Reading University Caving Club 
| [email protected] |  |
Thu 22nd Sep | RU Cavers @ Freshers Fayre |  |
Sun 25th Sep | Reading Mine trip - Evening Our first trip for the academic year, we're going to the Reading Chalk Mines. This taster trip is aimed at people who have never gone caving before and want to try it out, but anyone can join! Members and non members are welcome at this trip. We have a limited capacity and are operating on a first come first serve basis, so please express interest and ask any questions you have. We will meet at the tackle store at 4:30pm, pack kit etc, then jump in the cars and head off for the mine. The mine does not present any particular technical challenges, and it is regularly visited by scouts and cub scouts. There may be a little bit of crawling, and there is a long ladder at the entrance (we'll attach you to a rope for this bit, to ensure your safety). We will likely not be getting wet. This trip will cost £10 per person to cover the fuel costs, kit hire, and mine access fees. What the club will provide: * Helmet & Light * Oversuit, undersuit & belt * Wellies What you'll need: * Jeans * A change of clothes * A mars bar or similar snack * Some money, in case we decide to go to the pub afterwards Please send an email to [email protected] if you would like to come on this trip, so we can confirm your place. | |
Mon 26th Sep 8:00pm 11:55pm | Freshers Bar Crawl Come to the first social of the year, meet our members and the committee. We plan to meet at Back of Beyond at 8pm and hoping to finish at Purple Turtle for people to then stay as late as they like. See you all there 😄 The Back of Beyond - JD Wetherspoon, 104-108 King's Rd, Reading RG1 3BY, UK  | |
Wed 28th Sep | Reading Mine trip - Evening Our second trip for the academic year, we're going to the Reading Chalk Mines again. This taster trip is aimed at people who have never gone caving before and want to try it out, but anyone can join! Members and non members are welcome at this trip. We have a limited capacity and are operating on a first come first serve basis, so please express interest and ask any questions you have. We will meet at the tackle store at 5pm, pack kit etc, then jump in the cars and head off for the mine. The mine does not present any particular technical challenges, and it is regularly visited by scouts and cub scouts. There may be a little bit of crawling, and there is a long ladder at the entrance (we'll attach you to a rope for this bit, to ensure your safety). We will likely not be getting wet. This trip will cost £10 per person to cover the fuel costs, kit hire, and mine access fees. What the club will provide: * Helmet & Light * Oversuit, undersuit & belt * Wellies What you'll need: * Jeans * A change of clothes * A mars bar or similar snack * Some money, in case we decide to go to the pub afterwards Please send an email to [email protected] if you would like to come on this trip, so we can confirm your place. | |
Thu 29th Sep | Reading Mine trip - Evening Our third trip for the academic year, we're going to the Reading Chalk Mines again. This taster trip is aimed at people who have never gone caving before and want to try it out, but anyone can join! Members and non members are welcome at this trip. We have a limited capacity and are operating on a first come first serve basis, so please express interest and ask any questions you have. We will meet at the tackle store at 5pm, pack kit etc, then jump in the cars and head off for the mine. The mine does not present any particular technical challenges, and it is regularly visited by scouts and cub scouts. There may be a little bit of crawling, and there is a long ladder at the entrance (we'll attach you to a rope for this bit, to ensure your safety). We will likely not be getting wet. This trip will cost £10 per person to cover the fuel costs, kit hire, and mine access fees. What the club will provide: * Helmet & Light * Oversuit, undersuit & belt * Wellies What you'll need: * Jeans * A change of clothes * A mars bar or similar snack * Some money, in case we decide to go to the pub afterwards Please send an email to [email protected] if you would like to come on this trip, so we can confirm your place. | |
Wed 5th Oct | Extreme sports union social (with kayaking, skydiving, and caving) Come meet us at park bar at 8pm to join us to go to union. Make sure to purchase your union tickets beforehand on the Eventbrite website! See you there | |
About Our Trips
If you want to go on any of the trips, please let our secretary or president know.
For weekend trips, we usually leave Reading in a minibus at approximately 6pm on a Friday evening and return late on a Sunday, so it’s a pretty intensive weekend, but great fun. The weekend trip fee includes accommodation, travel, equipment, breakfast and Saturday dinner. We will usually stop at a service station enroute on Friday.
Trips will start from our tackle store, near Wessex Hall.
If you want to join us or have some questions, then please come to one of our regular pub meet-ups and sign up – please see our Instagram page, our Facebook group or the calendar above for the location of our next pub night. To accompany us you need to have Club membership (£15) and Reading Students’ Union Sports Federation insurance (prices from £18 per year).
What to Bring
Caving Abroad
Our more enthusiastic members sometimes go caving further afield… In recent years, we’ve enjoyed some fantastic caving (along with various other activities such as hiking, rock climbing, via ferrata and swimming) on club trips to Southern France, Ireland, and Austria. If your really keen, there are even opportunities to join expeditions abroad. This year (Summer 2026) we will be visiting Spain.
If you’d be interested in going on one of these trips and/or expeditions abroad, or would like to know more, please get in touch with our committee, and we can provide you with all the details.
In previous years our club has travelled even further afield – travelling as far as Spain, Romania, Slovenia and China to see some truly spectacular caves! To read more about some of these historic expeditions, please see our old site…