Matienzo explorers in the 1980's will remember long, tiring trips into the Trident Passages at the far end of Cueva Hoyuca (Uzueka). The passages were re-visited at Christmas 2023 through the Torca la Decepción entrance in Matienzo and the first ever photos and videos were taken there by Diane...

Lloyd passed away unexpectedly on October 13th, aged 32. Lloyd was born 30th January 1990 and from his early days he had associations with Matienzo as his parents, Bob and Julie, had bought a part share in a house in the village. The family moved from Plymouth to Lliber, north of Benidorm, nine...

Torca la Decepción video trilogy! Three videos about the extensions in Torca la Decepción (Disappointment Pot, site 4732) are now on YouTube. The summer 2022 extensions linked into Cueva Hoyuca in two places, brought the length of the Four Valleys System to over 70km and provided the first Riaño...

Friends of the 4 Valleys System will be pleased about the latest addition to the 67.5km network. After many hours (over years) of excavating a draughting hole in the woods to the north and above the Mushroom Field in Matienzo, Torca de la Decepción (Disappointment Pot) has become the 14th and...

  We believe that a, possibly limited, exploratory caving permit for Matienzo may possibly be issued by mid-July.*   Due to Covid-19 we strongly advise that there be no long caving / pushing trips and that any caving activity is limited to surface prospecting and near-surface digs in small...

  Circumstances have forced us to delay the "Matienzo Caves Project: 2010 - 2019" book. The publication date is now 27th November which is just in time for Xmas presents! The good news is that the content will not be too much out-of-date. The book has turned out to be 510 A4 pages with indices...

Circumstances are forcing us to think well ahead and, unfortunately, with all the uncertainties, we are postponing the August Gran Fiesta that was to be held in Matienzo. We hope to reschedule for August 2021. Caving may or may not occur this summer. No permit has yet been received and travel...

Because of the developing coronavirus situation in both Spain and the UK, and the possible implications, e.g. 'social isolation' for expedition participants and Spaniards we have decided that - There will not be a central Germ?n's Bar office nor a central logbook for the Easter expedition. - If...

It's been 10 years since we celebrated 50 years of speleology around Matienzo, so the next party is being planned. Details of the preliminary programme for the "Gran Fiesta" weekend are online. http://www.matienzocaves.org.uk/history/60years/index.htm The link can also be found at the bottom...

The 2018 summer expedition updates are complete. http://www.matienzocaves.org.uk/latest-website-updates.htm They include a new version of the Matienzo Caves Project QGIS map. http://www.matienzocaves.org.uk/MCP-QGIS/index.htm As well as the usual contours, cave lines, entrances, etc., this...

Cave surveyors who haven't branched out into DistoX territory might be interested in the combined compass / clino made by Eyeskey. (Google 'Eyeskey compass clino'). I've just got one for Matienzo. At ?69.99 (or less) it would appear to be well made and up to the Suunto standard (cost of Suunto...

A little teaser from the Xmas team exploring new passage: "A fine upstream passage ended far too soon in a sump and a tight packed boulder choke after barely 100m. The cave is now just over 900m long, and 200m deep. We have had an awesome time exploring this superb pothole rivaling the best the...

Squirrel has not been seen by his friends and family for a number of weeks. He's a walker and caver and a member of the Bolton Speleo Club who lives in Bolton and Clapham, North Yorkshire. He has mobility issues and can appear frail. The police (GMP Bolton South) have issued a Facebook appeal...

  As a bit of an experiment, the Matienzo Caves pre-Easter Meeting, (Saturday March 11th, 6.30 at the Bunk House, Clapham) will be broadcast to the Matienzo Caves & Caving Facebook group using "Facebook Live". This will allow absent group members, e.g. southerners and foreigners, to view the...

Alasdair "Ali" Neill died from cancer in a Plymouth nursing home on 28th October. He had a real passion for all underground explorations, caves and mines. He played a pivotal role during his 28 years associated with the Matienzo Caves Project, especially in recent years with his survey work in...

Paul Dold (1973 - 2016)   Many will have heard of the death of Paul Dold on August 30th while diving at East Portholland near St Austell. The large number of public tributes on Facebook show that Paul was loved and respected by his family and others in whatever activity he took part in - his...

Matienzo will have a presence at EuroSpeleo 2016 (eurospeleo.uk). Andi Smith is showing a poster: "12,000 years of rainfall history revealed by stalagmite deposits from Cueva de Asiul" (see EuroSpeleo session code P6); Laura Deeprose is giving a talk about her work: "Caves, climate change and...

  Cave exploration and documentation have been happening around the Matienzo depression in Cantabria for over 50 years. Some of the original explorers are still involved in the Project and the amount of cave passage surveyed grows each year: the length of documented cave passage is currently...

The route from the recently-excavated BigMat Calf Hole entrance into the far reaches of the 18km-long Torca la Vaca system is complicated. Indeed, a team last November spent 3 trips trying to find the way through. (The background, photos, descriptions, survey and other links can be found through...

This one is likely to smash every straw as it bounces down the passage  :o http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24758935