Exploration of a gull cave in the Claverton Gorge near Bath has revealed an extensive network of rift passages. Uranium series dating of a speleothem from the cave shows that gravity sliding began at least 350 ka ago, which means that the River Avon valley was already well developed by that time. Solution features within the cave pre-date the mass movement and suggest that groundwater once flowed to a proto- River Avon which lay to the north-west, before the present topography was established. River capture by the proto- Avon of former Thames headstreams created the Claverton Gorge and led to overdeepening of the Avon valley with the associated foundering of rock strata in the Bath region.

Information is summarised on the relics of plateau deposits which lie on the Middle Jurassic limestone outcrops east and south-east of Bath, between 150 m. and 200 m. above O.D. Clasts include flint, quartz, and sandstones in a clayey or loamy matrix. A possible glacial origin is discussed. Age of the original deposit, now mainly preserved in fissures or other cavities, is likely to be early to middle Pleistocene.

An account is given of the preliminary explorations made in August 1994 in an area near the summit of Triglav mountain, Slovenia. No significant finds were made, however many openings were investigated and the exploration of one cave has not yet been concluded.

Lamb Leer Cavern in the Mendip Hills near West Harptree was discovered by miners in 1676 and was explored by John Beaumont, however the entrance shaft was lost some years later. This paper gives particulars of the people and events connected with the re-discovery of the cave in June 1880, by the miner Andrew Lyons, and its exploration in the next decade. Also examined are Lyons’ claims, made in 1937, that he came across a lake in a passage off the Great Chamber, and that a talking machine, presumably some kind of telephone, had been used there. Secondary evidence is introduced which suggests that the lake was a temporary feature formed during heavy rainfall. It is also shown that the mining personalities connected with the cave at that time, would have been aware of the development of the telephone and its use in mines. It is argued that an electric or mechanical telephone was used in the cave after its re-discovery and before February 1885, making this the earliest recorded use of a telephone in cave exploration anywhere in the world.

Continuing survey and excavation work was undertaken in 1995 by the Wye Valley Caves Project. Efforts were focused on King Arthur’s Cave (entrance), Madawg Rockshelter and two new caves in Coldwell Rocks. The results show that a well-preserved Lateglacial sequence with artefacts still survives at King Arthur’s Cave. The Late Mesolithic levels at Madawg were further sampled for carbonised plant remains and cowrie shells. Iron Age evidence was obtained from one of the Coldwell sites.