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Darfar Potholing Club was officially formed in August 1987.
It was originally called Trent Valley Cave Exploration Group whose founder members split from the Trent Valley Caving Group in 1982 due to the latter clubs 'work' in Darfar Ridge Cave which resulted in most of the formations in Aussie Chamber getting trashed. (A sad day.)
At it's peak, (in the late 1980's), the club had around 15-20 members and besides doing tourist trips down numerous caves in the Peak District, (with digging / pushing trips down some of them), was regularly caving in the Yorkshire Dales with the occasional trip to South Wales or Mendip
 D.P.C. Mk1 - Mid/late 1980's
Photo: From left to right:- Andy Scott, Stephen Malin, Andy McKenzie, Tim Pendleton and Andy Sharrock getting changed in Kingsdale, Yorkshire Dales.
 D.P.C. Mk1 - Mid/late 1980's
Photo: From left to right:- John Thomas (Tommo), John Sephton (now deceased), Tim P. and Andy S. (Lathkill Dale.)
 D.P.C. Mk1 - Mid/late 1980's
Things changed considerably when farmer Bev Grindey who lived at Wetton Mill died in 1995. He was sorely missed. The club shortly afterwards lost it's headquarters at Wetton Mill, (the hut), due to the National Trust wanting to return the Mill to a more natural looking state. (And make money from renting out the outbuildings as holiday accomodation!)
Although the club became 'inactive' for several years at the end of the 1990's, (due to other commitments), it was never 'wound up' and after being asked by the D.C.A. to restart work on the Conservation Audit in the early 2000's, the secretary (Martin Milner) started to feel a rekindled interest in the Manifold Valley area and in caving in general. This culminated in 2006 when he met 3 people local to the Manifold Valley, who were just starting to try caving and were interested in the local caves.
The secretary was doing conservation work at many of the cave sites in the river bed and started to show these 'new keen cavers' around the caves in the river bed. By the end of the year another two locals had started coming along on occasions. So by 2007, there were 6 cavers regularily active in the valley once more.
These new members have been extremely important in getting the various conservation projects that needed doing in the valley done and without them it would have taken Martin several years. Some may have never even been started. So, many thanks go out to:- Eddie Potter, Ian Morley, Pete Ray, Graham and Chris Needham.
In January 2008, the club won 200m of Beal SRT rope from Hitch n' Hike at Bamford for finding the most new cave at a single site in the Peak District in 2007. (67m/220ft in Darfar Pot.)
 D.P.C. Mk2 - January 2008
(Photo: From left to right:- Martin Milner, Ian Morley, Eddie Potter and Pete Ray on the road down to Weag's Bridge from Wetton, Manifold Valley.)
Since then club members have caved all over the Peak District, including Robin's Shaft Mine, Knotlow / Hillocks, Lathkill Head, Carlswark, Streaks, P8 and Giants.
They have also continued with various conservation projects, including recent work in Limepits Mine (see photo below) and Darfar Ridge Cave. (Even appearing on the BBC Countryfile program!)
 D.P.C. Mk2 - February 2010
(Photo: From left to right:- Margaret Fogarty, Rob Thorne, Eddie
Potter and Pete Ray about to enter Limepits Mine near Ecton.)
They have also found a number of new swallets in the river bed in the Wetton Mill area which they are in the process of pushing.
They are also at work at Lees Pot in the Hamps Valley.
 D.P.C. Mk2 - October 2010
(Photo: From left to right:- Margaret Fogarty, Pete Ray, Rob Thorne and Melissa Milner about to enter Bagshawe Cavern.)
The latest conservation project is replacing the manhole covers over some of the river bed swallets with galvanised mesh grilles (supplied by DCA / Natural England) to 1) make them easier to find, 2) easier to get into and 3) encourage increased water flow through the caves.
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About the Club 
