, If you want to know why a couple of Aussie cavers have had two new species of cave spider named after them get your mitts on the new issue of Descent, which brings you caving news from around the world. Descent 280 should now have reached you by now, but if not, it’s time…
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…
Descent 274 has now arrived! This is the second copy to appear since lockdown so as can be imagined recent exploration doesn’t figure highly but nevertheless Chris and Judith have put together a readable and informative issue. Newsdesk has had to go to Mars to speculate on new cave discoveries – otherwise it is largely…
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…
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…
The BCA Cave Surveying Group have just announced an Intermediate Therion training course. The scope of this training course is to improve the skills of people who ideally as a minimum have attended a CSG Paperless Surveying training course or are currently using Therion for their mapping projects. The course is not aimed at people…
In a race against the clock three British cave rescue divers and their equipment left Heathrow just after 9pm last night on a flight to Thailand to join the search for thirteen people trapped in Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province. The British contribution includes four Heyphones supplied by Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation (DCRO), a…
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…
We recently reported that a loose section of wall in Suicide Cave posed a potential risk. Pete Knight has been in touch again with an update to the situation. A chain barrier has been installed in the cave just prior to the scramble up to the first pitch. The work was carried out in consultation…
Correspondent: Pete Knight There has always been a nasty bit of rock on the wall at the far pitch in the roof of Suicide Cave. Last night (9th October 2017) we attempted to remove this once and for all which successfully redistributed about half a tonne to the floor. Unfortunately removing this section revealed a…
