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Ash Dieback has been reported near various cave entrances across the UK and care needs to be taken as affected trees can become brittle and suddenly collapse, so think about those trees you use for belays and anchor points!

Ash Trees are native to British Limestone environments and with 80% projected to succumb to the disease so it may only be a matter of time before someone has an unpleasant surprise at a top of a pitch.

The effect of Ash Die Back (ADB) is beginning to manifest itself on the national caving scene and as a regional council, we need to think about this at our caving / mine sites.

• The links below are from the BCA website:
• Ash Dieback: What you need to know (the BMC)

Ash Dieback (the Woodland Trust)

As we say above, think about those sites that have trees where we belay to and take care. We also need local cavers and mine explorer’s who actually know the sites to report these sites to us and if required, we can undertake a closer inspection.

Feedback can be returned to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A list of sites that need inspecting will be added to the site in due course.

The DCA Team

In England from the 29^th March 2021, Step 1b of the Government Roadmap is reached, the next stage of lockdown easing is now with us:

• The Rule of Six and Outdoor Sport is allowed:
• You will be able to leave your home as often as you wish but you are still encouraged to stay local which is advice only.
• It does urge you to limit the number of journeys and avoid the busiest times and routes.
• The restrictions limit outdoor meetings to six people or two households.
• Overnight stays are still not permitted.
• Club Huts within the region may start a phased re-opening, but please consult your club for updated information.
• Please remember to cave within your abilities and avoid taking unnecessary risks as cave rescue teams are ultimately volunteers and we do not want to put too much pressure on these teams.
• Several villages within the Peak District may still not be comfortable with large numbers of visitors coming in and areas becoming too crowded. We should continue to be considerate and try to avoid certain honeypot areas for the time being.
• If cave or mine sites have cavers there already when you arrive, consider going elsewhere to avoid the unnecessary mixing of households at this time.

Specific access information for certain sites within the Peak District can be found within the cave registry (www.peakdistrictcaving.info) and will be updated as and when required.

The updated government guidance can be found at: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021/covid-19-response-spring-2021-summary

The latest issue (154) of the Derbyshire Caver is now available online.

• The Great Perryfoot Car-park Clean-up
• Slitherstones Mine Capping Jobs
• The Backwater Aven Discovery
• Pilkington’s 1789 Grand Underground Tour of Castleton
• Eldon Quarry Access
• Covid, Caving and Bats
• Intake Dale Mine Repairs

Previous issues from 89 onwards are also available thanks to the efforts of Mike Higgins.

It has been reported to DCA that the fixed ropes on the up pitches in Eldon Hole are in a poor state with a number of damaged sections. A group that was in there today have managed to isolate the damage and re-rigged the pitch as best they could with the original rope to remove the immediate danger, but a new rope will be needed here as soon as possible.

The DCA does not install and maintain any fixed ropes, so we would not be in a position to offer any rope for this. If anyone knows the length of rope that would be required to replace the in-situ one, then that would be good information to have though.

We are contacting the team of DCA anchor installers to see if we can review the anchor placements in this area and potentially install further resin anchors to remove the rub points if possible.

Visits to this area of Eldon Hole should be undertaken with extreme caution in the short term and with great care for the formations in this area at all times.

Pete Knight, DCA Projects Officer