TheBitterEnd said:
Not a "spanner in the works" but off topic. Mines are covered by separate legislation, The Mines and Quarries Act 1954. Mineral workings are excepted under Schedule 1 of the CRoW Act.
No it is a useful observation even though CRoW Schedule 1 states "Land used for the getting of minerals by surface working (including quarrying)". I reckon that means 'open cast' style working not mining. But you pushed my thinking along a bit.
Words are tricky things, so I am also reflecting long and hard on Sec 2(1) which states "...on any access land for the purposes of open-air recreation...". One presumes that if the legal minds which drafted this statement meant 'in the open air on any access land for the purposes of recreation' they would have said so. 'Open air' appears to only modify / limit the meaning of the word 'recreation' and not the words 'access land'. But it is going to take some while to come to any view. I have just spent a total of 5 hours looking for helpful legal definitions without clear success.
Having said that, I am mindful that we do (well I do) want to retain good relationships with land owners because there are things which cavers want to do which clearly are not within CRoW, like digging on the surface of the land (see Schedule 2 l and m). I did wonder whether to say anything as conducting debates on an open forum can be disruptive to such good relationships.
I guess I should also add that I take no responsibility for any one acting upon my current thoughts. Yesterday evening I had quite a different view point, as Tim (not Tony) will tell you.
PS - I would have lost my bet on "I would offer high odds against a search of English laws finding something which mentioned "cave" and "damage" together". Only because Lord Cave was a law lord.