Handbook and Yearbook During its long life,
Descent has produced a variety of handbooks and one yearbook, offering cavers a ready source of information about clubs, groups and the sport of caving. The magazine typically contained a questionnaire that club secretaries were asked to fill in and return, and this was the main source of data that was collated along with information supplied by the regional and national bodies.
The first
Descent Handbook for Cavers was published in 1970 as an A5, 28 page booklet. The next edition quickly followed, in 1971, extending its pagination to 34 pages of information, while the third appeared in 1974 and ran to 44 pages. The contents list also expanded, recording details of caving film for hire and accommodation as well as equipment and services, cave rescue organisations and the background to the newly emerging Ghar Paru Foundation.
Caving and CRoW
The CRoW debate
UPDATE
ON 24 July 2014 Wild Places Publishing was asked to host an Opinion prepared by a QC which considered aspects of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW), which came into force in 2005, and its interpretation relating to caving. The document was placed online at the same time as the following Introduction with its links to background information and other resources. On 31 July another request was made, this time to host a An Alternative View discussing points raised in the QC s Opinion. It should be noted that neither of these documents represent BCA policy; a BCA meeting was held on 16 August 2014 and work towards a formal policy is reported to be proceeding.