TheBitterEnd
Well-known member
Yes they do, however I suspect that the anecdotal claims that there are fewer cavers make comparisons with the 70's and 80's rather than the last decade.
Rubber Duck and DCC are still active clubs.
Surely cavers cannot support restricting access to caves and also support encouraging more people to take up the sport.
David Rose said:Old Ruminator, your Reservoir team mostly are retired - which does kind of make it easier to devote every Tuesday to digging!
Anecdotal evidence: last Saturday I had a trip down Easegill. I got the absolute last available parking space at Bull Pot Farm, just on the corner of the road. Yesterday there were no spaces at all in the top parking area on Leck Fell. There were at least three parties (including my own - with permit!) down Notts 2.
The Old Ruminator said:Two of my old diving buddies are getting along nicely with Christine Grosart.
Badlad said:If there is a decline in active caver numbers and our caves see less visitors than in previous years, isn't that a good thing?
Many of the arguments put forward on this forum to support restrictive cave access systems cite reducing the number of visitors in order to conserve the caves.
Surely cavers cannot support restricting access to caves and also support encouraging more people to take up the sport. It's a contradiction - those new cavers are going to have to go caving somewhere!
Andy Sparrow said:Badlad said:If there is a decline in active caver numbers and our caves see less visitors than in previous years, isn't that a good thing?
Many of the arguments put forward on this forum to support restrictive cave access systems cite reducing the number of visitors in order to conserve the caves.
Surely cavers cannot support restricting access to caves and also support encouraging more people to take up the sport. It's a contradiction - those new cavers are going to have to go caving somewhere!
I would argue that we need enough new blood to sustain our 'institutions'. This means our long-standing clubs, national bodies and rescue teams. Many of these institutions seem to be demographically top heavy, some to an extent that could threaten their existence in 20 years time.