Mendip Underground
The much awaited but never the less very welcome Mendip Underground is at long last on the market. Priced at £5.95 (the first edition was £2.95 in 1977) the 212 page guide is very good value, particularly in view of the improved presentation and increased number of photographs.
The guide has been extended by a brief description of those smaller sites of interest to cavers. This makes the book far more comprehensive and greatly increases its value as a reference work.
The authors, Dave Irwln and Tony Knibbs, have put in a great deal of effort and should be congratulated on producing an up-to-date and eminently readable guide. The introduction has been kept to only eight pages, very desirable when the trend is towards increasing use of guidebooks to promote personal band wagons.
I have only two minor criticisms of the book. It would be useful if a different type-face was used for descriptions of side passages, authors notes etc. The surveys are a little difficult to follow, particularly where complex multi-level systems are shown. Cavers can buy detailed surveys of individual caves but I am sure the vast majority would be content with something only slightly more detailed.
No doubt an army of pedants will unearth a plethora of
typographic and other errors. The only
two I am aware of are both on surveys. The Upper and Lower Series of Eastwater Cavern have been transposed, as
have the entrances of
Richard Stevenson