Contents
Editorial
The account the Annual General Meeting printed in this B.B.
was compiled from notes taken at the time, mainly of points which it was felt
might interest those members who were unable to attend. It is not a complete record, so don’t be
surprised if some items have been missed out we want to leave room for the
rest of the B.B.!
You will see from the report of the A.G.M. that it appears
that the waterworks situation is not going to cover anything like the amount of
caves that a lot of us thought it might. The article last month thus becomes rather out of date. Has anyone got a good crystal ball he can
lend to the Editor?
” Alfie.”
Report of the A.G.M.
The proceedings opened by the unanimous election of
“Sett” as chairman. The Hon.
Secs Report followed. Bob said that the
total membership was now 119 and also announced that a further meeting was to
be held to set up a governing committee to administer caves owned by the
Waterworks. The meeting agreed to elect
representatives to attend this, and Bob Bagshaw and Sett were elected.
During questions arising from his report, the Hon. Sec.
explained that only the Charterhouse area would be involved and that it was
likely that the Waterworks might dispose of the land eventually. The Hon Treasurer’s report followed. In reply to questions, he agreed that the
club could afford to complete the new hut and doubted the necessity for holding
a large bank balance. The club’s money
was there to be used for the benefit of club members. He hoped to see more of it spent on tackle.
The Caving Secretary announced that a large total of trips
had been recorded. Of these, 42 trips
had been to Swildons; 37 to Cuthbert’ and 14 to Eastwater. The club had assisted in two diving
operations and the rescue trip in Swildons. The highlight of discovery this year had been that of the September
Series in Cuthbert’s. No new caves had
been opened, although digging members were active. There had been little progress in the
surveying of Cuthbert’s. Trips to other
areas had been organised, and the Caving Sec. felt that notices of future trips
should continue to be published in the B.B.
The Climbing Secretary regretted that he had been out of
touch, but assured the meeting that climbing activities were still going on at
the usual rate.
The Tackle Officer said that there was little to
report. Three ladders had been made this
year and we now have 120 of standard ladder. The Chairman asked if this was enough. The meeting felt that it probably was. Geoff Mossman asked how much lifeline we had. We have 120 of full weight nylon. Ian Dear asked about tethers. One spreader has been permanently attached to
a ladder. There should be about three
others. In reply to the question about
tools, the Tackle Officer said that some tools were available. Ian proposed the purchase of a pick.
The Hut Warden gave his report. The total bed-nights for the year were
1,160. No comparison can be made with
last year as the dates have been altered. He thought that, as long as we kept over a thousand a year, there was
nothing to cause alarm. A lot of work
had been done on the Belfry. He
mentioned the new hut; the renovations and cleaning of the Belfry; the blanket
laundering; the new steps and the drinking pool. Questions cantered on the laying in of water
by the local council. Prew explained
that mains water had been promised by October 1st, but had not yet been
installed. A vote of thanks to the Hut
Warden, who is retiring from this position, was proposed by Keith Gardner.
The Belfry Bulletin report followed. The Editor pointed out that he welcomed
suggestions, explained that plans for the new style B.B. and hoped that it
would be well supported. The new cover,
which was passed round, aroused mainly favourable comment. Terry Marston said that the B.P.C. were
thinking of copying the present style cover.
The Hon. Librarian in a brief speech pointed out that not a
single book had been borrowed or returned since the last A.G.M. It was agreed to try to stimulate members
interest in the club library.
Under “Any other business”, the subject of
advertising climbing trips in advance was raised. Geoff agreed to look into it and fixed a date
for the first such trip.
New proposed that all rubbish should be removed from the
Belfry site, and possibly destroyed at the Hut Warden’s discretion. Food should be destroyed in any case. The
meeting agreed with the sentiments expressed, but agreed to leave it to the Hut
Warden.
Terry Marston pointed out the seriousness of leaving wet
caving gear stored in a hut. Spontaneous
combustion could easily occur.
Ian mentioned the recent M.R.O. appeal. It was agreed to leave this matter to the
committee. Keith Gardner volunteered to
act as M.R.O. Warden. This was agreed to
by the meeting. .
Mike Jones announced that he and Judy are renovating the
Belfry First Aid box.
Roger Stenner raised the question of club surveying
equipment. He suggested that the
purchase of a theolodite which could measure angles to 6 minutes of arc. The Chairman asked for views. Alfie pointed out that angles tend to close
better than distances on present astrocompass surveys in his experience. Prew thought that most surveyors would prefer
to buy their own instruments and this was generally agreed. Ian pointed out that the setting up of the
sort of instrument Roger had in mind would be a complicated business and Alfie
said that the scale of the average cave survey was not large enough for such an
instrument to be worth while.
A suggestion was made by Daphne that articles printed in the
B.B. should include the date such articles were originally sent in. Alfie replied that if the authors included
such dates, he would print them.
A vote on whether a yearly index to the B.B. should be
printed was defeated by 7 votes to 6.”
Prew mentioned that he had an offer of a hot water
heater. It was agreed to use an
immersion heater.
The meeting ended with a discussion on possible B.E.C. trips
abroad next year.
1960 Committee and Club Officers.
A complete list of club officers is given below. Main posts as required by the constitution
are in capitals. Committee members also
in capitals.
Committee
Chairman R.A.
SETTERINGTON
HON. SECRETARY R.J.
BAGSHAW
HON. TREASURER R.J.
BAGSHAW
CAVING SECRETARY
CLIMBING SECRETARY G.
MOSSMAN
TACKLE OFFICER N.
PETTY
HUT ENGINEER B.
PREWER
Deputy Hut Wardens B.
PREWER and A. COLLINS
Editor, Belfry Bulletin A.
COLLINS
Postal Department, Belfry Bulletin B.
PREWER and Brenda
Printing, Belfry Bulletin A.
SANDALL and
Gardner
M.R.O. Representative K.
Gardner
Hon. Librarian J.
Ifold
Assitant Librarian S.M.
HOBBS
Spares sales C.A.
MARRIOTT
Hon. Specialist S.M.
HOBBS
HUT WARDEN R.A.
SETTERINGTON
Library.
The Club Library, containing many interesting books, is open
to members on the FIRST THURSDAY of every month at the clubroom in REDCLIFFE
HALL. During the other three weeks, the
Assistant Librarian, SID HOBBS will be in the club and you can make
arrangements to borrow books with him. We have some very good books on CAVING, CLIMBING, TRAVEL and many other
subjects in the library. Have YOU ever
borrowed a book?? You have paid your
sub. Why not get your moneys worth??
Climbing.
The Climbing Secretary, Geoff Mossman is going to get up a
trip to
Bagshaw.
Belfry.
Have you got any old Caving clothes, food, sleeping bags and
that you dont see very often?? If you
have, BEWARE! The Hut Warden may dispose
of them if in bad condition or they may be used by others at his
discretion. In case of doubt, see or
write to Sett or either of his deputies.
A Preliminary Survey of the Caves of the
Isle of Wight
by P.A.E. Stewart.
General Geological Features.
The detailed geology of the island is obtainable from the
Ordnance Survey One Inch Geological and also from the Regional Handbook, The
Hampshire Basin.” Other sources
are, A Short Account of the Geology of the
in memoirs of the Geological Survey, 1931, page 149 by H.J. Osborne White.
In general, the area to the North of a line drawn from the
Needles to Bambridge is Oligocene and Eocene and the North coast from Headon
towards
has the occurrence of a great deal of clay known locally as ‘Blue
Slipper’. There appears to be various
well known Oligocene occurrences in the Headon beds, Osborne beds, Bambridge
beds and their age is 50 to 35 million years. In this northern area, a synclinal axis (the Bouldner axis) enters from
the mainland at Halstead, traverses to
and leaves at
at Totland, traverses the island almost due east and leaves at Sandown, lying
mostly in a belt of chalk and Selbornian.
Below this belt, the island is mainly composed of Lower Greensand
with local patches of Wealden from
west and locally at Sandown in the east.
From Chale to
shape, lies a lower patch of chalk. The
Brixton Anticline lies across this lower section.
Caves in the
Isle of Wight .
Hermits Hole. In the Bembridge limestone
near Culver Cliffs is a small cave. This
may be reached from the cliff top by a steep and tortuous route.
sea caves lie at the base of Culver Cliffs.
Barnes Hole. A sea cave.
Dutchmans Hole. This cave, I am informed, is more
of an indentation in the cliff face than a cave. It lies near Grange Chine and was named after
the Diana Japs, a Dutch ship wrecked there in February 1830.
The Afton Down Caverns These caverns lie on the anticline running
east from
picturesque Illustrations of the
c.1831, they have not yet been re-identified.
is a small sea cave with two entrances as shown on the plan below. It lies in chalk beds.
(No 2) This sea cave is the one
generally known as
redoubt fort. It has a length of sixty
feet and a height of twenty feet.
base of East High Down, the 800 foot high chalk cliffs. The larger is 200 feet deep and the smaller
is 90 feet deep. In the earlier part of
the nineteenth century, it was the practice to discharge a pistol in the larger
cave to show the strength of the echo.
Bar Cave. This lies just
below Tennysons Monument and is ninety feet in depth.
Frenchmans Hole. This cave lies to the west of The
Nodes and New Dutch Point and so the story goes was named from an escaped
prisoner of war who uselessly concealed himself here until starvation killed
him. The cave is about ninety feet in
depth.
Lord Holmes Parlour Kitchen and
Cellar. These are three scenic
features of the coast but whether they are actual caves is not very clear.
Rees Hole. This comes under the
same category.
and appears to be quite extensive. Reports give the depth as 300 feet. Unfortunately, it is difficult of access and the cliffs above are very
unsafe with frequent falls.
the Needles rocks used as a store by the lighthouse keepers.
Other Caves. Artificial caves exist in
the ground below the rocket site where there are many galleries, including an
eighty foot lift shaft and an underground fresh water reservoir.
The caves of the
are mostly chalk sea caves, but provide a Mendip exile with a few happy hours.
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The Belfry Bulletin. S.J. Collins, 33
8.
Secretary. R.J. Bagshaw,
Knowle,
4.