Looking at joining an active club in the Derbyshire/Yorkshire area...live in E Manchester... Want interesting and regular meets and the opporunity to cave abroard.
I've had a long sabbatical from caving [11years...but bottomed the Berger in 99] . a change of personal circumstances!!!!! has led to a new found desire to go caving....done about 10 trips with friends since New Year.
Any recommendations???

Guppy

Derbyshire CC are somewhere round Stockport, Eldon are Buxton/Bradwell, Chesterfield CC are in, erm, Chesterfield.

List is here http://ukcaving.com/wiki/index.php/Clubs_a-z (Not exhaustive though)

Derbyshire caving club meet most tuesday nights at Alderley Edge for digging, sometimes on a Sunday there too.  members are always going over to Matienzo.  Got quite a busy meets list with both mine trips and caving trips.

http://www.derbyscc.org.uk/

I've inquired about joining the DCC.....went down the Berger with them in 99[or with the alternative DCC] however have not had much joy...an email has been passed on to the chairman but no reply after nearly 3 weeks!!
Guppy

thinking of Eldon or Rubberduck!!
or Bradford/Craven.

I'll go prod him with a big stick, if you want to send me your details I'll make sure someone contacts you. 

I think he is in Matienzo for a couple of months at the moment , but I'll make sure one of the others contacts you.

Hi - Eldon meet on first thursday of the month - i.e. tonight !!! - in the Bowling Green in Bradda - there are a couple of lads that come over from your neck of the woods (though have sent their apologies for tonight as it happens).

We are very active around the peak, weekday evenings and weekends etc - lots of digging projects on the go as per usual,  but a bit less organised with meets lists etc, not to say they dont happen, but they're organised a bit on the fly, by those that want to go.

Albania expedition this year, occasional sorties to France/Spain.

andyguppy said:

I've inquired about joining the DCC..... :

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Are you aware that the DCC are a predominantly car-based caving club?
Although admittedly they have had the odd reasonable find whilst drive-by caving in the recent past.

or there is the TSG. plenty of stuff going on at the moment

http://www.tsgcaving.co.uk/

SamT said:

Hi - Eldon meet on first thursday of the month - i.e. tonight !!! - in the Bowling Green in Bradda -

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Aaaah, the Growling Been

Spent many a drunken night there in the late 70's.
Is it still the excellent pub it was 35 years ago?

in cumbria? said:

andyguppy said:

I've inquired about joining the DCC..... :

Click to expand...

Are you aware that the DCC are a predominantly car-based caving club?
Although admittedly they have had the odd reasonable find whilst drive-by caving in the recent past.

Click to expand...

Yes, we have actually upgraded from cycling to cars to get to the caves unlike in cumbria?  :blink:

there is always the YSS in yorkshire with club trips in Derbyshire/Yorkshire every week 
www.yssuk.com

Why do people need to be in a club ? I have never caved with a club or in the last 15 years diving ever dived with a club. Surely a small group of like minded individuals is far better. You now have forums for everything. Ive met far more cavers and divers through forums than ever I did in clubs. Clubs have rules, petty politics, egos and needless subscriptions.This from a wise old man who has been on committees of both caving and diving clubs.

The "club / no club" argument has been done to death before and is a classic "Dead Horse" topic. Guppy is obviously interested in joining a club and good luck to him. Clubs can be great if you find the right one.

The Old Ruminator said:

Why do people need to be in a club ? I have never caved with a club or in the last 15 years diving ever dived with a club. Surely a small group of like minded individuals is far better. You now have forums for everything. Ive met far more cavers and divers through forums than ever I did in clubs. Clubs have rules, petty politics, egos and needless subscriptions.This from a wise old man who has been on committees of both caving and diving clubs.

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Whilst I can see your point, a few things spring to mind; if nobody was in a club then the BCA/regional councils would receive no money and thus such things as anchor schemes would cease to exist, landowners would have to deal with lots of random cavers turning up willy-nilly pestering for access and would very quickly get fed up with the inconvenience and probably close entire fells (do we assume you have been pirating caves for the last 15 years or just not visiting large numbers of caves/pots??)

"Needless subscriptions"; ahh, significant lengths of rope, slings and krabs must be free these days, please point me in the direction of this bargain!

Anyway, as PB says, done to death.

The Old Ruminator said:

............I have never caved with a club .....................This from a wise old man who has been on committees of both caving and diving clubs.

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As Dunc says:

Anyway, as PB says, done to death.

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What's the big deal? You want to join a club, you join a club; you don't want to join a club, you don't. Easy-peasy.

The BRCC of which me and Dunc are members are a club, however this club is like you describe Ruminator. We are a group of like minded indivuals, we do not bother with pety politics and the like. We have no real rules except your standard conservation and pirating rules.

As far as Ego's concerned well, you do not have to be in a club for that. Subscriptions pay for ropes etc as Dunc has already mentioned and all of ?16 a year it is hardly breaking the bank!. It costs just as much to drive to a cave and back nowadays.

OK
Sorry its a well bashed topic which I dont particularly want to reopen. Merely pointing out to the OP there is another alternative which he may or may not like to consider. As for equipment I would far prefer to have my own as I know where its been and what state its in. Try diving if you want to know about expensive kit. Caving is far cheaper. You would not get an experienced diver using club kit. That is only used for training. In 50 years caving and 25 years diving I can honestly say clubs have done very little for me. So its a personal view I shall labour no more.

The Old Ruminator said:

OK
Sorry its a well bashed topic which I dont particularly want to reopen. Merely pointing out to the OP there is another alternative which he may or may not like to consider. As for equipment I would far prefer to have my own as I know where its been and what state its in. Try diving if you want to know about expensive kit. Caving is far cheaper. You would not get an experienced diver using club kit. That is only used for training. In 50 years caving and 25 years diving I can honestly say clubs have done very little for me. So its a personal view I shall labour no more.

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A bit of a poor comparison in my opinion and I speak as a member of both diving and caving clubs for the past 20 odd years. As a member of a diving club I was very happy to use their tanks, compressor, boats and trailers. Yes experienced divers would buy their own personal gear (stab jackets and regs etc) but this was usually because they wanted something higher quality than the cheap stuff that the clubs bought for training.

In a caving club there is relatively little personal kit available to borrow. Some clubs have lights you can borrow and most people get their own as soon as they can. There is no difference between the ladders, ropes, krabs etc that you would borrow from a caving club and the ones you would buy yourself so any argument based on quality goes out the window.

Your point about knowing where the gear has been is taken. Personally I trust the people I cave with but this is obviously a personal decision.

Fact of life is that obtaining access to caves is infinitely easier as a member of a club. Whether or not that should be the case is another debate but it is the status quo.

I appreciate that you're not looking for a debate on this - just wanted to add my own thoughts.

Nick

Who supplied the drill? You know, the one with the iffy batteries?