BBC Host : Here's the first question:

John Mason: Did you start on the PADI or BSAC course?

Gavin Newman: Hi there. I originally started on the BSAC course 20 years ago.

Mark Jenkins: Where was each member of the team from, and how did you all meet originally?

Gavin Newman: I'm from Bristol. Phil is from Poole in Dorset. Jim now lives in Spain, Mark is from Cumbria, and Colin Boothroyd is from Yorkshire. We all met through various expeditions we'd been involved in in the past, through caving.

Russell Jones: How do you deal with putting yourself into confined spaces? Is this something that you always felt comfortable with or is this something that you get used to? Having to claw my way through a tight passage inch by inch with the chance of getting stuck is my worst nightmare.

Gavin Newman: I've never had a problem with claustrophobia. In my experience people rarely do. I've only come across one or two people who were truly claustrophobic.

John Mason: What the average water temp when diving in caves??

Gavin Newman: In the cave in Spain the water temp is about 6-7 C. The water is snow melt from the mountain above, so it's very cold! The water temp depends on where you are in the world. For example, I was in florida last week and the water temperature was 23 degrees.

Mark Jenkins: Have you ever had any really hair-raising experiences?

Gavin Newman: I think it depends on how you classify that! The nature of cave diving is that you plan for all eventualities. You take everything as it comes.
You tend to find that what some people might find scary is what we can take in our stride, because we've already planned for it to happen.

Michael Clarke: Where's the most interesting place you have been scuba-diving and why?

Gavin Newman: I think for me the most interesting has been Mexico. The reason being that the Mexican caves have spectacular underwater stalagmite formations. As a photographer and film- maker it gives me exciting things to work with, and the water is also incredibly clear.

John Buxton: Good evening Gavin, I enjoyed watching, rather you than me, I am not fit enough!

Gavin Newman: I think fitness definitely helps in this game. There are two types of diving: what we do in Florida is just diving with no dry caves. You're just diving into underwater caves. The type we do in Spain definitely requires more fitness.

Liz Vancura: How do you get into cave-diving from recreational diving?

Gavin Newman: Again there's two routes into cave diving. What we call continental cave diving you need to go on a course for. I run cavern diving courses each year in Minorca or you can go on a course with the INATD. That type of diving is very much aimed at divers rather than cavers. It's not the type that we were doing in Spain. To be able to explore caves live in spain you really need to be a caver rather than a diver. You need to join a caving club.

Jon Gun: why did you not use mixed gases?

Gavin Newman: The reason why was that we expected the sump to only be 63 metres deep because of the previous dives that Rob Parker had done there. If we had used mixed gasses we would have needed more cylinders, and we would have had more decompression problems. Now that we know the sump is deeper than 70 metres we have no choice but to use mixed gasses to explore it further. That's exactly what we're planning to do.

Tony Brocklebank: Gavin, definitely one of the better caving films I've seen. You've also just convinced me that I need to get back to Northern Spain. Or even just underground :-) Thanks for the boost!!!

Gavin Newman: Very glad to hear that. I can only recommend Northern Spain as a caving area - I think it's fantastic!

Chris Berryman: What first got you into caving, were there any early experiences that made you say 'yes i want to do more of this'?!

Gavin Newman: Yes. When I was a child I saw a series of films on TV by Sid Perou. They were about caves in the Yorkshire Dales. I used to go there with my parents and I got very interested in seeing cavers going down holes in the ground. I wondered what was down there.

Liz Vancura: How did you start out, as a diver or caver?

Gavin Newman: As both, but separately. I was a caver and an open water diver. I then put the two together without telling my mother!

Rob Barton: Would you consider rebreathers?

Gavin Newman: Yes I would, but not for that cave.

Andy: I've heard of strange creatures that live in deep underground caves that live off sulpherous gasses - have you ever seen anything really odd or unexpected such as this?

Gavin Newman: I have seen some very unusual creatures that live in caves entirely. I haven't personally been into any of the caves where the animals live off sulphur, but I do know about them Many of the caves in the Bahamas have troglodytic animals. They are totally white and have no eyes, because they have no use for them in the darkness.

Chris Berryman: Have you done much in the Peak District as I am at Uni here and have done a few trips under, but am considering taking it up more as I am also furthering present SCUBA qualifications.

Gavin Newman: There is a small amount of cave diving in the peak district, although the majority of divers there go to the Yorkshire dales. I'm actually a member of the Derbyshire section of the cave diving group.

Andy: I know this sounds silly, but; what do you do if you're in the middle of long cave-dive and you really need the loo?!

BBC Host: Great question!!

Gavin Newman: We have special valves built into our dry suits that enables us to do this!

Simon Belson: Gavin why did you choose to dive the spanish caves with air rather than nitrox?

Gavin Newman: Nitrox is only any good for shallow diving. If we go back to the Spanish caves we'll dive them on Tri-Mix. That enables us to go deep.

Kevin Gurr: What photography equipment would you recommend for underwater and in caves?

Gavin Newman: I use all Nikonos cameras. I use the Nikonos 5 and the Nikonos RS. The important thing is obviously big powerful flashlights, because there's no natural light to work with.

John Mason: have you ever had "the bends"?

Gavin Newman: No, never.

Chris Berryman: What is the most bizzare name you have given to a newly discovered part of a cave system and why?

Gavin Newman: That's an interesting one!

BBC Host Good question ;-)

Gavin Newman: Just trying to think... I normally call my caves something to do with the actual caves themselves, so most of my caves' names tend to relate to some feature of the caves themselves.

Trev Martyn: is there any life in the caves, and if so at what depths?

Gavin Newman: In the Spanish caves, underwater there is no life whatsoever.

Salim Peerbaccus: Truely an amazing experience, have you been to the ones (sumps) in Australia?

Gavin Newman: No, I've never been to Australia unfortunately. I'd really like to do some diving there though.

Rob Barton: Some of your cylinders were nitox marked, were you completely on air or nitrox deco?

Gavin Newman: We did have Nitrox for decompression. We actually decompressed on 100% oxygen.

Steve Pierce: Given the demands of the sport would you recommend any specific diet?

Gavin Newman: Not particularly, no. I don't follow one. I think, though, like with all sports, a sensible diet is a good plan. But I don't follow any regime. I have a healthy passion for chocolate!

Simon Belson: How do I find more out about cave diving courses/learning etc??

Gavin Newman: Again, I'd suggest that either people look at my website, or they contact the INATD for information on cave diving courses. The number for the INATD in the UK is 01202 871 456. My partner on the diver, Phil, is one of their instructors. It depends very much on the cave.

BBC Host: The BBC is not responsible for informaton held with external companies

Trev Martyn: are most caves completely underwater or are there pockets of air, if so how does this cause any problems with change in pressure?

Gavin Newman: The cave in spain, once we're diving, we're completely underwater. In sections between the sumps, the air pressure is always at surface pressure. Except on rare occasions where you may encounter an air bubble in a sump, which is normally caused by the exhaust gasses from the divers.

Jon Gun: Have you got any projects on the go in the UK ?

Gavin Newman: Yes I have. I have some filming projects on the go, and I have one exploration project too. But due to the nature of cave diving projects in the UK, it has to be a secret!

Phillipa Long: What are the openings for women in the sport?

Gavin Newman: As good as for men! The only barrier really is the physical aspect of carrying the kit around. I'm actually surprised at the lack of women, particularly in the UK, but I think it's due to the caves here, as in places such Florida, Mexico and even France there are large numbers of women involved. Many of them are exceptionally good divers. They seem to get less hung up on the macho side of it!

Andy: Who is your diving hero?

Gavin Newman: I have several. One of them was Rob Parker, who was very much my mentor and taught me to cave dive. It was through him that I originally got involved in the Spanish project.

Chris Berryman: If there is one sole piece of advice you could give to a budding caver/cavediver what would it be?

Gavin Newman: Take things very slowly and remember at all times the true consequences of what you're actually doing.

Salim Peerbaccus: What happended to the guy with the broken leg?

Gavin Newman: He took some time to recover, but now he's as fit as before. Far fitter than me!

John Mason: How does your equipment differ (such as Regs, Cylinders etc) differ from recreational diving?

Gavin Newman: The equipment generally isn't much different, it's the way we configure it and wear it. Also there's the fact that we always carry at least two of everything. The only other way it differs is that most of our equipment is extremely scratched, dented and covered in mud all the time!

Kelvin James: How was the sound recorded in the caves?

Gavin Newman: We use microphones attached to the cameras for above water shots. For the underwater ones we use hydrophones that are built into the camera housings.

Vic Cooper: What was the strange looking computer on Phils arm?

Gavin Newman: It is a computer called a VR3. It enables us to compute the decompression for the dive, including the fact that we decompress on pure oxygen. We can use it to recognise the fact that we're breathing several different pipes of gasses during the dive. We actually do the decompression as if we do the entire dive on air, so the oxygen gives us an extra safety margin.

Wayne Ogden: Gavin, What is there left to be opened up in the UK, Paticularly in the Yorkshire Dales.

Gavin Newman: The nice thing about caves is that we'll never ever know when we've found them all. Unlike mountains, where we know which is the highest in the world, we'll never know if we've found the longest, deepest cave. It's an impossible question to answer. And that's part of the attraction! Until we look round the next corner we'll never know what we'll see.

Martin Pettiford: what was on your mind at 66 m and did u feel u may have overdone it?

Gavin Newman: No, never. We just concentrate on what we are doing. I was concentrating on filming and lighting the cave, as well as maintaining my own safety. This is something that Phil and I had done many times together, and we work very well as a team.

Vic Cooper: Are there any good caves in Borneo as I'm going there on holiday

Gavin Newman: Yes there are. Borneo contains some of the largest caves in the world, particularly in the Sarawak National Park. As far as I know, there's very little cave diving at the moment.

John Wych: what was the final depth in the unexplored sump?

Gavin Newman: The actual deepest point that we reached was 69 metres. But from that point we could see the cave descending at least another five metres.

Trev Martyn: what advances in technology could make cave diving easier and safer?

Gavin Newman: In many caves rebreathers are revolutionising what it's possible to do in cave diving.

Mad Hippy: Has anyone carried on from were you left off?

Gavin Newman: No, this is an unwritten rule in cave diving. If one person's working a site, that's considered to be their site. As we're still planning to carry on diving in this cave, it's unlikely that anyone else would go there.

Martin Pettiford: Gavin, when was your first dive and where ?

Gavin Newman: 20 years ago in Plymouth was my first sea dive, and my first cave dive was about 18 years ago in a cave called White Lady cave in South Wales. During that I lost both my fins, flooded my mask and got very scared!

Liz Vancura: Do you get sponsored for your equipment, or do you have to fund the expeditions yourselves? If so, how?

Gavin Newman: I get sponsored for quite a lot of the equipment, but the project can still be very expensive. Particularly when we're exploring caves as far afield as China. I fund the projects essentially from my own pocket.

Martin Pettiford: Gavin, did you tell your loved ones the full extent of what u were going to do?

Gavin Newman: On the Spanish project, yes. They fully understand what I do, and they have always been very supportive. I should add that I'm not married or in a long-term relationship! Many cave divers reconsider what they're doing if they find themselves in that situation, as I probably would too.

Jim: Amazing footage. Where do you expect you're next underwater challenge to be?

Gavin Newman: We're planning on going back to Spain this summer tp carry on diving the sumps in the same caves.

John Mason: Is the current Foot and Mouth outbreak stopping you from entering caves anywhere?

Gavin Newman: Yes. Almost all caves in the UK are now closed. This is effectively a voluntary decision taken by cavers in association with the National Caving Association.

Andy Judd: Was your suit a particularly unusual colour for a reason?

Gavin Newman: Yes it was. As a photographer and film maker I've always found that black suits in black caves tend not to show up! I actually did some underwater tests with all the materials from my dry suit manufacturer, 03. We found that the purple and silver colours show best underwater. All I have to do now is persuade Phil that this is a good thing!

Kelvin James: Did the sound man do any diving, supposing that Gavin was responsible for the cave filming?

Gavin Newman: No, because I do the majority of the cave filming, and we do the sound as well.

Rob Murgatroyd: What do you expect to find beyond the Certain Death sumps? Is the upper part of the cave known?

Gavin Newman: Not beyond the certain death sumps. We know parts of the caves that are much further into the mountain, but there's a large section of missing stream way in which we expect to find the links with several other cave systems.

BBC Host The response is fantastic .. please keep your questions coming in and we'll do our utmost to answer as many as possible ;-)

Hammish McBad: What will U do when you 'retire' from cave diving? Golf, bowls?

Gavin Newman: Dominoes, maybe! I have no plans to retire at the moment! Although as you get older it doesn't get any easier! Maybe I'll just go and live in Florida or Mexico. I'm only 39 now, and I know people who are still diving in their 60s! I think they're mad but I still know them.

John Wych: Was the 69 meter depth in the cave system beyond Wigan pier?

Gavin Newman: No. The Wigan Pier sump at the moment has a maximum depth of 22 metres.

Andy Judd: I have trouble getting my buddies to pose for me underwater, have you any tips?

Gavin Newman: Buy them lots of beer! Promise them lots of beer after the dive, that is!

BBC Host Fantastic question!!! We're all laughing here!

Gavin Newman: The best way to get people to work with you is to make sure you keep giving them lots of nice pictures. Once they start to see that you're good at doing it people become much happier at helping you.

Hanna: Of all of the gadgetry you dived with in the caves, which item are you most attached to and why?

Gavin Newman: I think probably our diving regulators, because without those we cannot breathe underwater! If our lights fail or our suits leak we can still carry on. If the regulators fail we would drown. Phil and I, and most other cave divers, tend to use Poseidon regulators.

Maria Palmer: This is a bizarre request but i'm an Interior Architecture student at Nottingham Trent Uni and i'm designing part of a shoe shop which only sells scuba diving fins!!!!! Have you any interesting facts or information which could help me to design with more understanding of the product?

Gavin Newman: The most important thing for us when we're using fins is not to stir up the mud on the floor. If we do we may not find our way out again.

Liz Vancura: What's the cave diving like in South Wales? (being from Swansea)

Gavin Newman: Very good. You have some very extensive cave diving sites in South Wales, and some of the best conditions in the UK. The cave diving is very much diving for cavers, rather than diving for open water divers. It's very important to stress that in the UK you should be a good caver first before you think about diving in caves.

Wayne Ogden: Have you dived with Geoff Crossley who pushed a few new routes?(currently a workmate)

Gavin Newman: Yes I have dived with Geoff a lot. I was involved with the King Pot Keld Head project, helping Geoff many years ago.

Jim: Are there any caves with warm water in them, cause you guys looked pretty cold?

Gavin Newman: Ha ha! If we go abroad, to Mexico and the Bahamas, the water temperature can often be 27 or 28 degrees in the water. Very nice! It's good to be able to dive without a hood or gloves. It makes you feel very free as dry suits can be very restrictive at times.

Rob Butler: What's the closest shave you've ever had, and i dont mean with a razor?

Gavin Newman: I had a nitrogen narcosis hit at 80 metres in Florida many years ago. It taught me a lot about the folly of diving deep on air, however good a diver you think you may be.

Pete Stracey: You said that it's better to be an experienced caver before trying diving, why?

Gavin Newman: This is really for cave diving in Britain, because most of it is situated at the bottom of quite difficult cave systems. Diving conditions in the UK are usually very poor, with cold weather and low visibility. The reason for cave diving in the UK is to try and find new sections of dry cave rather than for the pleasure of diving itself.

Hammish McBad: Why did you use back-mounted rather than side-mounted cylinders in that sump..?

Gavin Newman: Because the sump is extremely large. And by using back-mounted cylinders it enables us to carry our decompression cylinders and filming equipment on our sides.

John Wych: Are there any caves in the upper part of the moutains?

Gavin Newman: Yes there are. There are some of the deepest caves in the world high above the caves we are diving in. It is actually the water coming from these caves that we are diving in, although I think realistically it is unlikely we will ever link the caves physically.

Pete: Are there any caves in India that are divable?

Gavin Newman: There are many caves in India, but I'm not aware of much cave diving going on. But I have never been there.

Jo Wisely: What is the best rescue kit you have seen or used in caves?

Gavin Newman: Probably one of the most useful pieces of equipment that we have these days are the new cave radio systems. These allow us to talk through solid rock. But every cave rescue is always different. It's very difficult to say necessarily what's the most important piece of equipment.

Salim Peerbaccus: Does heavy rain fall impede your sump diving?

Gavin Newman: Yes it does. We have in the past been trapped inside the cave in Spain and had to dive our way out through the entrance when the cave flooded. This was not dangerous or unexpected, but proves that you do need to know a lot about caves before undertaking this sort of project. If we'd been in the wrong part of the cave we could have easily drowned.

Jon Gun: What would be the the potential depth of the cave if you did link up

Gavin Newman: If we managed to join the cave to the systems above, the cave could potentially be about 1600 metres deep.

Jim: Are remote controlled cameras used in cave diving or does that detract from the experience of being at the point of discovery?

Gavin Newman: We have used remote control cameras in projects in the past, but generally only to monitor divers in the water on decompression stops. Remote cameras themselves are not very suitable for actually exploring the caves. They find it very difficult to drag their cables through the cave itself. Anyhow, why should we let the robots have all the fun?!

Pete Stracey: Have you ever had to feel your way out of a cave because of light failier?

Gavin Newman: No, but I have tried it for fun several times!

Hammish McBad: One section of the program showed cave with a concrete flat floor. How much of the program was filmed on site and how much edited in afterwards from other sources, dives or caves?

Gavin Newman: Absolutely everything in the film was done on site. The piece of concrete you see is actually an artificial dam across the entrance to the cave. It is used to supply water for a hydroelectric power scheme.

me amazed: How well have you known your team-mates before you can trust them with your life?

Gavin Newman: Extremely well! I have been diving consistently with Phil for approximately 5 years now, and I've been caving with Colin and Jim since the mid-1980s.

Smokey: You mentioned that it feels something like what astronauts must experience, would you ever like to go to the moon?

Gavin Newman: I would love to go to the moon! Where can I buy a ticket?

Liam: You're programme has inspired me to get up off my butt and do something as exhilirating as this, how would I start getting involved?

Gavin Newman: I think with all these types of sports the important thing is self-motivation. Life is very much for living, and if you want to do these things seriously enough - and you can't afford to take things like cave diving not seriously - you will find the motivation to do it.

BBC Host If you'd like to visit Gavin's website - access http://www.actionphoto.co.uk (the BBC are not responsible for any content on an external website)

BBC Host Here's Gavin with a final word:

Gavin Newman: It's very gratifying to see so many people interested in projects like these. And to get so many sensible questions. All too often I think cavers and cave divers are just written off in the press as irresponsible idiots going down small muddy holes. The only time people hear about them is when there's some incident or rescue. It's very good for me, through my film making and photography, to be able to go some way towards showing our sport in its true light.

Don't forget to visit the Extreme Lives room after reading the transcript to talk with other dare-devil individuals .. ;-)