pollatoomary Resurgence in Co. Mayo has been the site of several record-setting…
North Yorkshire Police asked the team to assist with a walker (m, 63) who had slipped and sustained an ankle injury at Scaleber Force near Settle. Team members attended and splinted the ankle. They then stretchered the casualty out of the steep gorge…
North Yorkshire Police asked the team to assist with a walker (m, 63) who had slipped and sustained an ankle injury at Scaleber Force near Settle. Team members attended and splinted the ankle. They then stretchered the casualty out of the steep gorge…
The team were called by Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) to assist with a casualty (m,51) who had become unconscious near the base of Malham Cove. By the time the first team members arrived on scene the casualty was conscious again and being treated b…
The team were called by North Yorkshire Police to assist a walker (m, 61) who had become faint and dizzy on the path up to the top of Malham Cove and was unable to continue. After an assessment by team medics the casualty was assisted onto a Bell stret…
Back in September 2024, a few of us entered the Hidden Earth photo salon. There were some beautiful images on display, and SWCC members had varying degrees of success. The salon lead to much discussion, which somehow lead to me being volunteered to org…
The team were called to a walker (f,13) who had slipped whilst walking up Pen-y-ghent with her father and dislocated her kneecap. A hasty party was dispatched up to her in CRO 4 (our Honda Pioneer) whilst two team Landrovers took more members up Horton…
A local walker (m, 79) was returning to Ingleton down the waterfalls trail when he felt weakness in his legs and was unable to continue. Team members from Ingleton, on their way to our regular montly training evening, were diverted to render assistance…
Descent magazine is renowned for its excellent coverage of caves and cavers and, judging from the preview, the forthcoming issue is continuing that tradition. Chris Scaife, Descent’s editor, has sent us this teaser! Issue 303 includes feature articles on expeditions to Mulu and Meghalaya, more major finds in the north of England (including a new…
The Team received a call from one of our members at the Red Rose CPC hostel, at Bull Pot Farm, that a party of 8 cavers (2m and 6f, 20-29) on the ‘Easegill Traverse’ caving trip between Lancaster Hole and Wretched Rabbit were overdue. We we…
A caver (f, 20) was unable to ascend the final pitch out of Gaping Gill (Dihedral Route) and became stranded on the ledge. The group leader and a CRO duty controller discussed the wisdom of initiating a rescue by the group itself but agreed to bring in…
Two walkers expressed concern for another walker who appeared to be struggling and confused while trying to find a way off the steep ground of Pot Scar and Smearsett Scar. A small ‘hasty party’ of team members ran round and over the area b…
A walker (m, 30) fell a reported 10m including ‘three somersaults’ while climbing the final rock band at the south end of Pen y ghent, losing consciousness for approximately 30 minutes. His companion and other walkers helped keep him warm u…
A walker (m, 30) fell a reported 10m including ‘three somersaults’ while climbing the final rock band at the south end of Pen y ghent, losing consciousness for approximately 30 minutes. His companion and other walkers helped keep him warm u…
Despite being quite small, a caver (f, 20) was unable to exit Big Meanie. She had adequate food and equipment but did not know the other way out via Death’s Head Hole, so members of her party called for help. While the first team members went to …
“GODSTONE – Falling-in of the Roadway – Breakage of the Water Main.“ The news headline above doesn’t come from any of the reports on the sinkhole that recently appeared in the High Street at Godstone, Surrey. This unsensational heading comes from a news story that broke over 145 years ago in November 1879. Peter Burgess…
A caller from Poland reported her son and a friend ‘scared and lost’ on Pen y ghent. After some confusion, the members who had been at Malham drove up Horton Scar Lane (a.k.a. the vicarage track) in two team Land Rovers while other team mem…
A walker slipped on the muddy path from the top of Malham Cove to the Malham Rakes road, sustaining a knee injury so that she could not stand. Other walkers took care of her small son and confirmed the location when the duty controller phoned to check….
A walker, descending from Ingleborough to Horton in Ribblesdale, told NYP that he had seen triple flashes of light repeatedly for 15 minutes from the summit of Pen y ghent. Small groups of team members walked the paths to and over the summit in rain an…
The latest edition of the BCRA’s Cave and Karst Science contains five papers, some shorter contributions and a photo spread. Maria Box and colleagues have been studying how Seasonal temperature and ventilation changes govern proxy-signal transfer into caves in northern Mongolia. They note that cave monitoring is essential for the accurate interpretation of speleothem-based environmental…
The goodwill fee for visiting Swildon’s Hole, Priddy in Somerset, has remained the same for many years. From the start of 2025 the fee has been increased to £2 per person. The money should be put in the black postbox by the residential door at Manor Farm round to the left of the changing barn….
A caving group reported that one of their number was on the first pitch (100 ft / 30 m) of Diccan Pot when they heard a bang. When they pulled at the rope, they found that it was taut. Diccan is part of the Long Churn Cave / Alum Pot system and access …
A dog-walker (f, 50) slipped on ice on the riverside path at the bottom of Storrs Common, suspecting that she had broken an ankle. (After a very slight thaw, the path had a thin covering of water on the ice, making it even more hazardous.) A YAS ambula…
Having rescued a number of sheep from easier places, himself, a farmer asked for CRO’s assistance in rescuing three sheep from ledges on Great Close Scar, overlooking Malham Tarn, as he could not do this, alone, in safety. The following morning, …
Having rescued a number of sheep from easier places, himself, a farmer asked for CRO’s assistance in rescuing three sheep from ledges on Great Close Scar, overlooking Malham Tarn, as he could not do this, alone, in safety. The following morning, …
Following a fire at premises in Newby, local firefighters tried to source a suitable Acrow prop to support stonework, temporarily. When this could not be arranged through local builders at that time, CRO was asked to help and a member obliged, deliveri…
Returning from the previous incident, team members were asked to assist when someone suffered a medical incident, at their home, but believed to be inaccessible to a road ambulance, near Horton in Ribblesdale. Members stood by, as a precaution, until t…
