News

Book review: Caving: Episodes of Underground Exploration

Alan Jeffreys enjoys a caving classic even if he doesn't entirely approve of the author's somewhat cavalier attitude to risk ... Ernest Baker was well ...
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Descent 267 coming soon

Descent 267 will be with you very shortly! If you’re not up to date with your subscription don’t forget that the lovely folks at Wildplaces ...
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Book review: The Cave

Kate Mosse is better known for Labyrinth and other books, but Alan Jeffreys recommends taking a look at her novella, The Cave, set in the ...
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Ritual protection marks found in Creswell Crags

A large concentration of ritual protection marks have been discovered in caves in Creswell Crags, a limestone gorge on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border. Darkness Below editor ...
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Descent 266 – the half century!

It’s birthday cake plus cheese and pineapple on sticks all round this issue as Descent 266 celebrates 50 years in print. And it’s a visually ...
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BCA newsletter now available

BCA Newsletter no 37 for January 2019 is now available. Editor David Rose has produced a bumper issue starting with a few words from him ...
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Book review: Potholing Below the Northern Pennines

In his quest for vintage caving books, Alan Jeffreys has delved into his bookshelves again, and has come up with a northern classic from the ...
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Students get the chance to meet in-cave monitoring experts

Students interested in undertaking a cave-related dissertation will get the chance to talk to experts on in-cave monitoring next month. The BCRA (British Cave Research ...
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Descent 266 coming soon

Descent 266 will be with you very shortly! If you’re not up to date with your subscription don’t forget that the lovely folks at Wildplaces ...
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Dispatches from one of caving’s Rising Stars …
One moment Angharad Brewer Gillham was sitting behind a desk in Switzerland. The next, she's in South Africa on the prestigious Rising Stars expedition helping ...
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Descent 265 Coming Soon
Descent 265 will be winging its way to you very soon! If you’re not up to date with your subscription now’s the time to remedy ...
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Book review: Styx
As part of a new series on classic caving books, both fact and fiction, Linda Wilson reviews Styx, a 1982 adventure novel with a surprisingly ...
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Landowners speak out on Twll Du closure
Twll Du before and after. Photo courtesy of Caves and Cave Diving on Facebook
The Ogof Draenen landowners have spoken for the first time following Cadw’s announcement of the closure of a controversial access into the cave system. The ...
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How to check caving conditions from the comfort of your bed!
CPC Webcam at Horton
Craven Pothole Club have gone live with a River Ribble monitoring webcam in Horton. Anyone viewing the sites will be able to view live feeds of ...
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Book review: Underground Adventure
As part of a new series on classic caving books, both fact and fiction, Alan Jeffreys takes a look at Underground Adventure by A Gemmell ...
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Hold the front page: caving’s moment in the international spotlight
British cavers suddenly found themselves on the front pages of the world’s media through the Thai cave rescue drama. Journalist Sharon Wheeler takes a look ...
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The BCA is missing you – here’s how to get the newsletter!
Last night the latest BCA newsletter should have popped into your inbox, but the chances are it didn't. Despite earlier appeals here and elsewhere BCA ...
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From Thai heroes to diggers to tiny stalactites – the best of Hidden Earth 2018
Darkness Below's roving reporter Peter Burgess provides a flavour of the busy weekend at the 2018 Hidden Earth conference which boasted a wide range of ...
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Hidden Earth 2018 video salon
Making videos underground is becoming easier with very compact and versatile equipment within many cavers' budgets, but making GOOD videos is still as much a ...
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How to piss off the French in one easy lesson – and why voles are important
Linda Wilson picked up some intriguing tips at the British Cave Research Association's 29th cave science symposium as well as drinking plenty of tea ...
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News: J’Rat 10th anniversary digging award 2018
31st August 2018 is the tenth anniversary of Tony Jarratt’s death and we would like to calculate how much new cave passage has been found in ...
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News: Descent 264 Now Available
Descent 264 is now available! If a copy hasn’t arrived with you, it’s time to head over to Wildplaces Publishing to subscribe now or if ...
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News: Repairs to the Hunter’s Lodge Inn Sink vandalism
Following the horrific vandalism in Mendip's Hunter's Lodge Inn Sink two years ago, cavers have worked hard to repair as much of the damage as ...
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Book Review: The Archaeology of Darkness
By way of preface to Archaeology of the Caves of Ireland in 2012, archaeologists Marion Dowd and Robert Hensey brought together a number of specialists ...
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Book Review: The Anomaly
TV archaeologist Nolan Moore is in search of a mysterious cavern in the Grand Canyon, discovered in 1909 by Kincaid, a man who returned with ...
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From foot fungus to explosions under the stairs
Compare that with a Go Pro. The biggest Housing with one loading gave 5 minutes of film. With Guy Meauxsoone in Greece ( 1983) fiiming "Drowned river of Daracos". In fact Paul Atkinson did the cave diving filming as both Guy and I were novice divers.
Camera expert Sid Perou looks back over a career of often dramatic and sometimes risky filming adventures, including the risk of foot fungus, and explosions under ...
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News: 1960s Mendip dig makes it into print
Accounts of an archaeological dig on Mendip have appeared in print – 50 years after initial discoveries took place. Picken’s Hole is a small, partially ...
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