The Honour Of Being Human audio-visual story

Going underground in the Peak District to record the cave sounds that form the background to the audio-story

Caving might seem like a niche interest, but as hugely popular documentary film The Rescue (2021) is remade in Hollywood adaptation Thirteen Lives (2022), this underground pursuit is being thrust into the light.

In fact, it isn’t the first time the world’s media have turned their attention underground, and the roots of this most recent drama may be traced back to a cave system deep beneath the Peak District.

For Sheffield Adventure Film Festival’s Spirit of Adventure event I created an audio-visual version of The Honour Of Being Human, a tragically unsuccessful rescue effort which nevertheless laid the groundwork for today’s modern cave rescue.

Audiences watching the audio-visual story in Sheffield Cathedral’s Crypt (September ‘22)

The Rescue and Thirteen Lives cover events in 2018, when flash flooding caused a school football team and their coach to become trapped 2.5km into a cave system in Northern Thailand. With the unrelenting monsoon rain causing water levels to rise even further, reuniting the boys with their desperate families seemed a vanishing hope.

Where Thai Navy Seals and the US Army had fallen short, a group of Brtitish cavers brought a unique combination of cave diving experience and the audacity to imagine a rescue strategy so outrageous it had to be kept secret until ultimately, it proved successful.

There is no doubt that the amateur and somewhat geeky cavers had a level of skill and expertise that no one in the world could match, springing from a heritage of exploration dating back to the 1950s and beyond.

Caving in the 1970s, photo by the late Paul Deakin

Although they took place in 1959, the events described in The Honour Of Being Human have a striking similarity. A young caver trapped, a huge mobilisation of support and a rescue attempt carried out under the watchful - and not always helpful - eye of the media.

There are many myths surrounding what happened, and George Cooper’s article, which forms the basis of the audio story, is accepted as the definitive written account. While stories may vary, one thing is certain - the caving and rescue community have never forgotten Neil Moss, whose remains still lie in Moss Chamber beyond Peak Cavern, Castleton, and that cave rescue procedures developed and improved since then are still saving lives today.

The Honour of Being Human is available to watch on the ShAFF YouTube channel - with thanks to the family of George Cooper who allowed us to use his original 1984 article.

Find out more about Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation, a volunteer cave rescue team since 1952.

Read more and see images of the rescue attempt at Mountain Rescue England and Wales, Remembering Neil Moss