Contents
Nominations Forms.
Since there are a large number of new members who have not
yet attended an Annual General Meeting than we usually have, it is probably
worth while repeating the usual preliminary warnings. The A.G.M. and Dinner is held at the
beginning of October. In next months
B.B., you will find the voting forms for the 1961 committee that is, if there
are more than nine nominations are received. Members of the existing committee are automatically nominated for the
next unless they wish not to stand again. Apart from that, its up to you to nominate people that you would think
would make good committee members for 1962.
Alfie
Caving Log
For May, June and July
6th May. Lamb Leer. R. Roberts and a party of nine B.C.S.S. did a short trip to the main
chamber and side passages.
8th May. Cuthberts. Leader, Steve Tuck. Trip to
September Series.
21st May. Goatchurch. John Ransom, Trevor Knight, Jug and Pat Irwin. Trevor and Pat went through the
drainpipe. John stuck at commencement
and Jug got psychologically wedged. Quite a pleasant trip.
21st May. Sidcot. Same party as above. Went a third
of the way in but Jug was leading and didnt like the look of a squeeze, so the
party turned round.
21st May. Avelines. Same party as above. Complete tour
of the cave.
22nd May. Swildons. Garth, John, Jug, Pat, Bruce and Martin. Trip to sump. Assisted member of
another party who was nadgered and had a duff leg. Got him up the 40. Otherwise an eventual trip.
22nd May. Swildons. Party, Nigel, Jim Borchard, John Downe, Llew Pritchard. Quiet trip down Short Dry to Sump I, then
back out the Wet way. John laughed like
a drain when he got wet. Perverted?
28th May. Cuthberts. Party, Prew, George, Pat, Richard, Paddy and David. Went as far as the Dining Room. Went via Everest and back through the Railway
tunnel.
29th May. Sidcot. Party, Garth, Pat, Jim, George, John and Trevor. A two hour trip in Sidcot. Trevor, Jim and Garth tried to emerge from
the triangle after descending the thirty foot, but found it too small. A tour of Goatchurch also took place.
4th June. Cuthberts. P. Flood, Sandra, Jim Hill, Fred Holloway, led by Roger Stenner. September series plus a bit of Catgut by
accident. Out via harem Passage, Railway
Tunnel and normal route.
6th June. Eastwater. Garth, Roger, Jim and Sandra. To
Terminal via Twin Verticals. Roger was a
menace because he didnt like the cave. Jim vanished at the top of the first vertical and was unfortunately
found in the Boulder Ruckle. We washed
off in the Mineries.
11th June. Swildons. Frank Darbon, Pam Russell, Tony James, Ivan Crow, and Nigel Hallett. A quiet trip to sump. Back via Tratmans
12th June. August Hole. Garth, John and Llew. We intended
a trip to Longwood but called it off because of a very recent fall. We did August instead. It was the first time down for the three of
us. We went as far as two hundred feet
from the bottom of the downstream passage.
18th June. Vee Swallet. Digging in the tunnel of Vee Swallet. The water is about one foot deep! M. Ward and P. Miller.
18th June. Swildons Jim Hill, Pat Irwin and Anne Ritcher. Down the
to the Forty. Turned back at the top of
the Twenty. Met a party of
cavers at the top of the Forty (were they besides themselves with fright?
Ed.) came out the Long Dry Way. Annes first ever ladder pitch. A steady, pleasant trip enjoyed by all.
19th June. August-Longwood. Llew Pritchard and Jim
Borchard. Down to the S squeeze after
the Great Rift. More water than last
week, but still fairly dry.
22nd June. Cuthberts Mike Baker, Mike Holland, Derek Ford. Tourist trip to Rabbit Warren.
26th June. Swildons. Frank Darbon, John, Richard, Jock and Jug. Good enjoyable trip to Sump I. Very little water going over the Forty.
26th June. Cuthberts. Norman Petty, Frank Darbon, Nigel Hallett, John Gallagher and six bods
from Redland teachers training college. Lower Mud Hall, down Water Chute to Dining Room. Then out.
26th June. Eastwater. Twin Verticals. Fab Eyles, Charlie
Brown, Tony Davidson and Bob Grace. Good
trip leaving time for a swim in caving gear in the Mineries.
26th June. Swildons. Party, Sybil, Garth and a party of pupils from Sybils school. Trip to top of 40 and out the
3rd July. Cuthberts. Leader, Kangy. Party, Mike
Holland, Derek Ford, Kit, John Downie, Jim Borchard. Prospected
intending to float across it. Horrid
shocking dry. Out via Rabbit Warren
Extension and Catgut. Mike Holland made
it. Weegee baiting in the Mineries
followed.
3rd July. August-Longwood. Llew Pritchard, Don Luker and Pat Irwin. Bottomed the swine. All excepting the last hours tight
squeeze. We decided it wasnt worth
going on if the passage stayed the same. A party of schoolboys caused some delay on the way out, from the two ten
foot pots onwards. Don seemed to enjoy
his first trip.
2nd July. Emborough Swallet. Much boulder shifting and
much removed by a joint party of B.E.C. and S.M.C.C. as a return match after a
similar joint effort of Priddy Green the weekend before. (This trip got left out of the log). Casualties numbered one bruised foot
(unknown) one cut finger (Alfie) another cut finger requiring hospital
treatment (Eric Fowler) and one bruise spine (Mike Thompson). Watch for the next instalment of this gory
tale.
3rd July.
the fourth in
down the fairly small hole opened a fortnight earlier by quarry blasting. Entrance is an amazing rift forty feet deep
by about sixty feet long, covered in stal curtains. Very nice formations generally. Taken round by Jack Hill (president of
Cerberus C.C.)
5th July. Eastwater. Fab Eyles with a party of novices. Down to Rift Chambers to give them a good insight into the character of
the cave.
9th July. Swildons. Nigel Hallett + 3
W.S.G. members. A very quiet trip to the
top of the Forty. Hauled some idiots
ladder up the Forty for them as they had taken it down with them to the Twenty.
9th July. Swildons. John Gallagher, Ben Boyle and Alan Read.
10th July. Swildons. To Sump I with a party who were either too shy or unable to write their
names in the caving log. An easy trip
with little water.
10th July. Goatchurch. Fab Eyles, Bob Grace
and a schoolboy party of six spent a pleasant couple of hours exploring
Goatchurch.
10th July. Hunters Hole. A weekends work from the 7th 10th. Ian Dear, L:es Mortimer and Jim Hill. Laddered the
Sunday consisting of
and looks promising. The Railway Tunnel
dig extended by four to five feet in what looks like the termination of a
rift. Next instalment in a months time,
all being well.
11th July. Swildons. Leader, Keith Galdman. Party, Fab
Eyles, Bob Grace, Tony Davidson and
Lane
trip down to Sump I. Keith and Fab went
through to Duck I. No mishaps.
13th July. Cuthberts. Kangy retrieved a bag from
Boulder Problem.
14th July. Swildons Bob Grace, Fab Eyles and seven Q.E.H. boys to Sump I. Fab Eyles went through for a second time this
week. Good trip. Ladders by courtesy of Derek Ford.
14th July. Swildons Keith Galdman,
and Nick Lechmere (Mr
quick
16th July. Swildons. Richard Roberts and party. Trip to
Barnes Loop for photography. We intended
to visit St. Pauls but a hold up on the Forty prevented this. Party were fairly wet and decided to return
to the surface.
23rd July. Cuthberts. Leader Frank Darbon. Party Nigel
Hallett, Richard Roberts and Tim Smith. To High Chamber and had a look at a passage known by Richard. Through Lower Mud Hall to sump via Cerberus
Series and
23rd July. Cuthberts. Leader John Satfford with John Attwood and three Q.E.H. bods. Sightseeing trip to Cascade, Curtain Chamber
and Gour Hall. Back out via Cerberus
Series and
24th July. Cuthberts. Leader Kangy. Party John Downie,
Beryl Ifold, Don Luker, Steve, Llew Pritchard, Alan, Jim Borchard, Dave
Radmore, Norman Petty, Roger Stenner and John Etough. This was a large party which split up for
caving and photographic purposes.
25th July. Eastwater. Pam Russell, John, Michael, Ralph, Marcus, Brian and three others. An easy trip to the top of Primrose Pot. Three members of the party went through the
squeeze to the top of the pot. A dry
comfortable tip.
26th July.
& Fairy
Davies and Phil Davy. Fred Davies
descended
Fernhill. A voice connection was found
between the two. The points are the very
end of Fernhill and the second boulder ruckle in Fairy (surely she means
Hilliers? Ed.). Fernhill has some
beautiful curtains and stal. Pam
Russell.
30th July. Hunters Hole. Ian Dear, No Marriott, Peter, Keith, Llew, Guy (pronounced Gi, from
and George Honey. Pitches laddered, at
considerable opposition from a rotten cows afterbirth at the bottom of the
shaft. This was pushed through and fell
onto the floor of the main chamber, contaminating the ladder on the way. The first pitch then became S.S. on account
of the smell. Digging in Dears
Ideal. Large rock fall cleared many
boulders, but way on not too promising. Dears Ideal is not to be renamed Placenta Pot.
30th July. Eastwater. Four cavers, understood to be from Bristol Tech were returning from a
trip down Eastwater when the leader, Alan Hartnell, lost his grip by the
waterfall at the bottom of the Boulder Ruckle by the start of the 300 Way,
owing to loose rock and fell. More rock
fell onto him and, although he was not trapped, he was badly injured. At 10 pm, the accident was reported at the
Hunters having been reported earlier at the New Inn. B.E.C. members got rapidly changed and
assisted the party from the New Inn, together with Luke Devenish and other
members of the M.R.O. and a doctor from Cheddar. The operation went very
smoothly and quickly, and he was brought up through the ruckle carefully yet
quickly in a semi-conscious condition. By 11.15 he was out of the cave, taken to the ambulance on the club
rigid stretcher and on his way to
early the next morning. We extend our
sincere sympathy to his friends and relatives, and assure them that every care
and prompt action was taken by the rescue team. (Editor).
30th July. August-Longwood. Pam Russell and Tom
Sage. Longwood was fairly dry and the
trip was completed without incident. August Hole was very wet.
31st July. Cuthberts. Roger Stenner led a trip with Pam, Tom Sage and Garth. Tourist trip to September Series.
31st July. Cuthberts. Mike Baker led a trip of seven members of the
caving Club. Tourist trip to the sump
and back.
31st July. Cuthberts. Dave Raine introduced to a Mendip cave by Bryan Ellis. A very quick trip to the sump and back. Dave was very impressed by the cave and
wishes to take it back to
didnt think he was capable of doing this trip so fast, but there were two
pints at stake.
31st July. Cuthberts. George Honey. Down with Rogers
party. Trying to use bubble sextant for
vertical surveying. Seems
reasonable. Results must be processed
before any conclusions can be drawn.
Notices
Mattresses and
Blankets. The Belfry mattresses and
blankets are showing signs of wear and some must soon be replaced. Please turn out your attics. Gifts of these items are urgently required.
Sheet Sleeping Bags. In order to preserve the Belfry bedding the
committee have decided that sheet sleeping bags a la Y.H.A. must be used by
members who do not bring their own sleeping bags. All members please note and pass this on to
intending visitors.
Car and Motor Cycle
Badges. Bob Bagshaw is now taking
orders for these. The badge itself is
8/6 or 14/-. Do not miss this great
bargain! Seriously they do look very
nice and are well worth it.
G.B. Guest Days. The next trip is on Sunday, September 4th,
meet at three oclock at the barn.
C.R.G. Annual General
Meeting. This will be held at
year.
Donations to Club
Library. The following books have
been kindly donated by John Etough. Anapurna by Maurice Herzog. Undersea Adventure by Phillipe Diote. Climbs in the Canadian
S. Smythe.
Letter
To the Editor of the B.B.
I was highly interested in the article A short history of
the B.E.C. which appeared in the Silver Jubilee Edition. Unfortunately, strange as it may seem, I have
never heard our esteemed club song. I
wonder if it might be possible, therefore, for the sake of newer members and
uneducated specimens like myself, to print a copy of the club song in the B.B.?
Cheers
for now
Alan
Nash.
By all means Alan. We
hope, however, that you didnt expect the club song to be full of references to
caving or anything like that! It goes: –
We are the exploration Club
We roam around from pub to pub.
To die of thirst we have no fear
As long as we have lots of beer.
So raise your tankards high
And drink them down until they are dry,
We are the Exploration Club
We roam around from pub to pub.
While we are on the subject of club songs, we have the
authors permission to print a version of the Wessex Club song, so we might as
well go the whole hog
We are the
Club
No ruddy use are we.
We drink a half of cider
It affects us more than tea.
And when were down in Swildons
And havent got a light,
We stand above the Forty
Beside ourselves with fright.
The B.E.C. they help us
Through every pitch and squeeze.
We like the way they do it
With such consummate ease.
And when we are much better
At caving we agree,
It is our one ambition
To join the B.E.C.
Some Thoughts on the Leader System
By Roger Stenner
Among cavers, there is a real and important differences of
opinion about the importance of the leader, ad in particular what has been
called the leader system. That is, the
system by which access to a cave is limited to parties led by one of a number
of selected cavers. This is the system
used to limit access to St. Cuthberts Swallet, and certain caves in
must admit here that my knowledge of the cave situation outside Mendip and
responsible for the safety and conduct of the, members of the party in the
cave. There is no argument about this;
it is the Leader System which is often attacked.
One objection to the Leader System is the inconvenience it
causes. It usually involves writing to
someone several weeks in advance, and it may difficult for some people to plan
very hard ahead. On the other hand, a
visitor from another part of the country, haven written in advance, will be
sure of the company of someone who knows the cave well. Just a tourist trip through a cave can be
made a real pleasure by a leader who can tell his party things of interest
connected with the history of the exploration of the cave. Beside being invaluable on trips made for a
specific purpose, the leader is bound to save time which may be valuable. The main objection is that the Leader System
kills initiative and leads eventually to stagnation. Whether the B.E.C. or S.M.C.C. can be called
stagnant clubs is very much a matter of debate!
The value of the Leader System lies in the prevention of
damage to formations. It is natural that
if all parties visiting a particular cave have leaders who are responsible for
the protection of all amenities of the cave, then vandalism, accidental or
deliberate, will be kept to a minimum. In fairly easy caves not protected by such a system, such as was the
case at one time in Hilliers and G.B., formations have fared very badly. It would have been thought that the entrance
series of
would have kept out all but the keenest cavers. Spent carbide has been tipped in most chambers; the Main Chamber is
littered with tins; and even Queen
has got quite muddy. Damage of this
kind, in a cave protected by a long miserable entrance and a sump is far worse
than in O.F.D. or Cuthberts.
It may be said that I am placing undue emphasis on the
importance of formations, but those few people who have done a great deal of
important exploration seem to be the people who most strongly believe that
caves should be left untouched as much as possible. The S.W.C.C. had much discussion before it
was decided to remove an insignificant stalagmite boss that would have really
hindered a party in a hurry because of the rising floodwater in O.F.D. Again, it is sometimes said that formations
can hinder exploration. Tratmans
example. Against this, some once wanted
to climb the cascade in Cuthberts but was restrained from doing so. Eventually somebody else got into the passage
leading from the cascade by another route. Without the means of restraint provided by the leader system, the
Cascade would have been permanently and uselessly damaged.
There are people who are interested only in exploration, and
who think that the extension of caves is the only worth while thing of the
sport. Some argue that because they can
quite easily bash on into the final sump, of a large cave without the aid of
any leader; the Leader System is unnecessary. Such people are, to my mind, merely very selfish; forgetting that there
is more to caving than the discovery of a bit more passage. As the Editor pointed out, they themselves
depend on the strenuous and thankless work of diggers, work that is so often
fruitless. The Leader System does seem
to be the only effective way of checking vandalism while still allowing
reasonable access to the cave. If only
from this point of view, it is justified in caves containing formations of
great beauty.
Editors
Note. We think it is a good thing to
print articles forcibly expressing different points of view from time to time. Any replies or comments will be printed.
An Ode to the Bats of Bristols Belfry On the Anniversary of the
Initiation of two Colonials into the Strange and Mystical Rites of Mendip at
Midsummer.
Those who were at present at the Midsummer barbecue last
year will remember the two yanks who were so impressed with our civilised
Mendip customs. At this years barbecue,
one of them, Geoff Movious, sent the following to Keith Gardner. The instructions were duly complied with.
(To be read at the
height of a glorious bonfire at Midnight)
All Hail
Praise to you as you scale great Bacchus heights.
May there never be a dearth of hills for climbing,
May you all be catastrophically wining.
Whether lost in revelry of summer so profound
Or mucking all about for underground.
Our fondest hopes and wishes you attend
We pray you now a precious moment lend
To our Ode upon Midsummers night
Before the eastern sky begins to light.
Twelve months have flown away across the year
Since last two Damned Colonials were here.
You took them in and cidered them completely
Inebriating them yet passing sweetly.
The rubber suited race across the pond;
The theft of hats which firemen had donned
But quickly doffed before our awesome crew,
Ho raged around consuming jugs of brew;
The ceremony of the roaring fire,
(Perhaps the punch itself burned slightly higher)
These memories and visions truly bright
Go forth to you upon this glorious night.
May your Midsummers Dream be blessed with wine,
May wenches serve you with it as you dine.
With this last wish we make our solemn parting,
(Exit Colonials who to pubs are departing).
Building a Belfry – Part eight
It now becomes obvious, even to the meanest intelligence,
that foundations must now be dug. Accordingly, we drive four pegs in to mark the corners of the trenches
and check them with a surveying tape. After a little adjustment, the lengths agree.
We are just about to out the first sod when some other ditto
suggests that just as a check we measure the diagonals. This is done. The resulting parallelogram is then played about with on the left hand
down a bit principle until, by some fluke, the diagonals are the same
length. We breathe a collective sigh of
relief and pick up our spades again.
Some idiot now suggests that just as a check we measure
the sides again. This is done. We agree that a trapezoid hut, although
novel, is not what we really had in mind. Eventually both the sides and the diagonals ate made equal. At this point, the ghost of Euclid and
Pythagoras stop revolving in their respective graves. Exhausted by this mental effort, and pausing
only to make sure the pegs are firmly in, we stagger from the scene.
A few pints later, with the determination and tenacity for
which none of us are noted, we return to the dig trenches. Then comes the blow. Our wholesale suppliers arrange for lorry
loads of concrete blocks and heaps of limestone dust to be delivered. This is too much. Stunned by the enormity of what we have done,
we stagger automatically to the Hunters broken men. Will we ever recover, you doubtless ask? No.
(This nauseating tale will be continued at spasmodic
intervals).
Personal
Congratulations to Kangy and Ann on their wedding which
took place over August Bank Holiday.
Congratulations to Spike and also to Alan Sandall on
reaching their decadence.
*****************************************
Secretary, R.J. Bagshaw,
Editor, S.J. Collins, 33
8.
Postal Dept, B. Prewer,
Road