In July 2003, a group of engraved crosses were found in Aveline’s Hole, Burrington Combe. Although it has not been possible to apply direct dating techniques to them, the evidence from their appearance and their archaeological context suggests that they may have been engraved during the early Mesolithic at a time when the cave was in use as a cemetery. Evidence for portable art from this site is also reviewed

The 2003 UBSS expedition to Northern Thailand tested the practical use of closed-circuit oxygen rebreathers as tools to explore, survey and analyse cave atmospheres in bad air passages of Tham Tab Tao, Chiang Mai Province. 80 m of new cave passage was explored and surveyed and 22 paired readings of CO2/O2 were obtained; the first such paired measurements made in Thailand caves. The ratio of CO2 enrichment:O2 depletion (1:1.2), combined with the maximum calculated CO2 concentrations (5.1%) indicate that the microbial breakdown of organic matter is the source of bad air within the cave. The source of organic matter is largely from bat guano. It was found that although rebreathers were ideal for collecting uncontaminated cave atmosphere samples, on future expeditions lightweight carbon composite air cylinders with SCUBA regulators and nose-clamps may provide the safest and most practical way to extend future exploration.

This paper gives a brief description of the natural caves that have been formed by landslipping in the Cotswolds between the town of Cheltenham and the M4 corridor. The paper is an overview and includes sites that have previously been published, new data from these sites, as well as several new sites. Surveys of the main caves are presented. It is argued that the mineral deposit described by geologists as “calcite bands” does not represent regional palaeo- water table levels, but has a speleological origin.

Markings found in Goatchurch Cavern, North Somerset have been identified as ritual protection marks, possibly dating from the period 1550 to 1750. The similarity of these marks to those found in timbered buildings of this period is discussed. An Appendix provides previously unpublished reasoning for the assertion that the W or conjoined V mark is associated with the Virgin Mary. The term ritual protection mark is preferred to the description “witch marks” used in some references, to avoid confusion with the same term which is used in many writings to refer to the marks left on a witch’s body by its familiar, used as a diagnostic in many witchcraft trials.

A cave dig in Tyning’s Great Swallet has recovered a quantity of human and animal bone and a single flint tool. These appear to be late Neolithic in age, although the nature of the dig and slumping of the deposit have prevented detailed interpretation.

It is suggested that “H.W.”, the anonymous author of a note which accidentally gave rise to the idea of a “lost cave of Burrington”, may have been the antiquarian, H.P. Wyndham, of Salisbury.

This paper describes cave explorations in Co. Clare that have taken place since the publication of The Caves of Co. Clare and South Galway in 2003. New explorations in Poulnagree and in Pollnagolloor are described along with the discovery of new caves on Inisheer and the High Burren.