Contents
- 1 Long Service
- 2 ALFIE
- 3 Fanks from hte Publicans Departmunt!
- 4
- 5 B.B. Changes
- 6 Some Useful Addresses
- 7 Address Changes as at 4th December, 1967
- 8
- 9 December Committee Meeting
- 10 NOTICE for St. Cuthberts Leaders
- 11
- 12 The Years Digging 1967
- 13 From Other Clubs
- 14
- 15 Wrappers Not For Crappers
- 16 Cuthberts Leaders Meeting
- 17 Gilbert Weeks
- 18
- 19 The Discovery of Contour Cavern Priddy
- 20
- 21 Caving and Climbing Meets
- 22
- 23 Monthly Notes No. 9
- 24 Cavers Bookshelf No.12
Long Service
The B.B. is 21 years old this month. A caving publication to have reached this age
is surely a great event and there are few Mendip Journals that date from the
immediate post war years.
The B.E.C. formed in 1935 (according to the OFFICIAL
records!) had 80 or so members in 1947 the year in which Harry Stanbury a
founder member launched the B.B.
Quite a span of time and its really brought home when one
thinks that Alan Thomas was taking his School Cert., beer was 1/- a pint, no
wet suits, Sett, Pongo Wallis, Alfie, Harry Stanbury and Don Coase were among
the leading lights, Stoke Lane II discovered some 7 months later, St.
Cuthberts dig open 7 years later, Roy Bennett at school and Phil Kingston born
in November!
Over the years the B.B. has served members well,
particularly those away from Mendip for long periods, by keeping them in
regular contact with the Belfry and Im sure it is the wish of all B.E.C.
members that this will continue long into the future. Whatever may be said of
the B.B. it is gratifying to hear the oft quoted phrase Wheres the next B.B.
WIG
ALFIE
If you look through any twelve months of Belfry Bulletins
you will find that you have a pretty good Club Journal. Comparisons are odious but the B.B. is
something no other club has. Dont
imagine that its unfailing production is an easy task. Ask the average B.E.C. member to write an
article and you will find a variety of excuses that you could use them for a
basis of an article written by yourself.
Alfie has done this
thankless task for eleven year. This is
longer than all the other editors put together. He began before there was electric light or mains water at the Belfry;
before the Stone Belfry was built and at the time that St. Cuthberts was first
being explored. Alfie has edited 120
issues of the B.B; he has printed over 20,000 copies and used half a ton of
paper. If all the pages of all the
B.B.s Alfie has printed were laid end to end they would reach from Brean Down
to Frome, much to the annoyance of the Mendip Preservation Society!
Young cavers are like butterflies: they escape from the
parental crèche, spend a brief span fancy free and then are finished (in the
case of the butterfly dead; in the case of the caver married). How can then a caving club last for more than
a few years? The B.E.C. has stood the
test of time because there are always people like Alfie in it to provide
continuity between one generation and the next.
Fanks from hte Publicans Departmunt!
In wieu of the remarks made in the Christmus B.b. vith
regards to the use of the B.B. typevriter, the Cawing Publications Dept. voul
like it to be knovn hov wery grateful they are for the opportunity of being
able to vrite this Thank you note in type type vriting instead if vriting
type vriting.
Gord. Tilly
B.B. Changes
It was hoped that 1968 would be a year of small changes to
the B.B. but due to circumstances beyond my control most, if not all, have come
at once. Firstly I had hoped to have
printed the B.B. on the morning of the Committee Meeting so that Phil Townsend
could have them addressed and in the post by the second week of the month. As you can see the B.B. is living up to its
usual stunt by being issued in the following month! Seriously though, I hope to have the issues
to programme by March.
The Editorial Staff were under the impression that there was
ten months supply of covers left but on inspection found only about 1,000
covers left! This meant that we had only
some 3-4 months supply. As I had hoped
to change the format to quarto in January 1969 some quick thinking had to take
place the final result was that the quarto size would be introduced with the
January 1968 issue. With changes comes a
new design of cover. Without drastic
modifications to the current design it could not have been on the larger size
of paper without the appearance of being lost. I apologise at not being able to show the original artwork to many
members but the designs were prepared and delivered to the printers in just
over a week. Professional advice was
taken on the design and the final artwork completed by Robin Richards. Ive no doubt that there will be some strong
views sent to me but if you feel strongly against this type of design please
let me have your ideas for future reference. Thos of you who liked the smaller format and cover design should make a
point in coming to the A.G.M. in October and you will be able to look at it
after reading Bobs swindle sheet which will be printed inside.
Some Useful Addresses
Hon. Treas. R. Bagshaw,
4.
Hon. Librarian D. Searle, Dolphin Cottage, Priddy, Nr. Wells,
Hut Warden = G. Tilley, Gable,
Road
Hon. Sec: – A.R. Thomas,
Somerset
Editor: – D.J. Irwin, 9 Campden Hill Gdns,.
only)
Address Changes as at 4th December, 1967
Additions
M.H. Fricker,
A.S. Parker,
P.A.E. Stewart,
Redland,
6.
Amendments
B. Crewe, 20 Riverside Gdns.,
Midsomer Norton,
K. Gladman, 95 Broad Walk, Kidbrooke,
S.E.3.
T.H. Hodgoon read T.H. Hodgson
Capt. & Mrs. Littlewood,
Hillside Crescent
For Full membership list see B.B. No.236, November 1967.
December Committee Meeting
Alan Thomas was elected member of the club. Despite the fact that we thought one was
enough we elected A. Roberts (as opposed to
so bad as his namesake. The closing of
the Belfry was discussed at some length the final outcome being published with
the November B.B.
On the recommendation of the Cuthberts leaders the proposed
Guest Leader System was accepted by the Committee and steps are being taken to
set it in motion as per the instructions of the 1967 A.G.M. Other clubs are being contacted by the Club
Secretary for names of their members who are interested in becoming a
Cuthberts Leader. The latest news on
the New Belfry is that at the time of writing, negotiations for a grant had not
hit any snags but it seems that if we are granted one it is unlikely to
manifest itself in less than nine months thus postponing the building of the
Belfry until Autumn 68 or Spring 1969, nevertheless this remains to be seen.
Phil Townsend
Minutes Sec.
NOTICE for St. Cuthberts Leaders
Will all leaders note that in future all spent carbide is to
be brought out of the cave. The carbide
dumps (Dining Room,
Chamber) will be cleaned and the carbide removed. It is hoped that all leaders will make his
new rule known to their parties before entering the cave.
*****************************************
The BELFRY BULLETIN is available to non-members from Bryan
Ells, Knockauns, Combwich, Bridgwater,
or from the Hut Warden at the Belfry. PRICE 1/6 each. Post extra.
The Years Digging 1967
Phil Coles and Dave
Irwin
Now that the formalities are over
the reader can get on to the first if the articles which will prove useful to
anyone wanting to help dig next season.
1967 has proved a reasonably successful digging year for the
B.E.C. Surface digs took place at
Emborough, Maesbury and, in conjunction with the Wessex Cave Club, at Nine
Barrows and Sandpit. Only Nine Barrows
actually went but as the history of this dig has already been the subject of
an article in the B.B. of No.232 (July, 1967) by Keith Franklin little need be
said. Of the other three, Emborough and
Maesbury have been abandoned for the winter but Sandpit, which was a late
starter, still receives spasmodic visits. None of the underground digs Sanctimonious Passage in Hunters Hole and
the various parts of St. Cuthberts bore fruit. The St. Cuthberts sump is still being dug by
B.E.C. members of the C.R.G.
It is almost certain that a resistivity device will be used
for cave prospecting in 1968. The device
has been highly successful in locating archaeological sites on
and should prove a boon to diggers. Another interesting feature for the New Year is the proposed formation
of the Mendip Digging Group. This will
be an informal group comprising active diggers form all clubs who meet
occasionally in the Hunters to exchange ideas such as chemical persuasion
techniques, hire of specialist equipment etc. For those tired of digging on Mendip and in need of a change of scene
how about a Welsh dig? R. (Taff) Bennett
will be organising one and anyone interested should get in touch with him. He is still sometimes seen in the Hunters on
a Sunday evening recovering from a hard weekend of Welsh caving.
EMBOROUGH SWALLET
An official club dig. It is situated in a large depression and takes stream that is active all
year round. The stream sinks near a rock
outcrop at one end of the depression. In
view of the size of the team (2) it was decided to dig straight down in front
of the rock face instead of pushing it under the overhang as the previous
diggers had. With a team of two it was
impossible to install proper shoring and a large corrugated iron rainwater butt
was used as a substitute. This was fine
until the shaft became deeper than the butt and the earth began running in
underneath. As fast as the earth was
removed more ran in and the dig ground to a halt. To combat the vicious circle that ensued a
smaller butt was inserted at the bottom of the first and all well went until
the bottom of the second butt was reached. (Shades of Hoffnung? Ed). Planks
were wedged between the two butts in an effort to hold back the earth and
progress was contined until the shaft was 17ft. deep. A passage could be seen going off to one side
but a boulder blocked the way. The team
(Phil Coles and Keith Franklin) had been strengthened by the arrival of the
Searles and Alfie. Their combined
efforts failing to remove the boulder so Dave Searle banged it. As a result the shaft partially collapsed but
from then on the diggers began to win back lost territory until by the time the
dig was abandoned in October it was some 11ft. deep a lose of 6ft. on the
July depth. It is hoped to restart
Emborough in the Spring.
MAESBURY SWALLET
The B.E.C.s other cast Mendip dig. Like Emborough, it is situated in a large
weeded depression and takes an active stream. Due to Alan Thomas foreign commitments Maesbury was dug on less than
half a dozen occasions. An interesting feature of this dig is that in November,
1966 the 7ft. deep shaft was completely filled in by the diggers, but the
winter floods had completely re-opened the dig.
SAND PIT
Started in September, 1967 by John Cornwell and other B.E.C.
and
members as a joint club dig. Several
passages around the depression have now been dug and a passage of over 40ft. in
length opened up. Work has been
temporarily halted until the results of a resistivity check is known.
NINE BARROWS SWALLET
Explored in June, 1967 by joint BEC/Wessex party.
ST. CUTHBERTS SWALLET
a) Terminal Sump: The underwater dig has continued throughout the year since the Sump
digging weekend in February, 1967 (See B.B. N.228). It is being dug mainly by BEC members of the
CDG (Phil Kingston and
(1.12.67) is that the length of the dig is about 21ft. At about the 12ft. mark the passage turns at
right angle to the left and is now running roughly parallel with the Gour-Lake
fault. A constriction has been met at
the end of the dig but according to Phil it is now passable with a small hand
held air set. Cuthberts 2 in 1968?
b) Dinning Room Dig: The dig, located above Cerberus Hall and the
Dining Room, was started by Mo Marriott and others in 1963 and has been
continued by Dave Irwin and Phil Kingston at infrequent intervals. The current surveying programme and the sump
dig has left it temporarily abandoned although plans are going ahead to get it
dug regularly. The length of the dig is
about 50ft. and is extremely interesting; it has crossed the Gour-Lake fault
and the general direction is parallel with the Sump Passage. According to Derek Ford this should prove to
be an interesting site as it is above the choked levels of the lower section of
the cave time will tell!
HUNTERS HOLE
Sanctimonious passage was dug in Feb/Mar by Alan Thomas,
Collin Priddle, Keith Franklin and Phil Coles.
Keith found a small hole at the end of the passage through
which a stone could be dropped. Enthusiasm mounted and the passage was banged for several weekends
until the hole was large enough to see into. A rift could be seen leading on for over 20ft but it was unfortunately
4ins. wide. The end of S.P. is not the
only place in Hunters to interest the potential digger however. The choked passages above Rover pot warrant
some attention and a strong draught blows form Dears Ideal. It is hoped to make Hunters the B.E.C.
winter dig.
From Other Clubs
By Gordon Tilly
The Axbridge Caving
Group and Archaeological Soc. Monthly Newsletter for October, 1967
For people interested in
archaeology this newsletter contains an article on the production of a
television educational programme entitled Ground Level. The programme is being divided into five
parts, each dealing with a different aspect of archaeology, and will be shown
on BBC 2 in January 1968.
MNRC Newsletter No. 47 (Autumn 1967). This edition is devoted to the official
opening of the Mendip Nature Research Station on September 23rd, 1967 and
details of the MNRC Management Committee for 1967
W.S.G. Bulletin Vol. 5 No. 5 Sept/Oct, 1967. This issue of the Bulletin contains two
reports. The first is a report on the
WSG 1967 Irish trip. The second is an
article on the WSG method of ladder construction by C. Green stating detailed
specifications and is accompanied by several illustrations. (ed. Note: – all the above publications can
be seen in the BEC Library at Dolphin Cottage).
Wrappers Not For Crappers
To our surprise some members thought that the additional
roll of paper with the Christmas B.B. was a retiring present from the last
Editor. In fact the idea is that if you
want to continue to receive the B.B. you should write your name on each of them
and return them to:
P. Townsend,
154,
Lower Knowle,
Cuthberts Leaders Meeting
The Annual Cuthberts Leaders meeting was held at the
Hunters on 19th November 1967. The
meeting opened at 2.30pm with 13 leaders present.
The first item on the agenda was the subject of extending
the Leader System to other clubs. A
letter received by Adny MacGregor from John Stafford, regarding the
interpretation of the relevant clauses in the Club Insurance Policy and the
Cunane Agreement (1954) was discussed. Based on the letter it was felt that a system could be devised allowing
members of other clubs than the B.E.C. to be Cuthberts leaders. The meeting discussed at length the details
of the scheme that has now been placed before the Club committee for its
approval. Details of the scheme will be
published in either the February or March issue.
Bearing in mind the previous item the Leaders felt that the
present prospective Leaders form was adequate except for one trip which was
split down into two parts. This makes
the total of test trips five instead of the previous four.
Dave Irwin reported that the Maypole Series had been closed
for just over 10 months and that biological work would be commencing
shortly. The position of re-opening the
series would be discussed at the 1968 meeting.
Discussion then followed on the closure of the cave during
the foot-and-mouth epidemic. It was
greed to carry out any requests that Mr. Walt Foxwell felt necessary to make.
Two practice rescues were arranged for the near future: – 1.
Wire Rift Jan. 21st, 1968; 2. Coral Chamber 21st. April. All local leaders are asked to keep this date
clear. Pete Franklin volunteered to be
the victim.
P. Kingston and D. Irwin gave brief details regarding the
Sump Dig and the new Survey respectively.
It was stated by Prew that the telephone line in the
suitable for a permanent line. This was
agreed and it was stated that this line was left in the cave to act as a
measure for the permanent line.
Phil Kingston said that he would install a chain on the Stal
Pitch climb. To assist the MRO a list of
leaders would be sent to Howard Kenny to ensure early call of the local
leaders.
D.Irwin
Gilbert Weeks
The funeral of Gilbert Weeks, a fine friend of the B.E.C.
Took place on the 29th December, 1967, at
and relatives alike
The Discovery of Contour Cavern Priddy
The latest discovery on Mendip is the subject of the next
article and it will certainly be of interest to members when they read of the
techniques used that gave clue to the possible existence of a cave system. The Editor would like to apologise for the
long delay in publishing this fine account.
By Clive North
The entrance to Contour Cavern is situated in a large
swallet depression, about 200yds. west of Nine Barrows Swallet, Eastwater,
Priddy.
I first came across the site on a Sunday afternoon late in
June while I was with a small group of caving friends. We had an enjoyable trip down Hunters Hole
and were whiling away the restless hours until Hunters opened by searching for
Nine Barrows Swallet which had been opened a few weeks before.
Missing Nine Barrows completely we went to the largest
depression we could see only to find it caveless. A short inspection of the steep end of the
depression revealed a small limestone slab sticking out of the grass. On this, plainly exhibited for all to see,
were some excellent scallops (not the bivalve variety but those produced by
water action). Greatly excited we
scrabbled in the earth with bits of stick hoping to break into a giant cave
system. After half an hour no new cave
had been found so we marched dejectedly away to drown our sorrows at the
Hunters, vowing to return with more sophisticated methods of earth removal
later in the summer.
A couple of weeks later I was on Mendip and I met Mr. John
Cornwell emerging from Nine Barrows swallet, mud spattered and
trouserless. When I told him of our
intended dig he said that he did not want to disillusion us but he expected our
cave at best, to be no more than a feeder for Nine Barrows since some of the
water enters the latter from that direction.
Undeterred, I took some aerial photographs a week later of
the Eastwater area. These revealed a
large area of marshy ground that seemed to funnel in on the depression
proving some sub-surface movement of water at the site. (During a recent wet spell I visited the cave
and found a fair sized stream entering the depression and building up into a
pond in front of the entrance. This was
later found to be pouring down just inside the cave).
However, the second week in August saw four cavers from the
Bridgwater Technical College Exploration Club setting up a large tent (some likened
it to a marquee) in the depression. Here
we stayed for a week. The team consisted
of myself of Totterdown, Weston-S-Mare; Bernard Evered of Old Orchards,
Coathurst near Bridgwater; Colin Rogers of
Richards of
locking near W-S-M. As soon as the camp
had been organised and the heifers had been shooed away, digging began in
earnest.
It happened, luckily for us, that the week we had chosen to
dig was also the one in which John Cornwell was on holiday and he duly arrived
at the dig on the Monday afternoon with Mike Fish Jeanmaire. Johns kind offer of some chemical
persuasion was gratefully accepted and later in the afternoon the hazy
serenity that is sometimes Mendip was shattered by several ounces of best
bang. This loosened the ground
considerably and the system of hang-dig, bang-dig worked very well especially
when there were large boulders to move.
On Tuesday, while probing with a crow-bar we felt airspace
below and we dug frantically until a razor-rock lined rift was opened. This extended for about 15ft, in a
north-south direction, but was only a few inches wide. It did seem however, slightly wider at the
southern end so we backfilled the rift and sank a new shaft.
After digging down a few feet on Wednesday a slight draught
was found to be blowing out between some large boulders. All day Thursday sounds not unlike a busy
quarry rent the Priddy air with numerous bangs, whistles from flying rock, hammering
and colourful language from the moles down the ole. By Thursday night a small, cave passage,
emitting a strong cold draught, had been opened at the bottom of the shaft and
it was at this point where, before a small crowd amid much cheering and merriment,
I lowered myself head first down the shaft, armed with a Nife cell and thrust
my head into the opening. Before my eyes
spread a scene of outstanding beauty, for the floor of the passage was composed
of wet, dung-coloured mud and rocks rising in graceful piles to the roof, from
which hung myriads of glistening brown boulders held together by a soft, brown,
mud like substance.
At my frantic call, eager hands pulled my feet and hauled me
red-faced and gasping to the surface. After I reported that the passage was about 15ft. long and 1ft. high and
would need clearing we set to work again. Later that night it was possible to get into the passage and throw
stones, some of which would rattle through the cleft and down for some
distance. This was most exciting and we
worked hard to make the roof safe and remove the extremely sticky mud that
blocked the passage. Some large boulders
were also removed from the mud.
It was Friday afternoon by the time we had excavated as far
as the cleft which was about 4 high. I
found that if you pressed your face into the mud and somehow directed a light
through the cleft you could see what appeared to be the roof and far wall
of a chamber about 15ft. across. It is an interesting phenomena when one looks
through a hole of this sort for one seems to loose the 3D effect of the
yes. Our 15ft. chamber when we broke
into it turned out to be only 2ft. across!
Excitement was high that night for we were expecting to
break through and we toiled until 2 oclock on Saturday morning but without any
success for the squeeze resisted all attempt to pass it, mainly because of the
obstinate projections of rock which we had to blast later that day.
Our last charge was set and fired in the afternoon smashing
the projecting rocks completely. By
evening the squeeze was cleared and, life-lined by John, I slipped through the
squeeze into a small chamber containing a foxes jaw the Foxes Den. In the floor was a small pot which had been
filed with the debris we had pushed down. To the left was a squeeze though a rift line with loose rocks and
blackness.
John then joined me and went through the squeeze onto the
top of a pot. He directed a feeble
carbide flame down the pitch and then threw stones down and announced in no
uncertain manner that Its as big as bloody Lamb Leer!
After some clearing work in the squeeze (one can walk
through it now) Tim Reynolds and I jammed a cross-bar across the top of the
rift, fixed a ladder to it (20ft.) and I descended. This pitch is a lovely little free-swing
ending on a boulder pile. To one side is
a curious rock spire (not stal.) about 18 high the Needle. This was later broken in two by some unknown
cavers who got in before the entrance was properly gated.
Contour Cavern is much too complicated for a full
description here but a very simplified description is as follows.
From the pitch lies the Big Rift, estimated as 600ft, long
and as much as 70ft. high in a few places. Three-quarters of the way down the rift is North Grotto which contains
some small but very beautiful stalactite curtains and cascades. At the end of the rift is a very muddy sump
which is being dug. Leading off from the
rift a short way down is a roomy passage which leads to the Upper Series. This is a network of dry tunnels and
tributary rifts. The dry tunnels have hard mud floors which makes crawling,
squeezing and digging a pleasure.
There are a few rift-type ox-bow routes from the Upper
Series to the top of the Big Rift. Behind the 20ft. pitch a squeeze leads to a boulder chamber (small) and
then to a large chamber which has 14 passages leading off. Most of these are short and end in possible
digs while 3 lead into a high extension of the Big Rift.
There are many promising sites for digs in the cave, the
most promising being the sump itself. The present sump dig has had to be abandoned for a while owing to a very
large concentration of Carbon Dioxide gas which was released during digging.
The job of surveying the cave has been kindly undertaken by
Dennis Warburton who estimated the present length of the cave as 2,900ft.
Odd facts The name
was chosen because the entrance is almost on the 500ft. contour (Altitude
880ft. approx.) therefore it is about the highest cave on Mendip. The N.G.R. of the cave is O.S. 533517.
Access At present the cave is not open to the general
caving public and the entrance is gated. Keys to the cave are held by John Cornwell and myself. The cave will not be open until research work
of several varieties has been completed. When this is so, a system of restricted access will probably come into
force, the technicalities of which have not yet been arranged. The main purpose of this is to keep out the
type of caver that smashes formations on sight, scrawls on walls, tips carbide,
food and all sorts of rubbish throughout the cave he visits and is more often
than not a member of no caving club at all, and to absolve the discoverers and
owners of the cave of any responsibility in the case of accidents. However, responsible members of caving clubs
and their guests should not have any difficulty in gaining access to the
cave. When the cave is opened, full
details of any arrangements will be sent to all the main clubs and to journals
like the Speleologist and Mendip Caver.
(EDITORS NOTE: The
entrance is reported to be unstable).
Caving and Climbing Meets
Please note that all arranged meets will only take place in
the Foot and Mouth Restrictions have been lifted.
CAVING SECRETARY
R.A. MacGregor,
The Railway
Station Road
Theale,
CLIMBING SECRETARY
E.G. Welch,
Frencahy Lodge Bungalow,
Frenchay,
Caving Meets: –
*February 11th, Sunday. Banwell Bone and
#March 10th, Sunday.
EASTER. South Wales: –
and O.F.D. I and II. For this meet
contact Andy if you are going.
Camping at Penwyllt.
*Meet 11am outside the farm.
#Meet outside Burrington Café
Climbing Meets:-
February 17/18th.
this meet.
March 24th. Sunday.
April 28th. Sunday.
Monthly Notes No. 9
by WIG
News In Brief: –
The recent Jumble Sale at Redcliffe Rooms raised £17 for the
Hut Fund. Many thanks to all who helped
and arranged the event.
The MCG added 42 metres to the end of LOCATEC SYSTEM in
Hilliers Cave (Mendip) is now blocked about 20ft. from the
entrance.
1964-66 Mendip Bibliography has been compiled by Ray
Mansfield and published in the November 1967 Caver (In B.E.C. Library).
Christmas at The Belfry
Some 15 members spent Christmas at the Belfry and without
exception all will long remember the occasion. This year instead of going to Wells arrangements wee made by Joyce
Rowlands and Pete Franklin to have Christmas Dinner at the Belfry. For £1 a head a better meal could not have
been wished for. The menu consisted of
Fruits Juice, Roast Turkey and all the trimmings, Christmas Pud, Coffee and
Brandy not forgetting the bottle of wine a piece!
During closing times the Belfry became its old self with
bottle walking and various feats of strength being displayed. One of the many incidents of the weekend was
when the B.E.C. found that George Pointing did not enjoy the sight of cream
he disappeared for quire a few minutes! Later however, he had obviously forgiven the club as both he and Dave
Berry sang, We are the BEC at the Wessex H.Q.! The following day Dave Berry was seen leading
the community singing at the Hunters, aided of course by Mike Baker. Slide shows were in favour including a
mammoth one of 500 slides. A very fine
weekend indeed and our thanks to again Joyce and Pete for the exceptional meal.
MANOR FARM DIG (Mendip).
It is reported that the U.B.S.S. attempts to re-enter their
new discovery is proving harder than expected. Members will remember that they broke into a fair size passage with a
promising way on down under
when after two days the entrance collapsed. No survey had been made of the discovery so the diggers were at loss to
the exact location of the chamber-cum-passage. They resorted to an intensive banging operation hoping that at the depth
of 50ft. to intercept the passage. Up
till now they seem to have been without luck except for the opening of a few
side rifts that are so tight that they cannot be followed. The next move is believed to be to blast a
way in lower down the valley and get in just beyond the collapsed
entrance. The old dig entrance is
thought to be too dangerous to re-open.
Cavers Bookshelf No.12
by B.M. Ellis
CAVES IN
Williams. Dalesman. 2nd Edition,
1967. Price 10/6.*
Quite apart from the contents, this edition is a
considerable improvement on the first, although the price has been increased by
3/-, the format is now the same as that used for Pennine Underground, making
it much more convenient for use as a field book. At the same time a much thinner and batter
quality paper is used and the binding should not fall part after being used a
couple of times like before.
Looking at the contents, fourteen caves have been added to
the
Dan-yr-Ogof has been re-written to include recent developments. There is also an additional paragraph
describing Ogof Ffynnon Ddu II but as is bound to happen this is already out of
date. The entry for
has not been altered although in the OFD entry the connection between these two
caves is mentioned. For Agen Allwedd
only the access regulations have been altered. The lists for the
doubled by fourteen additions. There is
only one addition for the north and mid-Wales section, Ogof Dydd Byraf, the
remainder is an exact re-print, errors and all, of the earlier edition.
In reviewing a new edition of a book the emphasis is almost
always a comparison. Generally, this
edition is a considerable improvement on the first but could have been better
if the authors did not insist of covering such a large area they cannot be
expected to know the whole area intimately and the North Wales section is still
very disappointing. Major caves (for
that area) such as Plas Heaton are still omitted and recent developments by
clubs such as the Shropshire Mining Club ignored. (This is partly the fault of these clubs for
being so tardy in publishing their results). I do not consider myself to be sufficiently knowledgeable to be critical
of the other sections but I expect that they are better.
THE SMCC HUT LOG
BOOKS. Part 1: 1955-1958. Shepton Mallet Caving Club, Occasional Paper
No.4. Price 3/-.
Following the example set by the Wessex Cave Club a few
years ago, The Shepton have now started publishing extract from their caving
logs. The choice is principally
scientific and historically interesting entries but a few of general interest
are included and a couple of humorous entries also appear. The period covered by this first is April
1955 to May 1958 and new and old cavers alike will find it interesting. You can read about sumping without wets suit,
of work in places like Hansdown Swallet, of getting into Swildons IV, and so
on. Being quotations from the log book
it is written such less formally than meet accounts.
*Not available from Bryan Ellis.
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As its the 21st birthday of the B.B. the Editor might be
forgiven for publishing the Caving Log account of the passing of
Don Coase in June, 1947.
Sun. 22 June 47. Stoke Lane. This was an historic
trip for the club. The party consisted
of Stanbury, Coase, Balcombe, F. Huchinson and
possibility of getting diving kit into it.
As Coase was the only Stoke Laner he was highly delighted
at the profanity and acclamations of Disgust emitting from the others.
Squeeze followed squeeze and filth was piled on filth and a
feeling of ???S.L. was very apparent before ever the terminal pool was
reached.
Upon reaching the sump Balcombe was heard to remark and
youve got the cheek to call this a sump. However Coase crawled, with much noise into the horrid pool and with
much cursing disappeared under the projecting pendants of rock into the
pool. Balcombe followed until he could
see Coase and then stopped. Coase
festered around and then shouted, I can feel airspace the other side. Great excitement ensued, Balcombe crawled in
the water and joined Coase. Stanbury
took his place at the entrance to the water.
After lots of nattering, there was a gentle gurgle and a
splash and Coase had gone through leaving 4 very shaken bods behind. In a matter of seconds he had returned to say
that he had regained the main stream that sinks away before the start of
Brownes Passage. Balcombe and Stanbury
followed him through the trap and followed the river for 400ft. until it passed
into a boulder choke. The party then
returned to the two left at the sump and made haste to daylight with the good
news.
H.H.
(Harry Stanbury) Ed.)
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LAST BUT NOT LEAST. Elderly gent who happened to drive into the Belfry Car Park
recently: Its nice to see you
flourishing still; I went caving with the B.E.C. when you first got into Stoke
Lane – the leader was Don Coase and there was another chap who had a very good
vocabulary of the swear language.
Roger: Sett?
Elderly gent: Thats
right.
(For the benefit of older members it was Mr. Sam Treasure).