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2/5/2008 - Completed monitoring forms for Eldon Hole and Moss Chamber in Peak Cavern uploaded to 'Reports' page.
19/4/2008 - Completed monitoring form for Jugholes Upper Series added to 'Reports' page. Hunger Hill Swallet gallery page also added. (Thanks to Dave Webb for the photos.)
17/4/2008 - Old Tor Mine Gallery page added to the Castleton section of the site. (Thanks to Dave Webb for the photos.)
1/4/2008 - Completed monitoring forms (thanks Mark!) for Hole in the Wall, Ivy Green and Keyhole Caves (all Stoney Middleton area) uploaded to reports page.
29/3/2008 - Photo of Dave Webb and Wayne Sheldon receiving a Greenwatch Award added to the 'Reports' page. Photo of the recent surface work done at Hunger Hill Swallet also added. New photo gallery added to the Castleton section of the site showing the recent re-capping work done at Rowter Hole.
26/3/2008 - Reports on conservation work done over the last couple of years at Old Tor Mine, Hunger Hill Swallet and the Rowter Hole re-capping now added to reports page. Also report of Natural England SSSI work 2006-2007 in PDF format so that it is optimized for the web. (More reports and photo galleries of the work to be added in the next few days...)
9/3/2008 - Members of Darfar P.C. had a good look round the lower reaches of Knotlow Cavern including Crimbo Pipe today. The air was good and no pollution was evident anywhere visited.
12/2/2008 - Report about the Bradwell Dale Cleanup (with photos) which took place on 9th and 10th February 2008 uploaded to the 'Reports' page. (PDF file.)
10/2/2008 - Members of Darfar P.C. descended Robin's Shaft Mine near Ilam for a look around. The air quality was found to be fine, despite the warning sign just inside the entrance. All p-bolts were in excellent condition with no movement at all.
9-10/2/2008 - Cleanup of Bradwell Parish Cave, Walker's Grotto and Bagshawe Cavern. See here for more details. Also underway is work to make safe the roof of the entrance stope of Bagshawe Cavern.
9/2/2008 - Link to the new website of Derbyshire Bat Conservation Group added to links page.
4/2/2008 - Survey of Picnic Passage, Dynamite Series, Carlswark Cavern added to the Stoney Middleton Dale Cave Forms page.
25/1/2008 - The information displayed at the base of every cave area page corrected and layout improved. Note about Access problems and Entrance condition added to the same pages. Minutes of the meeting of July 3rd 2007 uploaded to site.
22/1/2008 - Well attended SSSI meeting at the NE offices at Endcliffe, Deepdale Business Park, Bakewell. Another very interesting and informative meeting. As a result of this meeting some useful resources will be being added to this web site over the next few weeks...
26/12/2007 - Started adding markers for caves and mines in the Matlock area. More to be added soon...
20/11/2007 - New link added to the top of the links page. (About the Ecton Hill Field Studies Association.)
15/11/2007 - Latest UCF (Underground Conservation Forum) Meeting was at 7pm. Endcliffe, Deepdale Business Park, Bakewell. A very interesting and informative meeting.
25/10/2007 - Repair work on the entrance of Darfar Crag Swallet at Wetton Mill was undertaken by members of Darfar P.C. and an old, rusty monorail was also removed. (After consent was gained from the National Trust and Natural England.)
21/10/2007 - Conservation work was carried out by members of Darfar P.C. in St. Bertram's Cave in Beeston Tor in the Manifold Valley. (Cleaning up of flowstone in Skull Rift.) The work will be finished off in a week or two and more photos taken.
25/9/2007 - Several new sites added to the 'Useful Links' page. We hope you find them useful and/or interesting. Updated monitoring form for TearBreeches-Royal Mine Hopping Mine Complex uploaded to site.
22/9/2007 - List of 'Operations requiring Natural England's consent' added to top navbar. Updated monitoring form for Critchlow Cave uploaded to site.
20/9/2007 - Made the forum visible to non-registered visitors. You must still register to post on the forum.
19/9/2007 - Updated monitoring form for Waterways Swallet uploaded to site. (Includes section of new extension.)
18/9/2007 - Survey added to Dr Jacksons & Perryfoot Caves monitoring form.
15/9/2007 - Updated survey of the caves of the Wetton Mill main sink area now on the Hamps and Manifold surveys page.
14/9/2007 - Monitoring form for Waterways Swallet completed by Mark Cope on 2/9/2007 uploaded to 'Reports' section of this web site. Includes geological survey of interesting features on an annotated section of the new extensions.
9/9/2007 - Conservation work was carried out by members of Darfar P.C. in St. Bertram's Cave in Beeston Tor in the Manifold Valley. Some inscriptions were cleaned up and a second set of inscriptions found in the main chamber.
19/8/2007 - Surveys added to the Winnats Head Cave, Long Cliff Mine, Nettle Pot and Treak Cliff Cavern monitoring forms with corrections made where necessary.
18/8/2007 - Surveys added to the Rowter Hole, Russet Well, Sheepwash Swallet, Suicide Cave and Windy Knoll Cave monitoring forms with corrections made where necessary.
17/8/2007 - Surveys added to the Gautries Hole & Car Pot (P3), Odin Cave, Odin Mine and Old Tor Mine monitoring forms with corrections made where necessary.
16/8/2007 - Surveys added to the Blue John Cavern, Christmas Swallet (P9), Giants Hole, Oxlow and Maskhill Mine and Eldon Hole monitoring forms with corrections made where necessary.
15/8/2007 - Surveys added to the Alsops Cave, P5, P7 and P8 (Jackpot) monitoring forms. Several corrections made to the P8 form too.
14/7/2007 - There are now two links to this site from the Peak District Caving (Hitch n Hike) web site. (Thanks Shaun!)
3/7/2007 - SSSI Monitoring Group Meeting. Held at 7pm at Endcliffe House, Deepdale Business Park, Bakewell. (The agenda is now available on this web site.) The next meeting should be on January 22nd. 2008, 7pm at the same location.
2/7/2007 - Markers for numerous caves in the Castleton and Stoney Middleton areas added to location map. More to be added soon...
30/6/2007 - Updated and corrected monitoring forms for Carlswark Cavern uploaded to site.
4/6/2007 - Rubbish from Moonmilk Pot conservation work removed by National Trust.
3/6/2007 - Rubbish from Moonmilk Pot conservation work moved to roadside by Darfar P.C. members.
6/5/2007 - Darfar P.C. members visited the majority of Carlswark Cavern, (everything except Dynamite Series), finding no evidence of pollution. A monitoring form was completed.
3/5/2007 - UCF (Underground Conservation Forum) Meeting at Bakewell. Some interesting discussions were had about various conservation issues.
8/4/2007 - Today, Hillocks Mine was visited by members of Darfar P.C. and found to be in excellent condition. No bad air was evident anywhere. Knotlow was not visited.
25/3/2007 - Today members of Darfar P.C. had a trip to the (new) terminal sump in Waterways Swallet. All were impressed by the scaffolding job through the Doghouse choke and by the passages beyond it. There is some lovely classically shaped stream passage down there and Floodgate Pot reminded us of Garlands Pot in Giants Hole. Toad Haul was nice, but not as big as we'd expected. The cave seemed to go on and on and down and down! Very impressive all in all, especially after the years of effort expended in getting through the choke. However, there was a heck of a lot of rubbish down there, not just digging gear, but bits of scrap wire, pipe, foam, plastic bottles, etc. (Wasn't sure what to put on a monitoring form about it, to be honest.)
18/3/2007 - Access work on Moonmilk Pot near Wetton Mill was completed by members of Darfar P.C. today and the gully around it tidied up. The rubbish is to be picked up and removed by the National Trust in due course.
12/3/2007 - Bradwell SSSI Area Map added to the SSSI Boundary Maps page. (Courtesy of Dave Webb.)
11/3/2007 - Members of Darfar P.C. today re-entered Plantation Swallet after finally removing the blockage.
7/3/2007 - Larger version of the Castleton SSSI Area Map added to the SSSI Boundary Maps page. Links to all the cave monitoring forms corrected so they now work on the live site! (Sorry about that.)
5/3/2007 - Updated surveys of Redhurst Swallet and the Main Sink Area (Darfar Pot, etc.) at Wetton Mill added to appropriate page. Updated Redhurst Swallet monitoring form (with the new survey) added to appropriate page.
25/2/2007 - Members of Darfar P.C. today found that the blockage in Plantation Swallet was a very large rock nearly 1m x 1m by 0.5m. Work was started on reducing it in size so that it can be removed from the cave.
19/2/2007 - Completed cave monitoring form for the original part of Waterways Swallet sent off to D.C.A.
Natural England and D.C.A. are interested to receive information about the state of the entrances of monitored caves and also about any access problems you may encounter when visiting them. To this end, it would be appreciated if you could add a note about these things to the monitoring forms when you complete them. Many thanks.
Information and Disclaimer
This is a joint initiative by Natural England (formerly English Nature), BCA, BCRA and the regional caving councils information on the conservation status of our caves. The level of recorded information is currently very low, so we have designed a simple form to record basic details on the condition of features.
This form can be filled in immediately after a visit to the cave but it is recommended that a copy be taken underground together with a copy of the section of the report and the map relevant to the cave being visited. It is always best to complete the form underground, especially if you are reporting on a number of features, so that comments do not have to rely on memory.
None of the organisations involved in this scheme are requesting that you go underground to visit these sites. The form is simply for you to record information from a trip, which you would be undertaking anyway. Caving is a dangerous activity and you are entirely responsible for your own judgements in visiting a cave or any part of it. None of the organisations involved can be held responsible for the outcome of any trip.
Natural England, BCA and BCRA are not only interested in the conservation of those features identified for monitoring, but in the conservation of the caves and mines as a whole. Monitoring every feature is impossible, so the features we have chosen to monitor are considered as both important features in their own right, and also indicators of the general condition of the caves. Wider and more general comments on features other than those identified are welcome and encouraged.
Disclaimer
Natural England is the government’s advisor on nature conservation and is responsible for designating and monitoring the condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) throughout England. Most of the major caves and cave systems of England are designated as SSSIs, either individually or grouped together as part of larger systems. The SSSI designation affords increased protection from damage or destruction of caves by external threats such as quarrying, land drainage and agricultural practices but does not affect the responsible use of caves by recreational cavers.
Raising awareness and promotion of best conservation practice among cave users, in partnership with local and national caving organisations, is the most effective method of ensuring the continuing conservation of our cave SSSIs and the protection of the resource against internal damage. Good conservation practice by cave users, in so far as it preserves the resource, serves the interests of all - recreational cavers, cave scientists, conservation organisations and the general public alike.
Regular monitoring of all SSSIs is an important part of the conservation process and is generally performed by Natural England staff. However, in the case of caves, Natural England staff are not normally able to perform monitoring as they are not experienced or qualified in undertaking underground work. One solution is for cavers to report on the condition of caves which they are visiting in the course of their recreational activities. Reporting simply involves filling in a brief tick-box type of questionnaire, supplied by Natural England. We will also supply a rough map of the areas of cave which form the SSSI and the location of important features, such as speleothems, cave sediments, fossils and minerals for which the site may be notified.
It is important to emphasise that Natural England is not requesting cavers to visit particular areas of cave systems. We are simply requesting information on the condition of caves and their features which cavers are visiting anyway, in the course of their own recreational activities. Natural England cannot accept responsibility for any accident or injury to cavers which occur during the course of these activities. Cavers should perform their own risk and hazard assessment and possess their own insurance.
Bradwell Dale Area 
