Lectures, Films & Workshops

Hidden Earth Lectures, Films and Workshops

The weekend is packed with lectures, with two or three parallel sessions running both days. Topics include new and old exploration from the UK and overseas as well as workshops covering cave science, research, technology and photography.

We wouldn't have an event if we didn't have lots of exciting lectures so we encourage all cavers to submit a talk, film or workshop. You can submit your abstract online any time throughout the year - even if you haven't been on that expedition yet!

Lecture secretary: Gary Douthwaite - lectures@hidden.earth

Giving a lecture? Please read our information for lecturers.

Submit sessions online

Submissions are now open for Hidden Earth 2024. It really helps if you can get your submission in sooner rather than later. You will probably also get a better time slot!

Get started...

Confirmed Sessions for 2024

Hear's a selecton of confirmed sessions for Hidden Earth 2024. We'll add more as the conference gets closer so keep checking back.

Workshop

Cave Survey & Emerging Technologies

Jono Lester

Join us for a panel discussion on cave surveying and emerging technologies! We will cover everything from 2D and 3D surveying to new devices and communication systems. Our expert panelists will share their insights on the latest advancements and practical applications in the field. Don't miss this opportunity to learn about cutting-edge tools, techniques, and innovations that are transforming cave...

Lecture

Not another Mulu talk. Well ... errr .... yes

Colin Boothroyd

In November 2023 a group of roughtytoughty speleologists descended upon Gunong Api. The main thrust of exploration centred around the search for a missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle, but there was also a lot of work done to make the enormous known passages bigger and some scientific work to determine which of bat or bird guano was yummiest.

Film

The best of Cave 84, 85 and 86

Colin Boothroyd

Red bolts. Standing up in caves. 30 foot extension in Wookey. And more... Back in the eighties the BCRA conference took itself very seriously. Which was why a satirical view of people and places in the caving news was a much needed oblique perspective within the caving calendar. The three original ´news programmes' have been edited down to one video. So, if...

Lecture

BCA - Youth and Development Talk: Spelioholics Anonymous

Jono Lester

Join us for the Spelioholics Anonymous Talk and Chat, where we’ll reflect on our achievements over the past year, introduce the new workgroups and their members, and engage in discussions about our future plans and ideas. We’ll also emphasize and further develop our focus on safety, expeditions, workshops, group activities, and research skills!

Lecture

Cambridge University Caving Club - Totes Gebirge Expedition 2024

Jono Lester

This summer, cavers from the UK and around the world returned to Austria's Totes Gebirge region to explore the Loser Augst-Eck plateau, continuing decades of work by the Cambridge University Caving Club & friends. Over 5.5 weeks, 40 participants, including many students and first-time explorers, focused on Balkonhohle (Balkon) and Heimkommenhöhle (Homecoming). With two surface camps and underground camps in...

Lecture

The Mulu caves just keep on getting bigger… Biogenic subaerial dissolution by nitrification in the Caves of Gunung Mulu National Park, Borneo.

Andy Farrant

The Gunung Mulu National Park is well known for its spectacular caves including the >250 km long Clearwater Cave system. Recent expeditions have identified many unusual geomorphological features in the caves that don’t fit with traditional views of cave development. They suggest that the caves may continue to enlarge even after abandonment by the formative rivers. These unusual passage morphologies...

Lecture

Northern Round-Up

Frank Pearson

News from the North. Details of digs, dives and breakthroughs across northern England, along with conservation work and subterranean cultural events from the last year. Mountains, Caves and Streams without end!

Lecture

Where does all the water go? The Northern Caves & Karst Hydrology Database - what it is, what it can tell us and what you need to do to help

Phil Murphy

The Yorkshire Dales has a long history of water tracing experiments but the records of these endeavours, both professional and citizen science, are often not easy to find. The Northern Caves and Karst Hydrology Database is the result of a lockdown project to try and pull all the records into one easily accessible format ensuring the data are available to...

Lecture

Lava Caves in the Eastern Rift Valley in Kenya

Joerg Dreybrodt

The East African Rift Valley Lava cave expedition explored the volcano areas north of Baringo lake and the valley rim at the western edge near Eldoret in 2022. Large lava caves were found at Silali Volcano based on literature references. The caves consist of three segments and belong to one system of 1.8 km length. One segment contains a very large...

Workshop

Cave Archaeology - communication and collaboration

Rick Peterson

Over the last two years I have been running a project examining the prehistoric archaeology of caves in the western Yorkshire Dales. Cave archaeology depends on cavers, local archaeologists, professional and academic archaeologists, and conservation bodies like the National Parks and Natural England all working together. There have been some excellent initiatives over the years by the BCRA and others...

Lecture

Drawing underground.

Robin Gray

Robin will talk about materials and techniques used in underground sketching and produce a large drawing of a Caver who will stand in caving kit. He was asked to do this last year and is prepared to do it if it is still thought interesting.

Lecture

ICCC - Pol Stoletja

Chris Hayes & Ben Richards

Celebrating 30 years of student exploration in Sistem Migovec! Imperial College Caving Club was first invited to Slovenia by the JSPDT in 1994. Looking back over 30 years, what have we done? A brief history of the expedition, a discussion on this years findings, and our aims looking forward.

Lecture

How Wet is Wales Really?

Graham Christian & Gareth Edwards

South Wales Caving Club members have been monitoring the rainfall at Penwyllt for over 20 years. This presentation looks at the drivers for starting to monitor the local rainfall and then the more recent monitoring of the stream level in Ogof Ffynnon Ddu One. We look at the equipment used and the problems that cropped up and how they...

Film

Achik Kol - Uncharted Caves of South Garo Hills

Thomas Arbenz

A video documentary covering CORE GEO-EXPEDITIONS' 2024 caving expedition in South Garo Hills, Meghalaya, NE-India. During a period of three weeks a team of 16 cavers from UK, Romania, Switzerland and India explored and surveyed 52 caves with a total of 12.7km of passage. Core Geo-Expeditions is a non-profit research organisation dedicated to exploring the subterranean landscape and its related aspects...

Lecture

Descent at 300

Chris Scaife

The October 2024 edition of Descent will be issue 300. Founded in January 1969 – when a first edition could be paid for with a half-crown coin, the Beatles were still together and humans had not yet set foot on the moon – Descent has been a huge part of the caving world for over half a century. This presentation...

Lecture

Mulu, the longer journey to Benarat

Tim Allen

This is the story of a pre covid and post covid expedition to Gunung Benarat, Mulu. Benarat is the most northerly limestone mountain in the National Park and much more remote than other recent expeditions. It is tough but rewarding caving. Across the two trips there was success and failure, highs and lows, accidents and illness, and...

Lecture

Sulphate caves and karst in the South Harz Mountains, Central Germany

John Gunn

Globally the majority of caves are epigenic (formed by water descending from the surface) and have formed in carbonate rocks but there are also fascinating and extensive caves in sulphate rocks (gypsum and anhydrite) many of which were formed by hypogenic processes (fluids rising from depth). In the South Harz area of Central Germany there is a 100 km long...

Lecture

An Electronic Cave Rescue Incident Management System

Keith Edwards And Paul Taylor

Traditionally cave rescues have been managed using a T card board along with a hand written incident log. This system has stood the test of time. So why change anything? The aims behind the development of an electronic system were: * To provide more information on the T card board to aid decision making, such as the time that the incident as been...

Lecture

The Dachstein Caving Expedition

Andrew Mcleod

The Dachstein caving expedition has been exploring the high Alpine plateau of the Dachstein in Austria for over 50 years. It is a primarily British expedition but international expedition with cavers from countries such as Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic etc. We focus on training for new cavers, offering discounts for young cavers and training new-to-expedition cavers before...

Lecture

Am I a Cavefish? Exploring the Evolutionary Adaptations and Medical Insights from Blind Cavefish

Rachael Pajak

It is not often you find creatures lurking in the underground, however, when one has made the hidden realm their home, one must adapt to this hostile environment. The phenomena of the blind cavefish of Mexico demonstrate there is more than what meets the (lack of) eye. These fascinating cavefish are an excellent model for evolutionary development but also could...

Lecture

Back to Buda

Louise Korsgaard

Gunung Buda National Park is the little-known neighbor of Gunung Mulu National Park in Malaysia. Buda has more than 80 km of known cave passages. The Green Cathedral system is almost 30 km long. Since 2003, no one has explored the caves of Buda. In July 2024 an international team of 9 cavers go on a quest to revive...

Lecture

Forest of Dean Round Up

Paul Taylor

Exploration and Research work in the Forest of Dean continues. Resurveying of the Wet Sink (Slaughter Stream Cave) system has seen its length grow to 14.1km. It is the longest Cave in the UK currently with a single entrance and sitting in Dolomite Rock. It may be the longest in Europe in Dolomite. Recently a connection was established between Kuwait...

Lecture

In defence of caving politics, a history and possible future of the BCA

Rostam Namaghi

Politics, from the greek 'Poly' meaning many and 'Tics' being blood sucking creatures. Therefore it follows that caving politics is the art of trying to get blood from a stone... This promises to be a good natured and hopefully humours examination of our caving politics! The first part takes a look at the history of caving politics, how things are structured...

Lecture

SpeleoPhillippines

Henry Bennett

Permits, Heat and Politicians Google Earth shows a river coming out the side of a mountain. The catch? It’s 24km from the nearest road. However, our original plan was 100s of miles away. A tale of the power of indigenous people, jungle exploits and politicians promises.

Lecture

Cuetzalan, Past 20 Years On From The Rescue, and the Future

Steve Whitlock

Cuetzalan was forever changed by the events in Mar 2004, when six cavers were rescued via a sump and were on the front page of every western newspaper for 10 days. Following a recent visit on the 20th Anniversary, Steve Whitlock reflects the effects the rescue had on caving in the area, on the lessons that could be learned...

Lecture

Clear floors? Stable roofs!

Paul Nathanail

The stability of a natural (cave) or artificial (mine or tunnel) underground space depends on the geometry of the space, the quality of any support and the orientation of zones of weakness in the rock as well as prevailing environmental conditions that often trigger a fall, collapse or slide. Knowing the signs of impending instability can protect cavers. Equally knowing that...