British Caving Library | Audio Archive

Doug Nash on mining part 1

Doug Nash on mining part 2

Doug Nash on mining part 3

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.

A BBC Radio Shropshire interview with Emma Porter, the Secretary of the British Cave Rescue Council, about the Thailand cave rescue

A BBC Radio Shropshire interview with Mike Clayton who was responsible for assembling equipment and ensuring it was sent out to Thailand

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.

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 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.

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. 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.

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.

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.