Hon. Sec: A.R. Thomas,
Hon. Editor: – S. Collins, Lavender Cottage, Bishop Sutton,
Contents
- 1 Phoenix
- 2 The B.B.
- 3 Notices
- 4 Could You Run This Club On £68?????
- 5 Belfry Opening Night and Belfry Changes
- 6 Stop The Clock
- 7 Belfry Photographs
- 8 Pyrenees 1970
- 9 The Care of NiFe Lamps
- 10 Monthly Notes Number 31
- 11 Committee Meeting
- 12 Palaeolithic Cave Art of Naiux
- 13 Just a Sec
- 14 Penyghent Pot Again
- 15 Some Suggestions for Contributors
Phoenix
Visitors to the Belfry site will know that a splendid
looking new Belfry now stands proudly on the site. That we should be in a position to start
occupying the new Belfry within six months of that tragic day when the
blackened shell of the Belfry seemed to mark the lowest ebb of the club, is an
achievement of which we can take some pride.
Before we wallow in self-congratulation, we should remember
that some £200 is still owing, and that even when this debt has been paid
the total club monies stand at the vast sum of £45. This has got to run the club. Our fine new building can become the
headquarters of a fine club or can become a sordid, untidy, ill-equipped
modern slum. In the past, some members have
been known to say that there was nothing much left to do in the way of equipping
the club. THERE IS NOW. There is no reason why EVERY SINGLE MEMBER of
the club cannot do something even if it is only a question of paying his or
her sub NOW. We still need every penny;
every willing hand; and every source of supply that we can lay our hands
on. Why not write now to John Riley, at
School Farm House, Chew Stoke, Nr Bristol, telling him when you will be free to
lend a hand, or asking him what he might want that you can obtain cheaply. Bob Bagshaw, at
subscription for the year plus any other gift of money you can spare.
The B.B.
It will take a little longer for me to get back into the
swing of producing a monthly B.B. on time, after two years of not having to
worry about the job, and I hope that members will have the necessary patience.
It is hoped that it will be possible to continue publishing
a B.B. of the size we have come to expect since Dave Irwin started to edit and
produce the magazine, but this will depend to a very great extent on members
who produce interesting articles. During
the next month or so, to help catch up with the backlog, it may be necessary to
consider reprinting one or two of the best articles from B.B.s of many years
ago, but I hope that a good supply of up to date articles will be coming along.
Alfie
Notices
In future, WEDNESDAY NIGHTS are WORKING NIGHTS at the new
Belfry. Dont leave it all to the other
bloke. When you come to the official
opening on May the Ninth, make sure that it is with a clear conscience. Apply to John Riley or JUST TURN UP ANY (or
better still, EVERY WEDNESDAY).
Could You Run This Club On £68?????
£68 represents ALL the money we have at present for
EVERYTHING we have to have to run the club in 1970. It includes the money we must find for
fitting out the new Belfry it includes buying fuel for next winter, paying
all the bills that come in paying for stationery, postages stamps etc, and
all the other items which are necessary for the running of the club. YOU help can make this sum more like the sum
we should have by PAYING YOUR SUBS now if you have not already done so.
Belfry Opening Night and Belfry Changes
Bookings for the Grand Opening Night on May 9th are now
being taken. Sleeping at the Belfry on
that night will be for MEMBERS ONLY and paid up ones at that! Book NOW with Pete Franklin. Charges for the new Belfry will be 3/- per
member per night and 5/- per visitor per night. These charges will be reviewed after some experience has been obtained
in running the new Belfry. Opening night
fees will be 3/-.
Stop The Clock
Books of tickets can be obtained from Pete Franklin. YOU could sell time for this competition, in
which the first prize is a watch worth £25 or the equivalent in other goods
from Dembos the Park Street Jewellers. There are consolation prizes of bottles of sherry. Take some books to work with you and SELL for
the Belfry. All further details from
Pete.
Belfry Photographs
Historic photographs of the ruins of the Belfry will shortly
be ready. There may be some extra
copies, so keep a look out or you will miss your chance to obtain one.
Pyrenees 1970
Members interested in a visit to the
on a caving holiday should contact Dave Irwin as soon as possible.
Briefly, the details are as follows: – Kangy King is
liaising with George Jouzion and other cavers in the
necessary and also to obtain information for any areas that need
prospecting. Caves and potholes abound
in the particular area that is on the agenda, including systems that will be of
interest to both ladder and horizontal men. George has suggested, just to whet the appetite, a pothole having a 240
metre pitch, broken into two pitches of 140 and 70 metres each. However, the main object of the expedition
will be to do original work in this area.
The area is also of interest, as several show caves are
within easy reach, as is the world famous Moulis laboratory. George is willing to arrange for a small
party to visit the site if anyone is interested.
Accommodation is being arranged with the local priest, and
further details of cost will be circulated to interested members later. The total cost of a fortnights holiday
should be in the region of £30.
The dates of the expedition are from 5th to 18th of August
1970. This is one of the best times of
the year to visit the
have had to be fixed already to enable a cottage to be booked in the village.
The party size will have to be limited somewhat to around a
dozen or so members. All interested
should contact Wig as soon as possible. Seven people ( five of whom are definite) have already handed in their names.
The Care of NiFe Lamps
by B.E. Prewer
There are now a large number of this type of Nife cap lamps
in use, and it may be of interest to those who own such lamps to know how they
may be kept in good condition.
General Description.
The NC 113C Nife cap lamp is manufactured by Alkaline
Batteries Limited of
providing approximately 1.2 volts although immediately after charging 1.4 volts
may be reached. The battery of three cells
should, when in good condition and fully charged, run a 3.75 watt bulb for 12
hours or a 1.125 watt bulb for 36 hours. These bulbs are the main and pilot bulbs respectively normally found in
the headlamp. The cell electrolyte
consists of caustic potash (KOH) plus lithium hydroxide (LiOH) and its specific
gravity should be 1.20.
Charging and Discharging
For cells with new electrolyte the charging rate should be
1.75 amps for 16 hours. For normal
cells, the charging rate should be 1.75 amps for 8 hours starting with the cell
fully discharged. It is interesting to
note that, unlike the lead-acid battery, the specific gravity of the
electrolyte remains constant throughout the charge and discharge of cycle. The only variation that may be observed is in
the voltage that appears across the cell terminals. This rises on charging to a maximum of
approximately 1.4 volts per cell.
When fully charged, a cell is full with gas, and therefore
it is important that the cell filler caps release the pressure that may build
up. The normal caps have built in
release valves to allow for the escape of gas. The gassing however, will go on after charging has ceased and may last
for 12 hours. If during that time, the
cells are accidentally inverted, then some of the highly caustic electrolyte
may be forced out of the filler caps. Cells are therefore best left for 12 hours after charging. This is particularly important for caving, as
cells are often inverted, and the author has heard of several cavers who have
been badly burnt as a result.
A point worth mentioning at this stage is that of partially
discharged cells. If a cell has been
partially discharged, then it is better to discharge the cell completely rather
than to attempt to recharge it. This
assumes that the cell is not going to be used again for short periods until it
is naturally completely flat. If a
partially charged battery is recharged, there is a possibility that one or more
cells will, over a period of time, become only partially charged. This means that the light output will drop
after only a short period, and in fact it is possible for the cells with
greater charge to charge one with less charge in the reverse direction and in
this case, the voltage of the cell which has been reversed charged will
subtract from the other two, lowering the light output even further. This condition may be checked by measuring
the voltage of each cell individually with a D.C. voltmeter. The remedy, if this fault occurs, is to
discharge completely each cell individually, and then recharge in the normal
manner.
Routine Maintenance.
(A) Electrolyte
The electrolyte, as stated before, is made up of caustic
potash (KOH) plus Lithium Hydroxide (LiOH). The qualities are as follows, 153gms KOH plus 12gms LiOH plus 500ml of
distilled water. The electrolyte should
have a specific gravity between 1.16 and 1.20. If, for any reason, the specific gravity should fall below 1.16, then
the electrolyte should be changed.
(B) Topping Up
Top up with distilled water only and always ensure that the
plates are just covered with electrolyte. Overfilling should be avoided, as this may cause spillage. A low level of electrolyte will reduce the
cells capacity and will cause premature failure of the light. Check that the specific gravity is between
1.16 and 1.20 after any topping up procedure.
(C) Cleaning
The tops of the cells should be kept clean and dry and the
contacts covered in pure petroleum jelly. The rubber jackets round the cells should also be cleaned and dried and
covered with French chalk.
Repairs
(A)
Battery Top and Cable
In the majority of cases, the NC113C headlamps have seen
considerable use with the National Coal board and therefore it may not belong
before some major fault occurs. These
faults are generally located in the battery lid or the cable. It is proposed here to give details of how a
new cable and contact set may be installed. However, beforehand, it is worth noting some of the faults that may
occur in the lid or the cable.
1. Damaged wire in cable at the point where it is
attached to the terminal post. This is
due to a slow attack on the wire at the terminal post by the electrolyte, or it
may be due alternately to wire fatigue at this point.
2. Broken spring contact in the lid due to
corrosion and/or fatigue.
3. Corroded bolts and washers attaching the
terminal posts to the spring contact.
4. Corroded spring contacts preventing good contact
to the battery terminals.
The lid may be dismantled by first removing the fuse and
then the three 6BA nuts securing the three rubber sealing pads. These pads may be discarded if the old type
nylon cell vents are to be changed to the later type steel vents, part number
67416. Two smaller nuts and washers
securing the cable terminal should now be removed. This will now allow the assembly to be
removed complete with three insulating washers. The contact assembly (part number 70129) should now come away from the
lid, leaving only the insulating sheet and the cable terminal posts. By removing the cable reinforcing tube and
clip, and undoing the cable gland nut; the cable and gland washer may be pulled
out. It is possible to re-use the cable
if the damage is close to the terminal posts and the corrosion has not worked
its way too far back up the rubber insulation. If more than 2 or 3 inches of cable has to be removed, then a new cable
will be needed. It is possible to use
standard black covered (rubber) 5amp 3 core mains cable, and in fact I have had
one in use for five years or more. The
correct cable has its insulated conductors tightly twisted inside the black
rubber outer sheath too give extra flexibility. If three core mains cable is used, obviously the green wire is
discarded.
Re-assembly is fairly straight forward, noting the following
points: –
1. The red and black wires should be bared of
insulation for about ⅛ of an inch and solder into the terminal posts before
inserting the cable back into the lid.
2. In order to prevent the ingress of water into
the lid and cable, black Bostick may be used to seal the cable end.
3. The 3, 6BA nuts should be replaced with washers
and insulating bushes although, as mentioned, the rubber pads may be discarded
provided that steel vent plugs are used.
(B) Cells
These usually give little trouble an, apart from keeping the
top clean and the terminals free from corrosion, there is little one can do in
the event of a failure of a cell. It is
of course possible that the electrolyte level is too low or that the
electrolyte has become contaminated in some way or that the specific gravity
has gone outside the working limits of 1.16 to 1.20. The remedy from this has already been
discussed in the section on topping up.
(C) Lamps
The two most common faults here, apart from bulb failure,
are cable damage at the point of entry into the lamp case, or a dirty or broken
switch. Dealing with cable failure
first, the cable gland nut should be undone and the washer and rubber bush
removed.
The cable must now be removed from its terminals inside the
lamp case having first removed the bakerlite bezel, glass, bulbs and reflector
in that order. It is possible to use
the existing cable, provided that the cable is not made too short after cutting
off the damaged section. The two bared
wires should be re-soldered into the lugs. The cable is now reassembled into the lamp case, not forgetting the
cable gland, nut; washer and bush. If
the bush is omitted, then it is possible that the cable may be ripped from the
lamp case.
Turning now to the switch, failure here may be caused by
dirt on the contacts the remedy is to clean them with a rag, or better still
with a small piece of ultra fine carborundum paper. If the spring contacts are in any way
misshapen, they should be reset with a pair of fine nosed pliers. Broken contacts should be replaced where
necessary.
Parts List
Section A
Lid
|
PART |
COMPONENT |
PRICE |
|
71029 71183 71032 70133 70134 70136 70126 70211 70131 70111 70037 |
Contact Lid Cable Cable Cable Fuse Fuse Cable Cable Insulating Ebonite |
9/3 19/6 -/4 -/9 11/6 -/5 1/6 -/4 -/9 -/5 -/3 |
Section B Batteries
|
55142 55153 59800 67416 51016 51017 55146 |
Flat Terminal Cell Steel Seating Rubber Cell |
-/3 -/4 38/- 1/- -/1 -/1 2/9 |
Section C – Headlamp
|
72218 90341 70207 70208 70211 72215 70212 70270 70263 70289 70240 70242 70279 70264 70265 |
Headpiece Bakerlite Armour Reflector Cable Cable Cable Headpiece Reflector, Reflector, 3.6v, 4.0v, Switch Main Pilot |
35/9 3/6 2/- -/9 -/4 -/2 -/7 10/6 2/6 2/- 3/- -/5 4/6 2/- 2/3 |
The prices quoted have been taken from a price list of about
1967, and so must be taken as an approximate guide. The list quoted is not complete, but has been
picked from the makers catalogue as being the most likely list of items which
might need replacement. The parts may be
obtained from: –
Alkaline Batteries Ltd.,, P.O.
Box 4, Redditch, Worcs., who should be contacted in the event of any other
queries.
Monthly Notes Number 31
by Wig
Balch Scores Again!
The latest round of water tracing carried out by the Mendip
Karts Police (The Geography Department of Bristol University led by Tim
Atkinson and Malcolm Newson) has brought about some very interesting
results. Pine Tree Pot (Nordrach) has
been found to resurge at Cheddar, while Waldegrave swallet resurges at both
Wookey Hole and Rodney stoke. Both these
results have raised many a cavers eyebrows, and not without reason. The point of resurgence at Waldegrave Swallet
has been debated for many years, and old Balch appeared to be talking through
his hat when he retold of the sink near the Miners Arms taking muddy water that coloured the Rodney Stoke
water.
When experts attempted to trace this water, the results were
negative. Balch never changed his
belief. Now, tracing the stream with
lycopodium spores has established a connection between Waldegrave and Rodney
Stoke.
The other surprise is, of course, Pine Tree Pot. This small cave discovered by M.C.G. lies on
the north side of the Mendip pericline yet it drains in a southerly direction
to Cheddar, whereas the more westerly of the swallets in Nordrach and
Burrington drain to the north and resurge at either of the two main resurgences
Langford and Rickford.
Access to G.B. Cavern
The key of G.B. may be obtained form the Hon. Sec. U.B.S.S.,
Spelaeo Rooms,
trip is required. As far as is known at
the moment, the Ladder Dig extension is still closed due to the dangerous state
of the boulder ruckle through which one has to travel to reach Great chamber
and Bat Passage. 1/- per head is charged
as tackle fee.
Ear to the Ground
A new edition of Caves of Mendip will be out later this
year by Nicholas Barrington.
Picos de Europa
All unofficial spelaeological expeditions to this area are
forbidden. This ban affects the
provinces of Asturias, Leon and Santander. Authorities are empowered to impose a fine on any parties not applying
for permission. All future parties
should contact Senor Jose M. Suarez Diaz-Estebanez, Calle Minez 12-2a,
giving full details of their expedition.
Assorted Reminders
The official opening date for the new Belfry is Saturday May
9th.
Wednesday evenings are working evenings now at the Belfry.
The editor could do with any articles, letters, etc.
Have you paid this years subscription yet?
Have you sold any time on Stop the Clock yet?
Have you given any money back from your sales of the
spelaeodes yet?
Have you got anything USEFUL to give to help furnish the
Belfry?
Committee Meeting
The February meeting of the Committee agreed the sale of the
barn, and the new Belfry insurance at £4,000 for the Belfry, £500 for effects
and £500 for the clubs tackle. Dick
Wickens agreed to take over the arrangements for Cuthberts trips. D.R. Jenkins,
T. Pardee, J. White, Miss G.A. Abell and Miss E. Wilkinson were all admitted to
membership of the club. The remainder of
the meeting was taken up with arrangements concerning the fitting out of the
new Belfry.
Palaeolithic
Cave
by John Ifold
The great
about three miles form the small town of
is about a thousand feet, and we were glad to have a rest at the gate. One goes through the only entrance into a
large passage. At this end of this is a
small gate, and passing through this, one is able to proceed through several
chambers until the Salon Noir is reached nearly half a mile from the
entrance. The first thing that impressed
me about the Salon Noir was the majesty of its proportions. The paintings are four kinds of animal
Bison; deer; Horse and Ibex and there are about twenty of these paintings
altogether. The people who painted them
took great care over their portrayal, for one bison has its eye drawn so that
it appears to be watching all comers.
All of the animals are in black outline, and every drawing
expressed movement do that in one, two large bison appear to be charging each
other. On some of the larger animals,
spear-like objects are drawn sticking from their sides to convey the impression
that the creatures have been wounded. Some
impression of their size of the paintings may be gained by saying that the
horses are about four feet high, and bison vary from about three feet six
inches to four feet. The paintings are amongst the finest examples of Upper
Magdalenian art.
Some of the paintings are ten feet or so from the cave
floor, and one can only speculate on how the artist managed to paint at this
height. In addition to the animals,
ether are signs of various types dotted lines etc. painted in red or black,
some of which are probably Mesolithic. Near the entrance, there is something which looks like black manganese
seeping from the wall of the cave, and it is this which the artist or artists
probably used for paint.
Just a Sec
Owing to the delay in producing this B.B., the regular
monthly feature, Just a Sec which is written by our Hon. Sec. every month has
become very much out of date. Since this
is the fault of the editor, he feels that it is only fair that he should have
to write something to keep the series going, and to provided the Hon. Sec. with
a little well earned rest. To start with
and indeed, come to think of it to fill this months short version of Just
a Sec. Congratulations to our Hon. Sec.
and Hilary on their forthcoming wedding, which is to be at Priddy next
Saturday. As most members know, they
will be living in Townsend, Priddy and so they will both be very much in the
centre of things here on Mendip.
Congratulations, too, to all who have played a part in
getting the new Belfry to its present state. It is always risky to quote names, for fear of leaving somebody out who
has equally earned the inclusion of his name but, at the risk of sticking our
neck out, we should congratulate the B.E.C. Committee in general for all the
hard work they have put in hold weekly meetings at one stage to keep the work
running smoothly. More particularly, the
efforts of Bob Bagshaw to keep us afloat financially; John Riley and Pat Ifold
who carried out nearly all the liaison work with Fred Owen; Pete Franklin, who
has procured useful equipment and run the Stop the Clock scheme; Jock Orr who
has kept the Belfry flag flying in the stone hut; Brian Prewer, who is
organising the wiring and plumbing; Petty Precision Products who are doing
their usual workmanlike job, and Alan who has had all the correspondence to
deal with. Let us hope that a lot more
names will earn a mention before the building is complete!
*****************************************
We should like to welcome the following new members to the
club. Their addresses are: –
727 W. Cooper,
Wick Road
728 Miss G.A. Abell, Cleveland Hotel,
729 T.S. Pardoe, 36 Alexandra Park, Redland,
730 Miss J.Barke, 10 Queens Parade,
*****************************************
Have YOU read all the notices and reminders in this
B.B.? Well, have you?
Penyghent Pot Again
by Martin Webster
During the end of last year, several people suggested that
we might arrange a Penyghent Pot trip on our January Yorkshire meet. Thinking back to our first trip, one year
and one month earlier, when only four of us had to transport mountains of
equipment along the arduous entrance crawls, we were rather dubious, but at
last the end of January came, and a team if nine assembled at the entrance of
the pot on a crisp, cold, but sunny Saturday morning.
This time, the loads per person were (to say the least) very
much lighter than on our previous encounter, although still the long series of
canals at the entrance proved quite interesting technically. The cave has now become slightly easier as
some of the crawls above the first pitch have got larger (due to floods) and a
rather nasty canal below the sixth pitch has now become quite a spacious
passage.
The bottom of the pot was soon reached and over about twenty
minutes the rest of the party, which had got somewhat spread out, slowly
trickled in. Some swimming and splashing
about was done in the sump, and a certain amount of interest was shown in the
vast amounts of foam liberally distributed on the roof some way overhead! As we were making our way out, we were met by
a lone
of our trip and decided that would we not mind if he joined us. (I shudder to think what would have happened
if we had missed him and removed our tackle it rained extremely hard that
night!)
After allowing him to bottom the pot, we all made our way
out. He was carrying quite a large
proportion of out tackle! The trip took
just over six hours, which was quite good going for a party of this size. Everyone apparently enjoyed themselves at
least, we are already planning another Penyghent trip, so I supposed we must
have!
*****************************************
Members may like to add the following to their last years
address list: –
724 G.V. Phippen, Rock Cottage,
725 S.J.J. McManus,
Ebleton Road
726 D.R. Jenkins, 26 Witcombe Close, Kingswood,
508 A.C. Selway,
St. Martins Road
Some Suggestions for Contributors
Appeals for more articles for the B.B. may well fall flat
because many people who could contribute something useful may not be aware of
the sort of thing we have in mind. Here
are a few suggestions.
We have just had an article on the care of Nife lamps. Many club members have recently bought
Oldhams lamps and might well like to know how to make sure that they get the
best lifetime out of them. An article on
the construction and care of wet suits would also be of interest to many
members. An article on the use and care
of ladders when caving might also be useful after all, we do trust our live
to them on occasion. Any member who
feels able to write anything on these or allied subject will be doing a useful
job.
If you have been caving or climbing in another region, why
not write the trip up so that other members may be able to decide what such a
trip is likely to be like if they decided to visit the same caving/climbing
area?
Letters do not take long to write, and we got very few. Most people have something they would like to
air from time to time, or some comment on what they have read in the B.B. Why not write to the B.B. about it?
Contributions may be given to Wig or Alfie or sent
directly to S.J. Collins, Homeleigh, Bishop Sutton,
other chap. If every single club member
wrote ONLY ONE article during his entire stay with the club, it would be enough
to keep the B.B. running. Why not do it
now?