Free drone down GG

[michaelsluggo]

Yesterday (29th August 2024 ) CRO members were been told by some passing older students that they had been filming eith a drone from the surface the descent down GG main shaft. They watched the live feed as it touched down somewhere near the waterfall but then it lost signal and they were unable to recover it. Amazingly, they don't want it back. It is an older model and they have several better ones so the are not worried about losing this one. They aren't cavers and had no idea about getting it back which is why the told CRO as they just happened to see members in the depot. Apparently it is a very good drone if an older model. So if anyone us going down to the main chamber and fancies a free drone it may still be there. The downside is they have not left the control box or viewing glasses with us. If anyone does recover it and feels they can't make use of it CRO wouldn't mind having it. If you want leave it in Bernies or Inglesport.
Thanks
Slug

 

[mrodoc]

The younger generation - I don't know! The stuff they are prepared to just chuck away. You only have to visit your local tip to be amazed. Admittedly getting a drone back from the bottom of GG is a bit of a challenge if you are a non caver - and bank holiday has just gone past!

 

[cavingbiker]

Not to be a grumpy old man but, I hope you reminded them that drones are not permitted to be flown over or on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) without consent from Natural England. Flying a drone over an SSSI could harm the flora and fauna that the SSSI is trying to protect. You can also contact Natural England at wildlife@naturalengland.org.uk to confirm if you need a license before flying a drone over their land. Also, that the Ingleborough Estate do not permit the flying of drones over their land.

 

[Oceanrower]

If it’s flown from public land, I’m not sure the Ingleborough Estate have much say in the matter…

 

[pwhole]

Perhaps they have an Ingleborough Iron Dome?

The National Trust don't allow drones over their land either (without a pilot's license), not that it applies here specifically. We had to get special permission (with a licensed pilot) to do the drone survey of the Longcliffe Mine crater in order to to get a volume calculation (and thus hopefully guess the depth of fill we had to haul out). Once they saw the viewing goggles the rangers were hooked. And we did get a pretty good idea of what was in the shaft. Three years worth

 

[Oceanrower]

Similarly with the National Trust. Just because they don’t permit it, doesn’t mean that they can stop it.

If your drone is less than 250g then the thing about closer than 50m, over commercial premises, etc. does not apply.

They can, technically, stop you from taking off from their land but if you take off from public land, there’s no law stopping you flying over any more than they can stop Virgin Atlantic flying over…

 

[Pitlamp]

The younger generation - I don't know! The stuff they are prepared to just chuck away.

. . . which prompts me to mention I'm still in the market for an unused skateboard for a diving project, preferably with a 30 inch deck.

So if any of you young 'uns have one you no longer use, I'd be pleased to get a PM from you!

But (ahem) back on topic; just note that virtually all of Ingleborough (mostly the area surrounded by the triangle of roads between Ribblehead, Settle and Ingleton) is Ingleborough Estate land and SSSI. I know nothing of drone laws so I can't comment on where they can be used or where permission is needed to act legally.

 

[Bob Mehew]

Not to be a grumpy old man but, I hope you reminded them that drones are not permitted to be flown over or on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) without consent from Natural England. Flying a drone over an SSSI could harm the flora and fauna that the SSSI is trying to protect. You can also contact Natural England at wildlife@naturalengland.org.uk to confirm if you need a license before flying a drone over their land. Also, that the Ingleborough Estate do not permit the flying of drones over their land.

Strictly speaking the ORNEC for Ingleborough only states "Use of vehicles or craft likely to damage or disturb features of interest" (No 26). The problem is that the Citation is not overly specific in describing features of interest. It states:

"Ingleborough is Britain’s fines karst area, the characteristic limestone landforms having been produced largely under glacial conditions. It is particularly noted for extensive limestone pavements, dry valleys and gorges, shakeholes and sinkholes, including Gaping Gill which is 105 metres deep and has within it the highest single-drop waterfall in Britain. Many of these features are classic teaching examples. More than 50kms of cave passage have been mapped underground, interesting not only for their scale and diversity, but also for the evidence they provide on the evolution of the Pennine landscape since the beginning of the Ice Age."

That only specifies the cave passage as a feature of interest. There is no mention of formations or sediments unlike other cave related SSSIs. I can't see a craft like a drone is likely to damage a feature of interest like a cave passage. In my opinion virtually all the SSSIs across the country are weak at protecting caves and features inside them because of the poor wording to identify features of interest. I wrote the attached and sent it to BCRA but they claimed the system was OK. I never heard what their justification for that claim was.

 

[DuncJ]

The National Trust don't allow drones over their land either (without a pilot's license)

That's potentially incorrect. As mentioned above, if it's 250g or less, you don't need a license and can fly over most places (restricted areas tend to be airports, prisons, certain power stations, military sites etc) - easy to find such maps online.
It's a case of them not permitting you to take off on their land.

 

[Ian P]

“Spooky”. Just popped up as a “memory” on FB when involved with filming “lakes and Dales” in 2017. I think the drone was just over 250g

 

[Fulk]

Well, Ian, looking at the size of the drone in your second picture, if it weighed just over 250 g then it must have been made out of very light-weight materials.

 

[CaverGracie]

I went down on Sunday and couldn't find it, so perhaps they flew it too close to the water and it got destroyed and washed away during the landing? Or someone else has already scavenged it.