News

Go delving into the dark with Irish cavers

Thrill-seekers with a visual impairment are to get the chance to go underground in a ‘try-caving’ event in one of Irelands's most spectacular underground-exploration regions ...
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Irish cave gets a spring clean

Irish cavers have cleaned up, thanks to a grant from the Geological Survey of Ireland – and may also have found new access points to ...
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Have your say at the British Caving Association’s AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the British Caving Association is being held in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales caving area this year - at ...
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Deliverance from evil, climate change, and the Soviet Union

Deliverance from evil, climate change, and the Soviet Union
Peter Burgess hears about ritual protection marks, cars going underground, time capsules and threats from out east in the Subterranea Britannica spring meeting at the ...
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Access news: Parking no longer allowed at High Birkwith Farm

Jeff Wade abseiling in Calf Holes, Yorkshire Dales. Photo courtesy of Rob Eavis
Council for Northern Caving Clubs (CNCC) has announced that parking will no longer be allowed at High Birkwith farm, meaning cavers will need to park ...
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Breaking news: Josh Bratchley safe and well after Tennessee cave rescue

Numerous reports from the US confirm that Josh Bratchley returned to the surface safe and well around 7pm local time last night after being trapped ...
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BCRA Newsletter April 2019

In this newsletter... BCRA Field meeting. Saturday/Sunday 29/30 June 2019 in Alston, Cumbria This weekend field meeting is entitled "Hypogenic Caves of the North Pennines ...
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Descent 267 now available

Descent 267 is now available! If a copy hasn’t arrived with you, it’s time to head over to Wild Places Publishing to subscribe now or ...
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Archaeologists identify first figurative Palaeolithic cave art in the Balkans

An international team, led by an archaeologist from the University of Southampton and the University of Bordeaux, has revealed the first example of Palaeolithic figurative ...
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Cave rescue teams celebrate £30,000 donation
Peter Barratt of Honeywell Analytics, Peter Dell and Peter Dennis with representatives of DCRO and BCRC
Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation are this week celebrating after receiving more than £30,000-worth of life-saving gas detection equipment donated by Honeywell Analytics. The equipment, including ...
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Ali and Co dig deep at BagPit
Pete Buckley and Ali Moody assisted by a band of Wessex diggers have had more success recently at their dig at Bagpit, on the south ...
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Event: BCRA spring field meeting
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 ...
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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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Book review: Subterranean Climbers
Alan Jeffreys continues his look at classic caving books with a review of a classic text that captures the excitement of underground exploration in the 1930s and ...
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Book review: Pennine Underground
As part of our ongoing series of reviews of classic caving books, Alan Jeffreys looks at the groundbreaking Pennine Underground. With the plethora of UK ...
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Grab your chance, says Rising Star
Angharad Brewer Gillham collecting sediment for later analysis on the surface. Photo by Dirk van Rooyen, courtesy of University of the Witwatersrand.
In the final part of her report for Darkness Below, Rising Star Angharad Brewer Gillham looks back on her adventures underground in South Africa, and ...
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Presenting caving’s future part 2
Third year PR students at UWE Bristol were asked to come up with ideas for raising the profile and diversity of the British Caving Association ...
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Review: Cave and Karst Science, December 2018 Issue
The December 2018 issue of Caves and Karst Science is now available. Volume 45, Number 3 carries six articles. The first is a report on ...
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Book review: Rich Mountains of Lead
Mike Moore reviews a valuable addition to any mine explorer's book collection. This new book is a detailed study of  the lead, silver and zinc ...
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