Other Sites and Blogs – Darkness Below

We can’t hope to bring you every story, but there are plenty of caving and mining blogs out there you can browse at your leisure! Have a read through some of the best! If you know of a blog you’d like us to add to this page please let us know!

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16th February 2019

With Nick, Jonathon, Alex and Jake The plan was to continue to enlarge the north-west passage. Unfortunately, Tav didn’t make it today so, neither did the pump. Nick was, sort of, volunteered to bail-out the pond of his own making. When he got the ...
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9th February 2019

With Nick, Jonathon, Tav and a massive welcome back to Jake A jovial group of diggers ventured up the hill from the farm to the cave entrance. The loose bags, left-out to dry at the end of the last digging session, were packed-up and dispatched to ...
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2nd February 2019

Due to some adverse weather conditions, quite a lot of snow, digging activities for today were cancelled. Jonathon made a gallant effort to make the Hunter’s but was thwarted when he came across a damsel in distress on the Old Bristol Road. I think s ...
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Ice Age survivors or stranded travellers? A new subterranean species discovered in Canada

The discovery of a new to science species of rare and primitive arthropod in a cave that was covered by a thick ice sheet until recently is certain to raise questions. Researchers describe a new species of cave-dwelling, insect-like dipluran from the i ...
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INCIDENT 08/2019 – Feb. 2nd. 18.42hrs – Souther Scales Fell, Ingleborough, North Yorkshire – Mountain Rescue

A couple (m 26, f 25), became benighted when trying to detour around the steep crags below Swine Tail (and without map, torch or compass, or winter gear) lost their bearings. A small team was sent to the location given by the Phonefind facility availab ...
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50K Subscribers

Earlier today I gained the 50,000th subscriber to my YouTube channel at youtube.com/keithedwardscaver. Channels with more than 100,000 subscribers are awarded a silver wall plaque.In January my subscribers went up by 2,448 - my largest monthly rise, if ...
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INCIDENT 07/2019 – Jan. 28th. Mon. 11.40hrs – Malham Cove Top, North Yorkshire – Mountain Rescue

A walker (m,72) slipped and fell on the limestone pavement and sustained a suspected fractured right ankle. The team responded and splinted the injured limb, and then put the casualty onto a stretcher for a carry to the team vehicle. He was then transp ...
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INCIDENT 06/2019 – Jan. 27th. Sun. 14.02hrs – Ingleborough, North Yorkshire – Mountain Rescue

A team member came across a walker, one of a group of 5, clearly showing signs of mild hypothermia. The casualty was provided with additional warm clothing, food and drink, and the team member requested assistance in getting the casualty off the hill. ...
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Uranium-series dates

Thanks to Gina Moseley we have some more dates on speleothems sampled from Hallowe'en Rift. 230TH Age (yr BP) Corrected HR1-T 215,221 +/- 2476 HR1-B 219,378 +/- 2429 correlates with MIS7 HR2-T 125,341 +/- 1532 HR2-B 126,834 +/- 2197 correlates with ...
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26th January 2019

With Brockers, Jonathon, Nick and Tav After the lurgy and a week at the University of Sheffield Zooarchaeology Lab, it was good to get back into Hallowe’en Rift for my first digging session of 2019. The plan this session was to continue the enl ...
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INCIDENT 05/2019 – Jan. 25th. Fri. 13.35hrs – Leck Fell, Cowan Bridge, Lancashire – Mountain Rescue

A quad bike rider assisting in a game shoot, rolled his vehicle and sustained back injuries. The team were called by North West Ambulance Service whilst incident number 4 was ongoing, and initially requested to standby, as both a road ambulance and the ...
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INCIDENT 04/2019 – Jan. 25th. Fri. 12.25hrs – Grain Head, Whernside, North Yorkshire – Mountain Rescue

The team were called by North Yorkshire Police to a walker who had slipped whilst descending Whernside, and sustained a suspected ankle fracture. Team members found the casualty being assisted down the hill by his companions, and assessed the casualty, ...
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INCIDENT 03/2019 – Jan. 19th. Sat. 08.51hrs – Pen y ghent, Horton in Ribblesdale, North Yorkshire – Mountain Rescue

A walker (m, 40) slipped on ice and heard a snap from his right ankle, just below the summit of Pen y ghent, on the path towards Hull Pot. CRO members responded, but as many of the team’s most active members were just beginning a day’s casu ...
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New Petzl Stop

Rumers have been circulating for a while now about a redesigned Petzl Stop being in development and test. The first pictures have now emerged following an expo in China. Thanks to Qi Woo for posting these on the Rope Test … Continue reading → ...
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INCIDENT 02/2019 – Jan. 17th. Thu. 20.25hrs – Moor Head Lane, Horton in Ribblesdale, North Yorkshire – Mountain Rescue

A mountain biker (m, 60) hit a patch of ice while descending towards Helwith Bridge on an evening ride. He was catapulted from his cycle and dislocated a shoulder. Team members administered analgesics and immobilised the injury, before helping him into ...
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Central Texas salamanders, including newly identified species, at risk of extinction

Biologists have discovered three new species of groundwater salamander in Central Texas, including one living west of Austin that they say is critically endangered. They also determined that an already known salamander species near Georgetown is much m ...
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A Year in the Life of a Cave Videographer 2018

The traditional annual roundup video from Caver Keith Studios. 2018 was an eventful year in which I celebrated the 10th anniversary of my first upload and had many more views than any other year, but amongst the highs there was one slight disappointmen ...
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5th January 2019

I had succumbed, like so many others, to the lurgy and so, was out of action. Jonathon sent the following summary of the morning’s activity at Hallowe’en Rift, the first session of the year: “We were down to two diggers - Jon and Paul. Thinking ...
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