Dave Shearsmith
Member
BCRA NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2025
Our Social media news outlets...
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/groups/britishcaver
• BCRA News forum: http://bcra.org.uk/forum
• The Darkness Below https://darknessbelow.co.uk
• UK Caving http://ukcaving.com/board/?board=86.0
Donations of items to the British Caving Library
Donations of caving publications are important to the library and its users. But for the foreseeable future the library will not be able to accept further donations unless:
We have a list of what is on offer in advance so we can select only those items we need.
Or there is a very small amount - not exceeding the size of one archive box.
Or funding can be provided to rent storage elsewhere.
Or space can be provided by members and/or BCA/BCRA.
It should also be noted that processing new material will take some considerable time even using additional volunteers.
We must reiterate that donations are the life's blood of the library and often represent unique records which will be of importance to cavers of the present and the future. But at the moment the library has reached capacity both in space and resources to process new material.
2025 BCRA Science Symposium This was a very well attended event organised by the University of Bristol including field trips to local caves with experts to explain the geology of the cave and its surrounding area. I would highly recommend anyone interested in caves and caving to attend next year’s meeting (to be hosted by the University of Salford) as although advertised as a science symposium there is something for all cavers as well as those with an academic interest in the science of caves.
2025 BCRA AGM Our AGM was held in the slot before lunch at the Science Symposium. Draft minutes will be available shortly but for information the following are now members of council for 2026
Simon Bottrell (President 2025 – 2027)
Andy Eavis, Andy Farrant (Treasurer), John Gunn (Chairman & Conservation Officer), Russell Myers, Jenny Potts (British Caving Library Co-ordinator), Mike Rogerson, Chloé Snowling, Emily Tilby, Jo White (interim Secretary), Les Williams (Hidden Earth) and Linda Wilson.
As there are only 10 elected places Emily Tilby will be co-opted onto Council and the other 10 are duly elected. Rostam Namaghi, the Chair of BCA will also be co-opted onto Council.
Dave Shearsmith has decided not to seek election and was thanked for serving as Secretary, and as Safeguarding Officer, since 2023. During that time, he has revived the monthly BCRA Newsletter and written or updated BCRA policies to meet the requirements of the Charity Commission as well as undertaking many other tasks. Dave has kindly agreed to continue as Safeguarding Officer until a replacement can be found and Jo White has agreed to act as Interim Secretary.
BCRA Online Seminars The next seminar, which will be held on Monday 3rd November 2025 via zoom 19.30- 21.00 is “Scientific Investigations in Greenland's Caves: Unlocking High Arctic Climate Histories” with: Gina Moseley, Assistant Professor of Palaeoclimatology, University of Innsbruck.
Greenland's High Arctic caves represent a unique and largely untapped archive of past environmental change. These caves host rare but exceptionally well-preserved flowstones that formed during past warm periods when the regional climate was wetter and the ground was warm enough that it did not contain permafrost, thereby allowing water to percolate through the ground and into the cave.
Please see the BCRA website for further details. If anyone would like to deliver a seminar in 2026, please contact the organiser, Emily Tilby.
BCRA Cave Radio and Electronics Group, Field Meeting CREG held a field meeting in the Yorkshire Dales over the weekend of 18/19 October 2025. The Saturday provided the opportunity for demonstrations in KMC Valley Entrance, while the Sunday was taken up by talks. The demonstrations and presentations included the new Nicola 4 through-the-earth cave radio. The Vangelis communication system which transmits along cave passages using LoRa repeaters. The use of LoRa on the surface for cave telemetry applications. A consideration of the future of loop antennas instead of earth arrays for cave radio use. A monitoring system in DYO to provide cavers with information on water levels before undertaking a trip. The next field meeting will take place25/26 April 2026 with further information being avaiable on the BCRA website at a later date
BCRA membership . If you haven’t renewed your membership, or wish to join, go to the membership and subscription section of the BCRA website or upgrade your BCA membership through Just Go.
Supporting BCRA.
Members will note that there has been a lack of field meetings since the end of Covid restrictions, and we encourage anyone willing to organise a meeting to contact the secretary.
IT Support
As those who use the BCRA website will know, it has grown over the years thanks to a major time commitment from David Gibson. It now contains a large amount of important information but accessing this is not always easy. BCRA would welcome support from anyone with the time and expertise to improve, or possibly even to re-write, the site. If you feel that you can assist with this or other aspects of IT then please contact the secretary.
The next newsletter will be at the end of November 2025
Our Social media news outlets...
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/groups/britishcaver
• BCRA News forum: http://bcra.org.uk/forum
• The Darkness Below https://darknessbelow.co.uk
• UK Caving http://ukcaving.com/board/?board=86.0
- Hidden Earth 2026 Update
- British Caving Library Donations
- 2025 BCRA Science Symposium
- 2025 BCRA AGM
- CREG Field Meeting( Cave and Radio Electronics Group)
- BCRA online seminars
- BCRA Membership
- Supporting BCRA
Donations of items to the British Caving Library
Donations of caving publications are important to the library and its users. But for the foreseeable future the library will not be able to accept further donations unless:
We have a list of what is on offer in advance so we can select only those items we need.
Or there is a very small amount - not exceeding the size of one archive box.
Or funding can be provided to rent storage elsewhere.
Or space can be provided by members and/or BCA/BCRA.
It should also be noted that processing new material will take some considerable time even using additional volunteers.
We must reiterate that donations are the life's blood of the library and often represent unique records which will be of importance to cavers of the present and the future. But at the moment the library has reached capacity both in space and resources to process new material.
2025 BCRA Science Symposium This was a very well attended event organised by the University of Bristol including field trips to local caves with experts to explain the geology of the cave and its surrounding area. I would highly recommend anyone interested in caves and caving to attend next year’s meeting (to be hosted by the University of Salford) as although advertised as a science symposium there is something for all cavers as well as those with an academic interest in the science of caves.
2025 BCRA AGM Our AGM was held in the slot before lunch at the Science Symposium. Draft minutes will be available shortly but for information the following are now members of council for 2026
Simon Bottrell (President 2025 – 2027)
Andy Eavis, Andy Farrant (Treasurer), John Gunn (Chairman & Conservation Officer), Russell Myers, Jenny Potts (British Caving Library Co-ordinator), Mike Rogerson, Chloé Snowling, Emily Tilby, Jo White (interim Secretary), Les Williams (Hidden Earth) and Linda Wilson.
As there are only 10 elected places Emily Tilby will be co-opted onto Council and the other 10 are duly elected. Rostam Namaghi, the Chair of BCA will also be co-opted onto Council.
Dave Shearsmith has decided not to seek election and was thanked for serving as Secretary, and as Safeguarding Officer, since 2023. During that time, he has revived the monthly BCRA Newsletter and written or updated BCRA policies to meet the requirements of the Charity Commission as well as undertaking many other tasks. Dave has kindly agreed to continue as Safeguarding Officer until a replacement can be found and Jo White has agreed to act as Interim Secretary.
BCRA Online Seminars The next seminar, which will be held on Monday 3rd November 2025 via zoom 19.30- 21.00 is “Scientific Investigations in Greenland's Caves: Unlocking High Arctic Climate Histories” with: Gina Moseley, Assistant Professor of Palaeoclimatology, University of Innsbruck.
Greenland's High Arctic caves represent a unique and largely untapped archive of past environmental change. These caves host rare but exceptionally well-preserved flowstones that formed during past warm periods when the regional climate was wetter and the ground was warm enough that it did not contain permafrost, thereby allowing water to percolate through the ground and into the cave.
Please see the BCRA website for further details. If anyone would like to deliver a seminar in 2026, please contact the organiser, Emily Tilby.
BCRA Cave Radio and Electronics Group, Field Meeting CREG held a field meeting in the Yorkshire Dales over the weekend of 18/19 October 2025. The Saturday provided the opportunity for demonstrations in KMC Valley Entrance, while the Sunday was taken up by talks. The demonstrations and presentations included the new Nicola 4 through-the-earth cave radio. The Vangelis communication system which transmits along cave passages using LoRa repeaters. The use of LoRa on the surface for cave telemetry applications. A consideration of the future of loop antennas instead of earth arrays for cave radio use. A monitoring system in DYO to provide cavers with information on water levels before undertaking a trip. The next field meeting will take place25/26 April 2026 with further information being avaiable on the BCRA website at a later date
BCRA membership . If you haven’t renewed your membership, or wish to join, go to the membership and subscription section of the BCRA website or upgrade your BCA membership through Just Go.
Supporting BCRA.
Members will note that there has been a lack of field meetings since the end of Covid restrictions, and we encourage anyone willing to organise a meeting to contact the secretary.
IT Support
As those who use the BCRA website will know, it has grown over the years thanks to a major time commitment from David Gibson. It now contains a large amount of important information but accessing this is not always easy. BCRA would welcome support from anyone with the time and expertise to improve, or possibly even to re-write, the site. If you feel that you can assist with this or other aspects of IT then please contact the secretary.
The next newsletter will be at the end of November 2025
