(Not Moderated)
This group is for caving-related discussions which are primarily of
interest to cavers, potholers and speleologists in the United Kingdom
(Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland) and the Irish Republic.
Valid topics include all aspects of sport caving, cave exploration and
cave research (speleology) - art & photography, documentation,
environmental & conservation issues, equipment & techniques,
expeditions (including overseas), liability and access, science &
technology, surveying, and so on. In addition, by tradition, the study
of disused mines and the sport of cave-diving come under the heading
of "caving".
Postings from overseas cavers are welcome, preferably in English or
with a translation. Discussion of overseas caving will be on-topic
where it relates to UK expeditions and general techniques but not, for
example, where it relates purely to local issues or local cave
politics.
Advertising
Announcements of events relevant to the newsgroup are permitted. Short
(less than 20 line) personal and trade adverts which are *directly*
relevant to readers are permitted. (e.g. gear sales, training
courses). Advertisements should not be repeated more than once per
month, and should include a valid return e-mail address.
Acceptable use
Binaries are expressly *not* permitted in this group; however,
references to files on FTP sites or binaries newsgroups, and WWW links
which are relevant to the readership are welcome and encouraged.
Cross-posting to/from other *relevant* newsgroups is allowed. However,
"spamming" and excessive cross-posting are not allowed.
Violation of these rules may well be a violation of the Acceptable Use
Policy (AUP) of your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
The posting of cave locations
The posting of exact cave locations in <uk.rec.caving>, whilst not
prohibited, is discouraged for reasons of conservation, safety and
access. Cave locations can be exchanged by private e-mail, or people
can be referred to their local caving club or to a national
organisation such as the NCA, NAMHO, BCRA, CDG etc.; or to a caving
guidebook, of which many are freely available in the UK.
Posting of cave locations: Background information
In some countries, notably parts of the USA, caving is given a
deliberately low profile; cave locations are kept secret and guide-
books are not published. This is for environmental and conservation
reasons; the prevention of cave destruction, both by "tourist" traffic
and by wanton vandalism; and for access, landowner and litigation
reasons. For this reason, the posting of cave locations on the
Internet is actively and strongly discouraged by many USA cavers.
In the UK the situation is different. Cave locations are freely
available in guide books and surveys. These can be bought from caving
and climbing shops, and from some of the larger high-street book-
shops. In addition, caving has a high profile in the UK with frequent
TV and radio coverage. However, the issues of conservation, access and
safety still feature strongly; and the Internet *is* quite a different
publication medium to printed guide-books, with a potentially far
wider, and less-informed audience. It is for these reasons that the
posting of cave locations is discouraged.
Newsgroups line
uk.rec.caving Caving, pot-holing etc. for sport/exploration/research