Last year, I decided to form the North Nottinghamshire Speleological Society (NNSS), a registered charity organisation to help benefit the sport of caving and the conservation of caves, mines and other underground activities.

Some of the immediate aims of the society are:

1) To promote the sport of caving, in a safe and proper manner and to give access to proper training within Nottinghamshire
2) To allow inclusion to the sport by those who are financially disadvantaged. This will include initiatives such as subsidised memberships, equipment loans and discounted purchases through the society
3) To promote the education of caves, mines and related activities, by working with schools, community groups and members of the public within Nottinghamshire
4) To acquire underground sites of heritage and natural interest and land related to those sites, for improvement and preservation

In addition, it is also hoped that in the future, the society will be able to:

1) Issue grants to Caving Clubs towards conservation or exploration projects
2) After recieving proper training required by the governing bodies, provide a reliable Cave Anchoring scheme, particularly Resin Anchor installation in systems that would benefit from this



The society is some months away from formation at this moment in time. However, its Constitution and Code Of Conduct have been drafted and if you have an interest, you can get a copy of them by contacting myself (via forum messaging).

Posts with suggestions of services, or other enquiries, that could be offered by the society are welcome. If you are interested in getting involved with the NNSS and can spare the time to do so, please contact myself with your name and contact details and a short note on what you personally could offer to benefit the society. I am also currently looking for commitee members including Secretary and Treasurer.

Thanks for reading!!

Sounds great.
Where will it predominantly operate. Im assuming Derbyshire since (correct me if Im wrong) Nottinghamshire doesn't have many caves. (probably lots of old coalmines though)

2) After recieving proper training required by the governing bodies, provide a reliable Cave Anchoring scheme, particularly Resin Anchor installation in systems that would benefit from this

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not knocking the idea, but isnt this already the in the realm of DCA.

Remember - a lot of cavers out there are already unhappy about the amount of resin anchors installed in many caves.

SamT said:

Remember - a lot of cavers out there are already unhappy about the amount of resin anchors installed in many caves.

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Are there? On what grounds don't they like resin anchors?

Erm - certainly a few older cavers hark on about not having bolts at all and using natural belays etc.
And others think that many caves are over bolted using resin anchors.
Some I have been in are absolutly peppered in them beyond necessity .

Think the time of natural belays only is long gone and isn't going to come back....

Comparing today's situation with my old 80's "pre P bolt" days, I think the situation now is infinitely preferable. You should have seen the mess of 8 and 10 mm spits there used to be in some of the Derbyshire caves - it looked hideous, not to mention the lottery of "which spit shall I use today?".

Your probably right -

How many cavers these days would be able to rig up a decent hang from natural belays in either an emergency or on an expedition. Not a majority I bet.

I agree that P bolts are infinatly better than spits. But I do think that in many places - far too many have been installed.

I suppose it then harks back to making caves too 'save' and the whole ethos of adventure. You can barely step over a small boulder these days without there being a handline, connected to 3 P bolts (P8 - more like P163)

Apparently Suicide cave in winnats looks like Sly stallone got his bolt gun from 'Cliffhanger' confused with his AK47 from 'Rambo'. :guns:

Sorry titch - we've digressed.

4) To acquire underground sites of heritage and natural interest and land related to those sites, for improvement and preservation

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PHDMS will know a lot about this.

Where will it predominantly operate. Im assuming Derbyshire since (correct me if Im wrong) Nottinghamshire doesn't have many caves. (probably lots of old coalmines though)

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Derbyshire will be the main "trial grounds" for the society whilst it is forming and building its foundations. However, there are long term plans for the society at a later date to be expanded should everything go according to plan :? !

After running as NNSS for a few years, there will be name change to the society and it will become more UK active, covering all caving regions as opposed to regional only.

As mentioned before, it is a few months away from formation and a lot of plans and ideas from those currently involved with this project are still flying around.

'Scuse me if this is a daft question, but why the "North Nottinghamshire..." and not just "Nottinghamshire"?

Is there already a similar society for other parts of Notts?

'Scuse me if this is a daft question, but why the "North Nottinghamshire..." and not just "Nottinghamshire"?

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Perfectly good question, Bubba. Basically, it was a paper excercise. We were going to name it Nottinghamshire Speleological Society with the acronym N.S.S. but were advised by the Charity Commission that the NSS already existed in many different forms and we were requested to revise the name and acronym. Being in the north of Nottinghamshire, the NNSS seemed the logical idea.

Can you imagine the uproar we'd have caused calling it the Derbyshire Speleological Society (DSS)!!