The
Exploration Club, The Belfry,
Road
Editor: D.P.Turner
A veritable feast of articles for you this month! My only problem has been to try and type them
all up and get this B.B. on your door steps in time for it to be called
“The Christmas BB”. My thanks
to everyone who have given me articles and I apologise if it does not reach you
until after the festive season. I wish
you all an alcoholic Christmas and here’s to some more BEC discoveries etc in
the New Year.
Contents
- 1 Late News Notts Pot
- 2 Membership Changes
- 3
- 4 Belfry Jobs
- 5 Hut Fund
- 6
- 7 Mendip Events
- 8
- 9 Caving Programme
- 10
- 11 Visit the Classical Karst Caves of Yugoslavia in 1986
- 12
- 13 A song to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Bristol Exploration Club
- 14
- 15 Poms potholing in Waitomo, New Zealand
- 16
- 17 The BEC Get Everywhere – Crete
- 18
- 19 LADS Trip to Clare Easter 85
- 20
- 21 Fiftieth Anniversary Dinner
- 22 Logbook Ramblings
- 23
- 24 Berger 85 getting there
- 25
- 26 Berger 1985 An alternative View
- 27
- 28 A Flying Visit to the Berger
- 29
- 30 Letters To The B.B.
- 31
- 32 SRT Tackle
- 33
- 34 Hut Wardens Report
Late News Notts Pot
It is rumoured that the downstream sump in Notts Pot has
been passed after 300 metres by Barry Sudell and/or Rupert Skorupka and an
estimated mile and a half of main passage found. There are apparently lots of inlet passages
which have not yet been investigated.
from Rob Harper 10th
December 1985
Membership Changes
New Members
1069 Mary Rand, Perivale, Middx.
1070 Michael McDonald,
Members Rejoining
553 Bob
White, Wells,
Address Changes
956 Ian Caldwell,
1063 Peter Evans, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 5JH
971 Colin Houlden, Brixton,
874 Dave Lampard, Horsham, W.
RH 12 2PW
1036 Nicola Slann,
Ratified Members
1048 Thomas Chapman
1049 Gerald Garvey
1050 Richard York
1051 Peter (Snab) Macnab
1052 Peter (Snablet) Macnab
Belfry Jobs
Please could you make a special effort to paint the inside
of the hut as the paint will be affected by the freezing conditions, so the
cheap deal we had on the purchase of the paint will turn into a very dear one.
As I am off to
make a special effort to turn out.
YOUR HUT NEEDS YOU!
P.S. Insulation needs
finishing off. Dany
Bradshaw
*****************************************
WARNING B.E.C.
SUBS WARNING B.E.C. SUBS WARNING B.E.C. SUBS
This will be the last B.B. that you will receive if you have
not paid your 1985-86 subscription.
WARNING B.E.C. SUBS WARNING B.E.C. SUBS WARNING B.E.C. SUBS
Hut Fund
If I include those people (4) who have given considerably in
kind or time, then the number of donations is 37 and the sum received so far
£1042.
It is unfair to single anyone out and definitely not en to
list those who have donated but I must single out one person who has given (he,
in fact, matched £1 for £1 the donations given at the dinner). Graham Balccmbe has been most generous but
instead of us thanking him, which we do, he has asked me to thank the B.E.C.
for the help that the then newly formed club gave to him and other early cave
divers. To quote G.B., “As for the
amount, well, when I lack at what my successors in the CDG have done, veritably
altering the face of modern caving, it dwindles into insignificance”. What more can I say.
Jeremy Henley
Mendip Events
Oliver Lloyd
A farewell party was recently held in the back room of the
Hunter’s. Dan Hasell, using
appropriately a diving knife and scalpel, the cake which had been specially
decorated for the occasion. He then
proposed a sherry toast to Oliver. A
memorial plaque will he mounted in Wookey Hole at a later date.
Shepton Mallet
As in years gone past, this year’s event was held in, the
orderly and sophisticated manner to which we have become accustom. All food that was not consumed was passed to
the next table, who in turn would pass it on. The games followed the bun fight, the B.E.C., gentlemen as ever, allowed
the hosts to win~ even though the Shepton seems to be short of large membered
members at present who can fart “pennies” into jars at twenty paces.
Committee Matters
The following were co-opted to the committee as directed by
the A.G.M.
Steve Milner Tackle Master
Tony Jarratt Hut Warden
Mark Lumley Caving Sec
Dave Turner Hon. Editor
Tim Gould Assistant Hut Warden
Ian Caldwell Committee member
St. Cuthberts Survey
This is to be revived by the club now that the Belfry
improvement project is nearing completion. Dave Irwin hopes to present the committee with a complete package
containing everything needed to produce the survey and accompanying publication
before the next A.G.M.
Dany and myself are deserting Mendip this Christmas and
flying south to
to Xlitla on the
plateau, to join the British expedition who have been there since mid
November. We shall be looking at a new
area not far from [he never said! ed] where a new road recently laid
across the plateau gives access to a previously difficult to explore area. Aerial photographs show large surface
depressions and it is hoped that these may prove fruitful as caves found in
this area have a 3000 metre depth potential..
To quote Tony Jarratt, “The Shepton Buffet marks the
starts of the Christmas sessions”, so I take this opportunity to wish all
members a Happy Christmas etc. etc.
During my absence, Jeremy Henley will take over the secretarial
duties for the club.
Bob Cork.
Caving Programme
A BEC trip to the Dachstein Massif is being planned at the
moment for next summer. The idea is only
in its formative stages, Bob Cork is currently trying to contact the NCC to
find out if they plan to return there next year – if so~ perhaps we could join
forces. There will be more details in
the next B.B. but in the meantime if you’re interested in going let Bob or
myself know and don’t book your holidays!
Club Meets.
I’ve written away for access to the caves on the provisional
meets list (B.B. Oct 85) but the only confirmation I have had so far are as
follows:-
Sunday 9th March
Sunday 1st August
Saturday 27th September Penyghent
Pot
I shall organise accommodation as and when I get
confirmation that the various trips are on, but let me know if you’re going (to
give me some idea of numbers).
As for the January Yorkshire meet, we’ll be going up on
Friday night (29th Jan) but whether or not we do Notts Pot and Nick Pot is
entirely dependant on how soon I get replies from the C.N.C.C.
Daren Cilau Dig
Small world isn’t it – we hauled digging gear, primus stove
etc. to the far end of the Daren Cilau extensions only to find that Andy
Sparrow,
and a group from
eyes on the same digging site! The place
is so remote that we decided to join forces and work on alternate trips. Progress is looking good, the passage has an
intermittent draught dependant on the water levels in the area. The two Andy’s dug a considerable distance in
soft, sandy mud. The following weekend
Steve Milner, Snablet and Tom Chapman continued the push for several feet with
the passage heading upwards. The dig
looks as though it may well hit the predicted stream passage from Llangattock
swallet some distance above the furthest point that Martyn Farr managed to dive
to beyond the Gloom Room on 6/7/85.
Work continues. Anyone interested in visiting the Time Machine and beyond would be well
advised to take a couple of cow’s tails as the lifeline on the 70ft pitch is
inclined to snarl up.
Rescue Practice
Brian Prewer thought it would be a good idea if more people
(including myself) became more proficient in the various aspects of cave
rescue. Accordingly, we’re going to go
ahead with a straight forward rescue practice (probably from Nine Barrows) for
the younger and less experienced members of the club in order to familiarise
ourselves with the equipment etc. This
will take place on Saturday 22nd Feb. Later
in the spring we shall be organising a full scale rescue practice from a cave
with a greater degree of difficulty. Indirectly, its for the benefit of every member of the club so its
important that we get a good number of people turning up on the day. Your
attendance will be much appreciated.
Mark Lumley
Visit the Classical
Karst
Caves of
Yugoslavia
We have received a circular offering trips down the
“Caves of Classical Karst” from a Yugoslav bod named Franc Mateckar
in Postojna who is a member of “SPEGU”. These are guided trips and the cost per trip
is $5
per person for groups of five or over. The trips are to be run daily during July and August starting every day
at 2pm from the museum in Postojna. He
mentioned a dozen or so caves by name and reckons on guiding at about 150
caves.
He also offers speleo weekend at $7.5 USA/person and a 7 day
coach excursion for approximately $175 USA/person which includes guiding,
travel, accommodation in hotels with breakfast.
Anyone interested better let me know and I will send them a
copy of the circular – he wants replies by the end of February “because we
don’t have enough qualified guides”.
Dave Turner.
*****************************************
ARE YOU FEELING GUILTY? if so, perhaps its because you haven’t given Jeremy your contribution
to the hut fund. Solution – send Jeremy
your donation now.
A song to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Bristol Exploration Club
This is the song Alfie sang at the Anniversary Dinner in
October – words and music by Alfie.
One evening, fifty years ago,
inside some Mendip pub
A bunch of caving lads from Knowle
Whod recently been down a hole
Decided to achieve their goal
And start a caving club.
Said Harry Stanbury,
On a name we must agree
I’ve got one here that’ll raise a cheer
Well call ourselves the B.E.C.
Soon, lots of blokes arrived to join the finest club youd meet
When caving, they discovered Stoke
When drinking, they all records broke
And knew more songs than any bloke
From Compton Martin down to Street.
The
learned to flee
Whenever they did see
Those splendid men who drank like ten
And called themselves the B.E.C.
Yet, though the Exploration Club was noted for its thirst
At digging caves it knew a lot
And pretty soon, its lads had got
Deep down inside St. Cuthbert’s Pot
Another Mendip first.
The Shepton made them tea
Then sang in harmony
“When we can say we’re good as they
We’ll join the B.E.C.”
And now that fifty years have passed, we are here to celebrate
And drink a toast to Harry, and
Those others of that caving band
Who changed the face of Mendips land
And made the club so great
We are the B.E.C.
And hope that there will be
Folks like us, who will hold a ‘do’
At its centenary!
Poms potholing in
Waitomo ,
New Zealand
Waitomo gets quoted in about every other general caving
book, its claim to fame being the glow-worm grotto show caves. We had heard the
name, naturally, and it was on our proposed itinerary. On arrival in
Zealand
like an enormous cinder heap. Near the
summit cone were some short but interesting lava tubes. Having dispensed with these caves we were
quickly ferried back to the city in search of caving boots – rare and expensive
for we were being taxied to Waitomo in the evening. We had managed basic SRT kit, helmets and
Premier stinkies in our flight weight allowance and were banking on scrounging
a few grots.
There is a lot more than just the glow worm caves in
Waitomo. It is one of the major caving
areas of N.Z. and has a great variety of all grades of caves. The limestone is younger than ours, softer
and less strong, very thinly bedded and becoming almost gravelly at one
horizon. In many areas it is overlain by
deep deposits of unconsolidated, unstable volcanic ash giving rise to plenty of
yellowish mud underground. Where the
surface has not been cleared for pasture it is covered in dense temperate rain
forest. Apart from trees and shrubs
there are tree ferns, liverworts, vines and tangled creepers, and every trunk
and branch is festooned with mosses, lichens, orchids and other epiphytes. Most caves have been found in open pasture,
because of difficulties of exploring the bush.
Waitomo boasts two caving huts – ASG, Auckland Speleological
Group at the top of the hill – and HTG, Hamilton Toms Group five miles away at
the bottom of the hill, but nearer the village and the pub. We reached the ASG hut in an ailing car (many
N.Z. vehicles seem on their last legs) around midnight, to find all gone to
bed. A wet misty morning revealed
several families staying at the hut, which was a farmhouse vacated for more
modern premises. The countryside around
is lumpy with limestone cliffs and hills separated by deep dolines.
Everyone uses grots, particularly woolly underwear and
boiler suits. Very few people have
purpose tailored caving clothes. Carbide
is universal, the majority of people using little Premiers while one or two
have forked out on Petzl gobblers. The
carbide comes in big lumps and lots of time was spent smashing it into smaller
pieces. Once prepared, seven of us set
off over the paddocks (fields), climbing several electric fences on route. No flimsy strands of wire carrying a few
volts these, but substantial stuff connected to the mains that quickly instils
a healthy respect.
The entrance tomo (tomo – hole, pothole, aven, doline etc.)
to St. Benedicts was a narrow shelf surrounded by typical fence and a few trees,
dropping into a 70ft rift. Kiwi cavers
shun the use of bolts and their expensive ropes are hard to come by and
personally owned, so the pitch took an age to rig. The pothole walls were beautiful; the fluting
accentuated by the alternate dark and light lines of narrow bedding. The confines of the shaft soon enlarged as we
entered a large chamber, packed with beautiful big stal, creamy white and
glistening. It is unfortunate that
access is so easy, for a muddy path is gradually spreading over the stal. The formations easily rival Otter Hole but
are only in the one chamber. It is one
end of an extensive series of sizable passages, nearly all walking, many tens
of feet wide or high. Half way along the
series fluting in the floor becomes deep enough to require some careful
traversing. Passage character then
changed to narrower, lower, sandy floored tubes. At several points bat skeletons had been
protected by a semi-circle of boulders. A wet and muddy side rift, negotiated by traversing, quickly led to a
very high rift, 10-15ft wide and 50-60ft long. At the far end a passage could be dimly seen entering from another
system. Once again the rigging took an
age – slightly awkward floor level take-off for a 70ft pitch after a 40ft climb
down took us to the base of the rift, where we found the others prepared to go
out. However we discovered that the real
bottom was only a further 20ft pitch away, and three of us had this rigged
using three chocks and a flake, and the others were soon enthused into following
us. We had landed in a river, like DYO
in flood. Beyond a quick struggle
upstream lay a deep, black sump pool, while a trickle from above came down a
300ft entrance shaft – by now it was dark so no daylight came through. Downstream we could not go, for the river was
too deep and the current too fast, so exit was made. We emerged to mist, but fortunately one
amongst us was the local farmer’s son and he led us unerringly through the
paddocks until his father appeared in a Landrover. We missed the pub by over an hour. Eight hours caving that should have been done
in three.
Our second day on the hill had cleared a little, and a vast
group of us assembled in the bottom of a steep sided doline at a small,
revolting muddy entrance taking a little stream, Ringle- fall. We tagged on to the end of the line, and
followed down a slippery climb into a large chamber with mud covered
stalactites.
A wet hands and knees crawl took us into a little streamway,
which soon dropped down a rift to the side. Ahead, dry passage continued, by
zig-zagging, and despite our delaying tactics we soon caught up with the front
of the party at a ladder pitch. Clearly,
a long wait was in the offing. Was this
what Kiwi caving was all about! A small
group of us went back a way and found an alternative to the ladder pitch, a
tight climb down and a short rope descent via flying angel into the
stream. The passage reminded us of
Longwood-August or
– low and aqueous with cobbles on the floor, but it eventually began to enlarge. After a couple of kilometres the roof was
invisible in the gloom of a high, narrow rift, though the streamway itself was
fairly narrow. An occasional undercut in
the wall gave a low roof where we saw our first N.Z. glow-worms, a fly larva
like a transparent worm whose bioluminescent end attracts prey into a trap of
sticky hanging threads. Without a close
look, all you notice is a little blue dot. The stream finally disappeared down a narrow rift – a thirty foot climb
then a fifty foot ladder pitch, but we had no ladder. We therefore traversed on boulders, high
above the stream to reach huge, long collapse chambers. We missed the way on here but it is grovelly
and narrow, so we were not disappointed. Its significance is that Ringlefall ends only a few metres short of St.
Benedicts, but there are so few trips to the far reaches that it has yet to be
connected.
After the weekend, we moved down the hill to the HTG hut –
nice and peaceful during the week, but full of kids at weekends as it doubles as
a Youth Hostel. Being nearer the village
we took the opportunity to visit the show caves. There are three around Waitomo but one has
the famous glow-worm grotto. The
limestone is a warm creamy-white coarse grained rock with beautiful phreatic
tubes. At the lowest point in the show
cave we climbed into a boat and were propelled slowly and silently along and
around a wide, low, phreatic canal by the guide pulling on overhead ropes. On the roof above us hung tens of thousands
of glow-worms, their little blue lights resembling the Milky Way seen through a
telescope. Though we have since seen
myriads of glow-worms elsewhere, both in the bush and underground, nothing has
come close to matching the awe inspiring sight in Waitomo.
Gardeners Gut is one of the longer systems of N.Z. and we
made a couple of trips into the lower part of the cave. Through trips are easily possible, but on
both occasions we used a lower entrance or the resurgence. Our first trip was with the Waitomo Adventure
Caving. Two Americans were paying and we
just tagged along. It was a very slow,
careful journey underground, all easy caving, but under superb leadership. The fragility and uniqueness of the cave
environment was constantly stressed. Glow-worms, wetas (like crickets with enormous feelers) and crayfish
were pointed out. Like so many N.Z.
caves, there is still much potential for further discoveries, and we noticed
several possible leads. Having entered
the cave late at night via a concealed doline deep in the bush, we emerged from
the resurgence by a river (Waitomo stream) still deep in the bush. Home was down river past a 100m long natural
arch, and out of the bush close to the two other show caves.
On the second trip into G.G. six of us entered the
resurgence carrying some very substantial maypoles. Although we discovered some new passages off
high above the main stream, and re-found some that had not been recorded or
widely published, the main find was at floor level. A low phreatic arch was nearly blocked with
thixotropic, sumpy mud, but passage could be seen beyond. After much discussion the most stupid member
of the party was inserted into the hole. A quick, complete muddy immersion, and then jubilant cries disappeared
into the distance. He was stopped by a
50 foot aven. Such is the potential in a
very well visited cave.
Millars
‘cast of thousands’ job – an introduction to the delights of caving for loads
of young farmers. The entrance series
was very pretty and, although much good stal remains, a lot has been muddied or
broken by heavy novice traffic. A sixty
foot entrance shaft is the only access obstacle, located in a doline at the top
of the hill. Less than half an hour’s
caving, mainly walking, but not in large passage, and we had descended to the
stream. Several passage had joined,
mainly from one side, but the cave was now linear. Passage size enlarged, the width generally
being a comfortable six feet and the roof up to 60 feet above. Occasionally the width became 20 or 30
feet. A couple of hours of streamway and
we climbed up a wide, muddy slope to emerge 50 feet above the resurgence, where
the stream trickled away over flat meadows before disappearing into the bush.
Exploration in the Waitomo area seems to yield results
surprisingly easily. One find spring day
four of us went to check out an unexplored region using aerial
photographs. Although our largest find
was only a 50′ shaft, there were many sites which deserve a little
digging. In a small area of five
paddocks, there were so many dolines that we frequently lost sight and sound of
each other for some time. Unfortunately,
lambing was taking place in one or two paddocks~ and we had to leave one
section for another day. The native bush
has been cleared from here in the last few decades and some holes have had
boulders rolled on top to prevent animals falling down. One shaft could not be treated in this
way. The Lost World is 300 feet deep,
and is so long and wide that trees grow in the bottom. A herd of bullocks fell down it recently, but
you don’t see them unless you search especially. Another shaft, over 200 feet deep and
dropping into a streamway still being explored, had been covered and forgotten,
but on certain winter mornings a column of steam would rise high into the
air. When local cavers started asking
around the farming community, the site was unburied.
On another day of exploration, five significant new sites
were looked at. Although cavers knew
nothing of these caves, all had been noted or even explored by the farming
community. By the end of the day we had
notched up several hundred feet of “new” passage.
Undoubtedly, our best trip at Waitomo was The
Mangowhitikan. We were a party of four,
and we two had borrowed wetsuits especially for this trip. We entered via a 100 foot damp pitch where a
small surface stream sank and made our way along narrow passages to a muddy
area where we dropped into the river. It
was bigger than anything we have seen in
and we had to travel upstream. There
were rapids, deep pools with swift undercurrents, waterfalls and almost
impassable canals. We struggled along by
traversing above the water, climbing one or other wall, jumping into the eddy
of pools, swimming, pushing against the current and hauling each other. The water was dangerous in the extreme and a
slip could easily have been fatal. Had
the water been higher we could not have made the trip. We had a half hour’s respite when we left the
river for a narrow sump bypass series, but further upstream the current seemed
no less. A twenty foot waterfall looked
impossible, but we jumped the narrowest gap of raging torrent and climbed up
beside the fall. In places huge tree
trunks were wedged across the passage, and flood debris and branches above our
heads indicated the extraordinary flood levels. Gradually the passage enlarged from its two to six feet wide and ten to
twenty feet high to become ten to twenty feet wide and sometimes forty to fifty
feet high. The stream slackened and the
floor lost its potholes, becoming flat and sandy, or gravelly. The heavy sculpturing disappeared, signs of
flooding were less and stalagmite appeared on the walls. Glow-worms, who prefer to live close above
organically rich, slow flowing streams, became abundant. Suddenly the stal was festooned with ferns,
and the glow-worms were replaced by stars. A steep climb and we were out into green fields. We both reckoned this was our most sporting
trip ever.
We hope to be in the
region for Christmas, where there will be the annual expedition, this time
searching for a link between Nettlebed (the deepest down here) and the recently
discovered Windrift. Sometime in early
1986 we want to return to Waitomo. Amongst other caves, we intend to do The Lost World and the river at the
bottom, known as Mangapu. It is the same
river as that in Mangowhitikan~ and is reckoned to be even more sporting.
the Bassetts.
The BEC Get Everywhere –
Crete
“Where are we going on honeymoon?” said Jane. ”
said Phil and Lil. “Theres over
4,000 caves on
For cheapness and to avoid crowds and heat we went in
May. The girls took suntan lotion and
historical novels. Phil and I took
Rennies and “The Caves of Crete” – a xeroxed abstract.
Our happy holiday villa was located miles from the limestone
in the small coastal
south of Heraklion. Our first walk down
to the beach boozers and boobs led past at least fifty cave entrances in three
rows in the sandstone headland. These
man made single chambers are thought to have been excavated by early Christians
and have latterly been used as a hippy colony. Some have carved niches, bed-spaces and shelves, others are decorated
with psychedelic paintings and all stink like the legendary Ystradfellte public
bog. Some small natural cavities exist
in the cliffs above these caves, notable only for their grandstand (!) views of
the topless talent on the beach below.
After three days of ouzo, sun and Minoan palaces the wives
were deserted and a 50km drive took Phil and I to Sarchos, near Heraklion. Our description of the local cave bore no
location so we found the “local”. Following beer and political discussion (spitting on the floor) with the
village boozers we managed to understand enough to find our way to
in a clear, green sump pool. “Damn,
we forgot Bob Cork”. 10m of new
passage (oxbow) was found and a previously visited upper level full of bats
investigated before returning to the entrance to be confronted by a large
buzzard and a population of very active bees necessitating a quick
retreat. There is doubtless much more
passage to be found in this cave and all around the eastern end of the
Psiloritis mountain range where Sarchos is located.
Two days later, the full team assembled on the amazing
Lasithi Plateau at the east end of
with two tourist caves (and many others) located around the mountainous
sides. Kronio or
is a miserable little grot hole supposedly of archaeological interest. Inside is a two inch long scorpion and
outside an old rat bag who cons gullible English tourists (but doesnt make
much profit from them). The other
“show” cave is on the far side of the windmill covered plateau and is
famous as the birthplace of the god Zeus. Called the
famous as the place where two English tourists posing as famous international
speleologists got a bollocking from the manager. By lending him a newly published Greek caving
book (in English) and letting him take the girls to the cafe he was eventually
persuaded to give the two the run of the cave.
A steep rock “staircase” led up the mountainside
to a 4 x 20m entrance – a typical collapse feature leading to a vast inclined
chamber well decorated with huge, ancient and soot covered stalagmites. A tourist trail of stone steps leads around this
chamber and while one of the guides escorted his party, Phil and I guided a
passing Royal Navy officer around before scrambling off to explore the further
reaches – essentially an extension of the entrance chamber but with better and
cleaner formations. Before our departure
the god Zeus was left, with a small black and white sticker as a votive
offering. An impressive cave despite its
modest length. Longer, sporting systems
are believed to exist further up in the mountains behind this cave.
Near Rethymnon, on the central north coast of Crete, we
found the show
and deserted. This may be due to damage
from reconstruction of the main coast road which runs directly over the cave.
Another disappointment – though not in the way of scenery
was the lack of speleological sites in the 18km length of the Samaria Gorge,
south of Chania. Carved through solid
limestone and with cliffs up to 600m high, it makes an incredible walk from the
mountains near Omalos to the boat departure site on the coast. Local geological conditions seem unfavourable
for large systems in the gorge itself, though
near Omalos, is reputed to be a lengthy swallet system.
The
the mountains above the village of the same name, was visited after a crippling
uphill walk on the evening of the 10th May. It was only found by asking directions from a Sheppard and family
inhabiting a cave lower down the hill. The huge, gaping entrance of
60m wide, 80m high and 70m long which was used as a place of worship on Minoan
times and gave its name to the famous Kamares Ware style of pottery, much of
which has been found in the cave during Greek and British archaeological digs.
Knackered by the climb up and prepared for a night on the
hill, Phil and I decided to move into the cave. A floor of assorted goat, swift, chough and batsh from the cave’s
assorted populace made a nice soft mattress and hot whiskies brewed over a
chough’s nest fire in the entrance provided a suitable nightcap as we sat and
watched darkness descend over the plains and coast of southern
eyrie. As we and the noisy choughs got
our heads down for the night the bat population began to leave for their
nightly hunt. Their occasional squeaks
and the odd drip of water punctuated the otherwise soundless night. Our awakening was heralded by the choughs
again, who were hurtling in and put of the entrance with apparent unconcern for
collisions. Following a brew of hot
chocolate (and whisky) we explored all corners of the cavern including various
forays into the massive boulder ruckle flooring the chamber.
Our proposed climb from here to the
of
was called off on reaching the summit of the “Saddle of Digenis” above
the cave when we realised how far we still had to go across very difficult and
unpleasant ground. Plan “B”
was executed and we descended to the village and the bar of one Mickaelis – ex
World War 2 pilot, whistle player, dirty old man and pinhead extraordinaire. Here we met the girls and got completely
plastered, my last memory being of Lil Romford dancing with an 80 year old
drunken Greek Orthodox priest in the middle of the road.
Our last cave visited was also advertised as a show cave and
from a point 23km east of Heraklion signs pointing to the site were followed
for miles up progressively worsening mountain tracks. Eventually a small white chapel on the edge
of a large collapsed doline was reached – this was
descending from the entrance was followed for a hundred metres until lack of
boots and adequate light forced a retreat -all show cave facilities being
absent! The end of the cave is believed
to be not much further and for anyone visiting
it would be worth a look to confirm this. Again, this cave was a major Minoan
archaeological site.
Thus ended a superb and festerous holiday on this very
friendly island. For the casual visitor
there are plenty of short, easy and interesting caves but anyone considering a
serious expedition should do plenty of research beforehand to avoid barren
areas and duplication of effort. I have
more detailed information on all of the show caves and some others if anyone is
interested.
Tony Jarratt.
LADS Trip to Clare Easter 85
As a group the LADS have been going to Clare on a regular
basis since shortly after St Patrick drove the snakes out. We have found a reasonable amount of new
caves in several areas around the Burren but did not consider it to be of any
great interest to cavers back home. Accordingly, apart from writing our trips up in our club journals and
letting the UBSS know of any new discoveries for updates of “The Caves of
County Clare”, we have never bothered to publicise our finds. It was therefore with some amusement that I
saw the heading “Cerberus on the Brink” in the latest Descent
followed by an inaccurate and incomplete description of our trip this Easter,
written by some nurd who doesnt know us and clearly wasnt there. The following is a slightly more accurate
account.
Our arrival in Doolin was greeted with a most welcome
whisky, courtesy of Doll in the kitchen behind OConnors Bar. Then suitably fortified we staggered down Pol
an Ionian before retiring to our cottage for an evenings drinking. The next evening (after an agreeable day down
Poulnagollum) saw us firmly ensconced in the bar with that all important
Guinness. It certainly lived up to all
expectations, that creamy white head daintily clinging to the upper lip with the
right hand quivering excitedly but holding the cool, straight glass in a
vertical mode in anticipation of the delectable sensations to come, then
suddenly, with a smooth but firm movement the wrist tilted the glass back
gracefully. The taste buds burst into
life as the first black waves of the dark; life giving liquid rolled across my
tongue and spread an euphoric ecstasy across my palate. The throat leaped into action to speed this
ebony nectar on its way to the rest of my waiting body. My heart exploded in a
war dance, a chorus of angels sang in my ears as my brain roared with sensual
delight. The deeply religious experience
of my first pint was over. I sat back
contentedly, taking in my surroundings.
Hmm, I mused, “shame it makes you fart”.
The next couple of days saw a routine trip down
Trebor and myself deep in conversation with Pat Cronin at the bar. We theorised about our dig’s potential
excitedly, half empty glasses foaming in our hands, half poured pints waiting
in line at the bar. Froth dripped
gracefully from Pat’s beard into his Bushmills Chaser as he waved his little
arms and legs expressively from his high stool, demonstrating his digging
technique and gurgling contentedly.
By Friday we had made our way into two shafts at the
Poulnagrinn site, but the third depression down which we could throw rocks and
hear them crashing below still thwarted our efforts (one for next year). Sitting
on the surface, tired but satisfied at finding what was clearly a major site
taking a good stream; we passed the bottle around and admired the view. To our right we could see the foaming
Atlantic breaking on the white sandy beach in front of the little, distant
brick walled dot that was ODonohue’s Bar. To our left looking past Ballynalacken and over the little hill above
McGanns, with its well kept, creamy stout and smooth, peaty malt whisky we
could see the Strand, and our hearts, minds and livers went out to O’Connor’s
and the alcoholic delight that awaited us there. Oh well
.stuff the digging!
Saturday saw us sober enough to find two new entrances to
upper Poulnagree along the line of sinks near the TRT Eagnai Mouncat
inlet. Further on towards
Polballynahown, my mind concentrating on the possibilities of a Guinness and
Pernod cocktail, I slipped and fell down a small hole (now named Polna Garsuin)
which led to a stream passage which Steve eventually managed to push past two
squeezes to a point about 250ft from the entrance while I was suspended
unceremoniously by my wedding tackle at an s-bend some 50ft behind him.
The cave took a strong draught and will certainly be
revisited on our next drinking trip to Clare.
As for the Descent heading ‘Cerberus on the Brink’-
Cobblers!! There were two B.E.C.
members, one Cerberus and one MNRC. Maybe the editor would like a list of all our projects? digs, half
finished surveys, new areas etc. so that he can publish them and let some other
bugger get in there before we have a chance to go back and finish them. At the end of the day our Gaelic colleagues
are bound to agree that “Tien na Garsuin Naide Faide!!” and Descent
can bloody well wait until we’ve got something really worth printing – next
year!
Mark Lumley.
Fiftieth Anniversary Dinner
The article by Alan Thomas in lat B.B. was incomplete as the
second page of his manuscript had been mislaid so for all of you who have
patiently waited with baited breath to find out what happen after Trev Hughes; can
t now read on
The presentations were followed by raffles. Trevor Hughes did his usual striptease
accompanied by his lady assistant (Lil Romford). Kieth Gladman raffled a lamp glass with a bat
on it.
And at last we were able to see the Pantomime, which was a
rewrite of “Oliver”. As a
historian I would have liked someone to explain the historical significance of
the line; “Consider yourself——part of the tackle shed”. There were many people present, including
some of the cast, who did not realise that when we had “Oliver”
before, the B.E.C. had only got the tackle shed and to prove, like the Windmill
Theatre during the War, that we never close people slept on hastily bunks in
the tackle shed.
Another thing from those days that shows the resilience of
B.E.C. is that after the Dinner that year we went back to the Belfry as was our
custom for a barrel of beer that was consumed in the burnt out ruin.
The cast of “Oliver” some of whom had been in the
previous production were: Pete Franklin, Alfie, Simon Knight, Mac, Barrie, Zot,
J.Ratt, John Chew, Batspiss, Bob Cross, Jeni Sandercott and apologies to anyone
I have omitted.
This was followed by much drinking and singing in such
company as Roger Biddle, James Cobbett et al.
Alan Thomas
Logbook Ramblings
Most of the activity recorded in the Caving Logbooks this
last month has been in 2 caves, Daren Cilau and Eastwater. In Daren Cilau our new Caving See and others
are trying to make a name for themselves and find yet more miles of new
cave. In Eastwater, Tim and Co have been
pushing the end of the main rift and hope seem high for a breakthrough here in
the near future.
Cuthberts! – well only one trip has been recorded here in
the last month or so, I know that a number of people want to become leaders so
we may soon see more activity here.
Berger 85 getting there
7.25pm, Friday 26th July, Frome – gentle rain is steadily
falling whilst driving between Stoke st Michael and Frome. At Frome it turns into torrential downpour,
drain covers hover 6 inches above the road as drains flood. Cars grind to a halt because drivers cant
believe what they see and ten minutes from home driving frustration sets
in. Crawl across Frome to come to an
abrupt stop at end of queue of traffic by the station. The river is flooded and everything has
stopped. Traffic crawls slowly towards
us but our lot steadfastly refuse to move. Eventually, nearly half an hour later (or that is what it seems like)
pull over and drive recklessly down centre of road and through flood. At Warminster, no sign of rain at all.
In the suburbs of South East London we stop for one of the
greatest portions of fish & chips ever received; arrive at
schedule and search out a pub. Easier
said than done; you’d have thought with all those sailors, stranded lorry
drivers and associated “you know whats” pubs would abound. We eventually find one stuck behind a
supermarket. The pub itself is heavily
disguised as a video cinema; heaven knows what the beer is like.
After that it is pretty uneventful. My companions insist on sitting on the most
uncomfortable bench on the ferry just outside the lady’s john with a view to
observing the talent. Cant understand
it myself watching a load of tired, harassed, scruffy birds in a state of
discomfort going in through a door and then emerging a few moments later no
longer uncomfortable but still looking tired and harassed – seems rather
pointless!
Many hours of darkness driving across Northern France on by-
roads because too mean to use motorways, sees us just north of
Jarratt and I wonder where the third member of the party has got to.
turns out to be buried under a pile of tackle on the back seat. He swears that he has slept comfortably under
it; perhaps the beer was better than I thought.
Breakfast now that is the highlight of the trip! We sit the terrace of a cafe beside the
surface in the hot morning sun. We eat
large chunks of baguette with creamy butter and pre-packed jam (what a let
down) and drink wonderful French coffee. Serious doubts emerge about going further, long debate, serious lack of
will and then – what the hell, we may as well keep going on.
About stop for a only other bike!!
About 150km further on and we are on the motorway, a short
stop for a sandwich for lunch and we are at the camp site. The only other souls
there are two who have arrived by coach and bike.
Back down to the village to victual and then return to set
camp and off to the pub of the Deux Vallee for a scrumptious feast eaten
outdoors – quite something after the journey – so good in fact that I am seen
eating French fries with my fingers, drinking more than is good for me and
smoking a cigarette. The problem, of
course, is that whilst we three in my tank have arrived at a reasonable hour,
the other two, MacManus and Bradshaw, have had a slightly longer journey and
only get to the restaurant when we have nearly finished. So we have to keep drinking whilst they eat.
What a frightful night – I have not slept in a tent for 30
years and it is infinitely worse than the NCC hut, which is bad enough. But here we are on the morning of Sunday the
8th in brilliant sunshine on the Sornin plateau ready to go and there I nearly
stay for the whole week.
Twenty eight b rs get to the bottom, so one of them can
write about the cave.
Jeremy Henley
Berger 1985 An alternative View
“Book your transport early”, they said. So we did;
months before the trip 10 Bergerers got together and hired a nice new VW
minibus from
observed that this VW had no “tachograph”. “So what! said the hire man – “You
must have a tachograph when travelling abroad with a minibus having more than
ten seats, or your vehicle may be impounded, etc~ etc. etc.”, said the Bus
and Coach Council. Panic! – find another
vehicle – but nobody hires minibuses for continental travel. Vincents in Frome do. “With only one weeks notice?” “Yes they will and they’ve one with a
roof rack”. Panic over – at least
for the time being. The night before the
departure the minibus was collected – with a tachograph, but without; a spare
tyre, windscreen washers, a jack and a complete exhaust system. After several frantic phone calls, a couple
of journeys to Frome and some clever wiring of exhaust pipes, all was ready.
Ten people for ten days in
equals one large mountain of kit. Thank
goodness for that roof rack; we couldnt have got it all in the VW!
All went well with the journey and we arrived in at Quentin. By now it was getting late, about 3.00am,
most people were asleep or at least dozing off. Two navigators and the driver were not quite asleep when the centre of
St Quentin loomed in the form of a large roundabout. Brian Workman, the driver, decided to
approach it in English fashion and turn left at the roundabout. The first circuit failed to reveal any road
sign for Riems. All ten people were now
wide awake. “Brian, you’re going
the wrong way round!” “I know,
don’t panic, there’s no one about and I feel more at home going this way
round!” Second time round and still
no sign. On the third circuit someone
casually observed that we couldn’t see the road signs because we were going the
wrong way round! Everybody dozed off
again.
At breakfast time, a stop was made at Nuit St George, a
pleasant little town, south of
in the heart of the wine growing region of the same name. It was most enjoyable sitting having
breakfast on the pavement in a place that had given its name to a well known wine. Saturday morning saw us travelling down
through the Saone valley to
and the minibus was now full of hot sweaty people. What we wanted was a nice quiet lake for a
swim. Using her superb navigational
skills Lucy Workman guided us successfully to a nice quiet lake just north of
Grenoble where ten people stripped off to their ‘shreddies’ in preparation for
a swim. Dave Turner was the first to hop
over the wall and onto the beach – where he, clad in his typical English
gentleman’s baggy shorts, was confronted by two rather well endowed topless
young ladies sunbathing. Keeping a stiff
upper lip and eyes front, Dave ceremoniously entered the water to the amusement
of the onlookers. The rest followed, eyes
definitely not to the front. One of the
young ladies quietly informed us in English (they were English) that the
strange purple ‘gunge’ floating in the lake was in fact harmless bacteria. After a short meal break we were off again to
find Sassenage and to wind our way up the hill to La Moliere car park. The minibus struggled a bit with ten people
and kit as it wound its way up to Engins. Engins turned out to be about three battered houses – I wondered which
one the mayor lived in – wasn’t it the mayor of Engins, who we had to contact
on arrival at the Berger?
By Saturday evening we had settled into the campsite at La
Moliere. Fears of trees smothered in
pink (or was it brown) Andrex were soon allayed, in fact, the site was
excellent, being very close to the car park and situated right on the edge of a
pleasant pine forest. The general
appearance of the site was clean and tidy with, a good water supply from the
spring on the hill above. This water, in
fact, later proved to be pure enough that we eventually stopped worrying about
purification and boiling etc. (This, of
course, may not be the case every year).
By Sunday, most of the expedition members had arrived by
various means of transport, including bus in the case of Jerry Crick and
bicycle for Jim Smart. Sunday also saw
the start of tackling, with the first party getting as far as the top of Aldo’s
shaft. The telephone line was also
checked and found to be somewhat poor. Radio communications from the campsite to the entrance of the cave were
successfully established with the aid of VHF radios, Ric Halliwell’s car
battery and an aerial stuck together with adhesive tape on the roof of our
frame tent. The radio sets, for future
reference, were not CB but operated somewhere in the high VHF band, possibly
around 150MHz. Communications, despite
the profusion of trees between the campsite and the cave entrance, were
extremely good, good enough in fact to allow reliable all night listening, and
for me to be woken up in the middle of one night to be told that Bob Lewis had
at last come out of the cave suffering from mild hypothermia.
On Monday, another tackling party went in and reached Camp
1, the telephone improvement party were unable, at that stage, to sort out the
jumble of wires they found just beyond the Meanders at the Boudoir. From now on, trips were made with great
regularity with the telephone greatly improved due to the sterling efforts of
Brian Workman and Dave Turner. Camp 1
was now coming through loud and clear.
It was during the next few days that many people reached the
bottom of the Berger and many others, like myself, came to realise their
limitations. However, no doubt there
will be many a tale told over a Hunter’s pint during the next few years and I’m
sure many people will want to go back again one day.
Along with the caving activities, many people decided to
explore the Vercors area. Obviously high
on the priority list was a good village for shopping. Autrans turned out to be the best bet, with a
small supermarket and a campsite where hot showers could be obtained for a
small fee. A reasonable restaurant, the
“Auberge of the two Wallies” (Vallees), was situated on the road to
Lans en Vercors quite close to the Berger campsite. It was here that one of the group nearly came
to grief. After a heavy evenings
drinking session a certain young lady managed to “manoeuvre” her car
onto the wall of the Auberge car park. J
Rat nearly got run over during the retrieval proceedings. The journey back up the winding road to the
campsite must have been quite exciting.
Over the next few days, sightseeing parties made forays into
Vercors. A visit was made to the Gorge
de la Bourne and the Routes de Econges as well as to the Grottes de Choranche
and Bournillon. The Bourne Gorge is a must
for anyone going to that area; it is a magnificent limestone gorge with cliffs
rising thousands of feet above the gorge floor. The road, sometimes perched on narrow ledges hundreds of feet, up or cut
through tunnels, winds splendidly downwards passing the great valley leading to
the entrance of the Grotte be Bournillon. This amazing cave entrance, reputed to be the largest in
wide. Although dry on the day of our
visit, signs of immense water activity could be seen, including a hydroelectric
station at the valley bottom. Clearly
this cave must be an incredible sight in flood.
A visit to the Grottes de Choranche is well worthwhile for
any caver in the area. Next door, the
Gournier with its entrance lake and climb is a must. Turning out of the Bourne Gorge at La Balme
de Rencurel, the Route de Econges is fascinating. With the road here and there cut into the
cliff face with little viewing windows giving superb views of the valley,
hundreds of feet below. It was here,
during the Second World War, that eleven of the French Resistance held a whole
army of Germans at bay many days. They
all perished in the end, and a plaque on the side commemorates the spot.
Swimming facilities in the Bourne Gorge are good and several
pleasant ‘dips’ were taken in natural pools in the river bed. After such a swim, the minibus party
descended on a small but recommended restaurant at La Balme de Rencurel. The decor was somewhat primitive but an
excellent umpteen course meal was had at no more than about £5. The locals in the restaurant were somewhat
bemused by ten dishevelled English visitors. At first, they thought we were being a bit disrespectful and a few
sidelong glances were noticed. However,
after we had noted that the locals helped clear the tables and assisted in the
kitchen we joined in and the atmosphere completely changed to the extent that
when Brian Workman showed his delight at being given a large bowl of
raspberries, the waitress gathered up all the uneaten raspberries from all the
other tables and dumped them straight onto his plate. Brian, for the first time, was
speechless. Several ‘Franglais’
conversations were started up with the locals as more ‘vin rouge ordinaire’ was
consumed, with one local insisting that her grandmother had been English and
came from Borne-a-mooter. We later realised she meant
and it pays to get Away from the touristy area when it comes to meeting
locals and eating and drinking.
The caving activities had reached their peak and by now
someone had realised that he didnt like SRT anyway. Lisa Taylor had strained her ankle and Geoff
Price of the
preferred his feet without any skin covering. Someone else retired hurt with a pulled Ham String and Bob Lewis was
still down the cave – somewhere. Peter
Glanville was very unhappy – he had had his tin of self-heating soup eaten at
Camp 2. Ken Dawe and Bob Pyke reached
the bottom along with many others. Jerry
Crick tried to carry enough kit for an army and finally Lisa and her ankle got
as far as Little Monkey pitch. Well
done Lisa.
On Saturday, the minibus team regrettably had to pack up in
order to be at
by 4.00am on Sunday. The return journey
was uneventful except that we passed, going the other way, the longest traffic
jam that any of us had ever seen. The
minibus made it without mishap and the improvised exhaust repair made back in
held together for the 1500 mile journey.
We arrived home at Sunday lunchtime in pouring rain to a
Swildons rescue. Brian Workman, Dave
Turner and myself being dragged out only 10 minutes after arriving home. But still, we did manage to escape the hail
and snow at the Berger on the Monday and Tuesday.
Finally, note: – if anyone wishes to take a hired minibus
onto the continent, then contact Brian Workman. He is now the world’s expert.
Brian Prewer
A Flying Visit to the Berger
Due to work commitments and family holidays, I could only
manage to join the Berger trip for four days over the middle weekend of the
trip. Fred Weeks was in a similar
position and agreed to come with me.
We boarded the 9pm ferry at
on the Wednesday evening, and then spent the rest of the, night driving through
to the Vercors. We arrived at La Moliere
on Thursday morning and made our way towards the Bertie flag which was just
visible over the brow of the hill. Contact was made with Tim and Co. and we were informed that the cave had
been bottomed the night before and was rigged ready for the big rush.
Our camp was set up and after a meal we tried to catch up
with our sleep. This was not to be. The first interruption was Dave Turner,
leaping about and inquiring if we would like to go to the bottom with him in
about an hour’s time. Various other
people came and enquired about our journey down, after which Fred und I
realised that we were too keyed up to sleep. We decided to that we would take our sleeping gear etc. down to the
bottom of the entrance pitches, ready for our trip to the bottom which was be
on the Friday. Having collected our gear
together we made our way to the control tent and signed in for the trip. While we were doing this, J. Rat appeared
from his bottoming trip of the night before. The walk to the cave is pleasantly downhill through trees and the cave
entrance is situated at the edge of an open section of limestone pavement. We booked in at the entrance tent and then
set off down.
The entrance is a scramble down over boulders, then down a
short ladder pitch, which can be done using the timber log ladder which is
permanently installed. If the log ladder
is used, care must be taken otherwise the rest of the cave may not be
visited. From here a thrutch through an
old door leads to the top of the first pitch. We enjoyed the first pitch and were glad to be underground at last. On round a corner and straight on the Holiday
Slides which were laddered. At the top
of Cairn pitch we were brought to a halt by Dany who was having a bit of a
struggle on the pitch. He admitted to
being f d and added that we were welcome to the cave. At the bottom of Cairn pitch we emerged into
a soaring rift chamber which for some reason most people find enjoyable.
Following the passage on from here into the Meanders, Fred and I were both
disappointed with these after all that we had heard and read. All that can be said is that carrying full
sacks through them can be a bind. Soon
we reached Garbys, which is a nice free hang all the way down. We pressed on from here to the top of the
next pitch which we thought was Alda’s, and stowed our sacks on a ledge above
the pitch. We set off out at a cracking
pace (for me} and regained the entrance after an enjoyable trip. We then learnt that we had left our sacks at
the top of Gontards and not Aidas. The
walk up to the camp is a drag after being underground and the path can be
easily lost in the dark – which we did, twice!
On the Friday morning, after a hearty breakfast, we found
that half the camp had left at various times for the bottom. As we had left most of our gear at the
entrance the night before, we had very little to get ready other than a camera
box, and were soon on our way, in a state of anticipation. As we were changing, Trev, John and Phil.
arrived to go to the bottom so we joined them. The cave was very busy at this time and there were delays on most of the
pitches. As we passed Gontards, Fred
and I picked up our gear and arrived at the top of Aldos. At the bottom of Aldos we met Pete
Glanville, who was returning from the bottom without a stop for sleep. John hauled his sack up for him and then John
and Trev proceeded to give Pete a hard time by telling him his gear was all on
the rope wrong and that he was not in a fit state to get out. We left him sitting at the bottom of the rope
looking at all his rope gear, mumbling about what goes on first!
A short section of passage from the bottom of Aldos leads
you out into a large passage which disappears into the gloom in each
direction. We turned to the right and
set off past Petzl Gallery, with our sacks on our backs. The going was easy along a fairly level floor
with boulders to scramble over or round. Except for the size of the passage, this section I found rather
uninteresting and was a little surprised when Trev announced that we were
standing in the middle of
section of passage where the roof was much lower and there was a large amount
of stal, both large and small. When
passing through this section of passage on the way out, I had the impression
that these stals were walking along beside me and disappearing into the
darkness! We made good time down over
the Little General’s Cascade which had a ladder on it and through to the
Tyrolienne Cascade where John had to recharge his light. Trev, who had already done this section a
number of times before, shot off for Camp 1 to make a brew. His parting words were “Follow the
right-hand wall”. When John was
with light again we set off up a boulder slope, as we approached the top the
roof rose majestically away and the sides melted into the darkness.
We moved on over the boulder floor to the right until the
wall appeared out of the gloom. John and
Phil, both of whom had done this section of the Great Rubble Heap, moved on and
when they were a long way off their lights seemed to be stars moving in the
blackness. Fred was very impressed to
say the least. The only other place I
have been which made me have that feeling of insignificance was the Salle Verna
chamber at the end of the Pierre St. Martin. The floor gradually becomes steeper and we passed by huge boulders the
size of houses, Camp 1 came into view below as we rounded one of the
boulders. It was a welcome sight as we
would be able to leave our sacks here for the bivvy on the way out.
The most note worthy thing about Camp 1, apart from the
smell, is the large mound of spent carbide in the middle around which
everything seems to happen. A number of
people were asleep in their pits after their trips to the bottom. While we had a brew and something to eat,
Trev changed into his wet-suit for the bottom section. He cursed and changed back into his dry grots
as there was something wrong with the wet-suit and he had carried it all the
way to Camp 1 for nothing.
With the minimum of gear, we set out from Camp 1 straight
into the Hall of Thirteen. As we walked
over the dry gours in the floor the large stals came into view, first as faint
glimmerings as the light catches them, and then as stals that grow and grow as
they are approached. I did not think
that the pictures I have seen do justice to this group of stalagmites. As we were going to take pictures on the way
out we pressed on down a well decorated passage to the Balcony Pitch. This was passed quickly and we pressed on down
until the passage levelled out and the roof came down to join us. The cave, for me, from this point on never seemed
so huge and overpowering as the section above. Because of this, the passage sections between the pitches and obstacles
do not stand out in the memory as the top half, or perhaps it was too much of a
good thing to take in all in one go.
After some scrambling through stals and up and down stal
climbs we came upon a staled in wall with a small (for the Berger) hole with a
rope disappearing over a stal bank. This
was the Vestibule pitch where one clipped on to the rope and slid off on ones
arse over two large stal banks. At the
bottom of the second stal bank a scramble had to be made to a ledge on the left
otherwise a fast descent would be made to the floor below without the aid of
the rope. The ledge is followed on a
traverse line diagonally across the wall until the floor is reached. We pressed on down the passage which became a
high rift, and on rounding a corner we met the stream flowing at our feet.
“The canals, lads! said Trev, leaping up and down on a
boulder in the middle of the stream. He
continued to bleat on about the state of the existing traverse lines when he
was on the previous rigging trip, and finished by saying, “They are all right now as I have sorted
them out”, whereupon he leapt up at the right-hand wall and clipped into a
tatty old piece of nylon rope and disappeared along the wall. Phil followed on, but after some distance
came to a halt. The cause of the problem
as received from Phil was a sodding great knot in the rope which needs a large
krab. He was using a small krab! Large krabs all round and on, trying to
ignore the lack of external sheath on the rope here and there. All along this section the stream fills the
bottom of the passage, it was very clear going down into the blackness – the
sign that says “I’m bloody deep!” The next entertainment was a crossover to the opposite wall. Two lines crossed the stream with a bulge on
the other wall to duck under as you crossed. Trev, Fred, John and Phil managed with some trouble depending on the
length of their legs. Me, I suffer from
ducks disease, no way would my legs stretch to obtain a hold and I ended up
hanging like a spider in a web, with my arse in the stream, praying that the
rubber inner fixed to the belay would hold. A big effort and I reached the other wall and continued after the
others. A cross back to the right-hand
wall was made easily this time and I caught up with John, who was watching Phil
perform acrobatics round a stal column which ends 18 inches above the water. The trick was to brace your feet at water
level and then lean back in your harness until your back was level with the
water, and then move to your left and stand up on the other side of the column. The rope at this point was horrendous, all
inner and no outer. (We all used it both
ways on all the trips and it’s still there!). A quick scramble over a boulder and the canals ended in a fine cascade
and pool, which was interesting to descend and cross on a single line from the
top – much more fun going back up! Large
passage was entered here and we had a break for a change of carbide.
We set off again in high spirits down Cascade passage to the
top of Claudine’s. The water spills out
of the passage and tumbles down over the wall to land in a large shallow pool
at the bottom. The rope is off to the
left at the end of a short scaffold tube wedged into a crack in the wall. The descent is a walk down the wall by the
side of the stream and very attractive when watched from below. We followed the passage via various short
pitches and climbs to the
is a steep descent over a boulder floor. At the bottom we arrived at Camp 2.
A rest was taken here and after a discussion it was decided
to have a brew on the way out. From Camp
2 the passage closed, down rapidly and we dropped through a hole in the floor
to a series of pitches where one moved from one rope to the next with hardly a
break between. I found this section
quite wet with spray on the return, and think that they would be very hard in
high water conditions. We were all
getting bitten by bottom fever at this point and went charging down the passage
looking for the last series of pitches. Before these are reached the roof lowers and a short section of passage
has to be negotiated on hands and knees with even a bit flat out under a rock
arch. The streamway is soon regained to
the ominous noise of water falling a long way. We had to wait here as Ken Dawe and Bob Pyke came up from the
bottom. We had a chat when they arrived,
then set off ourselves. A short climb up
to the right leads to a traverse on a rope to the head of Little Monkey. The rope sails down over a deep pool with the
stream crashing down on the right hand side. After the edge of the pool is reached, a steeply sloping wall/floor is
followed down until the stream suddenly shoots over the edge into
blackness. Hurricane!!
A move to the left is made to an alcove where a change over
is made to a traverse line. A move down
and round a bulging corner of rock of rock and I found myself on a small ledge
with nothing but black space to the side and down. I moved carefully along the ledge to where
John was sitting in a small eagle’s nest type of place with room for only two
people. The head of the pitch is further
out along the ledge the other side of the eagle’s nest and the roof is about 2
feet above it. Getting on and off the
rope is a real pig and everybody had some trouble with it. Once on the rope the pitch is a beautiful
free hang. When I reached the bottom I
had that feeling that I was a long way from home! This soon passed as we set off down a large
passage floored with boulders. After
some distance, a large inlet came in from the right pouring water down a short
pitch. [This is the water from
Fromagerie – the other major cave on the Sournin plateau and containing a 600
foot. plus pitch! Next year a British
team are going to try and link it with the Berger – what a round trip that
would be!! – ed.] The passage shape
changed to a high rift and pools started to appear in the floor. When we reached a pool that came to above
Fred and Trevs waists I stopped. Freds
waist is my chest and I did not feel like going out soaked through. John and Phil agreed. Trev and Fred went on a short distance but
quickly came back with the report of a deep pool and duck. This was the bottom for us.
After congratulations all round we set off out, our first
objective being Camp 2 and a hot brew. As with most trips out of a cave, we gradually became strung out as the
people in front pushed on to clear the pitches for those behind. At Camp 2 we all assembled again and had a
welcome brew. We cleaned up the camp which
was a bit of a mess and after a lamp fettle set out for Camp 1. Again we were strung out by the pitches and
my mood was very sombre as I was travelling alone or with just one other person
and the little incidents that are amusing when in a group become annoying
instead. Also by now we were all
becoming very tired. We all eventually
struggled into Camp 1 and had a brew and something to eat, what it was I have
no idea but it was hot and tasted okay. Camp 1 was full to bursting with sleeping bodies all over the floor and
strung in hammocks on the wall. I found
a flatish area on the rocks off to one side and set out my sleeping gear. Trev left the camp at this point as he was
going all the way out, I was glad it was him and not me.
We all settled down to sleep but I only slept very
fitfully. I had those lurid dreams about
floating in a dark space and then dropping down on Camp 1. At another point in my sleep, I awoke
suddenly with my hand outstretched trying to hold up the roof which I thought
was falling in! At last it was time to
get up – which I did, whereupon half the rest of the residents got out of their
pits. They were all waiting for someone
to make the first move. A meal was
cooked and eaten along with lots of hot drink and we all felt much better. Time at this point had ceased to mean
anything and the meal we had just eaten had no point in being called breakfast
or anything else – it was just a meal. After a general tidy up and much fettling of lamps, I dragged out the
camera and Fred and I set off to take piccies. Some time was spent photographing the camp and the Hall of Thirteen,
along with a large group of other flashers everywhere. Fish had turned out of one of the hammocks
and was giving Phil a hand firing the flashes but there was one problem, Fish was using his personal stereo cassette
to listen to music and had no idea what Phil was telling him.
After taking all the pictures we required in that area, Fred
and I set off out taking photos as we went. Phil and John were going to follow doing the same thing. Eventually we reached the bottom of Aldo’s,
only to find that Ken and
the rope. Fred had just started to
ascend when Phil and John arrived. This
section of the cave was now rather congested and became very slow. I enjoyed the steady plod up the pitches and
through the Meanders, even though I was in desperate need of a crap from
Gontards on. The surface was reached
and it was bliss to change with the warm evening sun to dry us out. I had been underground for 31 and a half
hours, not much by some standards but one great time for me.
Those of us who did the trip together, plus others, spent
the evening having a communal meal and drinking numerous bottles of wine
etc. On the Sunday, Fred and I cleared
up our camp and very reluctantly (we both would have liked to have stayed to the
finish) set off on the drive back through
The crossing was rough and I nearly smashed into the back of
a lorry when I went sleep at the wheel as we came into
time! We arrived home just about in one
piece after a truly unforgettable four days.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who
organised the Berger trip which proved to be well planned and carried out.
Buckett.
Letters To The B.B.
Found One 20 ladder
You might be tempted into thinking that this is a new lost
and found column in the BB – it’s not!
This note is an attempt to find the persons who left their
ladder on the 20′ Pot in Swildons some time in October and caused me to be
woken up in the middle of the night five weeks later by the police who were
concerned that someone was lost down the cave. They can buy me a pint.
The saga began one Wednesday evening in October when a party
of cavers, exiting from a Blue Pencil trip in Swildons, noted a ladder and
lifeline on the 20′. The same evening a
party was reported overdue. The whole
event came to nothing, the overdue party having left the cave earlier in the
evening. The only other consequence was
that a few extra pints were hurriedly downed in the Hunters. The ladder and lifeline remained.
During the next five weeks the offending ladder and lifeline
were noted by several late parties exiting from Swildons. Things came to a head when a caver from
trip to Sump 1 and arrived back at the 20′ about midnight to find one broken
ladder and a lifeline and rope still on the 8′ Pot. He informed the police of his concern that
someone might still be down the cave.
The following evening, the MRO Hon. Sec. and I removed from
Swildons the following tackle: – one very tatty ladder, broken in four places;
one lifeline and one handline.
And the moral of this tale of woe: – take your rubbish,
tackle included, out of the cave and home with you and I shall not lose my
beauty sleep.
Incidentally, the condition of the ladder gives rise to
considerable concern; the wires were eaten away with corrosion and in four
places were completely broken. On the
Thursday evening before its removal a party actually used this ladder.
Brian Prewer.
*****************************************
Gentle Reader, some of you may be
so culturally uncouth as to need an explanation for the following letter. Back in the days when men were men but people
didn’t make such a fuss about it, beer was a shilling a pint and creosote held
the Belfry together, the B.E.C. conducted an occasional correspondence with His
Grace the Duke of Mendip through his secretary Pongo Wallis. In order to get His Grace off our backs (or
wherever it was that His Grace intended), Alfie Collins, who was obliged to be
Editor during this Golden Age, would reply. (At that times scribes were common as people didnt reckon much on
writing and Alfie knew someone who could). Anyway, Alfie generally managed to weasel-word his way out of trouble by
being frightfully polite and kept us informed through the pages of the
B.B. Will there be a later-day Alfie to
reply to this letter one asks oneself?
FROM Kangy King,
Secretary to His Grace, the Duke of Mendip, 2nd. Baron Priddy, K.C.B., W.C.
& C., Hon. M.B.E.C. Aspirant.
TO The Honourable
Secretary of the
Exploration Club.
Dear Sir,
His Grace, having recently succeeded to the Title was
informed by his solicitors of correspondence with the B.E.C. undertaken on his
behalf in the 1950’s by his Father’s Secretary Mr. Pongo Wallis.
Mr. Wallis then a notorious cave photographer is now well
embarked on his retirement career as distributor of coloured photographs. These or at least the ones that he chose to
show me one evening at the Star Inn in Wells, he described as blue, which
puzzled me somewhat as they were in fact sepia in colour. I took them to be old medical photographs as
they were well thumbed and almost exclusively of females of a certain age unclothed
and presumably demonstrating physiological phenomenon. The purpose of my meeting with him was to
clarify the relationship of his late Grace with the B.E.C. I attempted to ease the discussion with
liberal hospitality but in spite of a second barrel of Kingston Black being
hastily made available by mine host I gained nothing except a curious twitching
oscillation of his left optic as he placed his right forefinger alongside his
nose. I remember little more of the
evening as the sight of Mr. Wallis consuming what he described as his pudding,
a mixture of rough and orange and ice cream caused me some distress.
His Grace then suggested that I should stay, incognito, at
your headquarters. This I did during the
August Bank Holiday. My appearance was
somewhat spoiled, I fear, as I was forced to abandon my high heeled open toed
red patent court shoes with the lovely filigree silver strap around my ankle
and borrow a pair of gum boots. One of
these contained a piece of fleece but I was not able to ascertain why this
should be so as there were no Club Members to be found. They were Australians, Londoners, Crewe
Caving Club, a dozen or so in all, staying at your salubrious premises and they
suggested that I might try looking in the Hunters Lodge Inn where Members might
be found at that hour sitting on the steps waiting for the Landlord (another
Member I was told) to open the bar. I
repaired thither and although the bar was in fact open I could only identify a
small but distinguished group who introduced themselves as Old B.E.C.
members. The spokesman for the group
was a Mr. Alfred(?) Collins and I had the great pleasure of meeting Mrs.
Collins and their charming daughter together with Mr. and Mrs. Ransome and a suave
gentleman, Mr. Bagshaw by name, who touched me for 25p, an old habit I believe,
for he had had, the honour formally, I learned, of being both Secretary and
Treasurer of the B.E.C . I was informed
that Butcombes was ‘on’ and I was treated to a quantity of this admirable amber
liquid whilst they regaled me with tales of long ago.
Resuming my Enquiries at your Caving premises, I was
startled by two wet young men in rubber wear which they assured me was caving
apparel. Their fresh eager faces and
clear eyed comportment persuaded me that here, at last, were the Members that I
sought. I presented my card and my
Letter Introduction from His Grace and they in turn introduced themselves as
Mr. Batstone and Mr. Castle. They very
civilly showed me around the Headquarters and we took tea whilst the visitors
disported themselves in the palatial new recreational room curiously known as
the Dirty Changing Room. Was this, I
wondered, so called because of the mixed bathing available? A banner announcing Vacances Propre which
was translated for me as “Clean Holidays” added to my confusion.
I felt it necessary that evening to check what is obviously
an adjunct to the Headquarters and once again was allowed into the Hunters
Lodge Inn after only a short wait on the doorstep. I partook of Butcombes for its excellent
restorative qualities and was delighted to make the acquaintance of more
charming people who
had heard of B.E.C. Members. Feeling quite restored I heard myself agreeing to conduct a party into a
cave the next day. This did not seem odd
at the time especially as they were kind enough to buy me more refreshment to
help cure my knees. Mr. Jarratt showed
me how to find what he called The Belfry and too late I realised that he too
might be a Member. At The Belfry I
learned how to put my legs behind my neck and that the difference between an
Australian and yoghurt is that yoghurt is cultured.
The Royal Forest of Dean Caving Club arrived at ten o’clock
the next morning led by a girl called Maria who assured me it was all
compressible. Whilst I inwardly
regretted my rash words of the evening before no one would have resisted
forcing a squeeze with such a lovely young woman. Suddenly, Mr. Castle, as impressed as I was
by the potential of the R.F.D.C.C., offered to help us in the squeezes. We descended Saint Cuthbert’s Swallet to the
September Series Boulder Ruckle and had a marvellous time in the squeezes until
we were tired out.
That evening, in the Hunters Lodge, knees with more
Butcombes.
I was able to assuage my Sir, I am now better able to understand
the necessity of the relationship between Caving and Butcombes but I am still
unable to explain, to His Grace, that of his dear departed Father with the
B.E.C. The Dirty Changing Room did not
exist in those far off days. I should be
glad of your comments to oblige,
Yours Truly,
Kangy, (Sec’y, His Grace the Duke of Mendip.)
SRT Tackle
I have heard recently that the question of whether the club
should purchase and provide for members use SRT rope and pitch rigging
accessories (krabs, mail Ions, hangers, bolts) has been discussed by the
committee.
May I make the following points which to me appear very
relevant to this matter.
1. At an A.G.M. within the last few years the
question was discussed. From memory the
decision taken was that the club would only supply the traditional caving
tackle of ladders, lifelines, tethers and spreaders. This decision I interpret as forming club
policy which has never been revoked by any subsequent A.G.M. Therefore no committee can override it or
take any different action unless a future A.G.M. decides so.
2. Many times discussion has taken place on the
desirability of group SRT tackle for general club use. Even very recently at a meeting to dispose of
the Berger Expedition equipment those present considered that the club could
not control such equipment.
3. Where will it be stored?
Who will administer it and keep a log of usage? Who will check for damage etc.?
Who will say when a rope is unsafe?
Is there a big demand amongst members for group SRT equipment?
Are krabs, maillons, hangers etc. group tackle or should individuals use their
own?
Would you use club tackle for SRT?
4. Even in the reasonably well controlled situation
of the recent Berger Expedition where over 50 people used the SRT tackle many
people expressed worries about the rope and more particularly worries over
individuals treatment of it; their different SRT techniques which could cause
damage to the rope and the lack of care with it. I would suggest that the control over club
SRT tackle would be less diligent and therefore more prone to misuse, loses and
damage.
5. Our ability to look after our gravitational
caving tackle is not very good. Much
goes missing never to be seen again. I
was in the tackle store recently and noticed only 1 lifeline – where have all
the others gone? Tethers and spreaders
are abused and twisted beyond use.
6. Can the club afford it? Are there not more important expenses? I suggest that the only action the present
committee can take now is to air the matter amongst members and in the B.B. for
consideration at the next A.G.M.
Tim Large 5th December 1985.
Hut Wardens Report
Club Officers report October 1985
I was co-opted onto the committee after volunteering for the
post at the 1984 A.G.M. At the meeting I
pointed out that I would not have the same amount of time to devote to the job
as in previous years in the post, due to other commitments.
My main objective, has been to attempt to simplify the
running of the Belfry, so that the Warden does not have to stand over Hut users
and crack the whip to ensure that jobs are done. A modicum of common sense, with the
application of a small amount of initiative on the part of some hut users would
have made the job run a little smoother in some instances.
This year the Belfry has been re-styled to the design
approved at the 1984 A.G.M. A much more
functional format, I think, I am sure those of you who have seen or used the
new style Hut will agree that an excellent job has been done. The work was carried out in the matter of
about six weeks, and although the hut was at times almost uninhabitable, a few
diehards maintained a presence, either sleeping in the wreckage or
camping. Thanks are due to those people,
both members and guests, for allowing themselves to be begged, cajoled or
browbeaten into working on the hut. Actually some did volunteer. Also
deserving of thanks are Dany Bradshaw and his partner for taking on the major
works contracts and doing an efficient job. Also to John Dukes who spent many hours rewiring the hut. It should be noted however that a number of
small jobs still remain to be done by the club, and we still have to maintain
the hut. Hut fees were raised as from
the 1st June to £1 for members and £2 for guests. Although the payment of Hut fees has been
good this year a number of people seem to forget that day fees and tackle fees
exist, this money goes to provide the club with better services and
facilities. Whilst on the subject of
finances, Belfry receipts for the twelve months from October 1974 stand at
around £2,500. However, it must be noted
that expenditure such as rates, electricity, insurance and the transfer to the
Hut Building Fund are not included in this figure; reference must be made to
the Belfry Profit/Loss sheet in the Treasurer’s report for a true reflection of
hut finances.
Attendance at the Belfry run to a total of 1474 bed-nights,
this figure can be broken down as follows:-
Members bed-nights 665
Non Members bed-nights 809
Of the Non Member figure, 156 bed-nights were taken up by
the Navy Resource and Initiative Training parties making mid week use of the
Hut.
For the past six months I have been trying an experimental
Hut fee system, relying on the hut users to pay their fees into the conscience
box and entering details of their visit on a sheet. This system relies on the honesty of our hut
users to make it work. We have had some
surprisingly honest members. I would
urge my successor to carryon with this system on a more refined basis. I would be pleased to help in this task.
Finally my thanks for all those too numerous to mention who
have helped in the past twelve months. My apologies to our treasurer for my system of accounting which must
have been totally alien to him.
Chris Batstone October
1985
If this B.B. is not big enough, how about putting pen to
paper and sending me that article you keep promising.