Hidden Earth 2008

[ttxela]

The main reason I've never made it to Hidden Earth is because I'm inevitably looking after my daughter who is 10, she's pretty keen on underground stuff herself and a couple of people have suggested it would be ok to bring her along. Reading some of the above I wonder if it would be?  :-\

I'm not particularly saying it should be, sometimes it's good to have events that are just for adults, it would just be nice to know before I turn up with her  :-[

She's fairly robust and used to a certain amount of rowdiness and I wouldn't be too uptight about reasonably colourful language but I'd probably want to shield her from rather more extreme shenanigans.

Is it for us do you reckon?

 

[Les W]

She's fairly robust and used to a certain amount of rowdiness and I wouldn't be too uptight about reasonably colourful language but I'd probably want to shield her from rather more extreme shenanigans.

Is it for us do you reckon?

Yes 

She'd love it. Bring her along next year 

 

[SamT]

Echo that,

I saw a number of children there that where under 10, including a little 4(ish) year old toddling about all weekend.

Dont believe all the hype with regards to the supposed 'trouble', the way people are going on, you'd have thought there'd been a riot. There's more trouble, violence and bad language at the local scout group to be honest.

 

[damian]

Provided you don't mind the occasional bit of colourful language in the lectures, you'll have no problems at all. There really ought to be more youngsters going to Hidden Earth.

Also, for info, I chose a quiet patch at the far end of the field and slept like a log both nights ... possibly more to do with my abaility sleep anywhere than the quiet surroundings, but it certainly wasn't that bad.

 

[Peter Burgess]

Dont believe all the hype with regards to the supposed 'trouble', the way people are going on, you'd have thought there'd been a riot. There's more trouble, violence and bad language at the local scout group to be honest.

If Ttxela's daughter finds out you are lying, you are going to be in BIG TROUBLE! 

 

[anfieldman]

Echo that,

I saw a number of children there that where under 10, including a little 4(ish) year old toddling about all weekend.

Dont believe all the hype with regards to the supposed 'trouble', the way people are going on, you'd have thought there'd been a riot. There's more trouble, violence and bad language at the local scout group to be honest.

I agree that she will be fine coming along but come on Sam!
There was loads of noise and fun being had indoors when the band was playing (and quite rightly so) but it should not have been taken outside when the school was closed.
I'm all for the party carrying on but whats wrong with sitting around your tents and chatting / drinking??
Do we really have to bring cars up to the camping area (whilst pissed no doubt) and put the music on full blast while people are trying to sleep and there are houses very close to the site? No I'm sorry, it's just not on. It's a good job that Wendy and a few other people sorted the situation out or we could have had the police there and the event could have been shut down first thing in the morning. Would you have been happy then?

 

[Kevlar]

Do we really have to bring cars up to the camping area (whilst pissed no doubt) and put the music on full blast while people are trying to sleep and there are houses very close to the site?

I think it is very sad that a handful of people feel it necessary to blow the shenanigans totally out of proportion (cars? come on! Full blast? Eh?)  and focus on the negatives here.

It was a fantastic event. Perhaps we as a community should get together and focus on the positives and use them to promote caving. Heaven forbid anyone outside of caving comes onto this website to learn a bit more and discover what a bitter bunch of old men cavers can come across as!

 

[JasonL]

After reading a couple of posts about hidden earth, I just had to say something...

First of all, it was a bloody awesome event. It was the first time I attended Hidden Earth, I am one of the young punks mentioned in the many posts (as compared to old farts). And thanks very much to the organisers Les and Wendy who did a wonderful job! And all the other volunteers as well!

The reason why I enjoyed HE so much was because I truly had fun socialising and getting to know other cavers, getting drunk, doing silly things (erm. lets not get there) and best of all, talk about caving, learning more about caving, and exchanging experiences! It couldn't be better. It is so much more enjoyable then CHECC because i'm sorry to say, CHECC is basically one great multi-university piss up. I regret not coming to Hidden earth last year. In CHECC, I found people more interested in getting drunk then people interested in caves, it was very disheartening. In HE, EVERYONE was interested in caving, and the dedication seeped through when you see the same people get drunk the night before, and still wake up to go for a 9am lecture, or GIVE a lecture..

As for the rowdiness, I was part of the Manchester tent.. the huge crazy party tent where the university students  gathered.. I can't say that it was very noisy, we didn't have any music, or loud shouting, or anything of that sort in both nights, just alot of chatting and talking. Oh, and a small tent collapsing fiasco (oops!).. it was the naughty people on the other side who drove the car in! But their party was also such a laugh though.. I think we just have to be more considerate and keep it down if we're near a residential area.. but that will always be a problem with cavers won't it?

The band didn't really appeal to me though, but i can see it appealing to alot of the younger crowd, but nonetheless, they were really good!! but what's with the underwear worn outside the jeans? that was a real giggle...

ANyway.. i've rambled on too much.. GOOD JOB DONE TO ALL THE HIDDEN EARTH ORGANISERS. IT WAS BLOODY AWESOME!!!

Jason
(The one who didn't have a clue what Piss Flaps were).
MUSC.

 

[ttxela]

Good enough for me.

Hopefully we'll be able to come along next year then 

 

[Juniper]

[The lectures seemed especially good this year. Though the style varied a lot, all the ones I saw were great in different ways.

.. it was the naughty people on the other side who drove the car in! But their party was also such a laugh though..

The main issue I can see is that some level of background chat is fairly easy to ignore, and probably very easy for residents to ignore, as long as there aren't a handful of drunk morons making bursts of loud noise to make the background noise more noticeable.
Also, when there are spikes of loud noise, and bursts of singing, it tends to make the background noise worse, since people think "Well, *I'm* not the noisiest person on the site", and talk a bit louder than they otherwise might.

I think we just have to be more considerate and keep it down if we're near a residential area.. but that will always be a problem with cavers won't it?

If the worst of it is down to a very few people, it needn't always be a problem, specially if they're not encouraged to think everyone thinks they're great when really a lot of people are thinking "What a moron!"

Noise didn't seem as bad in recent past years. Maybe the few people responsible weren't around then, or they didn't have as much of an alcohol/maturity problem.

 

[maxb727]

It is so much more enjoyable then CHECC because i'm sorry to say, CHECC is basically one great multi-university piss up. I regret not coming to Hidden earth last year. In CHECC, I found people more interested in getting drunk then people interested in caves, it was very disheartening.

To be honest MUSC used to be one of the clubs at CHECC which rarely made it underground. I think you must have been talking to the wrong people last year, we get a large proportion of our attendees underground, which they wouldnt do if they wernt a little bit interested in caving.

If only you knew the amount of work which has to go into CHECC by the small number of people who run the event, we cover all things from venue, training, bar, t-shirts and CAVING!! If you think CHECC could be improved then it would be nice to see you send suggestions to checc@checc.org or even stand for committee this coming year.

Something you should remember is that CHECC stands for Council of Higher Education Caving Clubs (basically uni clubs) and students drink alot, but tbh so do cavers of all ages (and im not saying they all do.) Our stomp on the saturday night is an amazing event, but what I enjoy most about CHECC is getting together with all the other uni clubs and having a catch up over a pint!

Max

 

[Rob]

You don't need to be defensive Max. CHECC and Hidden Earth are meant to be a different kind of event, and some people will always have their preferences. Hundreds of students love CHECC, it's the main caving event of the year for them, whereas Jason obviously prefers Hidden Earth.

But he is right, CHECC is one great multi-university piss-up, with the emphasis on great. I'm not implying a whole load of other cool stuff doesn't happen as well, but i think most people's interest in CHECC is enjoying the social side of caving with a load of similarly minded people.

And if some people don't want to go caving on the CHECC weekend that's fine, hardly anybody does on the Hidden Earth weekend! It doesn't mean anything. Although this year it's in Derbyshire so there's no excuse as there's loads of awesome caving to be had!   

 

[SamT]

Peter is very popular with the ladies with his ability to breathe through his ears! 

I aways had you down as a cunning linguist Mark