Swildon’s Hole and a terminally bad experience in Sump 1 feature in our latest look at caving fiction. I’ve followed Damian Boyd’s West Country police series on and off over the years but managed to miss out on Death Sentence, which features caving as part of the plot, so I’m grateful to Bob Mehew for…
Earlier this year, Pete Knight, Derbyshire Caving Association’s projects officer published an open letter detailing damage to gates and the consequences including the risk to long term access. Despite this damage has continued, and most recently all the locks on Homebank Chert mine have again been removed. In an attempt to highlight the problem and…
Mike Bedford talks about cave radios, cave communications and much more in the annual report of the BCRA’s Cave Radio and Electronics Group. Our decision, a few years ago, to broaden our remit to cover other areas of cave technology than our initial emphasis on communications and electronics has been evident during 2018. In one…
Three inexperienced walkers, attempting the Three Peaks, reported themselves lost, but uninjured on Ingleborough. The Phonefind app showed them to be on the Swinetail, from where they were advised by phone to return to the summit shelter. This they did…
North Yorkshire Police contacted CRO regarding a report of a Three Peaks walker who was ahead of someone else, but had not arrived at his car when the second walker arrived there. Seven minutes later, a further message was received from NYP ‘Re …
One of a group of three adults rang North Yorkshire Police for Mountain Rescue assistance at the top of Malham Cove and a small group of CRO members was turned out to help. Two members of the walking group were experiencing difficulty on the limestone …
North Yorkshire Police (NYP) requested the help of CRO to search footpaths between Settle and Malham for a local missing person. As CRO team members were mobilising the missing person was found safe and well by NYP officers. Volunteer hours: 10
A local farmer reported that one of his sheep and her two lambs were stuck on a ledge at the former quarry at Meal Bank, near Ingleton. He had spotted them there on Saturday and hoped that they would be motivated to find their own way down when they ha…
New samples taken for DNA analysis from human bone from Aveline’s Hole by Natural History Museum researchers have thrown up surprising results. Graham Mullan reports on their findings. Aveline’s Hole, Burrington Combe, Mendip, contained the largest assemblage of Mesolithic human remains yet found anywhere in Britain. The cave was excavated in the 1920s by the…
A young person was attempting the 3 peaks walk with a school group when he developed pain in his right upper leg and found himself unable to continue walking beyond the summit shelter on Ingleborough. Two teachers waited with him while the rest of his …
On the descent from Ingleborough towards Gaping Gill, a walker (f, 59) slipped and fell forward, sustaining a facial injury. Although originally reported to have lost consciousness, briefly, and possibly having a hip injury, neither may have been the c…
CRO received a request to assist North Yorkshire Police in the search for a high risk missing person whose car was thought to have been found, empty, in Littondale. This is in the area covered by Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association, so the request…
On the way from Ingleborough to Chapel le dale, a walker (f, 68) tripped on an undulation in the grassy path, hearing a snap and feeling serious pain in her left ankle. Fortunately, a passing caving instructor was a member of a neighbouring rescue team…
Descent 268 is now available! If a copy hasn’t arrived with you, it’s time to head over to Wildplaces Publishing to subscribe now or if you’re lucky enough to have a caving shop anywhere near you, call in and get a one from them. Descent is the best way to stay in touch with what’s…
Whilst awaiting more information from one of the Duty Controllers on scene at Malham regarding incident 45, we were called by North Yorkshire Police to a Male (80) with a twisted ankle at the top of the steps on the west side of the cove. The YAS param…
As the cover states, Underground sets out to tell a human history of the worlds beneath our feet. As a caver, I approached a book on the underground written by an ‘urbexer’ with some trepidation as in some quarters of the caving world, urban explorers have a somewhat dubious reputation for trespassing. But I tried…
The British Cave Research Association (BCRA) recently held its Spring Field Meeting at the British Cave Monitoring Centre, Poole’s Cavern, Buxton in Derbyshire. This was an interesting day looking at cave data logging and graphical analysis of a variety of data. Andy Hall talks about what went on during the day. The data collected during…
A dig in Bleadon Cavern on Mendip has revealed more pieces to a mysterious puzzle … In 1833, a survey was carried out of Bleadon Cavern by John Heel but was, in all likelihood, drawn up by William Beard who had been investigating the area from 1828. This survey was first mentioned in more recent…
Reports on amphibians and reptiles in caves, 3-D cave mapping, and racial segregation in a South African cave are among the features in the April issue of Cave and Karst Science. There are five main articles in Volume 46, Number 1, as well as some shorter pieces in the Forum section. The first is a…
The June issue of Descent is about to land on your mats, so take a moment to check whether your subscription is up to date! The issue covers the thorny old problem of how to get insurance for caving expeditions. At long last, the BCA has a scheme in place to help with this. For…
A sheep was reported to be stranded, 3m down into a pot-hole near Ellerbeck. Two team members attended and had little difficulty in rescuing the sheep, which the farmer took to a farm building to check that it was un-injured. Volunteer hours: 3
Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association received a call from Yorkshire Ambulance Service to a patient (initially described as a ‘body’) in the River Aire, near Riverside Walk, at Airton. As it was in CRO’s area, UWFRA transferred the…
Thrill-seekers with a visual impairment are to get the chance to go underground in a ‘try-caving’ event in one of Irelands’s most spectacular underground-exploration regions – the Burren in Co. Clare. The Speleological Union of Ireland (SUI), in association with Vision Sport Ireland (VSI), CARA – Sport Inclusion Ireland, Clare Local Sport Partnership and the…
Irish cavers have cleaned up, thanks to a grant from the Geological Survey of Ireland – and may also have found new access points to a cave. The Speleological Union of Ireland (SUI) was awarded the cash to promote cave conservation, which allowed them to support the Student Forum with a conservation theme and organise…
The Annual General Meeting of the British Caving Association is being held in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales caving area this year – at the Village Hall in Chapel Lane, Horton in Ribblesdale. It will begin at 10:30am on Sunday 9 June. It can be expected to last around three hours. There will be…
Peter Burgess hears about ritual protection marks, cars going underground, time capsules and threats from out east in the Subterranea Britannica spring meeting at the Royal School of Mines in London. It has been over 25 years since I stopped my regular attendance at the bi-annual lecture meetings of Subterranea Britannica. In the intervening years,…
An visitor (82, f) lost consciousness whilst going the through lower cave section past the steps. Paramedics from Yorkshire Ambulance Service entered the cave to commence casualty care. Team members then stretchered the casualty to the YAS ambulance at…
Council for Northern Caving Clubs (CNCC) has announced that parking will no longer be allowed at High Birkwith farm, meaning cavers will need to park further back down the road and access the caves on foot, although the landowners have no wish to restrict access to the caves and no permission is required For many…
Numerous reports from the US confirm that Josh Bratchley returned to the surface safe and well around 7pm local time last night after being trapped in Mill Pond Cave near Nashville in Tennessee for over 24 hours. Josh was part of five-man team exploring the cave when he failed to return to the surface on…
In this newsletter… BCRA Field meeting. Saturday/Sunday 29/30 June 2019 in Alston, Cumbria This weekend field meeting is entitled “Hypogenic Caves of the North Pennines UNESCO Global Geopark”. This is a joint meeting of the British Cave Research Association (BCRA) and The North Pennines UNESCO Global Geopark (NPUGG). It will be based at Nenthead Village…
Descent 267 is now available! If a copy hasn’t arrived with you, it’s time to head over to Wild Places Publishing to subscribe now or if you’re lucky enough to have a caving shop anywhere near you, call in and get a one from them. Descent is the best way to stay in touch with…
An international team, led by an archaeologist from the University of Southampton and the University of Bordeaux, has revealed the first example of Palaeolithic figurative cave art found in the Balkan Peninsula. Dr Aitor Ruiz-Redondo worked with researchers from the universities of Cantabria (Spain), Newfoundland (Canada), Zagreb (Croatia) and the Archaeological Museum of Istria (Croatia)…
Yorkshire Ambulance Service asked for assistance, following receipt of a 999 call saying that a walker had fallen and had been feeling dizzy, on the path from Gordale Bridge over to Malham Cove. When the CRO duty controller called the Emergency Operati…
Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation are this week celebrating after receiving more than £30,000-worth of life-saving gas detection equipment donated by Honeywell Analytics. The equipment, including four and five gas personal monitors and calibration equipment, was donated when DCRO’s equipment officer, Pete Dell, contacted them trying to source replacement sensors for their old equipment and the…
Pete Buckley and Ali Moody assisted by a band of Wessex diggers have had more success recently at their dig at Bagpit, on the south side of Mendip above Draycott. The site, a low cliff on the east edge of a closed basin with the same name, has three potential entrances. By excavating Pit 1,…
A one-day British Cave Research Association field meeting will be held at the British Cave Monitoring Centre, Poole’s Cavern and Buxton Country Park on Saturday 27 April. The event is courtesy of the Buxton Civic Association, who own the site. It will be led by Professor John Gunn and Dr Andi Smith, with assistance from…
Two Three Peaks walkers (m, 21; f, 21) became detached from a much larger sponsored walk group and, without a map, took the wrong route off Ingleborough. Before the daylight was lost completely, they phoned North Yorkshire Police, who contacted CRO. Th…
Yorkshire Ambulance Service received a call, saying that a walker (m, 45) was fitting ‘on top of Pen y ghent’. YAS deployed both road and air ambulances, calling CRO as an added precaution. From home, the duty controller could see that the …
While trying to take a photograph from the top of a limestone outcrop, on the path from Brackenbottom to Pen y ghent, a walker (m, 13) fell on to rocks, below, sustaining chest injuries (t.b.c.). After attention from a YAS paramedic, it was agreed that…
A Three Peaks walker (m, 45?) rang an acquaintance in Horton, to say that he had taken a fall while descending from Ingleborough and was bleeding significantly from a head-wound. The acquaintance rang Yorkshire Ambulance Service, whose dispatcher, unab…
Alan Jeffreys enjoys a caving classic even if he doesn’t entirely approve of the author’s somewhat cavalier attitude to risk … Ernest Baker was well known in his day as an indefatigable climber, rambler and caver, whose activities embraced Alpine ascents as well as many cave explorations in Britain and Ireland. As a teacher of…
Descent 267 will be with you very shortly! If you’re not up to date with your subscription don’t forget that the lovely folks at Wildplaces Publishing will be only too happy to welcome you back into the fold. And if you’re new to caving, Descent will provide you with news, photos and the best possible…
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…
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…
Kate Mosse is better known for Labyrinth and other books, but Alan Jeffreys recommends taking a look at her novella, The Cave, set in the Pyrenees Quick Reads, as outlined on the publisher’s promotional blurb, are ‘bite-sized books by bestselling writers … for people who want a short, fast-paced read.’ Novellas by authors as diverse…
A large concentration of ritual protection marks have been discovered in caves in Creswell Crags, a limestone gorge on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border. Darkness Below editor Linda Wilson visited the site with researcher and archaeologist Alison Fearn and gives an account of the find. On Sunday 21st October 2018, cavers Hayley Clark and Ed Waters of…
It’s birthday cake plus cheese and pineapple on sticks all round this issue as Descent 266 celebrates 50 years in print. And it’s a visually stunning issue to mark the special anniversary. Caving hut clubs and student bedrooms are likely to be decorated with the gorgeous double-sided poster that’s the free gift with this issue…
BCA Newsletter no 37 for January 2019 is now available. Editor David Rose has produced a bumper issue starting with a few words from him as well as from BCA chair, Les Williams, who recently represented the BCA at a reception in London in the Speaker’s residence in the Houses of Parliament to honour the…
In his quest for vintage caving books, Alan Jeffreys has delved into his bookshelves again, and has come up with a northern classic from the early 1960s … Following the publication of‘Underground Adventure in 1952 there was something of a hiatus in northern cave literature. Specialist titles from various clubs and societies kept cavers informed…
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…
Students interested in undertaking a cave-related dissertation will get the chance to talk to experts on in-cave monitoring next month. The BCRA (British Cave Research Association), in conjunction with CHECC (Council of Higher Education Caving Clubs), are holding a workshop on in-cave monitoring on 16th February 2019 at the British Cave Monitoring Centre, Poole’s Cavern,…
Descent 266 will be with you very shortly! If you’re not up to date with your subscription don’t forget that the lovely folks at Wildplaces Publishing will be only too happy to welcome you back into the fold. And if you’re new to caving, Descent will provide you with news, photos and the best…
Alan Jeffreys continues his look at classic caving books with a review of a classic text that captures the excitement of underground exploration in the 1930s and 1940s as war raged and some of those involved were fighting on a secret front. Occasionally a writer with deep spiritual affinity for his subject produces a work of almost lyrical…
As part of our ongoing series of reviews of classic caving books, Alan Jeffreys looks at the groundbreaking Pennine Underground. With the plethora of UK caving guides at present available, it is easy to see a pattern of presentation common to all which is now taken for granted. What is not generally appreciated, however, is…
In the final part of her report for Darkness Below, Rising Star Angharad Brewer Gillham looks back on her adventures underground in South Africa, and has advice for all would-be explorers – grab your chance when you can. I’m writing this on my way back to Switzerland and my day job, and a parcel of…
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 …
Third year PR students at UWE Bristol were asked to come up with ideas for raising the profile and diversity of the British Caving Association (BCA) in the wake of the Thai rescue. Darkness Below editor and UBSS member Linda Wilson reports back on the second week of presentations and is surprised to hear that…
The December 2018 issue of Caves and Karst Science is now available. Volume 45, Number 3 carries six articles. The first is a report on the distribution of deposits of cool freshwater tufa, which are ubiquitous on the calcareous island of Lismore in Loch Linnhe, Argyll. Tufa deposits are rare in Scotland but at this…
Mike Moore reviews a valuable addition to any mine explorer’s book collection. This new book is a detailed study of the lead, silver and zinc mines of the Cwm Rheidol and Ystumtuen orefield, covering the history of all 40 mines in the valley, with archaeological descriptions of the surface and underground workings, and is supported…
Honoured … Rick Stanton, Connor Roe and Chris Jewell (Photos by Linda Wilson) The British divers at the centre of the Thai cave rescue have been recognised in the New Year’s honours list. Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, who reached the stranded boys first, have both been awarded the George Medal, which is the second…
