Behind the cover

Mike Wise on the Second Pitchin Longwood Valley Sink, Mendip It’s always fun photographing the beautiful underground world we are fortunate to experience, but one of the great privileges of a cave photographer is being asked to help document new discoveries. Longwood Valley Sink has taken decades of persuasion by dedicated explorers to yield results.…

The Hall of the Thirteen in the Gouffre Berger, France This image was taken in the Hall of the Thirteen, in the Gouffre Berger system, during the 70th anniversary of its discovery. I was commissioned by Méandre Technologie to produce an image as part of a technical demonstration. The objective was to fully illuminate the…

Peter Lord in Sótanode las Golondrinas, Mexico Almost exactly 50 years ago I needed to take a break from cave diving explorations to broaden my horizons. There was so much going on overseas and the area that gripped my attention more than any other was North America. I reflected long and hard about the idea…

Emma Key in Doolin River Cave Back in 1999, Andy Dopson of Rubber Duck Caving Club proposed a trip to County Clare in Ireland, a first for all of us and indeed for the club. We piled five of us into Andy’s Discovery and set off on this superb adventure, making new contacts and lifelong…

Judith Calford in Caverna do Morro Preto, PETAR, Brazil. Cave photography overseas, at the other end of an international flight, has the extra complication of limitations in the equipment that can be taken with you – especially batteries, but also increasingly when having to meet weight and size restrictions. Added to that … This image…

Péter Juhász in Tywarnhayle Mine, Cornwall, by Dave Watts I have visited quite a few different mines over the years – in Mendip, Wales and Derbyshire – but nothing had prepared me for what the mines of Devon and Cornwall had in store. The sheer scale and diversity of minerals and complex geology all contributed…

Daniel Jackson in the White Forest, Redhouse Lane Swallet, by Bartek Biela Over the years, we heard stories about Redhouse Lane Swallet from the Forest cavers, mostly grim and uninviting. In my mind, that painted a picture of a cave in the ‘to be avoided’ category. I was excited to be invited, but also anxious…

Louise Anderson and Joe Sharp in Defiance, Clearwater Cave system, Mulu, by Bartek Biela Since my first visit to Mulu I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the caves that I have attempted to photograph over there. The hate comes from the overwhelming vastness of the passages, which are a bit tricky to light…

Over the last few years, some friends of mine have been exploring an endless maze cave system in the Northern Dales. After several trips to the cave with them, I had come to the conclusion that it was a terrible place and told them so. It consisted of over 7km of passages that were generally…

There’s always a story and (wow!) this cover image certainly has one. Over 34 years ago I had an invite to visit the Forest of Dean and explore a virgin  sump in a place that I had never heard of – Redhouse Lane Swallet. Paul Taylor and team had just made a breakthrough into what sounded like an…