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…
The Cheddar caves, owned by Longleat Enterprises Ltd, are currently closed to visitors. Following this, a statement just issued by the Council of Southern Caving Clubs (CSCC) informs cavers that the caves in the gorge on Longleat land are also closed to cavers, although access discussions are now under way with CSCC. The closure of…
Descent 276 has landed – and it’s another issue replete with interesting, informative and exciting content. It’s good to see that even in these times cavers can find much to do – and to write about. There’s much of interest in Newsdesk, from an update on the ongoing legal case involving BCA and the Welsh…
Having taken the temporary diversion path to Ingleborough from Chapel le dale, two walkers (m 37, f 34) reported themselves unable to descend, because of the steepness and apparent instability of the fell-side. The Duty Controller persuaded them to con…
The BCA AGM is fast approaching and acting Chair Phil Rowsell has written to all members encouraging participation in the first online AGM.
This account of a caving holiday in South Wales has no exciting discoveries, no dramatic incidents, and no unusual activities. But we hope Peter Burgess’ account of a caving trip to South Wales reminds our readers of the pleasures of simple caving that we have all been missing this year. I returned to one of…
As a few team members were involved in incident no 68, a second call came in from a walker concerned about a group of five Three Peaks walkers (3 x m, 2 x f) he believed to be cold and struggling on the descent from Ingleborough. They turned up in Hor…
A Three Peaks walker (m) was reported overdue. He had last been seen, ‘flagging’, on the summit of Whernside at 12.40, when he told his companions that he would not be walking over Ingleborough but would return to the start in Horton in Rib…
In this newsletter: online event, Connecting with Cave Research – Advice for Student Researchers, BCRA Review 2019 available for pre-order now, and details of the Annual General Meeting. Connecting with Cave Research – Advice for Student Researchers ONLINE WEBINAR: Monday 19 October, 19:00 to 21:30 BST This is an online webinar, hosted…
To sign up for this event, please follow the link here, and please pass details of this to your club and any students you know.
The BCA AGM is taking place on Sunday 11th October from 10.30 am on Zoom. The details of how to register to attend and speak can be found on the BCA website. In addition, the AGM will be livestreamed on the BCA Facebook page and anyone can watch this. However, if you would like to…
A walker made a 999 call to North Yorkshire Police, saying that her companion had fallen and was injured, while they (f, f) were walking the Three Peaks. Before any more information could be passed, the call ceased and the NYP Force Control Room was un…
Descent 276 will be on its way soon, and although caving is slowly getting underway again, things are certainly not back to pre-covid levels, so do settle down for a good read, and take a moment to check whether your subscription is up to date. And if you don’t already read Descent, we hope we…
A new date has now been scheduled for the BCA’s delayed annual general meeting – 11th October 2020. It was originally scheduled to take place on 14th June, but was postponed because of the serious impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of ongoing restrictions in force on organising physical meetings, this meeting will be via…
The next BCRA Cave Science Symposium will take place on Saturday November 14th 2020 using an online portal. The meeting will be hosted by Professor Mike Rogerson at the University of Northumbria. BCRA would very much enjoy contributions that discuss how caves have behaved during the lockdown period and are also open to abstracts on…
The latest edition of the BCRA’s journal Cave and Karst Science is wholly dedicated to the reports from the 2019 Greenland Caves Project 2019 expedition. This was the latest and largest of a series of expeditions which started in 2015. It involved an interdisciplinary team, with members specialising in geology, glacial geomorphology, palaeoclimatology and…
Very soon after members returned home from incident number 58, a call was received to a visitor (f, 39) who had sustained a suspected ankle injury on the return half of the Ingleton Watefalls Trail. A hasty search by the first team members on scene at …
A walker (f, 45) landed heavily, coming off a stile in Malham’s ‘Dry Valley’ and sustained a suspected broken ankle. With no signal on her party’s mobile phone, another walker used his phone to call 999, for an ambulance. Unfort…
A visitor (m, 25), with a medical condition, collapsed just after the steps at the top of Malham Cove. Arriving first, the air ambulance paramedics assessed the patient, then handed him over to team members, who walked him gently across to Cove Road, w…
CRO were called to help with an incident in Bar Pot – part of the Gaping Gill cave system under the slopes of Ingleborough. A caver (F 14yo) had fallen about 2.5 metres whilst abseiling down the first pitch of Bar Pot. The caver had landed heavil…
Descent 275 is now with us. Yet another issue compiled during this plague year, but still packed with interesting and informative material – and there is even news of new exploration in England! Newsdesk starts with an update on how the pandemic is affecting caving in the UK and cautiously welcomes the reopening of caves…
Three hours after completing incident number 51 we returned to Ingleton waterfalls walk to give help to a 32 year old woman. She had slipped on a wet rock and banged her head; she was reported to us as being confused and not being able to remember what…
A ten year old boy slipped and fell circa 3 metres on a steep grassy slope above the refreshments cabin near Pecca Falls, on the Ingleton waterfalls walk. During his tumble he had banged his head and also said that he had hurt his knees. The boy was ch…
This is the second volume of a planned four volume set covering the caves, mines and associated features of the county of Somerset. Volume 1 was published earlier in 2020 and features Bristol, Broadfield Down, the Bristol Channel and West Somerset. Volume 3 will cover Central and South Mendip, and Volume 4 will complete the…
A visitor (f, 55) was reported to be suffering from heat exhaustion, with complications, on the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail, ‘near Beezley Farm’. The first team vehicle was able to follow the road ambulance all the way to the casualty site on…
As team vehicles were returning from Malham, a visitor on the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail expressed concern that his wife (72 and diabetic) was feeling faint and dizzy and was sweating. He suspected low sugar levels. Returning team members were diverted …
A visitor (f) was reported to have fallen, at the foot of the Malham Cove steps and was complaining of pain in her side and neck. As team members responded, this was updated to back and neck pain with numbness in her legs. After attention from YAS para…
Four Three Peaks walkers (all f) called NYP, saying that they were ‘lost’ on the descent from Ingleborugh towards Horton in Ribblesdale, despite being able to describe the signpost on their path (‘Horton 2 miles’) and provide a …
Male 12 yr old, fallen and twisted his knee on the steps to the side of Malham Cove, couldn’t bend or straighten it, the team splinted and stretchered him to a waiting CRO vehicle and transported him down into Malham, where the young lad was tran…
