The Charterhouse Caving Co. Ltd. has gone paperless, exchanging the old paper permits for new electronic ones. And they’re free. Since the Dawn of Time (the early 1950s), access to caves in the Charterhouse area of Mendip, including GB Cave and Longwood Swallet, has been managed by cavers for cavers on behalf of successive landowners….
WARNING: EASTWATER CAVERN, MENDIP. There has been a rock fall in the rift connection between the bottom of Dolphin Pot and the chamber before Dolphin Pitch. A section of the roof and some of the left-hand wall (looking down the rift) had become detached. CSCC Conservation and Access Officer, Wayne Starsmore, spent time dealing with…
The Speleological Union of Ireland (SUI), have been very active over the years with major cave conservation clean-ups, and they’ve been hard at work, this time in Carren Mine in co. Clare. The cave clean-ups started again with the Student Forum in 2019. The SUI received a heritage grant from Geological Survey Ireland (GSI) which…
Following recent vandalism to the gate on Waterwheel Swallet, Mendip, the CSCC Conservation and Access Officer, Graham Price has issued the following information. “Waterwheel has recently been broken into and the gate vandalised. The gate has been removed for repair/replacement and the entrance has been secured with a non-removable grill. Everyone will appreciate that it…
The following information has been provided by the Council of Southern Caving Clubs regarding access to Singing River Mine on Mendip.
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…
The BCA Newsletter 37 – February 2020 is now available. Editor David Rose has put out a bumper edition which is both visually attractive, thanks to laying out work by Matt Ewles and Gary Douthwaite, and packed full of BCA news and other features. There are two main feature articles – a piece by Andy…
Two reports of instability in caves have reached us. Dave King has sent the following message re Hobnail Hole. “Hobnail Hole is temporarily closed due to a very unstable boulder in Black Pot. Please do not use Hobnail hole as a route into or out of Butts’ Chamber in Thrupe Lane Swallet until further notice.”…
Bob Hall, on behalf of SWCC and the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu Cave Advisory Group, has sent the following information: Changes to the Administration of Access of the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu System Background The Ogof Ffynnon Ddu cave system lies within a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest administered by Natural Resources Wales who own the…
The historic permit system for the caves on Leck Fell, which was discontinued a few months ago, has now been replaced by the online booking system. This system, in use for the caves of Ingleborough Estate since November, now also allows landowner-consented access to Leck Fell caves to be booked with minimal fuss with no…
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…
Cavers, no matter how carefully they abide by access arrangements, should always be conscious that for some of our most treasured caves, access can never be taken for granted.
High Birkwith Farm is now under new ownership and potentially this could cause problems for access to Calf Holes, Browgill, Old Ing, Birkwith, Dismal Hill and other smaller caves in an area used quite heavily for novice trips by clubs and outdoor groups. One caver who has met the new owner explained that that he…
Veteran caving film maker Sid Perou has teamed up with photographer Ryan Deboodt to produce a compelling thirty nine minute film about the discovery of the world’s largest cave passage in Han Son Doong cave in Vietnam, the resulting development of tourism in the area and the beneficial affects not just for the local population but also for conservation.
Shot on location earlier this year the film follows the impact of the area of the Vietnam war, early discoveries by British and Vietnamese cavers and includes stunning footage of the cave.
Watching the film it’s hard to believe Sid’s contribution to the film, comprising over 50% of the footage, was shot using just a £400 handy-cam and a zero budget!
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Ogof Draenen in South Wales has once again been plunged into an entrance-related controversy following a connection made to the surface from inside the cave. This leads to the main cave via a series of short pitches equipped with fixed ladders, and there is also a rope traverse and a free-hanging pitch to negotiate. Rumours…
Back in the winter of 2012/13 Cheddar Gorge flooded, damaging the road, and had to be closed for several months, until it dried out and the road could be repaired. In order to help prevent further events like that, cavers from the Charterhouse Caving Company Ltd worked in conjunction with the landowners, Somerset Wildlife Trust…
Pen Park Hole, a spectacular hydrothermal cave beneath north Bristol, has now been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Natural England. The cave has a long and interesting history. It was first been descended in July 1669 by Captain Samuel Sturmy, a local mariner, accompanied by a miner. It was eventually…
After several years of work by the Conservation & Access Committee, BCA has now published its Minimal Impact Caving Guidelines. This takes the form of a clear, easy to read ten page booklet, with high-quality photos throughout to compliment the text. The new guidelines provide a step by step guide to how to go caving…
Statement from the Association of British and Irish Showcaves. The Association of British and Irish Showcaves ( ABIS ) is the lead body representing all the showcaves in Britain and Ireland. At their recent AGM in Ireland it was unanimously agreed that any alteration to the existing interpretation of the Countryside and Rights of Way…
Roy Fellows reports another completed stage in the stabilisation program in Cwmystwyth Mine. The underground works phase 1, support of the stull above the skipway, is now completed and the area cleared. Normal access to Roman Level is now open, the path has been widened at the bottom as the work has encroached on this…
A recent article in Descent based on a letter from Ashford Price, member of the Association of British and Irish Show Caves (ABIS), expresses the Associations strong objection to the BCA proposal to alter the present CRoW Act and states clearly that in their opinion any “amendment or change of interpretation of the CRoW Act” to…
The issue of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 continues to divide the caving community. As we reported early in January, Tim Allen has been lobbying MPs on behalf of the BCA, in the hope of getting DEFRA to change their interpretation of the law, even taking two on a visit to Gaping…
A major breakthrough has been made in Tween Twins Hole, Burrington Combe, Somerset. Darkness Below has received the following report from the diggers: After many years of work a team of Wessex Cave Club diggers have made an interesting discovery at Tween Twins Hole in Burrington Combe, Mendip. Tween Twins, known to members of the…
A report has just been received by Darkness Below of deliberate vandalism to Hunters Lodge Inn Sink on Mendip. We are sad to report that Hunters Lodge Inn Sink will be closed for at least a month while we attempt to repair, clean up and re-tape after what appears to be some deliberate vandalism to…
The following letter has been circulated by Natural Resources Wales for the attention af all cavers and caving clubs active in North Wales, specifically the Alyn Gorge Caves: Alyn Valley Woods and Alyn Gorge Caves, Site of Special Scientific interest (SSSI) As you may be aware, a swallow hole has opened up within a…
We brought you news last year about the threat of legal action from cavers Stuart France and Nigel Rogers and on the responses from both Natural Resources Wales and Drws Cefn landowner Pwlldu Conservation Limited. We understand in the latest development in this long running saga Stuart France has now issued a pre-action letter via his solicitors to Natural Resources Wales advising…
The latest edition of the Cambrian Caving Council Newsletter for January 2016 is now available. The Newsletter contains reports from all over Wales, including a report on the finds at Ogof Marris (described here by Darkness UK), details of the permit system for access to the Castlemartin Range for new exploration, an account of the…
More Press coverage A publicised visit by two Members of Parliament to Gaping Ghyll was reported here a few days ago. The press release was greeted with much enthusiasm by those cavers keen to see caving accepted as a permitted activity on Open Access land. Two local newspapers have also published the story, The Craven…
Report by David Rose TWO Conservative MPs and a leading QC have paid a visit to Britain’s highest waterfall – the mighty cascade that tumbles down the 365-foot entrance shaft of Gaping Ghyll on Ingleborough in North Yorkshire. The two politicians, former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis, MP for Howden and Haltemprice, and David Rutley,…
The landowners who own access to the UK’s second longest cave, Ogof Draenan, have made it clear that they won’t be bullied by threats of legal action made by cavers Stuart France and Nigel Rogers In a post on UK Caving yesterday the landowners who between them own the land on which the entrances to Drws Cefn…
We reported on 24 November 2015 about the legal action threatened by cavers Stuart France and Nigel Rogers against Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and the landowner concerning their claim to have access rights to Drws Cefn under the CRoW legislation. In the latest development in this long-running issue, their solicitors have now been sent a…
Cavers Stuart France and Nigel Rogers are involved in the on-going dispute over closing or gating the Drws Cefn entrance to Ogof Draenen in South Wales. On the 20th November 2015 their solicitors, Richard Buxton of Cambridge, wrote to Natural Resources Wales, sending copies to the Pwll Du Management Group and also to the landowner….
