Any views expressed by any contributor to the Belfry
Bulletin, including those of officers of the club, do not necessarily coincide
with those of the editor or the committee of the Bristol Exploration Club,
unless stated as being the view of the committee or editor.
Contents
- 1 Mendip Rescue Organisation
- 2 Club Headquarters
- 3 Club Committee
- 4 Officers Of The Club
- 5 Caving Meet
- 6
- 7 Editorial
- 8
- 9 The Picos De Europa
- 10
- 11
- 12 Exhibition And Film
- 13 Members Addresses.
- 14 Library Additions
- 15
- 16 GRADING MUST GO!
- 17
- 18 Insurance For Cave Rescuers
- 19 At the Belfry
- 20
- 21 Monthly Crossword Number 24.
Mendip Rescue Organisation
In case of emergency telephone WELLS 73481.BRISTOL
EXPLORATION CLUB
Club Headquarters
The Belfry,
Rd.
Club Committee
Chairman: S.J.
Collins
Minutes Sec: D. Turner
Members: R. Bagshaw; W. Cooper;
D.J. Irwin;
N. Jago; T.E.
Large; A.R. Thomas;
R. Orr; R. Hobbs.
Officers Of The Club
Hon. Secretary: A.R.
Thomas, Allens House,
Barrows Lane
Hon. Treasurer: R.J. Bagshaw,
Knowle,
4. Tel: WHITCHURCH. 5626.
Caving Sec: T.E. Large,
Bishopston,
Climbing Sec: N. Jago, 2 Broughton
House,
Redcliffe,
1.
Hut Warden: R. Orr. The Belfry, as above.
Hut Engineer: R. Hobbs, Rose Cottage,
West End, Nailsea,
Tele
77368
Tacklemaster: W. Cooper,
77368.
B.B. Editor: S.J. Collins, Lavender
Cottage, Bishop Sutton, Nr. Bristol.
Librarian: D.J. Irwin, Townsend
Cottage, Priddy, Wells,
Publications: D.J. Irwin. Address as above
B.B. Post: Mrs. K. Mansfield, Tiny
Kott, Little
Caving Meet
Don’t forget the YORKSHIRE MEET to be held from AUGUST 25th
to AUGUST 28th!!!
CAVING will include GAPING GILL (STREAM PASSAGE,
DISAPPOINTMENT, FLOOD ENTRANCE) ROWTEN, YORDAS, BULL POT and
Camping will be at CRUMMACK FARM, CRUMMACKDALE.
TRANSPORT and TENTAGE are being arranged. EVERYONE will be MOST WELCOME to attend this
meet.
Get in touch as soon as possible with TIM LARGE (See address
at front of this B.B.) or BOB
CROSS.
Editorial
Coming Events
It will not be very long before we start all the usual
preliminaries to the A.G.M. The first of
these, as most members know, is to ask for nominations for the 1973
committee. This will happen in the next
B.B., but in the meantime, there is no harm in beginning to think about the
matter.
One aspect of our presentation of candidates which has come
up for some criticism from time to time has been the fact that older members
have no idea of what might be behind any names which are strange to them. Under
Dave Irwins editorship, a brief description of each of the candidates was
included in the B.B. some time before the actual election. This was thought by many members to be good
idea, but I must confess to not being brave enough to take on the job of doing
a ‘write-up’ on prospective candidates myself.
What I am therefore suggesting is that every candidate for
forthcoming committee election – whether he be a ‘new boy’ or an old hand –
should be asked to provide a short summary OF NOT MORE THAN FIFTY WORDS dealing
with anything he feels may be relevant. For example, what he would like to undertake in the way of club offices
if he got the chance – or possibly what he has done in the past. If I get enough takers on this one, I will
present them in the September B.B. in time for reader’s to see them before they
vote.
Anniversary
This month marks the second anniversary of what has been one
of the least publicised innovations to the B.B. of late years – the monthly
Crossword.
What started this off was a remark made by a club member to
the effect that it only took him five minutes to read the B.B. Some method of spinning this out to ten or
even fifteen minutes seemed to be called for without making the B.B. twice or
three times as big – hence the monthly crossword.
It is known that a few people do the thing – it is also
known that many others find it incomprehensible. If any members have any views on it, they
will be welcome. In the meantime it can
at least be said that the B.B. is the only caving publication we know to carry
a regular puzzle of this type.
The Dinner
Last year’s dinner was generally admitted to have been one
of the worst – if not the worst – that we have ever had. As a result, the committee have been at some
pains to make sure that we do not have a repetition of last years dinner this
coming October. The management of the
Cave Man Restaurant have assured us that the quality and quantity of the meal
itself will be adequate – we even offered to pay more~ but were told that it
was not necessary! There will be some
entertainment for those who want it. There will be a quantity of free beer. Many members may have been put off by last years dinner – especially
those unfortunate members whose first dinner it was. We ask members to give it another go this
year, and to help support the club’s main social function of the year.
Bargain Time
There are a lot of things on sale at the Belfry
nowadays. Lamp spares; carbide; club
badges and ties, publications; etc., many of them at prices lower than can be
obtained elsewhere. Why not enquire next
time you are at the Belfry?
Illustrations
Now that the B.B. is being produced by the offset litho
process, it is possible to include with ease any types of sketch or drawing
illustrating an article. Photographs are
too expensive, but please feel free to indulge in any form of black and white
illustration – please supply such matter FULL SIZE (i.e. the size it will actually
appear)
Alfie
The Picos De Europa
An account by MARTIN HAUAN of the
expedition to the Picos in 1971.
Last summer, I was fortunate enough to take part in an
expedition to the Picos de Europa. Those
on the trip included Don Thompson, Jim Hanwell, Fred Davies, Tim Reynolds,
Brian and Janet Woodward and myself. We
were a small party but what we lacked in size we made up for in enthusiasm.
The are we were to be visiting was the high Picos – an area
of barren limestone peaks about 7,000 feet high. Base camp was at the base of a huge amphitheatre,
some 3,000 feet high near a village called Espiamma. From the base camp, we had a climb of a
further 3,000 feet up a zigzag path to a col at 6,500 feet. From this col one could see the Vega de
Liourdes. It was a huge grass-sloped
bowl, flanked by the high peaks which were continually in cloud. There, in the bottom of the grassy
depression, was a stream meandering across the fertile pastures to enter a
black, questioning hole. This was the
Vega Swallet at an altitude of about 6,500 feet, and was what we were here
for. What followed now would be all
virgin exploration.
On Thursday, 18th August, seven of us carried up to the
Vega. In addition to tackle, we took up
overnight camping kit for four. On
arrival at the Vega, after a two hour haul up the path, most of us collapsed.
However, there across the Vega was the luring entrance of the Vega
Swallet. Tiredness overcome, we obeyed
the beckoning of the entrance and set off on a death-or-glory attempt. Wild cries of delight. The entrance was not chocked with
debris. Out came our helmets and there
all seven of us stood in the damp entrance, listening to the sound of water
booming away. Brian entered the lower
passage, which soon turned out to be a low canal. The higher passage was visited by Don, who
explored it to the head of a pitch – a wet one and about twenty feet deep. On the surface there was a hive of
activity. As it turned out, Tim and
myself were the only ones with our wet suits up there, so, begrudgingly, we let
the honour of first descent fall on us, together with a much agitated Fred, who
insisted on coming. With stinkies
burning, and the two ropes flying in front of us, we descended at such a pace
that we were moving faster than the stream! The head the first pitch was reached quickly and a rope slung down,
followed by three bodies who tried to display the art of abseiling. At the bottom, the passage doubled back on
itself with a height of about three feet. This stooping passage brought us to the head of the second pitch, again
wet and again about twenty feet deep. At
the bottom, there were two ways on~ a wet one and a dry one. The dry one was (naturally? – Ed.) chosen and
turned out to be bare tube, descending steeply to the head of the third
pitch. Up the shaft could be heard the
sound of water. Tim quickly descended to
find out what lay ahead. In a few
minutes, he returned and reported another pitch which was wet and also about
twenty feet deep.
On the next day, Friday the 19th August, Tim descended as
far as the first pitch to put in a rawlbolt and to rig a ladder on it. An hour later, Brian and myself doned wet
suits and also descended, carrying about 200 feet of ladder. We quickly passed the two wet pitches, and
the dry third pitch was soon reached. It
was found to be about ninety feet deep. At the bottom, we crawled through a blasting draught, which threatened
to put out your flame. Once through the
hole, we found ourselves up to our armpits in water at the top of the fourth
pitch. The water, which we had lost at
the top of the third pitch, entered here via a passage in the roof, from which
it fell and landed a large pool at the head of the fourth pitch. A ladder was placed on the left of the water
and the two of us descended to find ourselves in a gently sloping passage which
descended in a series of pots to the head of the fifth pitch. We lowered down some ladder and reckoned the
pitch to be about thirty five feet deep and wet. No possible belay point could be found to
ladder it relatively dry, but we came out with high spirits.
Day three in our exploration was Saturday the 20th of
August. Fred arrived early and proceeded
to gloat over us eating our very salty porridge. After a while, the bolder ones amongst us
began to change into our wet wetsuits. Brian went ahead to place a rawlbolt in at the head of the fifth
pitch. By the time we arrived at the
head of the pitch, the rawlbolt was in and the pitch was rigged. The four of us then descended – we being Tim,
Fred Brain and myself, to a large ledge which led to another about six feet
below it. From this second ledge one an
awe-inspiring view of the next pitch, which was a tube of massive bore
disappearing into spray. This pitch was
a big one and also a wet one. An anxious
discussion took place as to what we should now follow. It was during this that we found out how cold
and draughty it was at the bottom of the fifth pitch. The lack of sound of water hitting the bottom
of the big pitch only confirmed our fears that it really was big. Within a short time all available ladder was
on the pitch. It was then decided to
come out of the swallet and get warmed up before having a go at the big
pitch. On the surface, the sun made it
first appearance for days. After an hour
or so, the sun disappeared again, and it seemed a good moment to go back
underground. Abseiling most of the
pitches, the big pitch was soon reached. A lifeline was sorted out, and a jumar fixed in such a way that it would
act as a selfliner. The end of the rope
was eagerly handed to the prospective ladder-climber Brian. Finishing his tying on, Brian began to
descend the pitch. From the lifeline
stance, it looked pretty good – a large
bore tube~ twisting slight about halfway down. A while later, a single whistle blast echoed up the shaft. There followed a lapse of ten minutes or so
while the intrepid explorer disappeared down passages measureless to Wig’ as
the poet so nearly has it. Returning,
Brian reported-a square section passage in yellow limestone, descending in a
series of pots, some of them ten to fifteen feet deep. A very eventful day.
On Sunday, 21st August the same four of us awoke to a clear
blue sky for once. We festered for a
while, and then descended the hole, ready for the bottoming. The big pitch – about a hundred and fifty
feet – was a beautifully aqueous pitch, at the bottom of which was a small
boudoir with no draughts. Spirits rose
as we descended the large section passage; scrambling down on the yellow
limestone was delightful. Then, just
like that, the passage diminished in size, and the floor became slippery black
shale. Spirits sank. The passage appeared to sump. At the end, at water level, there was a canal
which struck off to the right, at the end of which was a dry by-pass to the
stream. After this, we found ourselves
at the head of a small pitch, about ten feet deep. At the bottom of this there was a tight dry
passage which Fred and I pushed. It
proved to get tighter, but an interesting thing was the draught which blew out
of it. Getting back to the ninth pitch a
ladder was placed and the four of us descended. The pitch was very wet. It was
immediately followed by another pitch of about thirty feet. At the bottom of this pitch, we found
ourselves in a large chamber, which was seemingly chocked. However, a way on was found and again the
black shale was encountered. The passage
was low and narrow and followed the line of black shale. At the end of e passage, two alternatives
presented themselves – a wet or a dry pitch. Ladder was removed from the tenth pitch and placed down the dry
pitch. At the bottom of the pitch found
ourselves in a large chamber with the water coming in at one end and leaving at
the other along a rift which had insufficient headroom for us to pursue the
stream. This was the end. Admittedly, the passage would go, and with
fantastic results no doubt. The Vega
Swallet is a compet¬itor for the worlds depth title, having a potential of
around 4,000 feet plus. Now followed the
long hard job of getting the tackle out. A brief stop at the Boudoir for food and photos, and then up the big
pitch. All tackle used in the lower part
of the pot was brought out as far as the bottom of the dry ninety-footer.
On Tuesday, 22nd of August, our final trip into the Vega
took place. This was to finish the
survey and to bring out the remainder of the tackle. While waiting for the survey party –
consisting of Don, Jim and Tim – Fred, Brian and myself decided to have a look
at the course of the water which left us at the top of the dry ninety. We reached the head of a wet unknown pitch
which Fred descended and disappeared. Meanwhile, the survey was completed and Fred was able to report a dry
passage leading off which had a pitch at its end. Tackle was lowered and the pitch desc¬ended,
only to find a pool of water with a very low duck in it. It was my misfortune to be the one to explore
it. Immersing myself, I stuck my nose in
the little airspace and felt my way in. About ten feet in, the cold water struck – turning me into a shivering
wretch who reversed a good deal faster than he had gone in. This passage Fred had found was obviously an
overflow passage for the spring melt water which must fill the whole cave. The cave itself is very cold and there is a
total lack of any type of formations. Indeed,
the cave is unique as far a we know, and any further exploration will be very
serious and very hard work.
Summary of the pitches
|
1st Pitch 2nd Pitch 3rd Pitch 4th Pitch 5th Pitch 6th Pitch 7th Pitch 8th Pitch 9th Pitch 10th Pitch 11th Pitch |
20 feet 20 feet 90 feet 20 feet 30 feet 150 feet 10 feet 10 feet 20 feet 30 feet 40 feet |
Ladder Rope Rope Ladder Ladder Ladder Ladder Ladder Ladder Ladder Ladder |
Wet Wet Dry Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet Dry Dry |
Editors Note:
A sketch from Jim Hanwells
survey of this cave will be found below.
Exhibition And Film
MIKE PALMER, who has been
organising the caving exhibition for the club, sends in this reminder.
The Caving Exhibition at
is now open. In conjunction with this, a
film is being prepared, and when it is ready for public showing, I will advise
members of the place, date and time. I
suggest that it might be a good idea for an independent review of the
exhibition to appear in the B.B. for the benefit of those who cannot get to
care to volunteer?
It is hoped to get a copy of the film to be shown on the
evening of the dinner, after the festivities.
Members Addresses.
Changes.
Tim Hodgson, Urb Montesol. Rincon
Dela
M. Clarke,
Essex.
CJ. Priddle,
Horfield,
7.
New Member.
D. Foxwell,
6QW
Library Additions
More information about what can be found in the club library
by DAVE IRWIN – our Hon. Librarian.
M.N.R.C. Newsletter No. 65
Mainly reports of club meets and
digs, though I cannot agree with the remark that
is ‘the nearest thing an average club caver will see to virgin cave.’ At the present rate of damage in that cave, I
doubt whether it will last he next five years!
Axbridge Caving Group (June).
Main item of interest is the
“Spar Pot Story” (Pt 2) together with the Grade 4 survey. Spar Pot is the new
W.S.G. Bulletin Vol 7 Nos 8 and 9
Here are two really interesting
publications. There’s too much to
isolate but surveys included are Holloch (
etc. A must for reading!
The exchange list is being increased but at the moment we
are receiving, amongst others, B.S.A. Bulletins; Chelsea S.S. Newsletter;
W.S.G. Bulletin; W.C.C. Journal; W.C.C. Occasional Publications; British Caver;
S.W.E.T.C.C.C. Journal; Axbridge Publications; M.C.G. Publications; C.R.G.
Publications; Die Hohle; Sottoterra (Bologna S.S.); M.N.R.C.; Irish S.S.;
University of Bristol Proceedings; Gloucester S.S.; S.M.C.C.
A library list is being published shortly.
GRADING MUST GO!
Some thoughts for cave surveyors.
It is not often – thank God – that the editor writes an
article. We must hope that it will be
some long time before he does it again.
There are – I hope – two good reasons for presenting this
article at this time. We are currently
running a course on cave surveying at the Belfry, at which I gave a rather poor
version of what follows (poor, because I was trying to it too general and ended
up by making it damn nigh disappear altogether). So I feel that I owe it to those who were
kind enough to listen without actually throwing things at me to present them with
what I ought to have said. The other reason is that, shortly, the C.R.G. are
once again going into print on surveying – and perhaps now is the time to
present rather a different view of the subject from that which I suspect they
will be taking.
I have been flogging the message which follows with varying
success for some time now. I use the
word varying because, on the one hands I got an almost unanimous agreement from
the Leicester audience in favour of the cave maps I was advocating but on the
other hand, nobody except Dave Irwin has actually taken up any of the ideas put
forward there and elsewhere. I have come
to the conclusion that perhaps I have been too indefinite – hence the title of
this article, which is intended to be definite and uncompromising.
A Little Potted History
In 1950, A.L. Butcher wrote a paper called ‘Cave Survey’
which was published by the C.R.G. as Publication No 3 and which laid down the
system which has been followed by the C.R.G ever since. In 1953, this was incorporated in ‘British
Caving’ – the textbook on caving sponsored by the C.R.G.
In 1963, Dennis Warburton published his work ‘On the
Accuracy of Cave Surveys’ in the Wessex Journal (Volo7, No 89, April 63) but
in spite of this, and additional doubts cast on the existing system by other
workers on Mendip, Butcher’s scheme was later re-published more or less as it
originally stood.
Now, some 23 years after Butchers paper was first written,
one hears that the latest recommendations are to be – once again –
substantially the mixture as before. It
is my contention that this insistence on the continuing status of Butcher’s
system in defiance of later facts is presenting cave surveyors from getting
down to many of the real problems and generally hampering the state of the art. The sooner, in my opinion, that cave
surveyors politely but firmly turn their backs on this system, the better.
Grading System In Brief
I am not suggesting for a moment that the system propounded
in 1950 was in any way ill thought out or badly conceived given the state of
the art as it then existed. Butcher’s
work represented a great step forward at the time, for which all credit should
go to its author. What I am concerned
about is the hanging on to this system long after it has been shown to have passed
its useful and natural lifetime.
In brief, Butcher envisaged a state in which surveyors might
have a variety of tools; time; opportunity, skill etc. at their disposals and
suggested how they might regard their results in the light of these factors. Obviously, a sketch actually done in the cave
was liable to be a bit more accurate than one drawn from memory afterwards in
the pub. The use of a knotted string and
a cheap compass should be a little better still; and a further improvement
might well be expcted if the string were replaced by a proper measuring tape
and the cheap compass by a prismatic one – and so ono.
This system gave a total of seven gradings, and the idea was
that a surveyor – by stating his grading – could give by this simple means a
good indication of the accuracy he had probably achieved. The scheme seems both sensible and very
practical – as indeed it was. In fact,
the main criticism levelled at this system in its early years; that it did not
take the surveyors skill into account, was later shown not to be valid. It is fair to say that the reasons which
finally appeared for its abandonment could not possibly have emerged until a
large number of surveys had been done it became possible to analyse them.
Warburton’s Work
This brief description of Warburtons work must only be an
outline~ since his paper itself was longer than this one. Any surveyors who are interested, or inclined
to doubt the conclusions I have drawn from it, are earnestly advised to read
the article for themselves in the Wessex Journal. What Dermis did was to take all the
instruments mentioned in the C.R.G. grades and to derive reading limits for
each of them. He then constructed graphs
showing how the overall percentage error for the various grades would appear as
a function of leg length, and went on to plot the accuracy for each grade when
the average leg length and total length of traverse were known. He then compared these graphs with 28 actual
traverses taken by a number of different surveyors in a number of different
caves whose grading was stated and known to have been correctly arrived
at. Some of his conclusions are quite
startling: –
1. The accuracy is independent of the difficulty of
the passage from the caving point of view.
2. The accuracy is almost independent of the
surveyor.
3. A reproduction of the average survey on a quarto
page is such that there is hardly any difference possible to measure between a
grade 4 and a grade 7 survey.
4. Other factors not considered, such as technique,
could easily make a grade 4 survey as accurate as a grade.7.
Dennis’s argument would appear – at first sight to state
that a surveyor, providing he knows what he is doing, will produce a survey
which is likely to be as good as anyone else’s whoever he is, whatever cave he
is surveying and whatever instruments he uses. The only other possible alternative to this is a survey of a lower
standard which is done without using instruments at all.
At this stage, one can imagine the cave surveyor wondering
whether it is all worth while. If
Denniss work is true, one can imagine him saying to himself, and a survey
already exists of a hole I was thinking of surveying, then – unless the
previous surveyor was incompetent – his survey, whatever grade he claimed for
it, is likely to be good enough for all practical purposes. In that case, I am wasting my time repeating
this work. Since all Mendip caves have
been surveyed by someone or other in the past, there is really nothing left for
me to do!
Possibly at this stage, the tempter appears and whispers in
our surveyors ear “Dennis was wrong! Ignore this work! Stick to the
old, well-tried system! Then you can
find some existing survey which is only to grade 5 or so and re-survey it to
grade 7. That way, you will have some
useful work to do and everyone will be able to see that you’ve done it. Your use of the higher magic number will
convince even the hardest hearted.
This type of argument is, happily, both wrong and
unnecessary. Far from being a played-out
subject, there is probably more to do to-day than there has ever been. The reason for the title of this article is
not because the grades have been shown to be largely illusory. If that was all, it would hardly matter
whether grading stayed or went. The
reason why it must be firmly rejected by cave surveyors is that it is
preventing surveyors from looking at areas in which the real problems of today
are to be found.
Technique
In 1950, most surveyors imagined that increases of basic
accuracy would be dictated by the instruments used and that future improvements
would come about by refining those instruments. In fact, all the increases have come about by better techniques. Two examples will show what I mean. The ‘Leapfrog’ method of surveying has the enormous
advantage of removing the error due to having to reposition every survey
station. This station error was ignored
by early surveyors and yet came be shown to swamp instrument errors in many
cases. Before leapfrogging was invented,
all survey stations were points effectively in mid air. Now, they can be accurately positioned points
on the cave wall.
The second example is the realisation that all errors must
be consistent., When Don Coase started
the first Cuthberts survey, we started at what was the sump and, under the
impression that we would increase our accuracy, went all the way to the top of
the Great Gour in a single measurement. Had we known it, we could have got a better answer by breaking up this
long leg into smaller ones. There are
other ways of improving technique other than the two I have mentioned, but I
will not take up space by describing them. The point is that there is still plenty of room for further
improvements, and this is a field which might well attract the surveyor of the
future.
But to what end? Hasn’t Dennis already shown that surveys are mostly good enough as they
stand? Aren’t we merely splitting hairs?
Motivation
Before this can be answered, we must distinguish between
surveying for its own sake and surveying aimed primarily at some user. Until now, surveyors have always worked on
the basis that they are doing a useful job for other cavers, but how true is
this in some instances? If a surveyor
produces a slightly more accurate survey of, say, Swildons, does this really
constitute a major breakthrough? How
many other cavers does this improvement really affect?
It should be admitted that there is nothing wrong or
shameful in the idea of making improvements for their own sake, even if they
have no immediate usefulness. To the
mathematically minded caver, such improvements could well be interesting in
their own right. Any theoretical work is
bound to have practical applications sooner or later and, in the meantime, if
it is published, it is ready for use when the time comes.
On the other hand, the surveyor who is more concerned with
the usefulness of his work rather than with the work itself may well have to
move away from the traditional surveying field and enter new and, I think,
equally rewarding regions where he concentrates on presentation methods,
information display and the like. There
is, of course, no reason why any individual should not take part in both types
of work, but it would do no harm if the surveyor always made sure in his own
mind what his real aims were. Is his
survey an exercise in better tools for the future, or better maps the present?
Survey Work In The Future
Now that we have all the cards on the table, let us see what
could well be the profitable lines for future cave surveying work to take. It might be as wells before doing so, to list
the major points raised so far: –
1. Grading numbers mean damn-all. As Dennis says, ” We need an answer in
feet, or degrees, or percentages – not in vague generalities,” if we wish
to specify the accuracy of a cave survey.
2. Surveys tend to be of high or low accuracy
only. The surveyor who sets out to do a
reasonable survey usually gets there. Nobody really takes all the trouble to use knotted strings, cheap
compasses and home made clinos when they could use better methods in less
time. The only real alternative to the
use of sensible instruments and methods is to use none at all and to call the
result a sketch.
3. Techniques are at least as important as
instruments. The implications of this
are self evident.
4. Most surveys are as accurate as they need to
be. Remember that, unless a user
actually takes a scale to a survey, he is in no position to quibble about the
exact degree of accuracy achieved.
5. Surveying can be carried out as an end in itself
or as a means to an end. An one would
thus expect the work of some surveyors to affect only other surveyors.
From these points, a list of useful work for the future can
be drawn up. What follows is merely my
own. List, but no doubt it can be expanded considerably. At any rate, I think that it shows
considerable scope for the surveyors of the future, even if’ there is nothing
added to it.
A) Somebody wants to sort out and publish sensible
methods so that, by using them, any surveyor can specify his accuracy, given
the apparatus and the techniques used. Then, surveys can be rated in terms of actual estimated errors rather
than in gradings.
B) Somebody wants to work out how much more
accurate a survey could be, using all the latest methods, and then decide
whether this represents a sufficient improvement over some existing surveys to
warrant a re-survey to stated and increased accuracy.
C) Somebody wants to look into the technique of the
low accuracy sketch (since this is the only other meaningful survey method) and
to work out methods which would be of use to surveyors who are forced to use
this method owing to the need for speed. (Foreign caves, where time is very limited; new caves where some sort of
sketch is wanted at once, etc.) These
techniques could be proved by making such a sketch of a Mendip cave and
comparing it with a survey. Times could
also be compared. There could be quite a
subject here.
D) Somebody wants to do a lot more work on
techniques aimed not only at higher accuracy but at greater surveying speed;
more complete coverage of the cave shape: etc. It might be possible to combine this with new instrument ideas (light
projection on to target stations, etc.)
E) Within the scope of conventional surveys,
somebody wants to decide whether re-surveying some caves might not be a good
idea for other reasons beside accuracy. Better methods of layout etc., might wake a new survey more easy to
follow.
F) Outside the scope of conventional surveys,
somebody wants to produce maps aimed at telling the caver as much as possible
about the cave. When I travel abroad, I
spend some time poring over the Cartes Michelin; which not only tell me how far
it is and which direction to aim in, but also where there are obstacles to be
avoided or overcome; where I might see interesting scenery; what sort of road I
can expect, and a host of other details – all in an easy-to-read form.
To conclude, whether surveying gradually dies or blossoms
out into exciting new channels depends very much attitude of cave surveyors
since the caving public will probably accept, with varying degrees of
reluctance, what, they are given in the way of surveys and maps. It seems to me that the continuance of
systems which are now long outdated by subsequent facts is hardly the best way
to ensure the continuance of interest in cave surveying.
Insurance For Cave Rescuers
We extract the following from the recent report of the Hon.
Sec and Treasurer of the M.R.O.
July 1971 the Horne Office recommended to the police
authorities that they should insure those who, at the request of the police or
by arrangement with them, take part in search or rescue operations. In August, I wrote to the Chief Constable of
Somerset about this and as a result of correspondence, the following
arrangement shave emerged: –
Through the
have taken out an insurance policy for personal accident insurance whereby
benefits are payable for injury or death up to a maximum of £10,000. The cover is for rescue personnel either
above or below ground during the rescue. There is NO cover for (a) mileage expenses, (b) having a car smash going
to the rescue, (c) third party damages and (d) loss of earnings or (e) Cave
rescue practices. Car accidents should
be covered by ordinary insurance policies. Regarding (c) I made the point that we were very keen for third party
cover to be included as damages can be very expensive even though there is
little likelihood of a claim being successfully pressed. But the Chief Constable on the advice of the
said that they could not go beyond the Horne Office recommendation.
IT FOLLOWS FROM THIS THAT THE POLICE MUST BE NOTIFIED IN ALL
CASES WHERE CAVE RESCUE OPERATIONS ARE UNDERTAKEN, EVEN THE MOST TRIVIAL, AS
OTHERWISE THERE IS NO INSURANCE COVER FORT THE RESCUERS. I have circulated details to all the other
cave rescue organisations.
At the Belfry
A review of what goes on at the Belfry by our Hut Warden,
JOCK ORR.
Did you know that Luke Devenish’s daughter Colleen did her
first caving trip at the age of eighteen days in a rucksack down Swildons
nineteen years ago? Neither did I until
Sybil Bowden-Lyle mentioned it whilst entertaining a spellbound audience in the
sun outside the Belfry. Surely she must
be about the youngest caver ever (Not Sybil; Colleen!)
Which reminds me that Sybil is putting on a slide show at
the Belfry on Saturday August 5th after the Hunters. It is all about
there is a war going on). She also has
slides of the island of (Sorry, I cant read the next word Jok! – Editor) where
nobody is permitted to photograph a woman on pain of instant execution.
You may already know about it by the time you read this, but
it is worth noting that Roger Stenner’s second lecture on cave chemistry takes
place at the Belfry on the 30th of July (and will, unfortunately have taken
place by the time this B.B, is out – Editor.) His first lecture was attended to capacity, as was reported in a
previous issue of the B.B. This time,
Roger hopes to pulverise rocks on the Belfry table and analyse the results in
test tubes.
R.A. Setterington (Sett to most club members) will be
lecturing on Maps and their uses on Saturday 12th of August at 7.30 pm. When you think about it, theres more to maps
than just finding your way around, and although I may not know what the R.A.
stands for, I do know that Sett will be giving an informative talk on what you
can use maps for.
Highlight of the Barbecue:- Alan Thomas sat on a new club
member – the lad who was carrying him across the bonfire.
The survey course finished on the 23rd of July with the
trainee surveyors down Rods Pot. I am
sure that all the people who regularly attended the course will agree with me
in expressing a vote of thanks to Dave Irwin for a most instructive and
interesting series of lectures.
Tony Tucker, recently arrived new member and squatter’s
rights on Prattle Pot, has signed another five year stint in the army.
Six Swiss Beruer Hoblenforscher with two wives and two
children stayed for a couple of nights at the Belfry. The B.H. badge is a black bear with bat is
wings – trademark a club which has a continental reputation for having a
professional approach to caving. Their
equipment is immaculate by our standards, and they cave as a team. B.E.C. Caving Secretary Tim Large took them
down to Sump I in Swildons on a three and a half hour trip. Although it was in the middle of the week,
and nobody else was in the cave, it took ten matches to get a cigarette to glow
on account of the mobile carbide furnaces carried by the B.H. having burned up
all the available oxygen.
Martin Bishop and his diving companions have commenced a clearing
operation in Mineries Pool. They report
a mass deposit of silt and assorted rubbish and have so far reaped about four
hundredweight of weeds!
I dont want to appear to be continuously on about WORK,
will only mention that repairs to the carbide store are now completed and that
re-puttying of the Belfry windows is under way. The interior of the Belfry has been paint and some fuel has been laid in
for the winter.
Thank you – all concerned.
*****************************************
DONT FORGET THE DATE OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND
DINNER!
OCTOBER 7TH MAKE A NOTE OF THE DATE!
Monthly Crossword Number 24.
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1. By-product of 2 down often
seen, alas, as writing on the wall! (9)
6. Alternate spelling of last word of Mendip cave. (4)
7. Cavers go this caves. (4)
8. Hall in Hilliers. (3)
10. Last word in illuminant description?. (3)
11. Low water level? (3)
12. Last syllable of local caving county. (3)
14. Accessory necessary for Nife or
lamp. (4)
15. Cave pearls, for example, (4)
16. Egg is tool; for student of rocks. (9)
Down:
2. Produces 1 across. (9)
3. If lifelines do this, one is heading for a fall. (4)
4. Alternative to 6 across. (4)
5. Scrub the T for this well-known hole. (9)
9. Awkward moments underground may seem to take this. (3)
12. Might be followed by act or A.G.M.? (4)
13. Short cave dweller? (4)
Solution To Last Months Crossword
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