Man of Mines
We say farewell to Mendip digger, author and mine photographer John Cornwell.

Brits Abroad
As cavers once again plan their overseas expeditions, here is the low-down on who is going where.

Persistence Pays
Pay Sank, a recent discovery on Ingleborough, was connected to Grange Rigg Pot in November 2005. Here, Dave Haigh covers the history of their exploration, which begins in the lost days of the 1940s.

Gear Review
Firefly 3 Slave
The rise of digital cameras has been a blessing – and a curse. The Firefly 3 can take care of at least one problem, avoiding early flashgun misfires.

The Search for Loxton Cavern
Lost to man since the 18th century, Loxton Cavern on Mendip was rediscovered by Nicks Harding and Richards. Following a rich vein of history, we explore Catcott’s cave.

The End of an Era
After thirty years, the Stephen Nunwick Memorial Lecture series draws to a close.

Viewpoint: A Miner’s Lot
UK collieries are disappearing. One miner tells of his life underground and what he sees in the industry’s future.

No Hairy Oiks Allowed
The Sport for All editorial in Descent (188) drew a range of comments – here’s the follow-up.

The Descent Caption Competition
With the largest number of prizes ever given away by Descent, here are the three winners and ten runners-up that made us laugh the most.

Cover: Mark Brown with the Night Watchmen in White Rock Cave. Photo: Robbie Shone

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The Courtesan Beckons
After years of struggling at the extremities of Agen Allwedd and Daren Cilau in South Wales in the hope of forging a connection, a team has made a breakthrough in a crucial block of limestone. With the surprising discovery of some stunning formations along the way, excitement is running high …

Safety Point
The latest RESCON – the international cave rescue conference – was held in Poland, where British cavers joined their compatriots from around the world to swap tales and, more importantly, techniques.

Cavers Go Back to School (Part 2)
Cavers enjoyed an excellent weekend’s lectures and demonstrations on Mendip during Hidden Earth 2005. This is the concluding part of our report on this packed event.

A Deeper Frog
The Black Sheep Diggers of Nidderdale have probed the Goyden Pot riverbank, bed and surrounding area for years in their search for a dry route into the divers’ extensions. Finally, Frog Pot has yielded to the onslaught – shafts and drops now lead to a walk down a streamway, with all-important leads to follow.

The Chemistry of Rope
As cavers, we are used to not only using but caring for ropes. After all, we wouldn’t wish to spend hard-earned cash on a new SRT rope and ruin it due to a lack of maintenance – but can that very care we lavish on cleaning cause damage, or does it help to extend a rope’s life? Just what happens to the insides of a rope when detergent is used? Steve King takes the scientific approach to rope care.

Descent’s Competitions
This month sees the close of two competitions for two copies of a book on exploration and a DVD of The Descent along with a Sony DVD player – check here for who won. Plus, here’s your last chance to enter the Descent Caption Competition, with an excellent chance of your receiving one of thirteen watches on offer as prizes.

Cover: Martin Beale with The Courtesan, a discovery in Agen Allwedd. Photo: Martyn Farr

Price shown includes postage within the UK. For customers outside the UK, postage will be added on at checkout.

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.

Traser Titan P6506

Traser diving watches, with unique highly visible faces, are under scrutiny in this review.

Of Northern Bats and Caves

Cavers are used to spotting bats underground – but what of their distribution? Research in the Yorkshire Dales is revealing more of our furry friends’ habits and their cave-dwelling lifestyle.

The Descent Caption Competition

Wieliczka Salt Mine and Captain Jack’s Cave

The familiar Descent Caption Competition closes as another opens, with a stunning array of prizes – enter now and you could be one of the thirteen lucky winners.

A Taste of Nullarbor

The Nullarbor of Australia is a bleak, desolate place – but one which is filled with opportunities for cave exploration.

The Caves of Cadair Fawr

In a little-frequented caving region of Wales, a group of cavers have withstood floods that submerged them and near-miss collapses in their relentless search for new passage.

The Bar in the Rock

If only Merlin had been at the dig, perhaps the bar in the rock would not have been a barrier to progress.

Cavers Go Back to School

The annual speleo-fest this year headed for Mendip. Here is part one of our report on Hidden Earth 2005.

Images from the Past

Ken’s Coming of Age

A photograph brings back memories of a youthful Ken Pearce, the Iron Man of caving.

The Descent in Descent

With the release of the caving movie The Descent on DVD, we have a copy and a DVD player to give away.

Cover: Diving in Murra-El-Elevyn, Nullabor, Australia. Photo: Martyn Farr

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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.

Seeking the World’s Deepest Through-trip
Once the world’s deepest cave, Austria’s Lamprechtsofen now offers the world’s deepest through-trip. Fay Hartley wants to undertake it – and shows the true meaning of perseverance.

Expeditions in a Teacup
Expeditions over the years have led to many strange occurrences – take a look at this latest book, of which we have two to give away.

The Sea Caves of Staffa
The caves of Staffa, including Fingal’s Cave, have never received a proper examination by cavers – until now.

Farewell the Mighty
We have recently lost two of our stalwart cavers – Wilf Taylor of Lancaster Hole fame and that character of Peak District caving, ‘Ben’ Bentham.

Gear Review
Toughprint
Waterproof ‘paper’, tough enough to withstand a cave.

The Descent
No, not your favourite magazine – it’s The Descent, the movie, and readers’ thoughts of this horror-fare.

Saving the Sublime Karst
With cavers having explored Papua New Guinea for more than thirty years, Dave Gill feels it is time to put something back in and help to protect its threatened karst.

Nullarbor Dreaming
In the first of a two-part article, Martyn Farr heads for remote, unforgiving Australian karst, cave dives and kangaroos.

Images from the Past
The Morgan Signature
Here in the showcave, oft ignored, lies the signature of early Dan yr Ogof pioneer Jeffrey Morgan.

Cover: Descending Dersios during the International Congress in Greece. Photo: Robbie Shone

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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.

Caving at altitude is perilous indeed – without taking along a video camera for your attack on the highest cave in the world.

The Dolphin of Dolphin Pot

Paul Dolphin, whose name is inextricably linked with Eastwater Cavern and Pwll Dwfn, died in May; his life is remembered with this previously unpublished interview.

A Little Light Relief

‘The turning-round space was now a little smaller and I appeared to be trapped.’ It was just one more incident during exploration in the latest, incredible Notts Pot II discoveries.

Guardians of the Underworld

Cave life often takes a back seat in speleo studies, especially the ‘commoner’ forms such as spiders. There’s research to be done – and an appeal for help.

A Tale of Three Chokes

Access to Shannon Cave in Ireland was lost in the 1990s when a choke finally gave up its struggle against gravity. Now, a nasty little dig in a nearby cave has yielded a new route in.

Mixed Weather, Butcombe and Goon!

Mendip was the place to be in July for the British Cave Rescue Council’s conference.

The Descent Caption Competition

Welcome back to the Descent Caption Competition, with two lights to be won as a reward for making us laugh.

Gear Review

Petzl XP Headlights

Here’s the specs of Petzl’s new Myo XP and Tikka XP headlights.

Cover: Ged Benn ascending the Goldrush pitch in Klondike Pot. Photo: Dave Ryall

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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.

Year on year, Daren Cilau has seen extensions short and long, blind-ended and excitingly ongoing. However, it is not often that a chamber is entered that contains formations as beautiful as those in Where the Sun Don’t Shine.

A Tribute to Colin

Colin Pryer tragically died in Low Birkwith Cave while cave diving in March. His friends write of their memories, their tributes.

The Rescues of 2004

Here are the British Cave Rescue Council’s statistics for Britain and Ireland’s 2004 callouts, plus a comparison with those from France. Read and learn what not to do!

In the Chamber of the Gods

Owl Hole in the Peak District was once described as a pit filled with rubbish and lost to cavers. Cleaned up, bit by bit it has yielded to a series of digs.

Boireau’s Memorial

A number of memorials were erected to commemorate those who died in Mossdale Caverns in 1967, but it seems that one plaque to Geoffrey Boireau remained unknown to cavers.

Descent into the Peculiar

The Channel Islands might not be your first thought for where to go for an interesting underground experience, but there’s plenty to keep visitors happy in a wealth of tunnels left behind after the German occupation.

Stealing the Jewel of the Underground

Filming for a new BBC television series, British cavers have seen some of the best underground scenery in the world in New Mexico’s Lechuguilla Cave.

Cover: Stan Allison in Chandelier Ballroom, Lechuguilla Cave, New Mexico. Photo: Gavin Newman

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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.

Inlet 7 in Notts II has drawn the attention of northern diggers, even though the size of the passage at the head of Oliver Lloyd Aven was perceived as ‘unimpressive’. However, a push, a squirm and the realisation that it was impossible to turn back so they might as well press onwards, has produced a breakthrough into Pleasures of the Palm.

Illustrated Walls

Technology, like a rolling stone, never stands still. Neither does caver ingenuity. Combine the two and what do you have? Superb advances in surveying techniques. Ponder on the concept of entering data in the cave and leaving with everything in place to produce the finished, superbly detailed drawing.

Quote of the Month

Fatalities at Fingal’s

In 1884 The Times reported a multiple fatality when three tourists were drowned after being swept from Fingal’s Cave on Staffa, an early instance of a cave-related incident directly leading to safety improvements at the site.

Heading Overseas in 2005

British cavers are again preparing for trips overseas in search of caverns measureless. Here is the state of play of grants awarded and who is heading where in the world.

Underground in the South-east: Fuller’s Earth Mines

NAMHO’s annual conference – this year being held in South-east England – is fast approaching, so Peter Burgess continues his look at underground features in the area.

Into the Lost World

Not long ago the karst features of Conan Doyle’s Venezuelan Lost World were considered anomalies; now, a gigantic quartzite cave has been explored, replete with new-to-science fauna and incredible ‘living’ formations. Join us in Cueva Charles Brewer.

Cover: Dave Nixon in Titan, Peak Cavern. Photo: Robbie Shone and the Titan team

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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.

When the diggers in South Wales’ Carno Adit broke into the natural cave they knew lay beyond the bricks, they hoped for a major discovery. Over the years since then Carno has not yielded easily, but another chunk now lies beneath the surveyor’s pen.

A Weekend at the Brewery Part II

With a description of cavers entertaining cavers with a pantomime cow and a Boothroyd bag, here is the conclusion to the 2004 Hidden Earth conference report.

The Descent Caption Competition

Chortle at the winning caption: ‘deads’, indeed!

Eco-protection and Inspection

Eco-anchors proliferate throughout the UK, from popular pitches to sometimes obscure corners. Now that these number in their thousands, what should we do if we suspect they are starting to fail?

Viewpoint

The Dilemma of Expeditions

Have we, as cavers, gone too far with our approach to expeditions? Is the Golden Age over? Veteran explorer Dave Gill thinks that perhaps it is time to rechannel our resources.

Cavers Face the Scrapheap Challenge!

If we care for the future of caving, we must care for our caves – and because what lies above ends up, one way or another, below ground, that means an occasional clean-up is in order.

Cover: Jenny Pinder preparing to descend Alum Pot. Photo: Martyn Farr

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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.

There’s 50m of prime SRT rope on offer, courtesy of Inglesport, if you’ve the wit and humour to win it.

Wookey: Aiming Deep

Divers in Wookey Hole – one of the UK’s greatest challenges – have at last made progress towards the elusive Chamber 26, and produced a new depth record in the process.

SUSS vs. the University of Sheffield

Sheffield University’s caving club is well established and highly regarded, yet has been systematically shut down by the authorities. It’s back to the thorny questions of perceived risk and, with no medals to win, value to the system. This is a wider problem than it might seem – other societies take note.

T’Owd Man in Speedwell

A project is underway to record the many marks left behind by T’Owd Man of the Peak.

A Weekend at the Brewery

The 2004 Hidden Earth conference was held at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal, as far north as it’s ever been. Here’s the fare that cavers saw.

One Year On

The British Caving Association came into being at midnight on the last day of 2003. With some cavers still confused and concerned over membership fees and insurance, how has the BCA fared in its first year – and what will 2005 bring?

Man versus Microchip

Jim Eyre has written his autobiography using, for the first time, that most thoroughly recalcitrant of devices: a computer. Read Jim’s account of who won, man or machine.

Draenen is Ten!

Yes, Ogof Draenen was discovered ten years ago – doesn’t time fly! A healthy bunch of cavers got together to celebrate the first ten, and look to the next.

China in the UK

The Royal Geographical Society in London kicked off a week’s lectures and field-trips around the UK, set up specially for international visitors as a first of its kind.

The Near Country

Yet again, we learn that caves are where you find ’em with a new extension dug from the side of a major route in Gaping Gill.

Cover: Grotte du Crotot, France. Photo: Andi Schober.

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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.

Digging, digging downward, drop follows drop follows drop in Corky’s Pot. Read how those lucky lads with the Bradford PC forged another connection with Gaping Gill.

Marching on Your Stomach

Eat, don’t eat, eat well, eat what ? Here’s Iain Barker’s take on how to survive your caving trip by stomaching your march.

In the Land of Hollow Rock

Rich Gerrish takes us on a return trip to China – where caves abound, along with the thrill of open leads.

The Craven Chronicle

With the Craven PC celebrating an anniversary, Howard Beck covers 75 years of speleo-history.

Images from the Past

Percy Pearson

Ever resourceful and willing to freely supply information, cavers offer their feedback on old photos and reminiscence about Percy Pearson.

Underground in the South-east: Sand Mines

In a continuing series on the underground of South-east England, Peter Burgess visits the region’s sand mines.

Gear Review

Petzl Spelios and DuoBelt

Petzl has two new products: 14 LEDs in a cluster, either mounted on a helmet or powered by a belt-mounted pack.

The Descent Caption Competition

There’s 50m of prime SRT rope on offer, courtesy of Inglesport, if you’ve the wit and humour to win it.

How the Land Lies

Landowners are increasingly worried about the legal implications of cavers being on their land; we pay the cost in sometimes complex access agreements and insurance premiums. But what of trespass, let alone the inherent risk of caving? An unrelated court case has shed some light on what landowners might now expect to happen.

Cover: Judith Calford, Black Chasm, California. Photo: Chris Howes

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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.