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Doug Nash on mining part 3

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Australian Cave Diver and Anaesthetist Richard Harris is interviewed about the traumatic decisions made to dive the 12 boy football team and their coach out of the flooded Tham Luang and the very slim chance of a successful outcome.

Dave 'Moose' Nixon has been at the centre of many significant finds in the Peak Cavern system since the mid 1980's, with his explorations including the White River Series, the major extensions to James Hall Over Engine Mine, and Titan. In this interview, Moose describes the opening of the top entrance to Titan, a task that took from October 1999 to June 2003, and required the excavation of a 46 metre deep shaft and a 20 metre long adit. The result has allowed cavers ready access to the most impressive shaft in the UK.

Dave 'Moose' Nixon has been at the centre of many significant finds in the Peak Cavern system the mid 1980's, with his explorations including the White River Series, the major extensions to James Hall Over Engine Mine, and Titan. In this interview Moose describes how he heard what he thought was a waterfall at the end of The Trenches whilst on a solo trip between Peak Cavern and Speedwell in 1991. Further investigation resulted in the discovery of the extensive White River Series. He goes on to describe how four years of intensive effort in JH allowed him and his colleagues access to the passages beyond Far Sump, which eventually led to breaking through to the base of Titan.

Dave 'Moose' Nixon has been at the centre of many significant finds in the Peak Cavern system since the mid 1980's, with his explorations including the White River Series, the extensions to James Hall Over Engine Mine, and Titan. In this interview Moose describes how he wasn't tempted by the gritstone crags surrounding his home town of Hathersage, but with some school friends, was drawn to the limestone caves which they explored with the minimum of equipment. He also pays homage to three iconic figures of Derbyshire caving who were his greatest influences - Ian 'Buster' Wright, Keith 'Ben' Bentham, and John Beck.

On the 22nd May 1966 after many months of surveying and digging by a large number of Derbyshire cavers, the connection between Oxlow Cavern and Giant's Hole was finally forged through the Chamber of Horrors, a horrendous 700' flat-out crawl which includes three ducks. Fifty years later, a celebration of the achievement was held in Castleton village hall on the 21st May 2016. In this talk recorded at the time, Clive Westlake, who was intimately involved in the project, describes with the help of his log books, the events leading up to the connection. He explains how a re-survey of Giant's Hole by Paul Deakin clarified the relationship between the two systems, which inspired a concerted digging effort. As this was recorded before an audience, there is some background noise.

Mike Boon (1940-2014) was a truly legendary caver whose many outstanding achievements included being a pioneer in the use of aqualungs for cave diving which allowed him to pass Sumps 6 and 7 in Swildon's Hole; explorations at the far end of Mossdale Caverns with Pete Livesy; exploring major river caves in Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica; and a solo exploration to the far end of Castleguard Cave in Canada which he pushed to a glacial ice plug. In this interview, conducted by John Donovan and Nicholas Viera, Mike is first asked about the writing of his book Down to a Sunless Sea, and he then goes on to talk about his Castleguard explorations, including the occasion when he and Pete Thompson were trapped by flood waters for two days, which resulted in the de facto closure of all caves in the Banff National Park. He also talks a little about his solo exploration in the cave. The interview was edited by Sid Perou.

Mike Boon (1940-2014) was a truly legendary caver whose many outstanding achievements included being a pioneer in the use of aqualungs for cave diving which allowed him to pass Sumps 6 and 7 in Swildon's Hole; explorations at the far end of Mossdale Caverns with Pete Livesy; exploring major river caves in Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica; and a solo exploration to the far end of Castleguard Cave in Canada which he pushed to a glacial ice plug. In this interview, which has been extracted from Sid Perou's cave diving film The Devil is a Gentleman, available on this site, Mike discusses the first uses of aqualungs in cave diving, and goes on to describe the experience of getting stuck and losing his mouthpiece whilst passing Swildon's 7 for the first time. The film dramatised some of the important episodes in Mike's early diving career, hence the sound effects.

Mike Boon (1940-2014) was a truly legendary caver whose many outstanding achievements included being a pioneer in the use of aqualungs for cave diving which allowed him to pass Sumps 6 and 7 in Swildon's Hole; explorations at the far end of Mossdale Caverns with Pete Livesey; exploring major river caves in Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica; and a solo exploration to the far end of Castleguard Cave in Canada which he pushed to a glacial ice plug. In this recording, made for Sid Perou's film In Memory of Mike Boon available on Youtube, Derek Ford describes how he persuaded Mike to join his Karst Research Group at McMaster University to help explore the karst of the Canadian Rockies, which eventually led to the Castleguard Cave explorations. He gives a vivid account of Mike's solo exploration in that cave.

Mike Boon (1940-2014) was a truly legendary caver whose many outstanding achievements included being a pioneer in the use of aqualungs for cave diving which allowed him to pass Sumps 6 and 7 in Swildon's Hole; explorations at the far end of Mossdale Caverns with Pete Livesey; exploring major river caves in Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica; and a solo exploration to the far end of Castleguard Cave in Canada which he pushed to a glacial ice plug. On the 17th May 2015 a group of Mike's friends gathered together on the banks of the Maligne River near Jasper in Alberta to celebrate his life, reminisce about his exploits, and scatter his ashes - an event that Bill Steele recorded on video. Here, Peter Thompson shares some of his memories of a remarkable man, and in particular how he survived a number of interesting incidents.

Mike Boon (1940-2014) was a truly legendary caver whose many outstanding achievements included being a pioneer in the use of aqualungs for cave diving which allowed him to pass Sumps 6 and 7 in Swildon's Hole; explorations at the far end of Mossdale Caverns with Pete Livesey; exploring major river caves in Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica; and a solo exploration to the far end of Castleguard Cave in Canada which he pushed to a glacial ice plug. On the 17th May 2015 a group of Mike's friends gathered together on the banks of the Maligne River near Jasper in Alberta to celebrate his life, reminisce about his exploits, and scatter his ashes - an event that Bill Steele recorded on video. Here, John Donovan shares some of his memories of a remarkable man.

Mike Boon (1940-2014) was a truly legendary caver whose many outstanding achievements included being a pioneer in the use of aqualungs for cave diving which allowed him to pass Sumps 6 and 7 in Swildon's Hole; explorations at the far end of Mossdale Caverns with Pete Livesey; exploring major river caves in Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica; and a solo exploration to the far end of Castleguard Cave in Canada which he pushed to a glacial ice plug. On the 17th May 2015 a group of Mike's friends gathered together on the banks of the Maligne River near Jasper in Alberta to celebrate his life, reminisce about his exploits, and scatter his ashes - an event that Bill Steele recorded on video. Here, Ian Drummond shares some of his memories of a remarkable man.

Mike Boon (1940-2014) was a truly legendary caver whose many outstanding achievements included being a pioneer in the use of aqualungs for cave diving which allowed him to pass Sumps 6 and 7 in Swildon's Hole; explorations at the far end of Mossdale Caverns with Pete Livesey; exploring major river caves in Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica; and a solo exploration to the far end of Castleguard Cave in Canada which he pushed to a glacial ice plug. In 1976 and 1977 he was a member of expeditions to the Sumidero Yochib river cave in Mexico, which were led by Bill Steele. In this interview Bill shares some of his memories of Mike. It was recorded during the 2015 Huatla Expedition.

Mike Boon (1940-2014) was a truly legendary caver whose many outstanding achievements included being a pioneer in the use of aqualungs for cave diving which allowed him to pass Sumps 6 and 7 in Swildon's Hole; explorations at the far end of Mossdale Caverns with Pete Livesey; exploring major river caves in Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica; and a solo exploration to the far end of Castleguard Cave in Canada which he pushed to a glacial ice plug. On the 17th May 2015 a group of Mike's friends gathered together on the banks of the Maligne River near Jasper in Alberta to celebrate his life, reminisce about his exploits, and scatter his ashes - an event that Bill Steele recorded on video. Here, Daryl, wife of John Donovan, shares some of her memories of a remarkable man.

Margaret Hunter Scarr and her husband farmed the land around Ease Gill and Bull Pot of the Witches between 1958 and 1968. She came into frequent contact with cavers whilst living at Gale Garth, and this interview casts a fascinating light on the relationship between farmers and cavers. In particular she soon became aware of the cowboy element in caving, and in 1960 together with the RRCPC, established an access system for the caves, with herself acting on standby and call-out duties. Margaret remembers with real emotion the death of Alan Clegg in the Lancaster Hole downstream sump in 1964, and she remembers the damage caused during the Pegleg Pot rescue in 1962. But she also remembers the time when she was taken down Lancaster Hole all the way to the sump by the Red Rose, which was when she first appreciated what it is that motivates cavers. This is a lovely interview.

Following his pirate expedition to the Gouffre Berger in 1963 when he was successful in passing the terminal sump, Ken Pearce gathered together a team of hard cavers for a follow-up expedition in the following year to help him to push beyond. It didn't achieve its objectives, with flooding preventing them from reaching the sump, but it was eventful as Stuart Whitmey recounts in this interview. In the days of electron ladders and wetsuits, Stuart describes how a continuous eleven day underground session included two days sheltering from flood waters on a ledge, and helping two injured people up the entrance series. This is riveting listening, and an important contribution from a lead member of this poorly documented expedition. In the next recording, Stuart describes the more successful 1967 expedition.

Following the unsuccessful 1964 expedition to explore beyond the terminal sump in the Gouffre Berger, Ken Pearce got together a larger team for a more organised attempt in 1967. Unfortunately, the shadow of the Mossdale Caverns incident from a couple of months before loomed over it, and the expedition soon began to splinter under the psychological pressure. Pooling resources with the Pegasus expedition led by Peter Watkinson, Pearce managed to pull it back together, and made a successful attempt on the sumps, passing sumps 1 and 2 before being stopped by a pitch. This account by one of Pearce's right-hand men, Stuart Whitmey who was also on the 1964 expedition, provides a great insight into the the highs and the lows of the expedition. It was recorded on Stuart's 74th birthday. Accounts of the same expedition by Mike Wooding, Dave Gill and Frank Barnes may also be found in this archive.

Bob Toogood started caving in the mid-1950s when he was fourteen, and in a long and illustrious caving career has been involved with major explorations in all of the main caving areas of the UK, as well as abroad, accompanied by some of the best cavers of the day. In this recording, Bob describes the fun he has at the annual Matienzo caving fest in Spain.

Bob Toogood started caving in the mid-1950s when he was fourteen, and in a long and illustrious caving career has been involved with major explorations in all of the main caving areas of the UK, as well as abroad, accompanied by some of the best cavers of the day. When he was in his forties, domestic duties kept him out of the caves, and Pete Livesey enticed him into fell running. In the 1980s and 1990s he proved himself to be one of the best in the country in his age group, winning a number events. In this interview Bob talks a little about his fell running days.

Bob Toogood started caving in the mid-1950s when he was fourteen, and in a long and illustrious caving career has been involved with major explorations in all of the main caving areas of the UK, as well as abroad, accompanied by some of the best cavers of the day. In the 1960s and the 1970s Bob was also a climber of some repute, putting up a number of new routes in the UK, especially with Bob Dearman, including Kyrie Eleison at Thor's Cave which at 60 m is the longest roof climb in the Peak. He also put up a number of first British ascents in the Alps, mainly with Clive Rowlands. In this recording, Bob talks a little about his climbing career.

Bob Toogood started caving in the mid-1950s when he was fourteen, and in a long and illustrious caving career has been involved with major explorations in all of the main caving areas of the UK, as well as abroad, accompanied by some of the best cavers of the day. In this recording Bob recalls his early caving with such as Les Salmon, Ken Pearce, and Mike Boon down such caves as Mossdale Caverns and the newly explored Giant's Hole. He also describes his experiences accompanying Ken Pearce on his diving expeditions in the Gouffre Berger in the 1960s.

Bob Toogood started caving in the mid-1950s when he was fourteen, and in a long and illustrious caving career has been involved with major explorations in all of the main caving areas of the UK, as well as abroad, accompanied by some of the best cavers of the day. In this recording Bob recalls how at Easter 1962 he, Jeff Morgan, and Ken Pearce Pushed Southern Stream Passage in Agen Allwedd to discover a mile of passage on a fourteen hour trip. He also discusses his involvement with other explorations made in the same system.

The Brook Brothers were leading members of Leeds University caving in the 1960s and the 1970s. During that period, the club resurveyed many of the caves in the Yorkshire Dales, and made many important discoveries including Kingsdale Master Cave, Far Country in Gaping Gill, Black Shiver Pot, and Langcliffe Pot. In 1968 ULSA were responsible for the discovery of over six miles of passage. They also contributed much to our understanding of the development of the caves, with Dave hypothesising the existence of the Three Counties System in 1968. In 1969 whilst on a surveying trip in Nick Pot, Tony White wandered down the adjacent Nick Pot II, and pushed past the previous limit reached by the Yorkshire Ramblers Club in 1934. A tight bedding passage, pushed by Dave Brook, led to some loose, awkward pitches. Dave describes how he managed to fracture a collar bone whilst extricating himself from the top of one of these.

The Brook Brothers were leading members of Leeds University caving in the 1960s and the 1970s. During that period, the club resurveyed many of the caves in the Yorkshire Dales, and made many important discoveries including Kingsdale Master Cave, Far Country in Gaping Gill, Black Shiver Pot, and Langcliffe Pot. In 1968 ULSA were responsible for the discovery of over six miles of passage. They also contributed much to our understanding of the development of the caves, with Dave hypothesising the existence of the Three Counties System in 1968. In this recording, the Brooks discuss the ULSA explorations of Mossdale Caverns, and how they managed to survey 4,300' of the Marathon Crawls in one day.

The Brook Brothers were leading members of Leeds University caving in the 1960s and the 1970s. During that period, the club resurveyed many of the caves in the Yorkshire Dales, and made many important discoveries including Kingsdale Master Cave, Far Country in Gaping Gill, Black Shiver Pot, and Langcliffe Pot. In 1968 ULSA were responsible for the discovery of over six miles of passage. They also contributed much to our understanding of the development of the caves, with Dave hypothesising the existence of the Three Counties System in 1968. After Mossdale Caverns were closed, ULSA turned their attention to Langcliffe Pot, where they discovered over six miles of passage, and were involved in a rescue when a party of eleven were trapped below Boireau Falls Chamber resulting in a forty-four hour caving trip.

The Brook Brothers were leading members of Leeds University caving in the 1960s and the 1970s. During that period, the club resurveyed many of the caves in the Yorkshire Dales, and made many important discoveries including Kingsdale Master Cave, Far Country in Gaping Gill, Black Shiver Pot, and Langcliffe Pot. In 1968 ULSA were responsible for the discovery of over six miles of passage. They also contributed much to our understanding of the development of the caves, with Dave hypothesising the existence of the Three Counties System in 1968. In this recording, the Brooks discuss their early days with ULSA, and their initial involvement in the exploration of Mossdale Caverns.

The Brook Brothers were leading members of Leeds University caving in the 1960s and the 1970s. During that period, the club resurveyed many of the caves in the Yorkshire Dales, and made many important discoveries including Kingsdale Master Cave, Far Country in Gaping Gill, Black Shiver Pot, and Langcliffe Pot. In 1968 ULSA were responsible for the discovery of over six miles of passage. They also contributed much to our understanding of the development of the caves, with Dave hypothesising the existence of the Three Counties System in 1968. In this recording Dave describes how he found himself exploring Hydrophobia Passage and The Ramp in Sleets Gill by himself with a flaky light.

The Brook Brothers were leading members of Leeds University caving in the 1960s and the 1970s. During that period, the club resurveyed many of the caves in the Yorkshire Dales, and made many important discoveries including Kingsdale Master Cave, Far Country in Gaping Gill, Black Shiver Pot, and Langcliffe Pot. In 1968 ULSA were responsible for the discovery of over six miles of passage. They also contributed much to our understanding of the development of the caves, with Dave hypothesising the existence of the Three Counties System in 1968. In this recording Alan and Dave describe how on a trip down Simpson Pot in 1966, they followed up a lead given to them by Geoff Boireau and pushed a crawl from Swinsto Great Aven through to the Master Cave which they proceeded to explore together.

The Brook Brothers were leading members of Leeds University caving in the 1960s and the 1970s. During that period, the club resurveyed many of the caves in the Yorkshire Dales, and made many important discoveries including Kingsdale Master Cave, Far Country in Gaping Gill, Black Shiver Pot, and Langcliffe Pot. In 1968 ULSA were responsible for the discovery of over six miles of passage. They also contributed much to our understanding of the development of the caves, with Dave hypothesising the existence of the Three Counties System in 1968. In 1971 and 1972 ULSA, with members of other clubs, spent some time in the Gouffre Berger and the Réseau de la Pierre St. Martin. In this recording the brothers reminisce about some of the events of those expeditions.

The Brook Brothers were leading members of Leeds University caving in the 1960s and the 1970s. During that period, the club resurveyed many of the caves in the Yorkshire Dales, and made many important discoveries including Kingsdale Master Cave, Far Country in Gaping Gill, Black Shiver Pot, and Langcliffe Pot. In 1968 ULSA were responsible for the discovery of over six miles of passage. They also contributed much to our understanding of the development of the caves, with Dave hypothesising the existence of the Three Counties System in 1968. Here Dave talks about the original thinking behind the concept of The Three Counties System, and goes onto discuss the exploration of The Mohole with Alf and Joe Latham, dressed in his flat cap.

The Brook Brothers were leading members of Leeds University caving in the 1960s and the 1970s. During that period, the club resurveyed many of the caves in the Yorkshire Dales, and made many important discoveries including Kingsdale Master Cave, Far Country in Gaping Gill, Black Shiver Pot, and Langcliffe Pot. In 1968 ULSA were responsible for the discovery of over six miles of passage. They also contributed much to our understanding of the development of the caves, with Dave hypothesising the existence of the Three Counties System in 1968. Between April and December 1975 a British speleological expedition led by Dave Brook, investigated the high altitude karst area between the Strickland Gorge and the Star Mountains in Papua New Guinea. During that time it explored and surveyed the 20 km long Selminum Tem system with its huge passages, and descended a number of deep shaft systems. In this recording Dave reminisces about the expedition, and filming with Sid Perou.

The Brook Brothers were leading members of Leeds University caving in the 1960s and the 1970s. During that period, the club resurveyed many of the caves in the Yorkshire Dales, and made many important discoveries including Kingsdale Master Cave, Far Country in Gaping Gill, Black Shiver Pot, and Langcliffe Pot. In 1968 ULSA were responsible for the discovery of over six miles of passage. They also contributed much to our understanding of the development of the caves, with Dave hypothesising the existence of the Three Counties System in 1968. In this recording, the Brooks discuss the original exploration of Black Shiver Pot in 1967, and how after eventually descending the 260' Black Rift pitch, Dave found himself confronted by a submerged section of passage.

The legendary cave diver Jochen Hasenmayer played an important role in the exploration of Keld Head, where he was involved in the notorious 'Dead Man's Handshake' incident (Geoff Yeadon's side of the story can be heard in this interview). This interview, in German, was originally conducted over the phone for an Icelandic radio documentary made by Jan Murtomaa. The questions were formulated by Jan in English, and translated and presented by Hjálmar Sveinsson in German. The English transcript was kindly created by Chris Snuggs. In this interview Jochen describes how his development of new equipment allowed him to continually push the boundaries of cave diving, even after a decompression incident left him paraplegic.

Dave Cobley was a very active caver with the Happy Wanderers in the 1960s and 1970s, who spent a number of trips caving in Fermanagh. In the second part of this interview, he vividly recalls the original exploration of the extensive Skeen Hill 2 extensions, including the Legnabrocky Way, in Marble Arch Cave in the company of Mike Boon in December 1965. He returned the following Easter with a party of Happy Wanderers and BPC members which included Bill Frakes, John Ogden and Colin Vickers who all died in Mossdale Caverns the following year, as well as Mike Boon. The sump at the end of Skreen Hill 2 was passed, and the massive Skreen Hill 3 extensions entered. This is a graphic account of an important exploration in the company of some great cavers.

Dave Cobley was a very active caver with the Happy Wanderers in the 1960s and 1970s, who spent a number of trips caving in Fermanagh. In this interview, he recalls the events leading up to the exploration of a mile of new passage in Marble Arch Cave in the company of Mike Boon, Pete Livesey, and others in August and December 1965. A great story.

Dave Cobley was a very active caver with the Happy Wanderers in the 1960s and 1970s, who was involved in many of the explorations of the time including that of Pippikin Pot. In this interview he provides a riveting account of the major extensions made in 1969 to Peterson Pot, with its infamous Roly Poly Passage. The 'Hilda' referred to by Dave was Hilda Guthrie. This is a story of exploration with total commitment.

Bob Leakey (1914-2013) was a legendary caver active from the 1930s to the 1950s, whose many solo explorations included the far end of Mossdale, Ingleborough Cave, and Disappointment Pot. Although some of Bob's recall of details are suspect (forgivably considering his age at the time of the recording), the insights that these memories give are very valuable. In this recording, Bob remembers a hair-raising descent of a mine shaft on Grassington Moor, and the initial Mossdale Caverns explorations. His solo explorations in Mossdale in 1941 were a feat of extraordinary courage and endurance. These interviews were recorded for a project about Eli Simpson.

Gilbert (Bert) Bradshaw (1926-2016) was a very active caver originally with the BSA, and subsequently as a founder member of the Northern Pennine Club, and he was involved in the original explorations of such as Notts Pot, Disappointment Pot, and Ease Gill Caverns. Indeed, he was the first to enter Easter Grotto, and Bradshaw's Passage is named after him. In this recording, Bert recalls memories of Eli Simpson and the B.S.A. and on the long-term positive influence both had on British caving.

Gilbert (Bert) Bradshaw (1926-2016) was a very active caver originally with the BSA, and subsequently as a founder member of the Northern Pennine Club, and he was involved in the original explorations of such as Notts Pot, Disappointment Pot, and Ease Gill Caverns. Indeed, he was the first to enter Easter Grotto, and Bradshaw's Passage is named after him. In this recording he gives a valuable insight into how Eli Simpson's old-school manner was found not to go down too well with those returning from the war, and was one of the causes for the fragmentation of the B.S.A.

Gilbert (Bert) Bradshaw (1926-2016) was a very active caver originally with the BSA, and subsequently as a founder member of the Northern Pennine Club, and he was involved in the original explorations of such as Notts Pot, Disappointment Pot, and Ease Gill Caverns. Indeed, he was the first to enter Easter Grotto, and Bradshaw's Passage is named after him. He joined the BSA as a young lad during the war, under the leadership of Eli Simpson, and caved in the Dales at weekends. The only transport was bicycles, and the caving equipment included football shorts and candles. This is a fascinating account of caving during that period.

On the afternoon of the 6th November 2011, the Bruno Kranskies Rising Sump dig in Notts 2 was connected to Lyle Caverns in Lost Johns' Cave, forging the final link in the Three Counties System. To celebrate the culmination of all the hard work put in by hundreds of cavers over several decades, a Three Counties System Connection Party was held on the 26th November 2011 in Burton-in-Lonsdale Village Hall. It was well attended by generations of cavers who had contributed to the project. Hugh St. Lawrence begins his presentation by talking about the Iron Kiln dig which eventually dropped into Mincemeat Aven in Notts 2 on Leck Fell. Digging in the various inlets in Notts 2 were all frustrated by emphatic chokes, and he transferred his attentions to Barbondale. Eventually he was persuaded back into Notts II and Bruno Kranskies, which after two years eventually resulted in the connections with Lost Johns' Cave.

On the afternoon of the 6th November 2011, the Bruno Kranskies Rising Sump dig in Notts 2 was connected to Lyle Caverns in Lost Johns' Cave, forging the final link in the Three Counties System. To celebrate the culmination of all the hard work put in by hundreds of cavers over several decades, a Three Counties System Connection Party was held on the 26th November 2011 in Burton-in-Lonsdale Village Hall. It was well attended by generations of cavers who had contributed to the project. As enthusiastic as ever, Andy Walsh gives a really good historical overview of the exploration of the system. On the night, Andy used slides (and some of his own superb paintings of cave passages) to assist his explanation, which obviously won't be much help on here. Starting with Balderstone's famous 1880s map of the area, through to the latest developments in digging, with almost everything in between, this talk is highly entertaining.

On the afternoon of the 6th November 2011, the Bruno Kranskies Rising Sump dig in Notts 2 was connected to Lyle Caverns in Lost Johns' Cave, forging the final link in the Three Counties System. To celebrate the culmination of all the hard work put in by hundreds of cavers over several decades, a Three Counties System Connection Party was held on the 26th November 2011 in Burton-in-Lonsdale Village Hall. It was well attended by generations of cavers who had contributed to the project. In this speech, Dave Cobley first recalls the initial exploration of Upper Lyle Cavern, and then the early pushing trips in Pippikin, describing the breakthrough into the stream passage, Hall of the Ten and on into a pristine Gour Hall. Dave's account of the discoveries really captures the excitement of being the first to explore untouched cave passages.

On the afternoon of the 6th November 2011, the Bruno Kranskies Rising Sump dig in Notts 2 was connected to Lyle Caverns in Lost Johns' Cave, forging the final link in the Three Counties System. To celebrate the culmination of all the hard work put in by hundreds of cavers over several decades, a Three Counties System Connection Party was held on the 26th November 2011 in Burton-in-Lonsdale Village Hall. It was well attended by generations of cavers who had contributed to the project. In this short speech, Alf Latham acknowledges the contribution of Joe Latham and John Southworth to the development of the Three Counties System.

On the afternoon of the 6th November 2011, the Bruno Kranskies Rising Sump dig in Notts 2 was connected to Lyle Caverns in Lost Johns' Cave, forging the final link in the Three Counties System. To celebrate the culmination of all the hard work put in by hundreds of cavers over several decades, a Three Counties System Connection Party was held on the 26th November 2011 in Burton-in-Lonsdale Village Hall. It was well attended by generations of cavers who had contributed to the project. In this talk Frank Pearson describes his involvement with the Bruno Kranskies dig in Notts 2. Frank and the "Preston Posse" were recruited to the digging team almost by accident after a tourist trip on Leck Fell and a moonlit inquisition from some of the diggers! Firmly bitten by the digging bug, the Preston Posse became a major force in making the final connection.

On the afternoon of the 6th November 2011, the Bruno Kranskies Rising Sump dig in Notts 2 was connected to Lyle Caverns in Lost Johns' Cave, forging the final link in the Three Counties System. To celebrate the culmination of all the hard work put in by hundreds of cavers over several decades, a Three Counties System Connection Party was held on the 26th November 2011 in Burton-in-Lonsdale Village Hall. It was well attended by generations of cavers who had contributed to the project. In this speech, Dave Brook recalls how the vision for a system that connected the caves beneath the fells of Westmorland (now Cumbria), Lancashire, and Yorkshire came about.

Frank Atkinson (1924-2013) was best known for his work in founding the Beamish Museum for which he was awarded the CBE in 1995, but when he was younger he was an active member of the BSA with a particular interest in geology and surveying. In this second of three interviews, Frank shares more recollections of the BSA and of Eli Simpson. In particular, he remembers the later years of Cymmie's life, and the efforts made to save his records after his death.

Frank Atkinson (1924-2013) was best known for his work in founding the Beamish Museum for which he was awarded the CBE in 1995, but when he was younger he was an active member of the BSA with a particular interest in geology and surveying. On May 14th 1951, Frank was a member of a BSA team comprising of Bob Leakey, Ken Pearce, K. Braithwaite, and John Williams, which descended Penyghent Pot. John Williams (back left in photograph) started to experience difficulties near the bottom. In this interview Frank (in front in photograph) recounts how he and Bob Leakey stayed with the casualty until help eventually arrived. Sadly, John Williams, aged nineteen, died of hypothermia before he reached the surface, and Frank himself needed help to exit. He retired from caving shortly afterwards.