Deep Thought

Review: A Darker Domain

Caves turn up regularly in crime fiction, and this time it's Scotland's turn to see some speleological literary action. Karen Pirie, the main character in several books by Val McDermid, is a Detective Inspector in ...

Descent 280: an honour with a difference for hero Aussie cave divers

, 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 ...

Aquanaut – A life beneath the surface

It is an honour to have been given the opportunity to review Aquanaut, and to immerse myself in Rick Stanton’s account of his numerous cave diving exploits, and his unique perspective on the now universally ...

Descent 278: Video, digs and the biggest cave in the world!

Another excellent issue from the Descent team is packed with interesting and exciting content including a trip in the "world's largest cave"! As is so often the case now, Newsdesk starts with items about the ...

Ancient seashell resonates after 18,000 years

Almost 80 years after its discovery, a large shell from the ornate Marsoulas Cave in the Pyrenees has been studied by a multidisciplinary team: it is believed to be the oldest wind instrument of its ...

Descent 277: Why cavers are visiting Harry Potter’s bedroom!

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 ...

Book Review: Caves and Cave Diving

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 ...

Book review: Somerset Underground volume 2

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, ...

In the news

Here we go with our latest round-up of news and views from around the world. If you see anything you think we might have missed, do drop us a line. Many thanks to Herman de ...

Review: Dorking – a Town Underground

Naughty boys, grand follies, an underground control centre for a railway and a Quaker congregation falling through the floor into the cellar ... Peter Burgess gets to explore Dorking below the surface in a book ...

Review: Journeys Beneath the Earth, The Autobiography of a Cave Explorer

Dave William Gill (not to be confused with Dave ‘Icarus’ Gill) will be known to many cavers in this country – and abroad – as one of our leading ‘expedition’ speleologists. His CV reads like ...

Review: Yorkshire Caves and Potholes

As I type, the Craven Pothole Club (CPC) is well into its 91st year. The founder member in September 1929 was Albert Mitchell, FRGS, who sadly passed away in October 1985. He was a prolific ...