QUODCUMQUE  FACIENDUM : NIMIS  FACIEMUS

Editorial

New Brooms

Inspection of the new list of club officers will reveal that
quite a high proportion of jobs are now in new hands.  The list starts with our new Hon.  Secretary – Dave Irwin who now holds what
many people regard as the most important office in the club.  Next, we have both a new Hut Warden in Colin
Dooley and a new Belfry Engineer in John Dukes. Taken together, these positions affect the club to no small extent.  Finally, by a unanimous vote of the new
committee, Chris Howell was co-opted as Publications Editor.  Although this job is not one of those named
in the constitution as being jobs which must be done by members of the
committee, it was felt that since the Publications Editor turns over almost as
much money as does the Belfry, this was a position which should be in the
committee.

I am sure that we all wish our new officers and perhaps the
old ones as well – every success in their difficult tasks, and look forward to
some really encouraging report at the end of this club year

Membership Secretary

One of the decisions already taken by the new committee is
to concentrate all matters of membership in the hands of a membership
secretary.  Talent scouts are already out
looking for a suitable person, so if any reader feels that he or she could cope
with the job of keeping complete tabs on members, please get in touch with the
Hon, Sec. or any member of the committee.

Dinner

It is hoped to include of the dinner elsewhere an account in
this B.B.  In the meantime, is worth
noting that it must surely rank amongst the most successful that the club have
ever held.  Your editor has attended
every one of the twenty five dinners the club has so far held, and has a job to
remember a better one than the latest. Plenty of good food; good service; drinks at sensible prices and, going
by the comments made to him afterwards, an entertainment which was well
received.  If we can keep up this new
high standard, we might well see many faces coming back who have been recently
increasing the number of ‘absent friends’

Forty Years On!

This year sees the 40th anniversary of the founding of the
Wessex Cave Club, to whom we should like to offer our sincere congratulations
on this event and our best wishes for the future.  When one considers the number of new clubs
which are currently being formed every year, one wonders how many of these will
survive to the respectable age now attained by the

Wessex.

On a lighter note, the current issue of the Wessex Journal
lists the B.E.C. amongst the natural catastrophes already surmounted by the

Wessex.  We hope that this offering will be accepted
in the friendly spirit in which it was written even though it is not, perhaps,
quite what they might have had in mind for a celebratory song.  It goes to the tune of ‘Forty Years On!’
which any
Wessex member who
has been to
Harrow should have no difficulty
in remembering.

Forty years on! since that
terrible blunder
Which older members still dimly recall:
When we look back, we regretfully wonder
Why did we bother to found it at all?
Were we too hasty, too rash or ill-fated
Founding the Wessex; when otherwise we
Might well have sat back and patiently waited
Till we could all join the B.E.C.

Roll up, roll up, roll up, roll up, roll up
For it’s never too late to begin
To, fill an application form in
Roll up!

                        “Alfie

Notices

Climbers may use the S.W.M.C. hut by arrangement with
club.  Any climber who wishes to do so
should contact climbing Secretary, Gerry Oaten, for details.

There will be a meeting in Mid-December at the Belfry for
any members who are interested in going abroad next year.  Further details in next month’s B.B.  The idea is to see who is planning what and
whether a definite club expedition will be possible.

Members are reminded not to lend Belfry keys out to
strangers.  Doing so can lead to loss of
club tackle.

Anyone prepared to lead caving trips anywhere should get in
touch with Andy or Tim so that a full programme can be arranged.

 

Tatham Wife Hole

An account of this cave
by Derek Sanderson and Roger Wing

Length: 2100’+ Depth: 509′ N.G.R. 733 746 ( Sheet 90 )

After parking the car at God’s Bridge Rising in Chapel le
Dale, Derek Sanderson and myself packed our rucksacks with caving gear and set
off up the footpath by Bold Haw (not shown on the one inch map).  The cave was found after about an hour and a
quarter’s walk over the lower slopes of Ingleborough.  It is in a shakehole with a small stream
running out of the banks into the cave entrance.

The entrance to the cave slopes steeply, with a pebble and
boulder scree floor which slips underfoot. After a short climb down, the development becomes quite high and roomy
and leads into sharp meanders in clean, lightly coloured rock.  These meanders follow on until the stream
falls over a 30′ pot (30′ ladder, short belay to bolt).  The stream, although small (on this occasion)
falls straight on to the ladder but the pitch, in a fluted alcove, is a superb
one, the water adding to the pleasure. This pitch is quickly followed by another of 40′ (40′ ladder, 5′ belay
to small column at eye level on right). The pitch is again wet and consists of a smooth descent of 28′ to a wide
ledge from which a further 10′ drop leads to the floor of the shaft.

From here, the passage is initially roomy, but soon a sharp
joint-controlled left turn leads to a crawl on a very smooth, clean rock floor
with the stream flowing over black pebbles to one side.  After a short section of larger passage, one
enters a further section of crawling but this time the atmosphere of the
passage is different, the floor being pebbly and uncomfortable, winding through
rough, close walls which catch one’s clothes as one passes.  After about a hundred feet of this, progress
is halted at the head of the third pitch.

The third pitch is also a wet 30′ (30′ ladder, short belay
to bolt) and leads to a chamber with a narrow rift to the left.  This is the head of the 30′ ramp – a superb
piece of cave consisting of a smooth slide down a near vertical cleft about two
feet wide.  The stream also flows over
this ramp.

Most of the cave from this point on is fault-controlled and
from the base of the ramp the passage is quieter.  After a short distance of narrow rift passage
with evidence of a thick calcite vein along the fault line, one soon reaches
the Duck, a low section which is tight rather than wet.  Immediately after the Duck, the rift becomes
too narrow to follow at stream level, and it becomes necessary to traverse
above the stream for about thirty feet until it becomes possible to climb down
into a wider part of the passage where the roof rises to a height of about
fifty feet.  On the right of this handsome
passage is an alcove, behind which is an inviting side passage which soon
closes down among boulders after some distance of deep calf wading.

Back in the main stream passage and about 300′ past the side
passage, is the final 25′ pot (25′ ladder, short belay) which is probably the
wettest pitch of all – the ladder hanging in the full force of the stream.  The surface of this pot is also more broken
than the others, making it more difficult to climb the ladder.

From the deep pool at the base of the pitch, the passage
continues as a wide, towering rift with some shallow canal sections, until the
roof lowers to form a crawl in slow-moving clear, cold water with ducks under
formations.  From here, the water
gradually becomes deeper and the walls become darker and close in.  Little alcoves cause the water to make those
eerie glooping noises, and in this fashion the passage peters out into the sump
at the remarkable depth of just over 500′ below the surface.  The sump has been successfully dived, as
described in the S.M.C.C. Journal (Vol. 5, No.5, 1973)

Although not as severe as sane longer
Yorkshire
pots, the cave is still strenuous and should not be treated lightly.  Our tackle consisted of 6 – 25′ ladders, a
life line, a 50′ handline for the Ramp, which meant that the trip was just
possible for two people.  We surfaced
after almost four hours, feeling very satisfied.  Under high water conditions the Duck and the
Ramp probably become impassable, and lifelines would be essential on all the
pitches.

NOTES ON SIMPSON’S POT

The following day, we met up with Keith Sanderson and Bob
Harper (both

Wessex)
and abseiled through Simpson’s Pot.  This
trip has been reported before in the B.B., but some additional points might be
worth making.

1.                  The rawlbolt on one of the pitches (31′ Carol
Pot, I think) has come out, so a flake of rock has to serve as a belay
point.  Care has to be taken not to jam
the abseil rope.

2.                  There is no bolt on the 25′ Aven Pot either and
one has to use a rock flake again, and the same precaution applies.

3.                  No bolt on 13′
Lake
Pot, and we didn’t find a suitable belay point from which we could retrieve the
rope, so we chimney down the top half of the pitch and then jumped!

4.                  The top of the 80′ Slit Pot is as awkward as
ever!

(A plan of Tatham Wife Hole will be found below. – Ed.)

 

 

Financial Statement for the Year to the thirty first of July 1974

Subscriptions Belfry   Club Ties & Car Badges Telephone   Tackle   C.C.C. Permits etc. Donation	Receipts Less Expenditure Sales Contributions Less Charges Fees Less Expenditure	£ 535.67 £ 245.15   £   58.74 £   54.21 £     7.67 £     1.44	£ 380.15   £ 290.52 £     5.00   £    4.35   £    6.23 £  10.53 £    9.75
			£ 706.31

 

Postages And Stationery Publications	Stationery & Printing B.B. Postage   Less sales	£  311.71 £    62.94 £  374.65 £  134.92	£  15.83
Annual Dinner	Receipts Less cost	£  218.75 £  232.54	£   13.79
Library			£   14.06
Car Badges	Purchases Less Sales	£   14.48 £   11.00	£   14.06
Carbide and Spares	Purchases Less Sales	£   43.25 £     7.14	£   36.11
Public Liability Insurance. Income Tax Cambrian C.C. Council Northern C.C. Council Southern C. C. British Cave Research Assoc A.G.M. refreshments Ian Dear memorial Fund grants			£   47.30 £     7.50 £     3.00 £     2.00 £     0.50 £     3.00 £    11.00 £    90.00
Surplus For The Year			£  483.82 £  222.89
			£  706.71
General Accumulated Add Surplus For The Year	FUNDS @  31.7.73		£ 485.25 £ 222.89
General Accumulated I.D.M.F. to Building Society   Interest on April 1st 1974	FUNDS @  31.7.74		£ 708.14   £ 348.04 £     8.12
			£ 356.16
Lloyds Bank Ltd Current Account Cash in hand			£ 578.37 £ 129.77
TOTAL CUB MONIES @ 31.7.72			£ 708.14

Club Officer’s Report – 1974 Notes to Financial Statement
(Hon. Treasurer’s Report.)

1.         Firstly, I must state that the accounts are made
up and detailed as in previous years.  My
intention was to gain experience in operating the club accounts before I
carried out the Hon. Auditor’s suggestion of giving a more detailed statement.

2.         Late this year, the Ian Dear Memorial Fund
Committee approved three applications for grants to members travelling
abroad.  As the I.D.M. Fund is held in a
building society in

London,
and the grants were required at short notice, it was necessary to draw them on
general club funds.  The grants
therefore, are shown in the statement as a debit, although next years account
will show this money as a repayment to the club’s general monies, from the
I.D.M. Fund.

3.         During the current year we were strongly advised
by our insurance brokers that our public liability insurance cover of £50,000
was inadequate.  On this advice, our
cover was increased to £100,000.  This
is, of course, resulting in a higher premium for year.  There is a possibility that the cover may to
be increased again during the coming year.

4.         This year’s carbide and lamp spares etc. account
is shown as making a loss.  This was due
to late purchase of lamp spares totalling £23.25 the sales from which will be
credited in next years’ account.

5.         The Belfry Insurance cover of £5,000 has been
increased to a more realistic figure of £12,000.

6.         The apparent deficit in the publication
stationery & printing account of £311.71 is not as bad as it seems because
a large outstanding bill of £171.14 from the previous year was paid during the
current year, making this years account more realistic.

Barrie

Wilton, Hon.
Treasurer.

 

Club Officer’s Report – 1974 – Tacklemasters Report

The tackle situation is at present as follows: –

The GENERAL TACKLE STORE holds

100′ of lightweight ladder

150′ of standard ladder

290′ of rope.

The RESERVE TACKLE STORE holds   

225′ of lightweight ladder

355′ of rope.

Some 700′ of rope is about to be brought into service and
this includes 500′ of new polypropylene; 150′ of lightweight ladder and 165′ of
standard ladder is under repair and should be in service again in
September.  A further 500′ of nylon rope
is to be purchased by Christmas and about 100′ of ladder is to be manufactured
along with several tethers.

60′ OF LADDER AND
200′ OF ROPE ARE MISSING.

It should be remembered that the Tacklemaster’s job is not
simply to maintain existing tackle, but also to make or buy new equipment in
order to increase our stock to cope with the demand made by more cavers going
further a field in more difficult and complex systems.  However, time and the apparently excessive
wear on tackle have so far combined to preclude the manufacture of new
equipment.

A great deal more care must be taken with all tackle, both
above and below ground.  Ropes should not
be trodden on.  Ladders should be
lowered, not dropped.  If ladders snag –
especially when being carried in narrow passages – they should be removed
carefully and not pulled off.  Much
damage is done to eyes at ladder ends; wires, and even rungs and the only
possible cause is the dropping of heavy objects, such as rocks, on top of
tackle.  All our tethers are badly
kinked, because insufficient care has been taken in selecting belays.

Back on the surface, ladders and ropes are not always washed
thoroughly.  It is important to remove
mud from ladders, as it retains moisture and promotes corrosion.  Ropes should be very thoroughly washed to
remove grit one quick dip in the pool is not good enough.

The amount of ladder under repair, and the number of ropes
that have been written off this year, are disturbing.  Please take note of all that has been said
above.

Some tackle has been lost, and this should never happen
without its being accounted for. However, tackle has been borrowed by non-club members and not
returned.  In one instance, members of a
Yeovil club were lent a Belfry key, and they subsequently borrowed a large
amount of Belfry tackle.  One of the
ladders borrowed was not returned, and this was not missed until one of the
Priddy villagers found it on the Upper Green.

Some tackle is borrowed without its being signed out and
some is not always signed back.  Tackle
is all too frequently left lying about the Belfry or in the drinking pool.  Little wonder that tackle gets lost!

NON-CLUB MEMBERS MAY NOT BORROW OUR TACKLE UNDER
NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES UNLESS A CLUB MEMBER IS IN THE
PARTY.  BELFRY KEYS SHOULD NOT BE LENT
INDISCRIMINATELY.

Where tackle is left at the top of a pitch, or possibly used
by other parties as well, the standard weight ladder should be used, as wear is
less apparent.  Swildons 20 is a case in
point.

So much for wear and tear on, and loss of, tackle.  In spite of what has been said, the situation
is not as bad as it appears, as very little money has been spent on the tackle
recently.  The attempt to save money by
having tellurite pressed on by friends in the trade has failed, as four to five
months waiting have shown.  Although the
present 315 feet of ladder, together with some new ladder all requiring
tellurite will still be finished locally, in future, pressing for ladders and
tethers will either be done professionally (and we shall have to pay some £1.50
for this per ladder) or we shall use our own tellurite press, which we acquired
recently and which is at present undergoing repair.

Some of the digging tackle has been seriously misused this year,
with instances of digging ropes being used as lifelines.  Digging ropes are identified by black
markings on their ends, in addition to the blue B.E.C. identification
marks.  PLEASE NOTE THIS and do not use
any rope so marked as a lifeline. Digging tackle should be signed out in the usual way where
possible.  There is no abundance of
digging tackle, so look after it – especially on site.  If it is to be left on a digging site over a
period of time, let the Tacklemaster know. This applies also to ordinary tackle left underground, as happens
frequently on exploratory trips.

Many people seem to be unaware of the existence of the
reserve tackle store.  The equipment in
this store is especially for trips to other areas, and includes all the ultra
lightweight ladder.  It has been used
only five times this year.  The
Tacklemaster MUST know if any equipment is required for expeditions, in order
to ensure that 100′ of ladder and appropriate lifelines are left available for
general use on Mendip.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the nameless few (how I
wish I could say ‘hordes’!) who have helped and offered to help with tackle
manufacture and maintenance, or have proffered advice, or even donated tackle.

Graham Wilton-Jones.
Tacklemaster.

 

Round and About

A Monthly Miscellany

By ‘Wig’

128.   News from the North:  Since the rescue from Birks Fell early in the
year, relations between the farmer and landowner and cavers seem to be
deteriorating.  Cavers were prevented
from entering the cave until May 1974. The position is being reviewed again at the end of October.  A rumour is circulating that access is
difficult to both Strans Gill and Pasture Gill.  Confirmation is still awaited.

Difficulty is being experienced at Monge Gill as the cave is not
properly gated.  Bookings for Gingling
Hole should be made as soon as possible for 1975 as the cave has been
closed due to a misunderstanding with the owner.  Members visiting any of the pots on Penyghent
should ensure that they call on the game keeper, George Perfect at Brackenbottom
before they descend.  Magnetometer Pot
is unsafe due to corroded oil drums lining the shaft.

Access to Pippikin is not restricted to any part of the year (as is
other parts of the dales for grouse shooting). This is conditional on cavers approaching the cave from Bullpot Farm and
not from the Leek Fell road during the grouse breeding season.  From Bullpot Farm, proceed via

County
Pot
or Scales Ram keeping to the paths to avoid damage to the grass and moor land
grips.

Cherry Tree Hole is still closed. Pikedaw Mine will be re-opened as soon as the lid is completed
and there will be unrestricted access.

Special Weather forecasts. C .N.C.C. have arranged to display weather forecast
notices outside the Youth Hostel in Kettlewell. Finally, work on a new edition of the Northern cave handbook is well
under way.

129.   News from

Wales:  Like the C.N.C.C., the Cambrian C.C. is
producing a new publication.  The ‘Red
Dragon’ is a journal – the first I believe to be published by a regional body.  Price 30p, it has 64 pages of A4.  Packing and postage is 10.5p.  Available from Frank Baguley, 15 Elm Grove,
Gadlys, Aberdare, Glam. CF44 8DN.  Access
to Agen Allwedd is now conditionally open again following the inquest on the
death of Roger Solari on July 1974.

130.   Social: Congratulations to Doug Stuckey. Word has filtered through the grapevine that Doug is now the father of a
bouncing baby boy.  Has anyone heard any
thing of Sybil?  The last we heard is
that she was in

Uganda
and political events in that country may have made life difficult for her.  Perhaps someone could drop her a line to find
out how she is?   Frank ‘Dustbin’ Darbon
was at the dinner and generally around Mendip during early October.  He was on an extended holiday from

Canada. 
Keith Murray
and Frank Jones both managed to attend the dinner by the skin of their teeth
due to the late sailing of their ships. Frank is off to
Japan
and Keith to

Ghana.
Nigel Taylor is being silenced and is entering the police force and I
understand he is being posted to the
St. Paul’s
area of

Bristol.  Graham Robinson tells us that Sago is in
hospital again with a stomach ulcer this time. He certainly has had a run of bad luck and we hope he soon recovers.  On the same subject, Tony Corrigan’s leg is
still giving him trouble, and we hope that this too will soon clear up.

131.   St. Cuthbert’s Swallet – Report and
Survey:  The now well-known and long
overdue report on St. Cuthbert’s is so planned to be the most comprehensive
report that has ever been produced for any cave in the country including
Lancaster/Easegill and O.F.D.  The whole
report is designed to be published in fifteen parts – to produce it in one
volume would have proved prohibitive. Altogether it is at least 350 pages and some 30 surveys will be included
together with a number of photographs (not necessarily of pretties, but
interesting features of the cave).  The
parts are as follows:-

Caving Report Number 13:

·        Part A Discovery & Exploration.  Published. Now out of print.

·        Part B Complete Survey.

·        Part C Description and detailed survey of Old
and New Routes.

·        Part D Main Chambers.

·        Part E Rabbit Warren.  Published. Still in print.

·        Part F Gour Hall Area. Published.  Still in Print.

·        Part G Cerberus & Maypole Series.

·        Part H Rabbit Warren Extension.  Published. In print

·        Part I September Series.

·        Part J Long Chamber & Canyon Series.

·        Part K Rocky

Boulder Series.

·        Part L Geological Notes.

·        Part M Hydrological Notes.

·        Part N Flora & Fauna.

·        Part O Miscellaneous information and
Bibliography.  (Published – now out of
print.)

Already, many members have
booked the whole range of the report – and members who have not yet done so
should contact the Publications Editor. When all the parts of the report are published, those who want the whole
lot to be bound as a complete book can send them back to the club and have them
bound in rexine.  Ten copies, being bound
in leather and rexine, have already been sold.

132.   Corrections:  Two recent pieces of information must be
corrected.  Terry Baker’s digging site
near the Mells valley is NOT the site as mentioned in para 118.  This is being dug by Willie Stanton.  Baker’s dig is apparently further down the
valley and much higher and is mainly archaeological.  More details later.  The second piece of information which needs t
to be brought up to date refers to Cowsh Avens (111.)  The hoped-for breakthrough to the surface has
NOT been agreed to by the

Maine
family, and there is little hope of it ever being opened in the near or longer
term future.  The latest W.C.C. Journal
has an entertaining article by Fred Davies on the Cowsh marathon.  Copies are in the club library.

 

Notes On Polypropylene

by the Tacklemaster.

Five hundred feet of staple-spun polypropylene rope of an
inch and a half circumference, is to be added to the reserve tackle store.

This rope will be in three lengths.  Two ropes of a hundred and twenty five feet
each and one of two hundred and fifty feet. The rope is intended for use as lifeline ONLY.  It is definitely NOT suitable for abseiling,
and indeed, could be DANGEROUS if so used, as it has a rather low melting point
compared with that of nylon.  It is not
good as a climbing lifeline either – whether on the surface or underground – as
it has only a 23% stretch at breaking point.

In addition to these disadvantages, it can easily twist
itself into all manner of knots, if not handled with care – especially when
being coiled.  It is coiled more easily
by allowing the free end to hang over a pitch so that it can untwist.  Although I see many arguments over this
choice of rope, I hope that members will soon discover for themselves certain
advantages, not the least of which is the cost.

Editor’s
Note:     I bought thirty fathoms of a similar rope last year for use as an
anchor rope.  It is proved very good in
service except for this habit of tying itself into all manner of knots at the
slightest provocation.  I solved the
problem by winding it over two pegs, crossing the rope on every turn round the
pegs.  This puts an opposite twist into
every alternate turn of the rope, so twists never build up in one
direction.  With very long ropes, such as
those described by Graham, it might pay to have a simple and light weight frame
built up, so that the rope can be coiled up on it in this fashion.  If you have a top bar which can go over the
pegs after coiling, this will prevent the rope from coming off while carrying
through a cave.

 

Personal Reflections on Climbing

Pete Sutton sends us this hard
hitting contribution on the Climbing Section. Perhaps we shall get a suitable reply?

It seems that the Climbing Section – like the Liberals have
taken a slight setback in recent times, although I think the picture is not as
black as might have been portrayed,

Although a considerable portion of the Climbing Section has
definitely stagnated, several of us have actually carried on the tradition of
climbing.  This must be to the amazement
of some others, who have taken to dancing on horizontal floors instead of up
vertical walls.

One thing that has been sadly missed is the tradition of the
Climbing Section going away together on Bank Holiday weekends.  Excepting Easter weekend, which was a
combined caving, climbing and drinking weekend – not necessasarily in that
order – the majority of the Climbing Section elected not to uphold old
traditions of the B.E.C in having climbing weekends, but rather to following
new ‘old’ traditions of a more uniformed nature, B.E.C. ties were left behind.  The group did manage a weeks summer holiday
in Pembrokeshire and
N. Wales, but the less
said about that, the better.

Even so, the Climbing Section was represented in
N. Wales at Whitsun and experienced excellent weather,
good camping and fine climbing.  Ivy
Sepulchre (190′ H.V.S.) was climbed on the Cromlech in

Llanberis
Pass
and several good V.S.’s done on Craig-y-Ulenalt, Snowdon South.  One in particular proved quite exciting with
two hard pitches and exposed third pitch.

As Gerry mentioned in his climbing report, Thursday evening
climbing again took place this year in the Avon Gorge. The terribly wet weather
through the summer months – it always seemed to rain on Thursday evenings – had
its bad effect on climbing, but even so it was disappointing previous regulars
couldn’t always find the time to come along.

Here, I feel that I must sound a note of warning.  The few remaining members who are active
climbers cannot, and will not forever be loners.  Already, substantial moves have been made
away from the club in an effort to broaden the sphere of activity.  A number of trips have been made recently
with the Egons Climbing Club – a club incidentally which does not limit its
climbing on Sundays to the Avon Gorge and which does not take the view that if
you can’t climb H.V.S. – then tough luck! Instead, it travels to places some people might have never been to, like
Chudleigh Gower, Symond’s Yat, Cefn Coed, Maelstrom Quarries etc, and caters
for beginners; moderates or hard climbers. As individuals, they also make outsiders welcome and able to feel one of
them almost immediately – a feature which has been sadly lacking amongst our
own Climbing Section.

Still, we mustn’t end on a note of gloom.  Three or four more active climbers are on the
books, and it’s up to us, both active climbers and stagnated ones (sorry about
that!) to make them feel welcome and transform the B.E.C. Climbing Section once
more into an active, lively and social group, within the general structure of
the club as a whole.  I feel also that
much greater liaison will occur between B.E.C. and other climbing groups which
I am sure can only be beneficial to the participants.

Editor’s
Note:     Well, there you are, climbers! It seems that, to one of your number at least, all is not as well as it
might be.  Ever since the B.B. was first
produced in 1947, it has been enriched by tales of the exploits of club
climbers – from the early episodes of the Menace (John Morris); ‘Orrible Orren;
Ron (Holler-in-the-night) Newman, and many other equally colourful people, not
forgetting the ubiquitous ‘Kangy’ King. Perhaps one answer might be to encourage more ‘all-rounders’ like Kangy,
and have more interaction between cavers and climbers.  Any further correspondence on this subject
would be welcome, since one of the functions of the B.B. is to enable club
members to air their views on subjects such as this.

 

Book Reviews

Historic Cornish
Mining Scenes Underground – D.B. Barton (First Published 1967.)

‘Mongst Mines and
Miners – J.C. Burrow and L. Thomas (First published 1893, Reprinted 1965)

Although at first sight deep mining in Cornwall for copper
and tin appears to have little in common with lead mining on Mendip, the above
two publications give an interesting insight into what life must have been like
underground for the eighteenth and nineteenth century miner.  Both books, or rather booklets, are full of
first class photographs taken before the turn of the century both above and
below ground in the Cornish mines and both contain lucid accounts of the mining
techniques of the day.  Apart from the
obvious variations due to the scale of mining in Cornwall when compared with
that on Mendip, the techniques illustrated must compare closely with these used
in the Mendip lead mines in their heyday.

Both books are published by D. Bradford Barton Ltd., of

Truro at 65p and 75p
respectively; and are to be thoroughly recommended to anyone with an interest
in old mining.

C.H.

Book reviews are always welcome, and the editor will be
pleased to publish any more that come his way.

CHRISTMAS B.B.  It is
the intention to publish a larger than usual edition of the B.B. once again
this year.  So far, there is just about
enough material in the pipeline for a normal sized B.B, and a decision on the
final size of the Christmas B.B. will have to be taken soon.  Particularly wanted are one or two articles
of good length (and: of course, good content) and any good humorous material
suitable for the festive season.

 

Monthly Crossword – Number 51

Across:

3. Short county forms cave
feature. (4)
5. As tart – in layers underground. (6)
6. Stumble on caving? (4)
7. Large number of tall cave passages form mine passages. (6)
11. Progresses through 3 across. (6)
13. Type of cave deposit. (4)
14. If clay does this, it may well break into this beheaded. (6)
15. Survey height in disturbed pots. (4)

Down

1. Employed. (4)
2. This sort of pipe can be found on Mendip. (4)
3. Cave dwellers. (4)
4. Cave phenomenon in earlier part of Priddy. (4)
8. Mendip cave hall. (3).
9. Caves without touching walls or floor…. (5)
10….through this? (4)
11. Found in any fossiliferous rock. (4)
12. Discoverers of a well know Mendip cave. (1,1,1,1)

Solution to Last Month’s Crossword

PRIZE CROSSWORD.  This
was won by ‘Sett’.

 

Club Committee

The Belfry,

Wells
Rd, Priddy, Wells,

Somerset. Telephone WELLS 72126

Chairman          S.J.
Collins

Minutes Sec      G.

Wilton-Jones

Members           Colin Dooley, John Dukes, Chris
Howell, Dave Irwin, Tim Large, Andy Nicholls, Gerry Oaten, Barry Wilton

Officers of the Club

Honorary Secretary          D.J
IRWIN, Townsend Cottage, Townsend, Priddy, Wells Som.  Tel : PRIDDY 369

Honorary Treasurer          B.

WILTON, ‘Valley
View’,

Venus Lane,
Clutton, Nr. Bristol.

Caving Secretary             A.
NICHOLLS, c/o The Belfry

Assist Cav. Sec.              T.
LARGE,

15 Kippax Avenue,
Wells, Somerset

Climbing Secretary          G.
OATEN,

32 St. Marks Road,
Easton,

Bristol. Tele :

BRISTOL
551163

Tacklemaster                  G.
WILTON-JONES, ‘Ilenea’,

Stonefield
Road. Nap Hill,
High Wycombe,
Bucks.

                                      Tele
: HIGH WYCOMBE 3534

Hut Warden                     C.
DOOLEY, 51 Ommaston Road., Harbourne,

Birmingham
17.

                                      Tele
:

BIRMINGHAM
427 6122

Belfry Engineer                J.
DUKES, 4

Springfield
Crscent, Southamton.  Tele : 0703 774649

B.B. Editor                      S.J.
COLLINS, Lavender Cottage, Bishops Sutton, Nr. Bristol.

                                      Tel
: CHEW MAGNA 2915

Publications Editor           C.
HOWELL,

131 Sandon Road,
Edgebaston,

Birmingham
17.  Tele : (021) 429 5549

B.B. Postal                     BRENDA

WILTON  Address as for Barry

Spares                            T.
LARGE,  Address already given