The pipes lay on the heather like monstrous pulsating worms, spewing out water from leaking joints, but enabling more exploration to be carried out. Here at last is the true story of how the 1950s Gingling Hole Extensions were made, as told Jim Eyre style.

Shag Cliff and Smuggler’s Hole

An area that’s geologically ‘wrong’ for caves, yet one that produced an enjoyable study and a number of new sites.

Memories of Other Times

Some British and Bahamian humour and history here, as we say goodbye to George, Squeak and Lukewarm.

Crypts, Caves & Catacombs

Do you know what was made in Peak Cavern? You’re only four questions away from winning a book, plus here’s the solutions and lucky winner of the last Descent Quiz.

Down and Out in Thailand

In a back corner there was a small hole. ‘Can’t be bothered,’ I thought. Then I realised that the steam from my sweat-covered T-shirt was speeding away, horizontally. It was draughting!

Cover: An imaginary SRT situation drawn with pastels. Artwork: Mark ‘Gonzo’ Lumley

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There was a waterfall, captured inside a shaft of ice. We could duck into the base of the funnel and look through tumbling icy waters, up perfectly fluted blue walls to the sky above. This was caving in Arctic Russia.

BCRC Incidents

The caving rescues of 1993.

The Search for Long’s Lake

After ten days of digging on a shift system, at last the breakthrough. Then, the discovery of a large, underground lake, its existence now lost to time. What is the truth about Long’s secret in Stump Cross, which went with him to his grave?

A Tribute to Ian and Sheck

Ian Rolland and Sheck Exley died in separate incidents while cave diving in Mexico. Here are some of the tributes paid to them by their fellow cavers.

Crypts, Caves and Catacombs

There’s six copies of an excellent book to be won, as well as an oversuit. Yes, it’s quiz time again!

Cover: The Vesuvius area of Lechuguilla Cave, USA. Photo: Peter and Ann Bosted

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Len Cook’s forsaken his camera for a pencil, and continues his tale of early caving with surveying in Stump Cross Caverns.

Dragons in Japan

When a group of four British cave divers followed in the footsteps of a Japanese team of 6 divers and 15 sherpas, how well did they fare?

The Last Straw

A horribly familiar sound, like a small glass ornament falling from the mantelpiece. ‘Someone just broke a straw!’ I cry in disbelief.

A Minor Mendip Centenary

One hundred years ago Thomas Willcox carved his initials into a stal bank in Lamb Leer. Could this help determine the rate of stalagmite growth?

The Descent Caving Quiz

Ten questions to contort your brain in a search for a single word. Are you up to it? There’s a Dragon oversuit as a prize if you are.

Underground Literature

Caving fiction can portray caves far from reality, or be extremely accurate. Read a good book lately?

Cover: Janice McLauchlan in M16, Migovec. Photo: Tony Baker

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The Devil, in a rage with the Master of MacKay, flew upwards to crash through the roof. None of this geology nonsense, now – that’s the true reason why there’s a shaft above Smoo’s lake!

Pirate Tunnels of Santa Cruz

The Galapagos Islands, renowned for the quality of their wildlife, can also be explored underground – with a candle and cotton line!

True Carno Grit

The latest ‘volunteers’ digging in Carno Adit have made another breakthrough, this time into some squalid cave – and Space Oddity, a fabulous, clean-washed, soaring aven.

A Return to Pollaraftara

Len Cook’s back in Ireland for more of his caving exploits, 1950s style.

A Week in Mammoth Cave

Fancy a week in Mammoth Cave? Joe Duxbury did, so he went on a course …

Klondike in Kyrgyzstan

The former USSR is a long way to go just to enjoy cabbage soup, let alone a gold mine on a glacier.

The Descent Christmas Competitions

Baffled by the Christmas Quiz? Cross with the Crossword? And did you win the Caption Competition? Here’s the answers, to put you out of your misery.

Cover: A waterfall in Sistema El Chorreadero, Mexico. Photo: Dave Bunnell

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Descent is printed to the highest quality in the UK, as it has been since its inception in 1969.

For those dark nights when you’re not caving, there’s a crossword, a quiz, and your final chance to win the tenth Caption Competition.

BCRA Conference ’93

It’s back to Bristol for the first time in 11 years for the annual BCRA Conference, with around 600 cavers enjoying the show. Catch up on news of all the activities in this major report.

Bats, Box & an SSSI

Bats are protected under British law, as every caver knows. So how should be behave when underground to best safeguard our furry friends?

The Pwll-y-Cwm Connection

Digging underwater … ‘Back in the choke frantic dredging of the floor gave another couple of inches of space. Edging forwards, my head went through. Then, suddenly, like a cork out of a bottle, the rest of me followed … but I couldn’t find a line to the surface!’

Ibbeth’s Upstream Downstream

The entrance to Dentdale’s Ibbeth Peril Cave II had been blocked by gravel for 14 years when local cavers decided to dig it out. But, once inside, they forgot to stop until the link with Ibbeth I had been made. Here’s how they did it.

Cover: Cave, pitch or pot – the question is where? The cover image this month is itself the base for a competition. Photo: Gavin Newman

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A tribute to Derek

Ban-y-Gor

Wetsuits create too much friction to be worn in this Grade 5 cave. Rescye problems are much worse than the entrance series of that pleasant place, Daren Cilau. So what’s going on down Ban-y-Gor?

To Fermanagh by Pantechnicon

Len Cook continues his caving, 1950s style, with a Craven PC trip to Ireland and the exploration of Pollaraftara.

A Trip to Lava Land

It’s off to the USA, where ascenders fetch $410 a pair!

Caucasian Caves and a Dormouse

Mix a dormouse in a can with a Russian policeman at a station, and you’ve got problems.

Fluffies at the Fair

The Cavers’ Fair for 1993.

The Nature of the Beast

Ever wondered why you go caving? So has Iain Barker.

Gear Review

Survey & Cavemap

Cave surveying software reviewed.

Cover: Gavin Newman in Noxon Park Iron Mines, training for an attempt on Cueva del Agua in Spain. Photo: Chris Howes

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A wedged crowbar in a choke, with rope attached … ‘If this worked the result was going to be very dramatic! We were ensconced in a small alcove, just a little too close to the action for comfort. We pulled and it began. Tons of debris cascaded into the chamber.’ What lay beyond was Busman’s Holiday, a major advance in Daren Cilau.

Surveying: the Easy Route?

We all use cave surveys, painstakingly drawn by specialists. As computer survey programmes increase in number, what are the pros and cons – do they help, or hinder?

Diving Brazil

Diving in clear, clean water with huge passages at 80m by 30m. Here’s the longest, deepest and best of Brazil.

The Abode of the Clouds

With two of the three highest recorded rainfall regions in the world, Meghalaya’s limestone ought to be worth a look. A team of four thought so, and came back with the record for India’s longest cave.

The Exploration of Coniston

Coniston Copper Mine is slowly revealing its secrets. But how do you react when you find a slowly leaking, wooden plug beneath a huge lake?

Cover: A traverse in Cueva de la Lugana, Peru. Photo: Jerry Wooldridge

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‘As the slime gave way, I slid down, metamorphosing into a rapidly growing human mudball …’ How did organisers and cavers fare in a major mine rescue practice?

Moving Pictures

Get out the Tilley searchlight, it’s time for underground cine – 1950s style.

Oh No, Not More Cynnes!

Ogof Cynnes is notorious for mud – and now someone’s been silly enough to find some more!

BCRC Incident Report

All the rescues of 1992

Thin End of the Wedge

What will be the outcome of legal proposals to restrict the activities of a caving club and cavers in South Wales? The developing situation could affect all cavers throughout Britain.

Cover: Jane Mitchell in Llygad Llwchwr. Photo: Chris Howes

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In September 1992 the China Caves Project turned its attention to Xingwen County in southern Sichuan, an area recced the previous year. Two massive dolines with huge fossil entrances were found, plus a major rising and a showcave with a car park for twenty coaches in its entrance. Pam Fogg reports the outcome of this latest Chinese expedition.

As Luck Would Have It

Following a short dig, the discovery of a new cave in South Wales has been announced over a year after it was first entered. Toby Stewart tells of the discovery of Ogof Nant Rhin, which bears some rather ominous alternative names (Cave of the Cold Stream, Cave of the Hidden Stream, Ghastly Entrance Cave …).

The Blight of the Bumble Bee

There’s more discoveries with a breakthrough in Cardno Adit’s Last Stand Choke.

The Reopening of Pen Park Hole

Pen Park Hole near Bristol – a cave with a long history – has been reopened.

The Descent Caption Competition

It’s time for a new competition to begin, with a Warmbac wetsuit on offer as a prize.

Viewpoint: The Porth Phenomenon

An article concerning the fatalities that have occurred at Port yr Ogof since 1957 appeared in Descent (109). Suggestions concerning the best course of action to avoid future problems have since appeared, including several letters and reports. Here, Viewpoint includes two such letters by Jim Eyre and Tony Knibbs, which look at the subject in rather different ways.

Gear Review

Autohelm Compass and Apex 17 lights

A caver review of two products, one aimed at the caving market and the other for use on yachts!

On the Ho Chi Minh Trail

Tony Jarratt’s been off to Vietnam and returned with tales of exploration and local telly coverage.

Cover: Abseiling in Flood Entrance Pot, Gaping Gill. Photo: Martyn Farr

OUT OF STOCK

Len Cook continues his series of articles on northern caving in the post-war years with this story of activities in Nidderdale.

The Lost River of Kinvarra

Kinvarra is a small village on Galway Bay, and the centre of a richly attractive system waiting to be explored by divers. Martyn Farr reports.

The Caves of Thunder

Breathtaking exploration in the Baliem River sink in Irian Jaya.

A Return to Cuetzalan

In late December 1991 a British team flew to Mexico to meet with local cavers to explore the caves of Cuetzalan. As original surveys had been lost, they intended to resurvey the 22km long Sistema Cuetzalan system, which consists of several linked caves. The story of the final day’s caving is here told by Bob North.

Care and Maintenance of Caving Ropes

Dave Elliot covers what we should all be doing to care for that most precious commodity: the rope that our lives are suspended by.

The Descent Caption Competition

The results of the current competition – read and giggle! – and you can also find the answers to our Christmas crossword puzzle.

Cover: Gavin Newman in Illu River Cave, Irian Jaya, using helmet radios and a modified tripod bolted to the river passage wall. Photo: Kev Senior

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VAT is not charged on UK publications. Orders to the EU are posted without tax paid and you are responsible for VAT and any other charges on delivery.

Descent is printed to the highest quality in the UK, as it has been since its inception in 1969.