WCMS

Club Details:

The Wealden Cave & Mine Society was founded in 1967. WCMS differs from many caving groups, for besides its interest in  natural caves, there is a strong interest in  mines and underground stone quarries with an emphasis on the preservation and recording of  industrial history.

Our social focus is in the South East, but we visit all parts of the country where mines or caves can be found, on a more or less regular basis.

The society has had the exclusive use of a stone cottage in South Wales, called “The Stump”, directly above Ogof-Ffynnon-Ddu.

The Stump, WCMS
The Stump, cottage used by WCMS at Penwyllt. Peter Burgess

The society has the responsibility, and pleasure, of running Cave Open Days every summer, in the old market town of Reigate in Surrey.

Our membership includes ‘traditional’ cavers whose main interest is exploring natural caves. In this respect we are much like many other clubs. But we are not just a caving club. We have many mine historians as members and we are proud of the many years of hard work that we have done to study, explore and survey the old mines and tunnels of Surrey. We often say that we go caving in the mines, but it would be more accurate to say that when we do this we are mining historians and archaeologists. It is true that we use caving techniques and equipment to work in the mines safely, but our primary aim there is not to exercise our bodies, but our minds, as we slowly but surely piece together the forgotten stories of these fascinating places.

Our social focus is in the South East, but we visit all parts of the country on a more or less regular basis.

Club Web Site: www.wcms.org.uk

Club News:

A big thumbs up for the BCA Recreational Training Grant

It had never really occurred to me that caving instruction could be so enjoyable and simple to arrange. In the summer of 2016, I attended a meeting of the Council of Southern Caving Clubs, to ...

NAMHO Conference 2017 – Call for Papers

The 2017 Annual NAMHO Conference takes place over the weekend of 24th / 25th June, and will be based at Godstone in Surrey. It is to be hosted by the Wealden Cave and Mine Society ...
Photo copyright Peter Burgess

WCMS offers to host 2017 NAMHO Conference

UPDATE (24th Nov 2015) : NAMHO Council have accepted the offer by WCMS to host NAMHO 2017. The Wealden Cave and Mine Society (WCMS) have decided to offer to host the 2017 NAMHO conference and ...