With 2023 well underway, you will soon be receiving your next copy of Descent in the post. That is, of course, if you have taken out a subscription. If you haven’t, go to the link at the end of this article and set one up! In this issue: Regional highlights include: the survey of the Fenagh-Badger connection, as reported in issue 289; some new finds in the Peak District’s Intake Dale Mine; and the unmasking of some mystery diggers in Northumberland. In the second part of “The Geometry of Deep Space”, Frank Pearson continues his description of the exploration of Five Ways Pot in the Yorkshire ..read more

Following on from the enjoyable quiz night that was run pre-pandemic, Mendip Cave Rescue will be running another Cavers Quiz Night at the Hunters Lodge Inn, Priddy on Saturday 18th March 2023, starting at 19:30. All questions will be (vaguely) caving related, and entries are welcomed from teams of up to six people per team, with a cost of £1 per team member. Any proceeds from the evening will go to MCR. MCR Quiz Night, 18th March 2023 at the Hunters Lodge Inn ..read more

Nicely on schedule, the next issue of Descent is about to drop through your letterbox. Make sure your subscription is up to date, so you don’t miss out on all the big news! Here are some clues on what to find in issue 290! Alan Jeffreys’ articles are always a pleasure to read, so look out for his account of the discovery of a body in Body Pot, high up on Ingleborough, in 1947. Did you realise that the Council of Higher Education Caving Clubs has now been active for 20 years? Aila Taylor writes about CHECC’s past, present and future. In The Geometry of Deep Space – Part One, Frank Pearson descr ..read more

This is the third volume of a four volume set covering the caves, mines and associated features of the county of Somerset. Volume 1 was published in 2020 and features Bristol, Broadfield Down, the Bristol Channel and West Somerset. Volume 2, also published in 2020, features sites in West Mendip, Burrington and North Mendip. Volume 4 will complete the survey by describing caves and mines in East Mendip, Bath, and South Somerset. Each volume in this series has a hardy plastic dust cover as the book is designed for regular and frequent use in the field. The compact format lends itself to the sam ..read more

At 10:30 on Saturday 3rd December 2022, an experienced male caver slipped in Goatchurch Cavern, dislocating his shoulder. Mendip Cave Rescue members were already at Goatchurch Cavern, setting up for a training session. The training session was quickly cancelled, and the casualty was assessed, given pain relief and assisted to the surface and down to the car park where he was handed over to colleagues from South Western Ambulance Service. The incident was closed at 11:34 with the casualty safely on the surface and was attended by 25 MCR team members in total ..read more

Descent 289 – The first issue under new management, and the verdict is more, please! Chris Scaife and Carolina Smith will no doubt have been experiencing high levels of adrenaline in recent weeks, as they endeavoured to compose and publish the first issue of Descent since they took over the reins of the magazine from Chris Howes and Judith Calford. As the new owners’ first issue, Descent 289 does not disappoint. The same high levels of production quality continue, and the content is just as engaging. For now, the format remains much as it has been, and as Chris and Carolina get past the adren ..read more

With Jon, Nick, Brockers, and Mike The boulders bite back! I was upfront digging under the pissing tree, well actually, somewhere close to Trick or Treat, at the current end of the NE passage in the deep Soft South. Jon was next in line filling bags and shifting away the rocks as I loosened the sediments in the small space beyond the stalagmites and shoving it back to him. Nick was transporting the spoil back to the pot to be hauled up to Brockers on the ledge, Mike was stacking bags and rocks in the entrance. Digging was tentative, it’s not easy going upwards amongst loose cobbles and boulder ..read more

    Survey of the central area of Rising Star cave. Adapted from John Hawks and colleagues (2017) CC BY-SA 4.0 New claims as to the use of fire in Rising Star Cave in South Africa have thrown the spotlight back on the activities of the enigmatic Homo naledi. And it now it appears that there might have been an easier way for these hominins to have made their way into the cave system. Graham Mullan sifts through some new revelations that have flown under experts’ radar. Rising Star Cave has been close to the centre of attention of the study of early hominins since the first announcemen ..read more

With Brockers and Jake A bit thin on the ground today but I am sure we will manage to get plenty done. Brockers and Jake headed to the Soft South to start digging, I went in another direction making my way towards Trick or Treat. Decided against going through Toil and Trouble so off to the Tuck Shop and Another Emotional Journey before turning into the passage to my destination. There was the anticipated pool of water in the lower section ,and I hesitated thinking to myself “do you really want to do this?” I slipped into the pool becoming immersed in the cold water. On the other side I spent s ..read more

Having descended through Lower Long Churn into Alum Pot, a caver (m, 38) fell a distance of up to 5 or 6m from the bottom pitch, sustaining suspected injuries to ankle, femur, lower back and chest. CRO members descended to the casualty, assessed his injuries, used a group shelter and heated waistcoat to warm him, administered pain relief and ‘packaged’ him in a vacuum mattress (whole-body splint) then placed him ..read more