Latest News
March 2026 Newsletter now available
Go to the Resources/Newsletters page to download issue 143
Guided Walks 2026
Guided Walks 2026
January 2026
The summer Guided Walks programme in 2026 will follow a similar pattern to those in 2025.
DAY WALKS (which include a visit to the Joint Mitnor bone cave) will be at 11 am and 2 pm every Wednesday and Thursday, starting on 29 July and continuing until 27 August
BAT WALKS will be held in the evenings of the same days but with varying starting times.
Full details with more detailed information, prices and booking arrangements will be available here soon after Easter. We look forward to welcoming you to the Centre.
Exciting new research project
December 2025
We’re delighted to announce that funding has been secured for a new PhD project at the Centre. In a partnership with the School of Geosciences at the University of Aberdeen, and with the close involvement of our President, Professor Andrew Chamberlain, a project is being advertised as part of the QUARTILES Doctoral Landscape Award, a BBSRC and NERC-funded research and training programme.
The Last Interglacial, specifically sub-stage MIS5e, saw a global climatic amelioration that brought a curious suite of temperate mammalian species to Britain, some of which are restricted to sub-Saharan Africa today. Characterised from the Joint Mitnor Cave type-site, but found across sites in England and Wales, this famous “hippopotamus assemblage-zone” is well-known and well-dated, featuring species such as spotted hyaena, lion, straight-tusked elephant, narrow-tusked rhinoceros, and hippopotamus, alongside taxa such as wild boar, mountain hare, wolf, red fox, brown bear, bison, red deer, fallow deer and giant deer. The project will explore the niche feeding behaviours, trophic relationships and spatial ecology of the diverse taxa of the MIS5e hippo-faunas to better understand the functioning within this non-analogue ecosystem.
Full training in sample preparation and the analysis of isotope data will be provided, along with on-site training in sample selection and in cave archaeology. This project will be supported by a cross-disciplinary supervisory team including isotope archaeologists, zooarchaeologists, and quaternary scientists. The student will also work closely with a network of external collaborators, including Prof. Danielle Schreve (University of Bristol), and collections holders and museums, including the Torquay Museum. The research will be conducted in partnership with the Trust, and with Professor Andrew Chamberlain.
A full description of the project can be found on https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/quartiles-dla-case-hippo-and-hyena-haven-exploring-the-isotope-palaeoecology-of-a-non-analogue-ecosystem-in-mis5e-britain/?p191522 inviting applications from prospective PhD students.
We hope that this project will further enhance the involvement of the Trust in research programmes, following the recent work done in Joint Mitnor Cave by Professor Bob Stone and colleagues at the University of Birmingham, and by Emily Brannigan from the University of Oxford, studying cave spiders.
Christmas Fairs in Buckfastleigh
December 2025
The Trust was again represented with a stall at two Christmas events in our local town, thanks to the efforts of John Brodribb, with help from John Wilmut. The weather was rather kinder this year and we had the usual interest in the Trust’s work and in the Cave Studies Centre. But, unlike previous years, we also managed to sell a range of Trust publications and gifts, raising nearly £200 and, we hope, encouraging local interest and support which we need.
Trust library
September 2025
Since its inception in 1962 the Trust has been developing an extensive library of literature related to cave studies in Britain and elsewhere in the world. This was orginally housed in London but, some years ago, was moved to the Centre at Buckfastleigh and a programme of re-cataloguing started.
The library has now grown to a point where it has run out of space. The cataloguing is now made almost impossible by the lack of space and the Council has agreed to start a programme that will re-house the library (still within the Centre) and complete the making and online publication of a full catalogue. We hope soon to be able to publish at least the first section of a catalogue on this website.
The Trust has a new President
June 2025
We are delighted to welcome our new President: Professor Andrew Chamberlain has agreed to join us. The Trust has been very fortunate to have the support of a distinguished line of Presidents: Dr George Black, Harry Pearman and the late Professor Patrick Boylan all brought different experience and expertise, contributing a huge amount to our work. Andrew is no stranger to the Trust and Centre having been involved at several points over the years, most recently by doing the restorative work in Joint Mitnor Cave, following the break-in and theft of bones a few years ago.