Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but CAL have just had a legal letter from NRW formally terminating the agreement which provided access to certain mines on NRW/WG land. We went through this last year, however NRW did not follow the required legal steps and decided in the end to backtrack...

It's a long time since I used my distroX2 but since I had a new cave to survey I thought I would try out SexyTopo on my mobile rather then using a PDA. Since the distroX2 hadn't been calibrated for a long time that was the first job: I had a few difficulties getting a good calibration figure...

NRW have been in contact with Cave Access Limited to report that a member of the public has reported a hole appearing a footpath in the nearby woodland. This may be due to a collapse of old mine workings and NRW have closed the footpath pending investigation. They ask that visitors to the area...

The directors of Cave Access Ltd (CAL) were told on 24/11/21 without any notice in a Zoom meeting with NRW that NRW has unilaterally terminated CAL's mine access agreement with immediate effect. CAL's scheme had been operating successfully for about 6 years without any concerns being voiced. ...

Cave Access Limited has an agreement with National Resources Wales/Welsh Government to permit registered cavers and mine-explorers to visit sites listed in the agreement and this has worked well for the last 5 years. Recently CAL has become aware of a restriction being placed on Rhiwbach Slate...

Just a quick reminder that if you want to lead parties underground in any of the mining sites covered by the CAL - NRW agreement then you need to register for 2020 by sending a email to: permits@caveaccess.co.uk stating your name, BCA number and Club name (DIM's just use BCA as the club). CAL...

Hmmm. Ballot closed at midnight yesterday. It's now 21 hours later. No sign of any white or black smoke on the BCA website so are the 6000 votes still being counted or is there a problem? Dave

Found a climbing harness, a cord loop with new screw-gate crab and a (dead) tiny torch at the bottom of the entrance pitch into Poachers Cave, North Wales last Thursday night (8/2/18). PM me with a brief description and I will organise its return. Cheers, Dave

Can someone PM the contact details for Brynmawr CC. Mails to info@brynmawrcavingclub.org.uk bounce as they direct to Paul's dead freeserve account. Cheers, Dave [with CCC Secretary hat on]

Has anyone got a spare PGEB-NM053040 batteries for sale as the one in my distroX2 seems to have died. I checked with Ben and he has sold all the ones he brought. If no-one has any spare I'll order a batch. Cheers, Dave

Cave access Limited are pleased to announce that Hafna Mine in the Gwydyr Forest has been added to list of sites in the NRW - CAL agreement. Please see the CAL site for further details: http://www.caveaccess.co.uk CAL are very grateful to NRM for allowing access to this interesting site with...

With my Cambrian Caving Council secretaries hat on I am looking for email details for the secretaries of: Crewe Climbing & Potholing Club Newbury & District Caving Club. I have been to both websites and left a message, but it may be quicker if someone from the clubs PM the details. Cheers, Dave

As some of you are aware an agreement has been signed between Natural Resources Wales and Cave Access Limited to permit recreational mine explorers and cavers to have legal access to certain mines on NRW property. The agreement was signed on the 3rd March 2015 and will run for a year with the...

The email address for Aberystwyth University Caving Club: caving@aber.ac.uk seems to have stopped working. Mail seems to get redirected to club06@aber.ac.uk and then ends up in a black hole.  I recently tried to email the April CCC Newsletter to them. This is now on the CCC website, but It...

Richard Hill, the CCC training officer, has organised an SRT training course to take place on Saturday 14th March 2015 at Plas Y Brenin, Capel Curig. The course will run from 10am till 5pm and will be free, but you need to bring food and drink for the day. There are limited spaces as it is a...

We found a 4m length of 9.5mm rope abandoned by the wall in the far car parking area on the left up from the Hill Inn in Chapel-le-dale this Sunday - 16th March. Looks like it was probably for use as cows-tails. PM me if they were yours and I will see if they can be re-united. Cheers, Dave

In quite a few caves & mines there seem to be some small hangers in the roof for surveying. They appear to be a push fit in a small (ca 5mm hole) and have a small eye at the bottom to attach a tag or target for laser surveying. I have so far failed to find a name or source using google and a...

Had a wander over Wetton Hill today and noticed evidence of mining. There appears to be a capped shaft at SK113563, shining a torch down the vent hole showed it dropped about 20-30'. A bit further down the hill there appeared to be a possible adit  or dig covered with a piece of corrugated iron...

A group of us were down in Sell Gill Holes today (10th Nov) and found what looks to be a brand new set of cowstails at the bottom of the 'dry' route. PM me with a rough description and we will try and unite said item with their owner... Cheers, Dave