Books

[r_walklate@hotmail.com]

I have done my cic training and want to read some literature. I will be completely honest and say that I have picked a few books up but after a few pages find them pretty heavy going and lose interest!!!

I am trying to broaden my knowledge of cave formation, general geology that side of stuff, has anybody got some good suggestions?

Cheers

 

[Les W]

Cave Geology by Art Palmer
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cave-Geology-Arthur-N-Palmer/dp/0939748665


Limeston and Caves of *... (insert your region here)

*The Mendip Hills
*The Peak District
*North West England
*Wales

 

[r_walklate@hotmail.com]

Is it really worth ?50??????

 

[Les W]

Not if you can get it for $38 it isn't

http://nssbookstore.org/index.php?mode=store&category1=Cave%20Science&page=2

but by the time you pay postage and exchange rate conversions...
I only used the Amazon link to show the book, it's worth looking around for price.
It's always worth trying Speleoprojects as well:

http://www.speleoprojects.com/html/en/main_home.html

Sue is at Hidden Earth every year and will bring any books with her so saving on postage (although you will need to wait a year now for Hidden Earth...)

 

[r_walklate@hotmail.com]

I see 

Cheers

 

[Les W]

'tis an awefully good book though, written for the layman and very comprehensive. It should certainly be in every cavers book collection...

 

[droid]

Got 'Peak District' for ?30 off efence.

'Mendips' for ?27 (reduced from ?25....?) from Mike Moore at HE.


Where d'ya get the ?50 from?

 

[r_walklate@hotmail.com]

The amazon link above

 

[Andy Farrant]

I would certainly recommend Cave Geology by Art Palmer. For the interested caver, its much better than 'Karst Geomorphology and Hydrology' by Ford and Williams. Forget the Speleothem book by Ian Fairchild and Andy Baker, its extremely technical, and more for the academics only.

Limestone and Caves of Mendip is seriously outdated, so not worth getting unless you can pick it up cheap, but Lst and Caves of Wales is still a good read. Many of these books will be available in a caving club library anyway, so I'd have a browse first.

 

[Les W]

Limestone and Caves of Mendip is seriously outdated

Are you going to write an up to date one, some time soon...?

 

[rhychydwr1]

I can offer:

LIMESTONES AND CAVES OF THE MENDIP HILLS Compiled and edited by D I Smith.  Assisted by D P Drew.  1975  424 pp 97 figs 16 tables.  Geology, evolution of landscapes, caves and underground waters are covered in great detail.  A classic work.  HB  DW  ?15.00

LIMESTONES AND CAVES OF NORTH-WEST ENGLAND edited by A C Waltham 1974  477 pp, 54 plates, 86 Fig, 14 tables.  Claimed as the finest karst area in the UK, this book is the first to give comprehensive descriptions of the caves of the area and to synthesise the results of the various research workers.  HB DW ?45.00

CAVES AND CAVERNS OF THE PEAKLAND  by Crichton Porteous 1950  104 pp 8 photos.  Peak Cavern; Russett Well; Speedwell Cavern; Blue John Cavern; Bagshawe Cavern.  Interesting account of caves in Derbyshire.  SB  ?10.00

etc etc

 

[antmcc]

Try Abebooks.co.uk, there's a LIMESTONES AND CAVES OF NORTH-WEST ENGLAND showing for ?1.76 + less than ?3 p&p,
Art Palmer's book is showing for ?13 with ?20 p&p (from US) haven't searched for the others...

 

[Les W]

Although the Limestone & Caves series is  out of date, the information within them is mostly still relevent and will still give a good background on the geology and geomorphologh of the regions concerned. Andy is right when he says they are out of date but there is nothing better available at the moment, although I do believe there is currently a rewrite of the North West England one happening at the moment/soon*

*not really sure which, I could of course be completely wrong about this anyway...

 

[Pitlamp]

You're right Les - it's actually well underway. I strongly suspect it'll be really really good when it appears.

 

[shortscotsman]

..on the US site amazon.com,  Cave geology, new, costs 27.49 pounds and the international shipping is 5.11. It claims it will take
18-32 business days to arrive. [Just in time for Xmas?]

 

[blackshiver]

Better bet is to go caving with someone who can explain cave formation, you could pick an area like Swaledale and cover everything in a day. If you get bored with caving books try Dave Heap's "potholing beneath the northern pennines". This started a forty year long love affair with the underground and it brings goosebumps up everytime I read it.

 

[grahams]

Better bet is to go caving with someone who can explain cave formation, you could pick an area like Swaledale and cover everything in a day. If you get bored with caving books try Dave Heap's "potholing beneath the northern pennines". This started a forty year long love affair with the underground and it brings goosebumps up everytime I read it.

Same here, along with Gemmel and Myers' Underground Adventure, the green PU and Mitchell's Yorkshire Caves and Potholes.

 

[graham]

Better bet is to go caving with someone who can explain cave formation...

Well, I have been caving with Art Palmer ...

But you are right, a couple of trips that I did on Mendip with Pete Smart were as informative as a whole shelf full of books.

 

[Pitlamp]

Better bet is to go caving with someone who can explain cave formation, you could pick an area like Swaledale and cover everything in a day. If you get bored with caving books try Dave Heap's "potholing beneath the northern pennines". This started a forty year long love affair with the underground and it brings goosebumps up everytime I read it.

Same here, along with Gemmel and Myers' Underground Adventure, the green PU and Mitchell's Yorkshire Caves and Potholes.

Absolutely; well said both of you.

I knew Dave Heap, Arthur Gemmell, Jack Myers and Albert Mitchell - each a marvellous privilege.

"Norman Thornber - master caver - wrote a book they called P.U. . . . " etc (as the song goes).

Sadly Norman was way before my time but I'd have loved to have met him.

 

[Smithers]

Speaking as someone who is doing a PhD in cave science, Karst Hydrogeology and Geomorphology by Derek Ford and Paul Williams is the absolute bible.  It's covers all the basics in simple enough language for the layman to understnad and gradually gets more technical as and when you need it to.

Also, at ?37 it's excellent value.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Karst-Hydrogeology-Geomorphology-Derek-Ford/dp/0470849975/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349452274&sr=1-1

Chris Smith