In January 2018, we reported that the Wealden Cave and Mine Society had been awarded the opportunity to get free radiocarbon dating work performed on archaeological samples from the Reigate area. By the end of March, the results were available, but disappointingly, two of the three samples submitted did not contain sufficient carbon to provide…
The 2018 annual conference of the National Association of Mining History Organisations was hosted jointly by Gloucester Speleological Society, Royal Forest of Dean Caving Club, Hades Caving Club, South Gloucestershire Mines Research Group and Clearwell Caves, and held at Park End in the Forest of Dean. There was a comprehensive list of field trips available…
Four cavers had left a note at their caving hostel, giving a call-out time of 19.00, before going to Heron Pot. Although not unduly concerned, the duty controller asked a colleague from Ingleton to investigate. At just after 20.00, he found them emergi…
CRO were called to assist a walker who had collapsed on the summit of Pen-y-Ghent after suffering a cardiac arrest. Despite the hard work of Yorkshire Air Ambulance paramedics at the scene, the outcome was fatal. Volunteer hours 36
The Romanian Speleological Federation is organising the 12th Annual Balkan Cavers’ Camp which is being held between the 2nd to the 8th of July 2018. This year’s international meeting will include both the Romanian Speleological Congress and the “Speoarta” International Media Contest. The event is taking place in Baru Mare, in the Haţeg County in…
Descent 262 should have landed on your mats and in the shops by now! If you’re not a subscriber, we hope this short round up will tempt you in and send you over to Wildplaces Publishing to get your copy, or if you’re lucky enough to have a caving shop anywhere near you, call in…
Dr Gina Moseley from the Innsbruck Quaternary Research Group will receive one of this year’s prestigious Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) START prizes. The START programme is an Austrian initiative to support and strengthen outstanding research projects in science and humanities. Gina, a member of the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society and current Symposium Lecture Secretary…
Whilst attending to incident 37, CRO was called to an incident at Thornton Force, near Ingleton. A boy, aged 11, had slipped whilst entering the pool at the foot of Thornton Force and hit his head on a submerged rock. He was treated by CRO members, a c…
A walker, who had strayed slightly off the footpath from Catrigg to Stainforth, slipped on a grassy bank and went over on his ankle – reportedly hearing a snap. He was treated for a possible fracture by Yorkshire Ambulance Service paramedics and …
Special Offer! The CDG publication WOOKEY HOLE tells the story of the pioneers and their cutting edge approaches to exploratory diving at one of Somerset’s best-known caves over the last 75 years. The book covers two periods: 1935 – 1985, and then 1986 to its publication in 2010. The introduction is by Jim Hanwell and…
Descent 262 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…
Two cavers were reported to be more than five hours overdue from a through trip between Lost John’s Hole and Notts 2, which they had estimated would take four hours (20.00 Sunday to 00.00 Monday). CRO members began searching in the two pots refer…
North Yorkshire Police asked for CRO’s assistance by searching Yordas Cave and immediate area for a person (m, 50) reported to be missing from home and ‘at risk’. No-one was found, nor was there any evidence that he had been there. Vo…
A recent connection has been dug in Wookey Hole Caves to link Charon’s Chamber with the adjacent Troup’s Rift. Charon’s Chamber is a high rift across the River Axe in Chamber One, The Witch’s Kitchen, and was first entered by the MNRC in 1934. A link between the two was originally predicted by Barrington and…
Subterranea Britannica group enters the Kőbánya cellar system, 35 kilometres of underground quarry. Photo: Peter Burgess I was once an active member of Subterranea Britannica, usually abbreviated to “Sub Brit”. Its quirky interest in man-made and man-used subterranean space appealed to me, and my own interests in old mine and quarry workings fitted in well….
British Cave Research Association 29th Cave Science Symposium Saturday 13th October, 2018, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol FIRST CIRCULAR & CALL FOR ABSTRACTS The British Cave Research Association is pleased to announce details of the 29th Annual Cave Science Symposium. The Symposium will be hosted by Dr. David Richards of the School of…
The caves in Reigate, Surrey, are in reality sand-cut cellars and sand-mines. The caves that were excavated in Tunnel Road in the nineteenth century were, in part, used as a large beer cellar by the local Reigate brewer, Mellersh and Neale, until the early twentieth century. Local publicans Blackiston and Son also had a cellar…
Descent 261 should have reached subscribers and shops by now! If you’re not a subscriber, we hope this short round up will whet your appetite and send you over to Wildplaces Publishing to get your copy, or if you’re lucky enough to have a caving shop anywhere near you, call in and get a copy…
The April 2018 issue of Caves and Karst Science is now available. Volume 45, Number 1 carries six main articles, starting with an appreciation of Dr Trevor R Shaw, speleo-historian extraordinaire, to celebrate his 90th birthday. There are contributions from many of his friends, including those from the Karst Research Institute in Postojna, Slovenia, with…
Roy Fellows would like the following safety advice to be published: With regard to the ladder at the top of a very loose slope of rocks on the climb up / SRT route above to skipway, please heed this advice for your safety. Following a recent incident, it is felt that there is a need…
Respectable patent lawyer Peter Hamilton is found dead at a spot known as The Devil’s Dice, a remote crag in the Peak District which houses a vast network of caves known as The Labyrinth, feared for their complexity and dark reputation. The caves, now gated, have long been known as a suicide spot. The legend…
In today’s Information Age we’ve all become used to having what we want to know at our fingertips – literally! At times it seems as though everything we want or need to know is available online, but most of us probably mainly use the internet to argue with strangers and watch videos of cats! I…
This article first appeared in the South Wales Caving Club newsletter for April 2018 and is reprinted here with kind permission from the author Gary Vaughan and the South Wales Caving Club. Gary wishes it to be known that the views expressed in this article represent his own personal views and not necessarily the…
Here are some brief snippets of news, courtesy of Roy Fellows. Filming for “Hidden Wales” Lazerbeam Productions has been filming surface and underground at Cwmystwyth for a forthcoming series “Hidden Wales”. Roy accompanied a filming team underground and he will probably feature quite a lot in the Cwmystwyth episode, which he hopes will provide a bit of…
Conservation work in 2003 in Goatchurch Cavern on the Mendips revealed some fine inscribed marks on calcite flowstone next to the Giant’s Steps. The marks resembled the letter W and aroused interest as the patina was considerably darker than the lighter exposed calcite nearby in graffiti dated 1704. We filed them in the mental compartment…
Two cavers (f, f) were reported to be three hours overdue in Wretched Rabbit, Easegill. Having alerted CRO, other cavers, staying at Bull Pot Farm, went to investigate and found that the two were still underground, unharmed, but moving very slowly …
A team of rope access technicians are undertaking a radical spring clean at Cheddar Gorge in Somerset. A total of 15 specialists are taking part in the £100,000 programme which aims to clear loose rock, vegetation and invasive plant and tree species from the gorge. The six-week programme will involve around 37,500 square metres of…
If you’re at a loose end from the 4th of April – 15th of April 2018, the Pod Raba Caving Club are organising an expedition to Kolkina Dupka cave, the deepest in Bulgaria, and one of the longest. The camp is located just outside of Zimevista village, some 50km away from Sofia, Bulgaria, and anyone…
Five cavers (f, 18 – m,25) were reported overdue in Providence Pot, at 21.29 on Saturday. The afternoon’s rain had melted snow, causing a rapid rise in stream levels. Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association attended and began a search of t…
Most of the popular coverage of the recent announcements about the possible Neanderthal link to parietal art in Spanish caves has, as usual, been focussing on the old paradigm of their being much less “advanced” or “intelligent” than their H. Sapiens successors in Europe. This is a view that has taken something of a battering…
On the 31st of January and 1st of February, the UNEXMIN consortium partners and advisory board members gathered in Bled, Slovenia, to discuss the current and future developments of this EU-funded project. They discussed the work carried out by each partner in the previous months, but mainly focussed on the robot’s assembly, due in April,…
The Council of Southern Caving Clubs (CSCC) are changing the locks on all of the caves for which they administer access. The previously used locks are now no longer available and so a new lock has been sourced and a new stock of locks and keys obtained. All member clubs are being issued with at…
In September, Andrew Atkinson’s article on Cave Surveying – the next steps proved to be of huge interest to readers. An open invitation was extended to cavers with an interest in surveying or geographic information systems (GIS) to attend a workshop at Hidden Earth 2017. This was very well-attended and served as an excellent demonstration…
An Italian team, Achleoos Geo Exploring, is exploring and documenting underground rivers with very high flow rates. In a series of expeditions from 2012 to 2017 they have been exploring the Aouk River System and other caves in West Papua. This system is formed from several river passages and large dolines with an average annual…
On the summit of Ingleborough, a paraglider fell about 3 metres when his parachute stalled whilst he was taking off. He suffered a suspected fracture to an ankle. Remarkably, and with the generous help of passing walkers, the injured person had the ten…
DNA work carried out by researchers from the Natural History Museum (NHM) and University College London (UCL) has shed new light on Cheddar Man, a skeleton discovered 103 years ago in Gough’s Cave, Somerset. Specialists from the NHM have succeeded in extracting viable DNA from the 10,000 year-old-skeleton, a first for a British individual of…
Bob Mehew has provided the following information with regard to the reduction in acceptable levels of exposure to radon gas, which might impact cave instructors and show cave owners. Correspondent: Bob Mehew
Following an incident on Saturday 27th January 2018, it has been reported to the Pwll Du Cave Management Group (PDCMG) that there has been some movement in the area of the squeeze in the 2nd boulder choke in the Ogof Draenen Main Streamway. It is possible that this squeeze may have got slightly tighter. Please…
Taping, for good or bad, is a vital aspect of caving that ensures most of the cave is kept safe for future generations, restricting the wear and tear from cavers to the controlled paths. In Draenen, conservation tape has been successfully used to protect the cave. However, the original tape was laid quickly, with little…
A new print run of Rhosydd Slate Quarry, by M.J.T. Lewis and J.H. Denton, is now available. In 1974, the list of available literature covering mining history of any kind was not particularly long. In Cornwall, The publication of numerous popular books by Bradford Barton on the mines of S.W. England was well-established, but by…
The December issue of Caves and Karst Science is now available. Volume 44, Number 3 carries four main articles, starting with a paper on Karst conduit complexity by John Gunn, demonstrated by a dye tracing experiment from Rowter Hole, Castleton in Derbyshire, one of the most intensively investigated karst areas in Britain, with over 40…
Descent 260 should by now have landed on mats all around the country! If you’re not a subscriber, we hope this short round up will whet your appetite and send you over to Wildplaces Publishing to get your copy, or if you’re lucky enough to have a caving shop anywhere near you, call in and…
The connection of two of the largest underwater cave systems in the world has produced a new record, bringing the combined length of two caves, Sac Actun and Dos Ojos, to a total length of 347 km.
The eight men trapped since Sunday in the Hölloch in Switzerland’s Muotathal valley are now free. The Schwyz cantonal police said that the men had left the cave on Thursday night. They are all unhurt, were in good spirits and have returned home. Originally it had been thought that the group of seven tourists and…
Eight men have been trapped in the Hölloch cave in Switzerland’s Muotathal valley since 21 January. They will not be released before this weekend at the earliest due to heavy rainfall. They are unhurt and are currently stuck in a water-tight bivouac. The cavers aged between 25 and 55 had entered the cave system last…
Descent 260 will be with you very shortly! If you’re not up to date with your subscription, now is the time to renew. The lovely folks at Wild Places Publishing will be very happy to add you to the subscriptions list so you don’t miss out. As ever there’ll be a packed Newsdesk to bring…
Joint Statement by the Secretaries of Pwll Du Cave Management Group (PDCMG) and Cambrian Caving Council (CCC). There is a new entrance to Ogof Draenen, excavated within a Scheduled Monument. Following recent publicity, it has come to our attention that some cavers are contacting Cadw to question the closure of Twll Du. Cadw’s position in…
New research by academics from the University of Leicester and the British Museum, working with colleagues from the British Geological Survey and Cambridge University, outlines the science behind the largest concentration of indigenous pre-Columbian rock art in the Caribbean. Exploration and surveys of around 70 cave systems — part of an interdisciplinary study of past…
Thirteen organisations from seven countries across Europe are collaborating in an ambitious project to develop a submersible robotic system for surveying and exploration of flooded mines. The €5 million project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research programme, includes the development of a Robotic Explorer (UX-1) for autonomous 3D mine mapping to gather valuable…
In the summer of 2017, I was made aware of a scheme to encourage community archaeological groups to submit material for radiocarbon dating. The scheme is known as the Community Archaeology Radiocarbon Dating (CARD) Fund, and there is a simple online application process for suggesting suitable items for dating. The Wealden Cave and Mine Society…
Information has been received from Robert Griffiths at Welsh Water/Dwr Cymru that they will be carrying out a scour test at 10am on the morning of the 24/01/2018 as part of their inspections. This may have an impact on Porth yr Ogof. For safety reasons, cavers are advised to avoid the cave and the river…
Holmebank Chert Mine Fan Entrance lock installation 9th January 2018 Today I was up at Holmebank Chert Mine near Bakewell on behalf of the Derbyshire Caving Association and the Peak Instructed Caving Affiliation. One of the access points to the …
The team were contacted by North Yorkshire Police, and asked to conduct a search of the ground, sinkholes and potholes on Scales Moor, in connection with the search for a missing person. A team member entering Ewes Top Moss Pot discovered the body of a…
Cavers and walkers across the UK, particularly in the Yorkshire Dales Three Peaks area, are asked to be especially vigilant over the coming days after Greater Manchester Police at Bolton South issued an appeal for a missing caver and walker, Michael Wood, also known as Squirrel. Friends have confirmed that despite his mobility problems he is…
Descent 259 is now available! Newsdesk’s five pages will bring you up to date with news at home and abroad and even outer space, with the report that more holes have been found on the Moon! Rumour has it that applications to the Ghar Parau Foundation are now being prepared…. A new caving award has…
The internationally renowned Underground Worlds calendar for 2018 is now available from Wild Places Publishing, better known to most of us as the publishers of the cavers’ magazine, Descent. The calendar contains 12 beautifully printed A3 pages (plus the cover) featuring caves from around the world. Not only that, the final page has a bonus…
Following recent reports of the opening of a new entrance to Ogof Draenen and the statement from the Trustees of the Pwll Dhu Cave Management Committee, additional information has been received from Cadw who have confirmed that the hole that was excavated to open a new entrance to Ogof Draenen has been dug through, and…
From us to you – a very big thanks! No cake, although maybe we should take a leaf out of the Dudley Caving Club’s book and arrange for some! November marks the second anniversary of Darkness Below going live, and we’d like to mark the occasion by thanking every single person, caver, mine-explorer or cave…
To celebrate 50 years of pioneering British cave exploration and scientific research, renowned explorers of the subterranean world will come together to share their discoveries and experiences during 4 days at the Royal Geographical Society, London.
We have been asked by the Trustees of Pwll Du Cave Management Group to publish the following statement, which is also being published today in Descent. PDMCG have also confirmed that the Twll Du entrance is within the site of an ancient monument as we suggested in our previous article. The Trustees have informed us that Cadw are…
