Why spend a shed load of money on signs, grills etc.
Just re-enact a similar incident on eastenders or one of those mind numbing dross soaps, and all the types of people that are likely to have that sort of stupidity-related accident will be aware of the dangers. :thumbup:

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What? Kids will stop exploring caves when on the beach? Its not going to happen!

In answer to stu, none of the mine workings are interesting at all, with the possible exception of the 1/2 tunnel i've never abseiled down to.

Expecting tourists from suburbia to differentiate between natural caves and abandoned mine workings with man traps just inside is frankly ridiculous. This is not natural selection, it is the result of poor warning signs and natural curiosity. Echo the points about lifeguards though. I heard a nasty rumour that the only reason the rnli went for beach lifeguards was that they had too much money, and either had to spend it to give it away; so they went for the relatively useless beach brigade.

The flip side of course is that anybody could just have easily climbed onto the ledge and fallen to where they had climbed from with similar consequences and probably no where near as much would have been said about it and that is why the powers that be need to take a measured approach to any gating/blocking up as a result of this tragic incident.

Echo the points about lifeguards though. I heard a nasty rumour that the only reason the rnli went for beach lifeguards was that they had too much money, and either had to spend it to give it away; so they went for the relatively useless beach brigade.

My understanding is slightly different.

Yes, the RNLI was, along with, IIRC, the RSPCA and, IIRC again, another
large charity, plus lots of smaller ones, criticised for holding very
large reserves. So they cut back on fund raising until they got down to
an agreed level. They also did a lot of long overdue upgrades to
stations - there were places where the crews didn't have a toilet on
site etc. There are still places like Llandudno where there is no
single space where the whole crew can be gathered for meetings,
training and a debrief after a shout, the crew get changed on a narrow
balcony above the boat and the boat then has to be towed through the
town to the beach.

Incidentally, the RSPCA has recently had to cut its rehoming activities
completely due to the financial downturn and the fact that it didn't
have sufficient reserves to carry it over...

My understanding is that the RNLI got into Lifeguarding for three
reasons. Firstly, as more and more Lifeguarded beaches appeared in the
UK more and more of their rescues off beaches were in cooperation with
Lifeguards and it made sense for the whole rescue to be done by one
organisation. Secondly they were concerned about the quality of some
lifeguards and their equipment.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the number of callouts for Lifeboats is
increasing yearly, at a rate that will eventually become unsustainable.
So the RNLI have started to focus strongly on accident prevention - and
Lifeguards are viewed as a preventative measure. Money spent on
Lifeguards is felt to save money spent on Lifeboats (and the Lifeguards
have their own Lifeboats - the Arencia Inshore Rescue Boat).

Oh, and its only a few years ago that a Perranporth Lifeguard got an
RNLI Bronze Medal for Gallantry for a rescue of a surfer washed into a
cave at Perhanporth.

Maybe it would be more constructive for someone who knows the adits
down there to go and have a chat with one of the senior RNLI people
down there or the local Coastguard about signage and safety?

Rant over.