A one-day British Cave Research Association field meeting will be held at the British Cave Monitoring Centre, Poole’s Cavern and Buxton Country Park on Saturday 27 April.
The event is courtesy of the Buxton Civic Association, who own the site. It will be led by Professor John Gunn and Dr Andi Smith, with assistance from Dr Paul Hardwick.
Numbers are limited to a maximum of 27 (three groups of nine) and will be allocated in order of receipt with priority given to BCRA members. The limit is posed by the size of the lecture room and because Poole’s Cavern is a tourist cave that will be very busy on this Saturday at the end of Easter week. Anyone arriving on the day without having pre-booked will not be able to visit the cave unless they purchase a ticket and join a public tour.
During the morning there will be four talks and during the afternoon there will be three activities: a tour of Poole’s Cavern viewing instrumentation; a session in front of the computer in the data centre and a walk to the two main springs, Wye Head and Otter Hole. The tour of Poole’s Cavern will be along the tourist route so no caving equipment is required (but note it is always cold in the cave!) The surface walk is mainly on paved paths but bring appropriate clothing in case of inclement weather.
There is a small cafe in Poole’s Cavern but as this is likely to be very busy morning tea/coffee and a buffet lunch have been arranged, the cost of which is included in the meeting fee (£5 BCRA members, £10 non-members). The fee also includes a copy of the BCRA publication Exploring the Limestone Landscapes of the Peak District by Trevor Ford and John Gunn which describes a circular walk from Poole’s Cavern that can be undertaken on the Sunday by those wishing to stay for the weekend.
Poole’s Cavern is located about 750m to the south-west of Buxton town centre on Green Lane. Buxton can be reached by train from Manchester or Stockport and by bus from Derby and Sheffield. The bus and railway stations are in Buxton town centre from where it is about a 20-minute walk to Poole’s Cavern. There is a large pay and display car park on site.
PROGRAMME
09:30 Arrive and register
09:40 Meeting begins, introduction by John Gunn
09:45 Why monitor caves? (Andi Smith)
10:30 Poole’s Cavern in context – the limestone hydrogeology of the Buxton area. (John Gunn)
11:00 Tea and coffee
11:20 The British Cave Monitoring Centre: real-time monitoring. (Andi Smith)
11:50 The British Cave Monitoring Centre: stand-alone monitoring. (John Gunn)
12:20 Buffet lunch
13:00 Group 1 Poole’s Cavern; Group 2 data centre; Group 3 walk
14:00 Group 2 Poole’s Cavern; Group 3 data centre; Group 1 walk
15:00 Group 3 Poole’s Cavern; Group 1 data centre; Group 2 walk
16:00 Discussion
1630 Meeting closes
BOOKING
If you wish to attend, please email John Gunn with the following:
NAME:
BCRA MEMBERSHIP NUMBER: (Please ensure your membership is up to date as we will be checking membership numbers).
LUNCH PREFERENCE (either carnivore or vegetarian).
Please also pay via http://bcra.org.uk/bookshop/_events.html noting on the form that the payment is for ‘April meeting’ (£5 BCRA members; £10 non-members).
Correspondent: Linda Wilson, BCRA Publicity Officer
