News
Caving news received too late for inclusion in Descent ...
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Cambrian conference
The Cambrian Caving Council is organising a conference at Penderyn Community Centre on Saturday 26 May 2012. Sessions will include photography, geology, cave life, surveying, conservation and dealing with emergencies, with training aimed at both newcomers and experienced cavers as an integral theme. (Descent 224)
Gaping Gill on TV
The Great British Countryside is a new series of television programmes being shown on BBC1, starting on 16 February 2012. The second of these, to be transmitted in 23 February, features the Craven PC meet at Gaping Gill. (Descent 224)
DistoX1
Kevin Dixon is constructing a limited production of DistoX1 boards for the Disti A3; cave surveyors will know this is a specialised piece of electronic survyeing kit. Kevin has located some of the obsolete parts to make 100 boards which should be ready to ship around March or April; this is likely to be the final production of this board (price is not yet determined). Anyone interested should contact Kevin by e-mail. (Descent 224)
New dates
The dates for the postponed event reported on p5 of Descent (224) have been finalised. The Cave Technology Symposium will now be held in the Priddy, Mendip area over the weekend of 9-10 June, thus changing from the former one-day event to two days, with practical demonstrations on the Saturday and more formal presentations on the Sunday. Admission is free for BCRA members or £3 for non-members for either or both days. For further information e-mail Mike Bedford (BedfordMD [at] aol.com). (Descent 224)
Bat numbers
The report on White Nose Syndrome on p7 of Descent (224) can be udated with a new estimate for the number of bat deaths that have occurred in North America since the outbreak in the winter of 2006. The US Fish and Wildlife Service now places the fatalities at between 5.7 and 6.7 million (not including the current winter), upgrading this from the prior 2009 total of 1 million.
The revision was used as part of a submission that obtained $4m of funds for federal research in 2012. Some cavers suggest that the total loss estimate is high, as 6.5m would represent the total loss of Little Brown bats, whereas the population still fights on. (Descent 224)
The 16th International Congress
An International Congress of Speleology is held every four years; the next will be in Brno in the Czech Republic from 21 to 28 July 2013.
The congress will, just as its forerunners, be organised around talks and workshops, films and competitions, but with a strong element of pre- and post-congress camps and caving excursions during the week-long event. Czech cavers and diggers are among the most motivated and best in the world; in this region you may experience a range of caves from stunningly easy but impressive tourist sites to some harder trips that might challenge even the best. The Moravian karst, the largest caving region in the country and near to Brno, contains more than 1,200 known caves and these are definitely not to be missed. State-of-the-art conference facilities have been booked in the centre of Brno.
Bear in mind that the Czech karst is readily accessible from the UK, being only a little further than driving to the south of France. Whether you are looking for a great caving experience or simply wish to spend some time in this historic karst area, you should not pass up this opportunity. The organising committee has prepared the first circular, downloadable here, or head for the congress website for further information.
Grants and awards
Given the increasing number of grants and awards being made, or at least available to, cavers, collecting together information on these seemed a worthwhile exercise. For a list of grant bodies and awards cavers can approach and apply for, follow the link.
New indexes online
A full index to authors of all articles (and some of the larger reports on the news pages) is now online and searchable (links appear in the left-hand column). It joins the existing index to surveys and maps in Descent; the search feature includes both of these as well as contents lists. One advantage is that the author listing will supply the title as it appeared plus, where necessary, an explanatory note that will help to track down major entries for subjects and cave names.
Check back regularly for updates ...
News archives from older issues are HERE