
Reference: CDD
Brand: Wild Places Publishing
Classic Darksite Diving
A guide to dive sites in caves and mines throughout Britain and Europe, by Martyn Farr
Pioneers Beneath the Peak by Martin Wright: the story of cavers who would not be stopped when the passage sumped.
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The caves beneath the Peak District have intrigued humankind for thousands of years. As people explored further into the caves, they would often reach a point where the roof sloped down into a pool of water and they could go no further. This book tells the story of those who would not be stopped by the water and who, by a combination of determination, resourcefulness, technical innovation and a good measure of courage, sought to dive through those pools, to enter the unknown passages and to discover what lay beyond. This is a tale of true adventure and exploration, told by one of those involved.
The hardback edition has a limited print run and is produced with head- and tailbands, cloth covered cover and laminated paper dustjacket. The softback edition has a laminated card cover. Both are supplied with a caving-related bookmark.
Photo: Karen Wright
The Tratman Award is presented annually to the best caving-related publication; it is considered to be hugely prestigious. Pioneers Beneath the Peak won the award for 2023 against a very strong field. The trophy, a hand-crafted model of the book, was presented to Martin Wright at the annual caving conference, Hidden Earth, on 21 September 2024.
Author
MARTIN WRIGHT started caving in 1982 and undertook his first cave dive in 1991. He went on to qualify as a cave diver with both the Cave Diving Group of Great Britain and the National Association for Cave Diving based in the USA. He was the first cave diver to use helium mixtures for deep diving in a Peak District cave and has dived to explore new cave passages in the UK, France and Mexico. Martin and his family live in the Peak District; his wife Karen is a former diver and their daughter, Lydia, is a history teacher.
Martin is donating all royalties from the sale of this book to his chosen charity, the Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation.
For the contents page click here
For the Pioneers index click here (opens new window)
For reviews of Pioneers click here (opens new window)
For the Pioneers flyer click here (opens new window)
To download a Pioneers cover file suitable for printing click here (opens new window: save the file from your browser by right-clicking)
Wild Places Publishing is environmentally aware and supports the work of the World Land Trust, an international conservation charity helping to protect threatened habitats, by using the services of certified local companies and suitably sourced materials. Our printer, Gomer Press, is a Certified Carbon Balanced Printer that offsets carbon impacts through the World Land Trust. The paper we have chosen for this title, Claro Silk, is certified Elemental Chlorine Free and accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council as a paper manufactured from sustainable sources and carbon balanced.
Data sheet
The Tratman Award is presented annually to the best caving-related, paper-based publication in memory of E.K. Tratman, to recognise excellence in writing and presentation, encompassing aspects such as the subject’s importance, readability, the quality of the photographs and surveys, the printing and binding and – in short – any aspect that the judges consider applicable.
For 2023 the judges were presented with so much fine work there was much dissent over which title should gain the final accolade. As one of the judges commented of the winner: ‘this is an excellent book, informative, lively, well-presented, thoroughly engrossing and extremely enjoyable, with a commendable layout, production values and image reproduction.’ The accolade goes to Pioneers Beneath the Peak by Martin Wright.
For the full list of citations click HERE and for past winners click HERE (opens new windows).
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