Stalagmites with a crayfish-like profile are found in two natural tunnels in new South Wales in windy, moderately-lit sites; some of them were noted tourist attractions 100 years ago. The morphology and orientation of these stalagmites has been examined in relation to the light intensity falling on them . The internal structure, mineralogy and microbiology of one stalagmite and a related flowstone have been studied, resulting in a hypothesis for the mode of formation of the crayfish-like stalagmites. The stalagmites are compared with other speleothems and similar surface concretions. It is concluded that these stalagmites can be classified as stromatolites.

Using water budgeting, the catchment area for Banwell Spring has been calculated to be 14 sq km including both Carboniferous Limestone and Dolomitic Conglomerate aquifers. Dye tracing has fixed the eastern boundary of the catchment, but because of the failure of a dye trace from Singing River Mine the southern boundary in the Dolomitic Conglomerate had to be estimated based on the size and position of other springs. The northern boundary is limited by geology and the eastern boundary by the location of other springs. Banwell spring has two distinctive sub-catchments which lie to the east and west of the spring and which have similar storage and flow properties but different recharge. The eastern sub-catchment has some concenytrated surface recharge which gives it a more ‘flashy’ discharge response than the west which has only dispersed recharge.

Lists of references to works on the Palaeolithic and Pleistocene of the area were published in these Proceedings in 1954 (vol. 7, no. 1) and 1964 (vol. 10, no. 2). In 1977 (vol. 14, no. 3) these were reprinted, being then out of print, by Hawkins and Tratman who added a list of about sixty papers which had come out between 1964 and 1977. The present contribution is an attempt to bring the earlier lists up to date.

The site of Charterhouse Warren Farm Swallet, reported in full in Levitan et al. 1988, is discussed in relation to the radiocarbon dating results which became available after the full report was completed. Seven dates have been obtained, three from SERC funded submissions to the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit and four from NERC funded submission to the Scientific Services Radiocarbon Laboratory. These dates show three distinct phases of activity. The earliest phase is the initial deposition, around 3100-2500 BC, of bones that later occupied the Upper Cave Fill in Mitchell’s and Bone Chambers. The second phase is the progressive filling of the Entrance Shaft, commencing around 2500-2150 BC and filling very rapidly until about 2460-1995 BC by which time nearly fifteen metres of deposit had accumulated. The five metre zone between Horizons 2 and 4 is shown to have resulted from extremely fast accumulation; possibly a single infilling event. The rest of the Entrance Shaft filled at a slower rate of about one metre per 100 years. The third phase, only hinted at by a single date from a human bone, is the re-opening of the caves during the Iron Age (c. 360-5 BC). It is unlikely, however, that human access was actually possible. These results are interpreted as indicating a definite difference between the Upper Cave Fill and the Entrance Shaft Fill (of which Debris Cone 1 is a constituent) and that the lower part of the Entrance Shaft was deliberately filled by man. No clear interpretation is offered for the human bone dated to the Iron Age other than to say that some sort of access was possible.

The unusual nature of the stone deposits that filled the lower part of the Entrance Shaft of Charterhouse Warren Farm Swallet (clean more or less rounded stones mostly less than 10 kg weight, with more void than matrix between them) demands that they were emplaced by human agency. It is argued that the local Beaker and/or neolithic people collected the stones from their fields and dropped them into the shaft either for agricultural improvement or in connection with ritual burials or both. The stratigraphy of the Beaker Age deposits at Bos Swallet is reviewed. It is concluded that a group of Beaker ‘hearth layers’ on the lower slopes of the surface depression was in part disturbed by burrowing animals not by miners.

Recent excavations in the Late Pleistocene deposits at Gough’s Cave have produced ivory fragments with what appear to have been parts of one or more ’notations’, an animal rib off-cut and an amber pebble. Here a descriptive account of these is given, in advance of full publication of the excavation.

Specimens collected in 1954-58 at 6 to 10 feet depths in deposits near the cave entrance in Gough’s Old Cave, Cheddar, include 23 bird species. There has been a considerable mixture of material and three mammal bones give dates between 12,300 and 9,300 bp, with the most recent in the lowest stratum. The avifauna is mainly typical of warmer conditions, with Ptarmigan Lagopus mutus as the only good indicator of cooler conditions. Bird species include some requiring the presence of trees and others typical of open grassy places.

As a first contribution towards the re-evaluation of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene find spot of ‘Chelm’s Combe Shelter’ fresh identifications are presented for all those Pleistocene age birds so far traced.

Surviving examples of early underground ciné films are rare, some of the best being those produced by E.K. Tratman between 1933 and 1937. The earliest of these was intended as an experiment to determine the difficulties in filming underground and was made in Goatchurch Cavern, Read’s cavern and other caves. This lead to a more ambitious project filming the descent of Lamb Leer in 1937. This paper places Tratman’s films in the context of caving films produced elsewhere and details their production.

Kent’s Cavern is one of the largest caves known in the Devonian limestones of south-west England and the most visited show cave in the area. It is situated in Torquay on the south Devon coast and has been known since time immemorial: visitors can be traced back to at least 1571. The cave contains a complex sequence of archaeological deposits dating from the Lower Palaeolithic to the present and has been excavated many times, notably by William Pengelly between 1865 and 1880. A new survey is presented here, together with a description of the cave.

Caves and some possible solution features in the Fell Sandstone of Northumberland are described. One, Routin Lynn Cave, is shown to be water formed, as are other features in the area. Mass movement caves in the same rock formation are also described.

A survey is given of the Smithy Complex of the Doolin Cave System and of the associated surface sinks. It is argued that the complicated nature of this series and the lack of a passable connection with the surface in this area is due to the acute angle at which the surface stream meets the shale/limestone boundary and to the heavy debris load carried by the stream.

The scheduling of round barrows on central Mendip as ancient monuments in 1929 may have been instigated by Ethelbert Horne partly to protect them from U.B.S.S. Excavations (pre-Taylor) in the 1920s.