A brief Open Council Meeting will follow immediately after the AGM.
Individual Members subscriptions for 2012 are now due, so thanks to those who have already paid or who pay by Standing Order. If you haven’t paid yet, it’s £10.00 or, if you are a BCA Direct Individual Member (DIM), only £7.00. Please send your cheque, payable to DCA, direct to:
DCA Treasurer, Wayne Sheldon, 5 Hawthorne Close, Erdington, Birmingham. B23 5NQ. Em. finance@theDCA.org.uk Mob. 07941-211209,
If you have any queries or problems about Conservation or Access in the region, please contact the Conservation Officer: Dave Webb, 0115-840-1109, or Asst. Conservation Officer: Christine Wilson, 01433-621149, 07713-416455, both on conservation-off@theDCA.org.uk. Alternatively, contact the Access Officer: Iain Barker, 0114-264-7561, 07710-689704, access-off@theDCA.org.uk.
Please remind everyone that the access agreement requires that a "trespass fee" be paid to the farmer.
COUNTRYFILE MEETS LATHKILL DALE
The Countryfile programme on BBC1 on Sunday 13 Nov. featured Lathkill Dale and its caves. Dave Webb,
DCA Conservation Officer, reported to the DCA Council Meeting: "Several cavers and myself recently supported a team from Countryfile who were investigating the reasons for the disappearance of the river in Lathkilldale during the summer months. John Gunn was the interviewee and the charming Ellie was the presenter. Their efforts on the surface and underground were broadcast on Sunday November 13th."
DEVONSHIRE MINE MOVEMENT
Steve Pope reported on 14 November: “I was leading a group of Scouts within Devonshire this weekend and noticed some loose rocks and cracks in the roof just below the Miners pillar area which I had not noticed before. It looks as if mineral hunters have been excavating the roof area here for Galena. There is a fresh crack running down the centre of the roof and on the right hand side as you descend there are some rocks which move if you hold onto them. Just beyond this area, as a passageway joins one from the right, a pack giving support to the pillar/roof has also been disturbed. “Nothing appears to be in any immediate risk of collapse unless there are further movements/falls of material. Leaders need to be aware that if they take groups below the miner's pillar care will need to be exercised to avoid further disturbance of the packed deads and if they see signs of any fresh material in the passageway they should only proceed with caution.”
If you have any queries or problems about Equipment or Safety in the region, please contact the DCA Equipment Officer: Jules Barrett, 07730-981857, equipment@theDCA.org.uk or DCA Projects Officer: Martyn Grayson, 07976-953089, projects@theDCA.org.uk.
The BCA Secretary is pleased to report that the following documents are now available for free download
from the BCA website: 1) Weather and its Effects on Caves: a Guide for Cavers (46 pp) 2) The Hydrology of Goyden Pot and Manchester Hole (17 pp)
Both are excellent and very useful documents, well worth downloading, and can be printed out to be kept for reference in Club Libraries. The link to them is on the BCA Home Page at www.british-caving.org.uk.
All the ropes on Block Hall were replaced on 11 January.
We need someone to organise the DCA stand at events where the public find out about caving and possibly have a go at ladder climbing or crawl through DCA’s Artificial “Cave”. The next scheduled event involving DCA is “Cliffhanger” (www.cliff-hanger.co.uk), the country’s largest outdoor activities festival at Sheffield on 7/8th. July 2012. The DCA Organiser will need to be on site in Sheffield for the whole weekend, including Friday evening to set up and Sunday evening to clear up, and will need to liaise with the Cliffhanger organisers, caver volunteers manning the DCA stand, and with various people and groups who currently store the equipment needed for the event. There is a fair amount of fetching and carrying involved so you will need to have your own transport -DCA will pay travelling expenses. It’s a hectic and hardworking weekend but great fun and a good opportunity to give caving a positive profile. We hope to be able to appoint someone to the Events Organiser post at the DCA AGM in February. If you are interested please contact DCA Secretary Jenny Potts for more information.
OUTDOOR FIRST AID TRAINING There are still some spaces left on some Outdoor First Aid courses running in Feb and March, details can be found at www.a2efirstaidtraining.co.uk. Discount for cavers and groups. Booking essential. If interested please contact Cara asap. Cara Allison, A2E First Aid Training, Tel: 07854 695178, E-m: cara.firstaid@yahoo.co.uk
BCRA CAVE ARCHAEOLOGY GROUP The new BCRA Cave Archaeology Group (CAG) was launched in October 2011. It intends to help members of the caving community become aware of, and promote interest in, the existence of archaeological remains in and around caves. It aims to promote working relationships between cavers and archaeologists, leading to a better understanding between individuals, groups and disciplines. As the group grows it hopes to be able to organize meetings, field trips, etc. The centre of the group is the website: http://www.cag.bcra.org.uk, which has been set up to provide a focal point for information on cave archaeology and related subjects. Its success depends on support from the caving and archaeological communities through contributions of digging news, discoveries, reports, web-links, etc. In this way it is hoped that the site will act as a magnet for cave archaeology-related information that can be disseminated to a wider audience, with the aim of protecting the important and little appreciated archaeological cave heritage of Great Britain. The CAG is being led by John Howard and Hannah O'Regan.
BCRA SCIENCE MEETINGS 10 March, 2012 -BCRA Cave Science Symposium, University of LeedsPresentations of short papers on Cave and Karst Science topics. This year's special theme: Cave Science in the Yorkshire Dales. This is a joint meeting with the Yorkshire Geological Society http://yorksgeolsoc.org.uk. Hosts Simon Bottrell and Phil Murphy. For further information contact Trevor Faulkner t.faulkner@bcra.org.uk
21-24 June 2012 -BCRA Yorkshire Dales Field Meeting
A three-day Field Meeting to Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales. This event will run from Thursday evening (21 June) to Sunday afternoon (24 June 2012) and will be based at the Dalesbridge Centre near Settle. It is a joint meeting with the Quaternary Research Association http://qra.org.uk and will involve members of BCRA’s new Cave Archaeology special interest group. The Lecture Secretary's Preliminary Information and Booking form is now at http://bcra.org.uk/docstore/sci/12/QRAfieldmeeting-1.pdf
The meeting will study recent research into cave archaeology and aspects of karst geo-morphology in Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales. Attendance will be restricted to a maximum of 50, because transport during the meeting will be limited to two 25-seater coaches. All participants will be required to register and pay the attendance and accommodation fees in advance by the end of March 2012.
The meeting is organised by Hannah O’Regan and Trevor Faulkner. Contact Trevor Faulkner t.faulkner@bcra.org.uk. Further information will be posted on the BCRA Web Forum before the event, at
| http://bcra.org.uk/forum | ||
|---|---|---|
| Hon. Secretary: Jenny Potts, | ||
| FOR YOUR NEWSLETTER / NOTICEBOARD | 3 Greenway, Hulland Ward, Ashbourne, | |
| www.theDCA.org.uk | DE6 3FE Tel. 01335-370629 | |
| 27 January 2012 | Email. | secretary@theDCA.org.uk |