Contents
Why Not Come Caving?
This was the poster that appeared
on the front of a lorry in the recent Frome Carnival.
Three weeks before the Carnival
there was a gathering of the Clan of Brownes Hole at which Mr. Browne made
his annual suggestion of putting a Caving Tableau in the Carnival. Much to his surprise, everyone agreed.
Several suggestions as to the form
of the Tableau were put forward, the one which was finally agreed upon was a
reconstruction of Swildons Forty.
Three days before the Carnival the
exhibit was began. Ladders formed the
main support, covered by old sacks sewn together.
Owing to the shortage of materials
red dust was used to darken Snowcem, and it was applied by hand (literally).
The waterfall effects were supplied
by a stirrup pump and a large tank of water. The water was pumped inside the construction and allowed to fall outside
into the tank, forming as continuous cycle. The last paint was applied ten minutes before we left. We put on normal (?) caving gear and set off
six minutes after we were due to be judged.
The whole (Hole) construction was 18
feet and we went under a 17ft. bridge! We arrived at the field nailing the top of the exhibit together, and
expecting to be thrown out for bringing such a disgusting tangle of sacks and
snowcem. The diver on the back of the
lorry had just soaked the judges when we were awarded first prize of our class
(Youth Organisation).
One member of fell off the lorry in
his haste to get the prize card. After
being photographed we set off at the head of the procession. Two days later it was noticed in an evening paper
that we had won the Jennings Cup for the best exhibit in the Carnival and
Official notice was received four days later.
Anyone wishing to hear more about
this should come to Brownes Hole any Sunday after 11am or phone Underworld
7.7.7.
D.W.
Mitchell
F.H. Nicholson
Letter to the Editor.
1,
13th September 1956
To the Editor
Dear Sir,
As Caving secretary of the B.E.C. I
should like to take this opportunity of replying to the letter written by
Johnny Skinner which was published in BB105.
All the arguments he uses and
points which he makes are of long standing, and without boring blokes by
wittering for hours and quoting all sorts of guff, I think that the crux of the
matter is simply this:-
The general membership of the
B.E.C. has shown itself in the past to be very much opposed to any form of
organised caving. This is not
necessarily a bad thing. Over the last
four years we have opened up four caves of varying size and one a fair amount
of general caving as well. Whether we
want to get organised is, as Skinner has pointed out, a matter for the Club to
decide. The members of the committee
exist merely to carry out the wishes of the Club on such points, and not to
impose their own theories on the members of the club.
One last point I should like to
make. Any member wishing to find out the
feelings of the club on such a subject has only to make a resolution to the
effect that the committee be instructed to follow a certain line of action and
he can have it voted on at the next A.G.M. If a majority decide in favour, then his resolution becomes the policy
of the club on the matter.
Whatever criticisms are levelled at
the club, we do pride ourselves on being a thoroughly democratic organisation
whose committee acts on the instruction of the membership a state of affairs
which is by no means found in all clubs. Thus any change in the caving organisation of the club is, as Skinner
has rightly pointed out, entirely in the hands of the members: –
I shall be interested to hear
further on this subject and I am quite prepared to do any organising provided
this is wanted.
Yours Sincerely,
Alfie Collins
Caving Secretary.
University of
Bristol
Session October 1956 March 1957 Meetings.
Tutorial Classes.
An Introduction to Prehistory by
Mr. Arthur M. A. Simon (
November 9th 1956.
These meetings will be held in the
Societys own rooms and will be illustrated by lantern slides. As accommodation is limited these classes
will only be open in general to members. Others may attend by invitation or by application to the Hon. Secretary.
Sessional Meetings.
These will be held on Mondays at
8.15pm in the Geography Lecture Theatre. Anyone interested is welcome to attend. All the lectures will be illustrated by lantern slides.
Entrance along carriage way from
fourth door on left.
October
29th 1956 Professor F.E. Zeuner,
D.Sc. Ph. F.S.A. F.G.S. F.Z.S.
The Rock Tombs of
November
29th 1956 Mr. H. St. George Gray,
O.B.E. M.A. F.S.A.
The Lake Villages of
December
29th 1956 Mr. A.D. Lacaille, F.S.A.
January
29th 1956 Mr. R.J.G. Savage,
Ph.D.
Adams African Ancestors
February
29th 1956 Mr. J.C. Coleman
February
29th 1956 Mr. Nicholas Thomas
M.A.
Excavations at Snail Down
March
29th 1956 Annual General
Meeting
Presidential Address
Wookey Hole cave
Climbing Huts in
Wales
The Cread Mountaineering Club has
very kindly offered B.E.C. members the use of its Hut in
The Hut was at one time a Vicarage
and is a large stone building standing in its own grounds above the Afon
Dwyfer.
Position.
O.S. 1 map 107
or 116 grid Ref. 524453. Turn off the
main
Dolbenmaen. At Port Gyfyng an under
faced road leads off left over a bridge and across a field to the Hut.
Accommodation.
Lounge, dining
room, two kitchens, drying room, bathroom etc. 5 bedrooms (30 people). Bring sleeping bags.
Lighting by
Tilley lamp, cooking by Calor gas and Primus stoves.
Hot water, coal,
coke, wood, paraffin, crockery, pans, cutlery etc. is provided.
Charge.
3/6 per night.
The address:
BRYN-Y-WERN,
CWM PENNANT,
GARN DOLBENMAEN,
CAERNS.
Pat Ifold will arrange bookings for
those wishing to avail themselves of this kind invitation.
Also there is in the
pleased to provide accommodation for B.E.C. members. A small room and barns and outhouses are
available at a charge of 2/- per night. No equipment is provided.
The address: – (Bookings direct)
Mr. Jones
GWERN-EGOF-ISAF,
NR. CAPEL CURIG,
Please brush floors and leave place
tidy as it is a good plan to leave other peoples door-steps clean for the
next visit.
Pat
Ifold.
Preliminary Statement of
Pen
Park
Sanction has been given by the Corporation
of Bristol to excavate Pen Park Hole, the location of which has recently been
re-determined by Professor L.S. Palmer. A geo-electrical survey was carried out and the results disclosed the
presence of a large cave with several associated passages and with some water
in the bottom. It is proposed to
excavate one of the filled-in entrances (probably an old mine shaft) and then
to explore and survey the cave. The
possibility of making it a show cave is a matter for further consideration.
At the invitation of the
Corporation, Professor Palmer has agreed to organise and direct this work, and
he has very kindly requested the Bristol Exploration Club, the
Wessex Cave Club to participate in a joint dig.
To enable the work to be started as
soon as possible the following appointments were proposed by Professor Palmer.
Director
Professor L.S. Palmer
Assistant Director Professor
E.K. Tratman
Pen Park Hole Dig Secretary Mr. R.J.
Bagshaw
Co-ordinating Engineer Mr. P.
Dolphin
Equipment Officer Lt.
T. Shaw
It is intended that the work should
be carried out under the control of a leader from each of the three clubs on
the basis of the accompanying roster. The leaders would organise the work during their week with Mr. Dolphin
as co-ordinating engineer.
To simplify this organisation it is
suggested that a party of say no more than six persons would be arranged by the
leader from his own club, but could of course ask one of the other leaders for
any additional workers required.
Before work could be started Blood
Chits would have to be signed and it is suggested that the leaders are
authorised by their clubs to ask only suitable persons to sign. The completed blood chits would be forwarded
to the Dig Secretary to enable him to keep a record of the persons allowed to
dig and to ensure that only one blood chit would be signed by any one person
(who would then be considered for the purposes of the dig, as a member of the
issuing club only).
At the present time and until
appropriate facilities are provided it is not Proposed to invite lady members
to take part in the preliminary excavations.
It is suggested that the financial
expenses of the dig should be met by the three clubs, but the City Engineer has
promised valuable assistance with fencing the site, timbering the shaft
etc. The actual area to be fenced will
probably be decided on Wednesday next the 19th September. It is probable that a small bore-hole will be
drilled where the dome of the main chamber is believed to exist.