Caves of the Peak District

Mark

Mark

Well-known member
Great Hucklow Community Publishing? have just produced a cracking book called Lead in the Veins about mining in the Hucklow area.

I don't know how they got it published but I suspect it wouldn't have been a huge print run.

Maybe Nick Williams can put you in contact with someone?
 
speleotel

speleotel

New member
graham said:
It might just be that the future of cave guides is web-based, possibly even via a wiki?

Comments?
Click to expand...

A caving community built guide to UK caves; easy to navigate, with up to the moment information of the systems; water levels witnessed, recent boulder movement, observations on state of formations, rigging advice, access arrangements, new developments etc? (but also monitored carefully to avoid misinformation)

If it was developed without disintegration into disagreement and without having to scroll through several pages of correspondence - sounds as though it would be very useful. Does it exist already?
 
SamT

SamT

Moderator
speleotel said:
graham said:
It might just be that the future of cave guides is web-based, possibly even via a wiki?

Comments?
Click to expand...

A caving community built guide to UK caves; easy to navigate, with up to the moment information of the systems; water levels witnessed, recent boulder movement, observations on state of formations, rigging advice, access arrangements, new developments etc? (but also monitored carefully to avoid misinformation)

If it was developed without disintegration into disagreement and without having to scroll through several pages of correspondence - sounds as though it would be very useful. Does it exist already?
Click to expand...

Durrr..

http://www.ukcaving.com/wiki/index.php/Caving_Regions_of_the_UK_and_Eire

get writing then
 
SamT

SamT

Moderator
Indeed - and so have a few other band of dedicated wiki'ists'
:bow:

No reason why it shouldn't develop a veritable 'mine' (sorry) of information. I think its pretty well suited for the writing of a particular caves history, as hopefully the people who are digging/have dug etc could contribute, so you get it from the horses mouth.

- Hmm, reminds me, I've got some updating to do myself
 
S

SLP

Guest
Just for interest - this is the number of PDF guides downloaded from the Peak District Caving web site during November. Some are bound to be idle downloads but the numbers mirror the popularity of the caves quite well. So PDF seems to work for some......

131 Giant's Hole Part 1 (The Entrance to Garlands Pot)
75 Stoney Middleton Cave Index (main index of locations and access info)
75 Castleton Cave Index (main index of locations and access info)
63 Oxlow Cavern
55 Giant's Hole Part 2 (Garlands Pot to Eating House and The Upper Series)
49 Titan
48 P8
42 Peak Cavern Part 1 (The Main Stream Cave and Far Sump)
41 Lathkill Dale Cave Index (main index of locations and access info)
35 Sidetrack Cave
34 J.H. (James Hall's Over Engine Mine)
32 Eldon Hole
31 Caves of Cave Dale
31 Rowter Hole
31 Gautries Hole
30 Odin Mine
30 Bradwell Area Cave Index (main index of locations and access info)
24 Speedwell Cavern Part 1 (The entrance to Main Rising & Cliff Cavern)
21 P7
21 Hangover Hole
20 Peak Cavern Part 2 (Victoria Aven)
16 Peak Cavern Part 4 (Pickering's Passage)
16 Peak Cavern Part 7 (Treasury and the links to Speedwell Cavern)
16 Speedwell Cavern Part 3 (The Assault Course & Pilkingtons Series)
15 Peak Cavern Part 8 (The White River Series)
15 Speedwell Cavern Part 4 (The Bung Hole Series)
15 Speedwell Cavern Part 2 (The Halfway House Series)
15 Speedwell Cavern Part 5 (Wirlpool Passage)
15 Peak Cavern Part Part 5 (The Galena Chamber Circuit & the NCC Shafts)
13 Peak Cavern Part Part 6 (Lake Passage and Ink Sump)
12 Peak Cavern Part Part 3 (Far Sump Extension)

http://www.peakdistrictcaving.info/peak_district_cave_information.htm

 
S

SLP

Guest
While I'm on, a personal view, I don't like the idea of a free for all wiki.  I think guides, if they're going to be any good, have to be edited by an individual, or a reliable group, in order to retain a consistent style.

I'm not saying our Peak District Caving PDF guides are any good but at least if you understand one of them the others will make sense as well.

I Still prefer books but still think PDF is the way forward.....
 
AndyF

AndyF

New member
Sadly, any PDF wopuld get pirated and copied.

I know that doing a guide book is not done for money, but jeeps these guys deserve to get something out of it for their efforts... though Im sure they are too modest to say so...  ;)
 
R

robjones

New member
Cannot BCA / DCA / a consortium of locally active clubs cooperate to put up the capital to get it published and then be (mostly - hopefully entirely) paid back from ongoing sales?

Was this not the route (more or less) that "Limestones and caves of ..." series got published? There is a key place for both scientific regional books and solid guidebooks (leaving aside the 'best caves of...' type titles) and filling such gaps should surely be, in extremis, a role for BCA / regional councils to take up.

An alternative commerial publisher also strikes me - Wild Places (i.e. Chris Howes / Descent): it published Jim Eyre's autobiography; surely a guide to a major region would do even better?

One only has to consider the prices second hand copies of 'Caves of Derbyshire' reach, and how well 'Classic Caves of the Peak District' do (the latter, I suspect bought in desperation, with, I believe, a majority of purchasers probably prefering to have bought a comprehensive guidebook instead) to detect a viable market.
 
Big Jim

Big Jim

Member
They dont need any guides, JonP OWNS all of Stoney Dale now, I think John Beck signed it over to them this year.
 
Pitlamp

Pitlamp

Well-known member
I seem to remember that profits made from the sales of the Northern Caves guides were retained in a fund, the intention of which was to help caving publications in the future. Of course the new NC guides may have accounted for this already but it might be worth asking one of the editors of the existing series? Or could BCA council help? I'm not necessarily suggesting tha BCA underwrites it directly but there are many switched on people involved who may have some valuable ideas about potential sources of funding to help drive this project onwards?

There will be a way . . .
 
Les W

Les W

Active member
Why not self publish then? It's not hard.
Peter Burgess does it, Wessex does it, BCRA and BCA do it, CSCC does it. It's not rocket science or a trade secret.
 
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