Have your say!

Have your say!

Following the British Caving Association’s AGM on Saturday, BCA members can now vote in the online ballot, open until 23.59 on Sunday 26th June 2022. Full instructions on how to case your vote can be found on the BCA website. If you missed the AGM but want to watch this before casting your vote, this…

BCA and BCRA react to the Russian war on Ukraine as Ukrainian caver Alexander Klimchouk accepts offer of honorary membership of BCRA

BCA and BCRA react to the Russian war on Ukraine as Ukrainian caver Alexander Klimchouk accepts offer of honorary membership of BCRA

The British Caving Association (BCA) and the British Cave Research Association (BCRA) have issued their own open letters after widespread condemnation of the statement by the International Union of Speleology (UIS) on the Russian war against Ukraine. And Ukrainian cave explorer and cave scientist Dr Alexander Klimchouk has been made an honorary member of the…

BCA offer grants for young cavers to attend International Congress in France 2022

BCA offer grants for young cavers to attend International Congress in France 2022

The BCA’s Youth and Development team have announced the availability of two grants of £500 to help groups of young cavers attend the 19th International Congress of Speleology being held this year in Savoie Mont Blanc, France. Applications are invited from groups of three or more young cavers who meet the following criteria: the groups…

The BCA is missing you – here’s how to get the newsletter!

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 only 8% of the BCA membership are currently signed up to receive the newsletter by email – some 520 members. The good news is caving clubs are doing rather better, with 170 so far signed up. If you didn’t receive it and would like to in future read on.

Breaking News: British cave divers also rescued four trapped Thai rescuers in Tham Luang Cave

Breaking News: British cave divers also rescued four trapped Thai rescuers in Tham Luang Cave

When Rick Stanton and John Volanthen surfaced in Chamber 3 of Tham Luang Cave on day 6 of the rescue to find four people waiting for them they first thought they’d somehow found the boys of the trapped Wild Boar team. In fact they’d discovered four lost Thai rescuers who had been trapped by the rising floodwaters. In the chaos of the early days of the rescue the absence of the men had been unreported and so had not been noticed by the Thai authorities and or the outside world. What followed was a dramatic and unparalleled “snatch” rescue mission perfectly conceived and executed as they dived the four men through three sumps to safety.

Training: Cave Surveying Group Therion Training Course

Training: Cave Surveying Group Therion Training Course

The BCA Cave Surveying Group have just announced an Intermediate Therion training course. The scope of this training course is to improve the skills of people who ideally as a minimum have attended a CSG Paperless Surveying training course or are currently using Therion for their mapping projects. The course is not aimed at people…

News: Ogof Draenen – Update

News: Ogof Draenen – Update

Following recent reports of the opening of a new entrance to Ogof Draenen and the statement from the Trustees of the Pwll Dhu Cave Management Committee, additional information has been received from Cadw who have confirmed that the hole that was excavated to open a new entrance to Ogof Draenen has been dug through, and…

News: Statement from the Trustees of Pwll Du Cave Management Group

News: Statement from the Trustees of Pwll Du Cave Management Group

We have been asked by the Trustees of Pwll Du Cave Management Group to publish the following statement, which is also being published today in Descent. PDMCG have also confirmed that the Twll Du entrance is within the site of an ancient monument as we suggested in our previous article.  The Trustees have informed us that Cadw are…

Do BCA have your email address?

Do BCA have your email address?

Since last year the BCA newsletter has only been distributed by email and BCA online are again appealing to cavers via Club Secretaries to help with building their database of members email addresses and getting permission to email members. BCA is a separate organisation to your club so even if your club has passed on your email address…

Update: More news on Drws Cefn legal threats

Update: More news on Drws Cefn legal threats

We reported on 24 November 2015 about the legal action threatened by cavers Stuart France and Nigel Rogers against Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and the landowner concerning their claim to have access rights to Drws Cefn under the CRoW legislation. In the latest development in this long-running issue, their solicitors have now been sent a…