The
Exploration Club, The Belfry,
Road
Editor: John Williams
Contents
- 1 1994 – 1995 Committee
- 2
- 3 Editorial
- 4
- 5 A Letter to the Editor
- 6
- 7 “From the Belfry Table”
- 8
- 9 Letter
- 10
- 11 Bristol Exploration Club 1994 AGM held at the Belfry 1st October 1994
- 12
- 13 The Case of the Corduroy Trouser
- 14
- 15 Chile
- 16
- 17 Caving In The Falkland Islands
- 18
- 19 Meghalaya
- 20
- 21 Membership Matters!
- 22
- 23 Bristol Exploration Club Membership List 94 95
- 24
- 25 Alternative Glossary Of Caving, Mining & Underground Rescue Terms
- 26
- 27 Competition
1994 – 1995 Committee
Hon. Sec. Nigel
Treasurer Chris Smart
Caving Sec. Jeff Price
Hut Warden
Tackle Master Mike Wilson
Hut Engineer
Membership Sec.
B.B. Editor John Williams
Editorial
Hello everyone. This
is the first BB of the ‘Club Year’ and is the Christmas issue. My apologies for not having produced one
earlier, this is due to ongoing computer problems and my thanks go to Dick Fred
for his continuing patience and help in this area.
I’ve put it together as quickly as I can, as per request of
certain Honorary Life Members (see elsewhere in this journal for details) and
consequently have not necessarily included articles that certain individuals
may have been expecting to see. It also
means that I have not had time to retype some of the contents, so please excuse
the different typefaces etc. My thanks
go to those of you who have written articles in the past year as do my pleas to
anyone who feels like writing something; I can always use extra material.
Some club business ….. Firstly from Mike Wilson ……
Some of the more observant members who frequent the shed may
have noticed a strange looking metal tower 8’6″ high residing next to the
tackle store. This is not a catenary
tower for the next BEC space launch but the promised rope testing rig! All the vital parts are locked in the inner
sanctum of aforementioned tackle store. We hope to test all the expedition ropes and date tag them – giving us
some kind of datum point to work from in the future – in the interests of
safety! Also the rig will be available
for personal testing at prearranged dates/times and a nominal fee will be
charged to help towards tackle replenishment. At the time of writing the rig is only good for factor 1 tests but we
will have the components for factor 2 tests shortly. Thanks go to the lads who have shown interest
and support in this project and special thanks to the member who supplied the
Avro Vulcan bomb release mechanism. I
hope the rig is well used. M.W.
Further on the matter of tackle, from the committee …..
The current tackle situation is that out of 22 club ladders
there are only 3 booked out in the log and NONE in the tackle store!!! This means that members have been repeatedly
unable to have access to kit. There has
been little response to requests to return ladders, indeed some non-BEC and sub
standard ladders were brought in instead of the original kit borrowed.
Would any member holding any club kit please return it to
the tackle store or to any committee member by the February committee meeting
so that a proper check and inventory can be done.
And from Jeff
Price-(Caving Secretary).
St Cuthberts Swallet Tackle Fees. If trips are arranged through the caving
secretary, the club/group requesting a trip will have to pay the fees at the
time of booking, otherwise leaders will still collect fees at the time of the
trip.
O.F.D. Permit.
The OFD II (top) Cwm Dwr permit has been renewed. Anyone visiting the above must have a permit
with them (and have filled it in). Permits are kept at the Belfry and by Jeff and if anyone needs one
urgently they can contact him on his home number 0272-499299 and a permit will
be posted. Please note these are only
available to paid up members.
As was agreed at the last committee meeting, completed
membership forms for prospective new members must be handed to either the
proposer or seconder and presented to the committee by them. This is to ensure that the applicant and
his/her proposer/seconder are present at the committee meeting ….. .DF.
And Finally ………… SUBSCRIPTIONS DUE ….
As you will see elsewhere in this ish subs for 94/95 are now
due and are …
£20.00 single and £30.00 joint if paid by 31.12.94
£24.00 single and £36.00 joint if paid after 1.1.95
A Letter to the Editor
Dear Ed,
Reading last years article on the successes of people
despite them being cavers, I was suitably amused with the subject lateral to
caving activity, so here’s a bit more …
This then concerning the subtle criteria for choosing names
for caves and parts therein being different to that used by climbers for routes
and parts thereof, I suspect the last word in each case has something to do
with it.
The trends in cave names appear to be dominated by
geographical detail or locations whilst points therein are referred to more
often than not by hydrological or descriptive attributes. For the most part names of climbs follow the
same rules. The main exceptions in each
case appear to be 1. a strong vein of humour both blasphemous and tongue in
cheek for cave systems and 2. fictional futuristic and fantastic for climbing
routes. A dodgy speculation here may be
that while the climbing fraternity are more often than not performing in pairs,
caving is undertaken (pun intended) by larger groups which leads to a more
prolific dissemination of humour in the socialising ‘après descendre’. Further dodgy speculation leads to the three
Fs in route names of climbs pandering to spectator attention, their public is
suitably awed as it were, this is something that caving, by its very nature,
cannot enjoy.
I accept that several other factors are at work here, for
instance cave names have the opportunity to describe more dimensions rather
than being dominated by verticality, individual moves on climbs can be bloody
desperate but not very different from the stamina sapping characteristics of a
long caving trip, the terminology must therefore spring from some other
source. This leads to a most dodgy
speculation that the lack of an audience in caving has been instrumental in the
generation of aforementioned blasphemous annotation.
In conclusion then, it appears to be the public’s fault.. ..
as was thought all along!! Any more ideas anyone … ???
John King.
“From the Belfry Table”
This is just a brief note from Herr “Hon Sec,”
which hopefully Jingles ‘The Ed’ will see fit to publish. The committee will try to keep a regular
‘First Friday of the month’ plan for meetings, so here is your official
notification for all of you ardent waffle followers of the set dates …. Nov 4, Dec 2, Jan 6, Feb 3, Mar 3, Apr 7,
May 5, Jun 2 Jul 7, Aug 4, Sep 1.
My apologies in advance for missing the December meeting, the
2nd is my wedding anniversary and as it was good enough for the last sec, I
will be on holiday in one of his hotels in
trouble is he has threatened to turn up as well and take me caving!
*****************************************
A.G.M. & DINNER:
SATURDAY 7th OCTOBER 1995 ….. 60th SPECIAL
*****************************************
COME IN NO 4 YOUR TIME IS UP …. Dan Hasell (Member No 4)
was honoured at the AGM when the meeting supported the outgoing committee’s
proposal to give honorary life membership to ‘No 4’ for his long standing
support of the BEC and Caving and Cave Diving over many years, indeed many of
us were touched and humbled by Dan’s acceptance speech.
Martin Grass was also honoured by the AGM and awarded one years
honorary membership in gratitude for the sterling work over 14 years on the
committee. He has thankfully also
offered to make a donation, not, I think, a bad idea … do you?
*****************************************
The AGM further advised me to contact all life members and
determine their current interest, if any, in the BEC, as rising costs and
insurance premiums levied on each member, now lay heavily upon the paying
membership of the club. This in no way detracts from the fact that these people
made the club and the Belfry what it is today. We must never lose sight of
that, however when they were called upon, they stood to be counted. I also personally believe that they would not
now want to be a drain upon the club. Unfortunately, this is the current position due to circumstances beyond
our control. There is no intention for them to renounce their category of
membership, but rather now we hope that they might consider making a
contribution towards their BB, insurance etc., no one can deny that for the
most part they have had an average minimum twenty five years membership for
their respective contributions. The club
does not forget its debt, but must have due regard to the membership as a
whole.
Anyway, hope to keep you all briefed, as long as there is
food on the table.
Regards to all. ‘Mr
N Hon. Sec.
Letter
Coneyhurst
Nr Billingshurst
West
5 October 1994
Dear Jingles,
A word is required on the BEC club dinner – Excellent. What more could be said? Unfortunately –
there is more! From the moment we
arrived back at the Belfry, our ears and stomachs were subjected to loud
unexpected music over which conversation was difficult in the extreme. Even this could have been tolerated if the
volume was lower and the balance was not pure bass.
Knowing the general high spirits of the well oiled caver we
had set our tent up in the snake pit so that when we retired for the night we
could be well out of the way for a peaceful nights sleep, so that the party
could continue until the last person dropped. Without disturbing us. Even in
our tent however the penetrating qualities of the music intruded. Hence a disturbed nights sleep and the
ruination of an otherwise enjoyable event.
On talking with various people in the morning we gather that
the music was a ploy by a minority to wind some of the other members up. This we think they managed to do extremely
well, but we do not regard this within the context of high spirits.
But apart from that please keep up with the high standard of
entertainment and good food that constitutes a BEC club dinner.
Congratulations to Nigel Taylor and The Belfry Boys.
Yours
sincerely
Dave
Ball & Ruth Baxter.
PS So if after publishing this letter you would pass it on
to the committee so they could look into this complaint we would be grateful
and hopefully much relieved in the future.
Bristol
Exploration Club 1994 AGM held at the Belfry 1st October 1994
Meeting Opened 1045 Hours
The secretary asked for nominations for Chairman.
Bob Cork Chairman. No
other nominations (30 For: 1 Against)
Jingles proposed 1993 AGM minutes taken as read and
ratified. Seconded Rob Harper. Unanimously accepted.
Matters Arising
Chris Batstone asked if we ever got a Hut Warden’s report
for 1993 .. asking we never got one. D.
Turner said if we knew where the survey kits were. M. Wilson reported all 3 kits were now in his
possession. B. Wilton reported the books
had now been audited for 1993.
1994 Secretary’s report
No matters arising.
Brian Prewer proposed a sincere vote of thanks to M. Grass
for his efforts over the last 5 years. Seconded Mac. Report accepted. Proposed D. Turner. Seconded R.
Harper. Carried Unanimously.
Caving Secretary’s Report
Taken as read. No
matters arising. Carried
Unanimously. Proposed Blitz. Seconded C. Batstone.
Hut Wardens Report
Taken as read – no questions. M. Grass proposed a vote of thanks as Estelle
had taken more money than ever before mainly due to her collection
technique. Proposed R. Harper. Seconded
Hut Engineer
Tim sent his apologies. Report taken as read. Ron Wyncole
sent a report on the fire extinguishers (see attached). Brian and Nigel voiced major concern that
some of our fire extinguishers had been “loaned” to the Shepton
Mallet C.C. Although high spirits set
off extinguishers our insurance would be invalid if we had a fire. Setting off extinguishers should be dealt
with severely by the Hut Warden. Proposed Jingles. Seconded Mike
Wilson. Carried Unanimously.
Membership Secretary
Ted Humphreys asked why a membership list had not been
published. Nigel said it had taken a
long time to get the records straight. One would be published in the next B.B. D. Turner asked about Nigel’s proposal of getting contribution from Life
Members. Dan Hasell said we should write
and ask if Life Members wished to remain members and still receive the
B.B. D. Turner asked that Nigel write to
all Life Members as suggested at last years AGM. Nigel said he had spoken to members rather
than written. Nigel agreed to write to selected
Life Members. C. Batstone asked how many
members we had. Nigel said he could not
give an exact figure. Proposed
acceptance D. Turner. Seconded Ted
Humphreys. All for one abstention.
Tackle Masters Report
Published. As usual
ladders were missing. Bob Cork said
should we not have ladders but hire them from someone. The meeting said no. Struen said we should try non-compatible c.
links. Brian Prewer said this wouldn’t
work as MRD may need to mix club ladders on a rescue. It was decided to try and ensure ladders are
tagged and are logged out. Proposed C.
Batstone. Seconded Greg Villis. Carried Unanimously.
B.B. Editor
Dan Hasell said could we have more B.B’s Nigel Taylor said
that since Jingles had edited the B.B. it had been excellent. He said cost meant we could only have a B.B.
every 2 months plus if he had enough articles he could do a monthly one. Proposed Nigel Taylor. Seconded Rob Harper. Carried Unanimously. 1 Abstention.
Treasurers Report – Blitz read it out.
Members said we should have remained in the BMC. Dave Glover said now there was a joining fee
plus about £3.50 per member per year fee. M. Grass suggested next years’ committee look at rejoining if it is not
to costly. D. Turner had proposed this
at the 1993 AGM. It was agreed to
continue. The telephone was not making
money and we were about £52 per year down. Mr. N. said should we charge MRO for some line rental. M. Grass said no as this was our contribution
to MRD. It was agreed to not put up
charges but to continue subsidising the line rental.
Dave Turner was told by the Chairman that he could make the
final statement. He said he had said
enough. £250 was given to Trebor for the
publication of the Wigmore report. Trebor reported that it would be published within the next 2 months.
Oil and electricity after much discussion about heating
costs, Jingles Proposed, Seconded Mac that next years’ committee put a locked
box over the frost stat to stop people turning up the heating mid week. Keys to committee members. Brian Prewer Proposed. Seconded Nigel. That we go to a cheap Electricity plan for
nights and weekdays. Brian had done this
at the village hall. He will advise next
years committee.
R. Harper asked why we had spent so much on cleaning
materials etc. Blitz said the previous
Hut Warden had not always accurately accounted for all cleaning product
expense.
St. Cuthberts loans – Blitz said we had made a profit on
hut fees and that we could pay off some of the pledge money.
Auditors Report
Barry Wilton reported that the accounts were becoming more
complicated and 4 weeks was not long enough to audit the accounts by the
AGM. D. Turner proposed that next years’
committee is instructed to look at a constitutional change to the financial
year. Seconded Mac: 0 Against: 4
abstentions. Carried.
The auditor will audit the accounts and report back to the
next committee meeting and they will be published in the B.B.
Ian Dear Memorial Fund Proposed
Report published in the B.B. Proposed Mac. Seconded Jingles. 0
Against: 2 Abstention. Carried.
Librarians Report
Dave asked for a membership list to be put in the library.
Blitz asked if any books had gone missing. He said he knew of none. Proposed
Estelle. Seconded
St. Cuthberts report selling slowly but steadily.
Nigel Taylor Proposed. Seconded BEC committee that due to his support of the BEC member No.4
Dan Hasell is accepted as an Honorary Life Member. All carried Unanimously.
Election of committee
Nigel Taylor, Chris Smart, Mike Wilson, Jingles, Jeff Price,
*,
had all said they would like to stand. All were voted on, on block.
* those marked * are new to the committee.
|
Position |
Candidate |
Proposed |
Seconded |
For |
Against |
Abst.. |
|
Hon Sec |
Nigel Taylor |
D. Turner |
A. Cave |
UNAM. |
0 |
1 |
|
Treasurer |
Chris Smart |
Mac |
|
UNAM |
1 |
2 |
|
Caving Sec. |
Jeff Price |
Mac |
C. Batstone |
UNAM |
|
0 |
|
Tacklemaster |
Mike Wilson |
Estelle |
Struan |
UNAM |
|
0 |
|
Hut Warden |
|
Babs |
Rob Harper |
|
|
|
|
Hut Engineer |
|
Blitz |
Estelle |
|
|
1 |
|
Membership Sec |
Dick Fred |
Babs |
|
UNAM |
|
|
|
Editor |
Jingles |
D. Turner |
Blitz |
UNAM |
|
|
The meeting understand and agreed that Estelle would take
over as assistant treasurer.
Non committee posts:
|
Librarian Archivist Auditor |
D. Turner Alan Thomas B. Wilton |
B. Prewer T. Humphries C. Batstone |
Mac M. Gr4ass D. Turner |
UNAM |
1 2 |
Proposed: Jingles Seconded Blitz that the librarian is instructed to find out from the
Archivist what archives we have and where they are kept.
M. Grass was given Hon. Membership for one year as
acknowledgement of his services to the club. Proposed
Against: 0 Abstentions. Not carried.
Proposed R. Harper. Seconded Nigel that we have a Member to Excess which can only be awarded
by the AGM. 26 For: 1 Against: 1
Abstention. The committee to be
instructed to look at a suitable award.
Any Other Business
A Report from BEC rescue team leader.
Read out by the Chairman. Blitz asked
Brian Prewer to comment. Brian said all
real rescues are insured by police, now practices are also insured. The practice organised by P. Romford was not
OK’d by the BEC committee. Mac said Phil’s
report was wrong in saying it was for experienced SRT cavers only. Mac asked that it is minuted that Phil is an
experienced caver and has a lot to offer.
Brian Prewer said that the original purpose of Club team
leaders is that they are generally young members who hopefully will become MRO
Wardens.
censure of no confidence in the current team leader as there was a deliberate
intent not to inform the Club of the practice. 20 For. 9 Abstention. 0 Against.
M. Grass proposed that the position reverts back to Caving
Sec. to appoint team leaders as and when required. Seconded Estelle. 25 For: 2 Against: 2 Abstention. D. Turner proposed that the next committee
are instructed to issue a set of guidelines for Practice Club rescues. 25 For: 0 Against: 1 Abstentions.
Nigel Taylor said Kevin Fisher who stole Trebors car had
now admitted the crime and will probably receive a custodial sentence.
Blitz said do we need a full balance sheet or partial. A partial one was a good idea.
Next years’ dinner and AGM 7 October 1995.
Meeting Closed 1555 hours.
1994 BEC AGM Present
M. Grass, B. Cork, Jingles, Stuan, Helen Harper, Rob Harper,
Estelle Sandford, Mike Wilson, Any Cave, Angie Cave, Hilary Wilson, Babs
Williams, Pete Hellier, Kevin Gurmer, Dave Glover, Ruth Baxter, John Freeman,
B.J. Wilton, Ted Humphreys, Chas, Nigel Taylor, Chris Batstone, Chris Smart,
Dave Turner, S.J. McManus, Dan Hasell, B. Prewer, Greg Villas, Emma Porter,
Nick Gymer, Dave Ball, Rich Long.
Late Arrival, John Buxton.
The Case of the Corduroy Trouser
by Dave Irwin
Investigation Into the
history of cave exploration can lead the speleological researcher into many
unexpected dele avenues. None more so
than the ‘Case of the Corduroy Trouser.’ To lay the least this is the most unusual the writer has yet come across
to establish the date of cave
The standard references to this cave all imply that interest
in Lamb Leer Cavern waned after
initial exploration. Though 18th century
county historians knew of the site none had visited it and the information they
gave came from Lowthorpe’s, 1705 edition of the Royal Society’s Philosophical
Transactions and Collections, 1700. 1 By 1823 both Conybeare and Buckland
commented that the cave was no longer open and by 1868, Woodward wrote that the
location of the entrance had been lost and even the local inhabitants of the
Harptree villages did not know of the cave’s existence. 2 3 The train of events
that followed the original exploration and mining activity in the cave, during
the period 1675 – 1680, is one of great interest. If the cave was not accessible in the 1820s
when was it last visited? A chance
remark by the mining ‘Captain’ during the visit to the cave in July 1880 gives
a clue to the answer.
The twenty-five year old John Beaumont of Ston Easton, near
Chewton Mendip, first explored the cave about 1675 and fortunately he wrote of
his experiences in the publications of the Royal Society 4 leaving detailed
accounts of the cave including his study of the stalactite formations and the
crinoid fossils that abound at the site. In addition to his descriptions he outlined his activities during his
search for galena in the Main Chamber. He excavated a high rift passage. Beamnont’s Drive. leading to what is now known today as the Cave of the
Falling Waters. The clay deposits also
interested him as the red ochre mud was of use to him in his medical practice.
1 Lowthorpe, J., 1705. Philosophical Transactions
& Collections. To the End of … 1100. Abridg’d, Vo1.2, 369-370. [Other
editions published 1716, 1722 and 1731]
2 Woodward, Horace B., 1876, Geology of East
Somerset and the
Coal-fields. Memoirs of the Geological
Survey.
x + 271pp, maps :
p. 187-189- descriptive summary of caves at Westbury [
Giant’s cave; Lamb Cavern, near
… The lamb Cavern was a very lofty and
spacious vault containing stalactites. The descent to it was by a shaft 70 fathoms deep.
No knowledge of it was possessed by any inhabitants of whom I inquired in
1868. Messrs Buckland and Conybeare
write in 1823, 1t is not now open, but appears from the description of it
given in MATON’S WESTERN TOUR (see vol. ii p. 132) to be rather an old mine
than a natural cave. 8 … ‘
3 Maton, William G., 1797, Observations relative
chiefly to the Natural History … of the Western Counties of
4 The references and transcripts of the
discussed in Shaw, T.R., 1962, Lamb Leer in the 17th Century. UBSS Proceedings, Volume 9, No.3, pp.183-187
The limited value to the miners caused the site to be
abandoned – hence its name – a Leer – an open cavity that was empty of
ore. During the next century the cave
was often referred to by topographical writers, though most appeared not to
have visited the site but simply plagiarised material from earlier
writers. At least one thought it to be
an old mine. Benjamin Martin, in his
book. The Natural History of
on the abridged reprint of the Royal Society Philosophical Transactions and
Collections, published various editions between 1705 and 1731. Martin was not alone. Collinson 6 and Woodward both state that the
entrance shaft is 70 fathoms deep – a typographical error – the actual depth of
the shaft was 70 feet. 7
At the time Woodward was preparing his book on the
coalfields of East Somerset and
published in 1876 the mining company
and Partners 8 took a lease from the Waldegrave Estates. Between 1873 and c. 1886, extending from
Compton Martin to Chewton Mendip in the hope that they might revive the
flagging Mendip industry. On Lamb Hill
they set their operations in the search for iron ore, miners were employed
under the experience of, Captain’ Nicholls and his team. During this time Bolton became aware of
great cavern in the vicinity and after careful research they unearthed his 17th
accounts of the cave. The detail they
had available to them was vague and as Woodward had stated, local information
would be of little help. In 1879 the
company decided that it would repay them to concentrate on the relocation of
the cave and excavations began. However
by the autumn little progress had been made and hopes of finding the cave were
wilting. A shareholder in the Bolton
Company, one Charles Algernon Moreing visited the workings becoming interested
in the lost cavern. Winter was now upon
them but Moreing swotted the subject but gained nothing new that was not
already known about the cave. In the
spring and early summer months Nicholls and his men continued searching
encouraged by the reward of £2 and 3 shillings a day for the man who re-entered
the cave – not as Balch claims in his well-known books that it was Waldegrave
Estates who had offered £100 as a reward for the caves re-discovery. Drilling and excavating continued apace hut
again to no avail. However, according to
one of the miners working at the site, Andrew Lyon, one of the miners working
at the site had had a grandfather who had told him of the location of the cave
entrance. Whether this is true or mere
fabrication we shall never know but during June, 1879, a shaft had been sunk and
at the depth of about 60ft found a hole that led them into a parallel shaft-
known today as the Beaumont Shaft. They
had found the entrance passages to the cave. The Wells Journal and other local newspapers published an account of the
re-discovery alerting the mining expert James McMurtrie to their
discovery. In addition to his
responsibilities to the coal mines of the Radstock area, McMurtrie was also
Agent for the Waldegrave Estates and one of his responsibilities was to ensure
that the mining activity did not interfere with the other interests of the
landowner, Earl Waldegrave.
This note has been
re-printed from the latest newsletter of the BCRA Special Interest Group’s
Newsletter No.6 (with permission).
Many readers of the BB may
not have heard of these specialist groups that cater for cavers interested in
Communications, surveying, hydrology, explosives and Speleo-history. Membership of the groups is open to all
cavers including non-BCRA members. There
is a subscription differential of about 30% for non-members. Further information can be obtained from
Bryan Ellis,
Westonzoyland, Bridgwater,
TA7 0LQ Tel.: (0278) 691539
5 Martin, Benjamin, 1759. The Natural History of Somersetshire. Pub: W.
Owen,
county descriptions published under the collective title of The Natural History
of England: or, a description of each particular county. in regard to the
curious productions of nature and art. For fun details refer to
Pamphlets. Manuscripts and Maps. 3rd Century to December 1968 by T.R.
Shaw. Pub.: Transactions of Cave
Research Group of
Britain
495]
Re-exploration of the cave took place. A winch was installed at the entrance together
with a wooden ladder. At the top of the
pitch into the Main Chamber, a pulley system was installed enabling a team of
about five men to control to paying out of the rope at the top lowering the
visitor down the 70ft pitch. One has
only to reflect on their difficulties; indeed not only these men but the
achievement on the young John Beaumont. None of these men had the advantage of approaching the top of the pitch
into the Main Chamber by creeping under the aragonite floor. The approach was over the top through the
awkward hole that would cause problems for today’s SRT or laddering experts.
The Bath Field Club 9 heard or read of the re-discovery and
applied to be able to visit the cave. So, within a month of the caves’ rediscovery, they paid a visit on July
13th. 1880. It was also to be James
McMurties first visit to the cave. Prior to the descent of the cave Nicholls outlined the work involved in
the relocating of the cave – in fact some 37 borings had been made – indicating
the considerable effort afforded by him and his men. Nicholls stated that one of the first points
of interest he noted was the mark of a corduroy trouser in the mud. This then was the all important clue to when
the cave was last visited. When did men
begin wearing trousers made of the corduroy weave. Some searching took place and eventually with
the help of individuals associated with the
it transpired that the weave had been invented in 1789 and was patented in
1795. Here was the all important
answer. For it meant that the entrance
to the cave was accessible in the post-1795 period. For manufacture and marketing of trousers
made of this material would have taken some time to become readily available in
the clothing outlets and implies that the cave was still open, probably as late
as 1800. Thus the comment that the
entrance was no longer open in 1873 meant that the site was sealed within the
first two decades of the 19th century. The
lack of interest in the cave from the date actually coincides with the down-turn
in mining activity on Mendip during the early 19th century and this may well
have been the cause of the entrance slumping and eventually becoming
blocked. The Speleo-historian has to
question every little statement and leave nothing to chance. Such is life!
6 Colinson, John, 1791, The History and
Antiquities of the
Cruttwell, 3 volumes. [Lamb Leer reference Vol 3, page 587]
7 Balch also used this erroneous transcript, refer
to
Balch, H.E., 1937, Mendip. Its Swallet Caves … , Wells, Clare, Son & Co.,
ltd. p.74-75. [19.(8 2nd edition,
Simpkin,
(1941) Ltd. p.38-39]
8 The company underwent several name changes
during its activities on Mendip.
9 Anon, 1881, Secretaries Notes and Excursion
Report. Proceedings of the
Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, Vol. 4, p. 363-365 and 316-382
Chile
HMS NORFOLK
BFPO 344
At Sea – Off
16 March 1994
I am currently serving onboard HMS NORFOLK. One of the Royal Navys Type 23
Frigates. During our South Atlantic
patrol we visited
short stand off.
In the course of this visit I was able to take a two day
expedition to the Torres del Paine National Park, an area of outstanding
natural beauty the Patagonian Andes (famous world-wide for the imposing Towers
which the park its name).
During the visit to the park I made a brief visit to the
Cueva del Milodon (Caves of Milodon) a show cave which I found to contain a
number of fascinating speleological features.
The cave was formed by the erosive action of glacial
melt-water on the conglomerate which forms the side wall of a deep U-shaped
glacial valley.
As shown on the sketch map below the cave is situated on the
side wall of the valley at the point where the glacier snout formed the
terminal moraines. The entrance is about
100 m across and about 30 m high. The
cave floor rises at an angle of about is degrees and two distinct “bedding
planes can be seen. The outermost being
the lower (and presumably the more recent watercourse). Both bedding planes are now choked with loose
boulders. The inner section of the cave
is filled with a fine glacial silt which still bears the traces of Ion Age
habitation in the form of hut foundations.
Unfortunately the caves touristic value has been ‘enhanced’
by the addition of a ten foot high fibre-glass Milodon (a prehistoric bear)
which has become the focus of the cave with little in the wav of speleological
explanation being available from the park wardens.
The cave ceiling has a number of eroded formations. Most of which have been badly damaged by the
smoke from the fires of the caves early inhabitants.
Sketch showing the general topography of the valley.
Sketch of plan and elevation views of cave
Caving In The
Falkland Islands
On Saturday 23 April a team of six cavers from HMS NORFOLK
conducted a reconnaissance expedition to the
area of
This area is reputed by local legend to have been the
hideout for eighteenth century smugglers and as such is well recognised to have
a number of caves.
Paloma beach is a remote bay located at the North-westerly
extremity of
51,25,40 West 059,01,30). Bordered by
sandstone and shale cliffs on both sides the beach is a flat expanse of white
sand stretching for 3 km (see map).
Locally obtained information suggested the presence of at
least one cave entrance in the rocky outcrop at the centre of the bay.
Using the ship’s Linx helicopter (361, Pilot Duncan
Matthews, Observer Sean Rowley), an aerial reconnaissance of the cliffs
surrounding the bay was undertaken; a number of small cave entrances were noted
along the base of the cliffs, but unfortunately time and tide did not allow for
these to be explored.
After landing on the beach a search was made of the outcrop;
two caves were identified. One cave
fitted obtained from the locals of a cave known locally as
the other cave was later established to central rocky the descriptions Paloma
Sand be a new discovery.
Geological Features
The rock in the area is a metamorphic sandstone with a very
high silica content (a full geological analysis of specimens taken by the
expedition is currently awaited).
The cave entrance is an angled rift which slopes at about 45
degrees for a distance of 25 meters into a thirty meter bedding plane.
New Cave (named Sandy Hole by the expedition).
The cave entrance is a small (1 x 0.75 meter) opening in the
left hand side of the rocky outcrop at the centre of the beach. The cave consists of a single passageway
which slopes down at an angle of 30 degrees for 25 meters. The cave is partially filled with wind blown
sand.
HOLE – SKETCH OF ELEVATION
25 METERS
Although it is unlikely that any major speleological
challenges visited are certainly of geological of a visit by cavers who find
themselves
Permission to visit the caves should be sought from the
landowners at San Carlos Settlement.
Andrew
Duncan Matthews
Sean Rowley
Andy Whitehouse
Jan Portwood
Garry Langler
A MAP TO SHOW THE
LOCATION OF THE CAVES DESCRIBES SCALE 1:50,000
Meghalaya
TETENGKOL BALWAKOL
In February ’94, I was fortunate enough to spend a month in
Meghalaya, North East India, with seven other cavers. After several days spent negotiating
restricted area permits and establishing where we could and could not visit we
decided to explore in three main areas. Firstly Cherrapunjee / Mawsynram (East Khasi Hills), secondly Siju
(South Garo Hills) and lastly Balpakram (South Garo Hills). It was also decided to separate into two
teams of four; this would help with the logistics of transport and give us more
freedom to cover our chosen areas.
17th. Feb.
The sun was already well up when our two jeeps set off from
been planned due to a collapsed bridge on our route (most bridges in Meghalaya
are not recommended for those with a nervous disposition or any
imagination). The bridge over the Chibe
Nala (
could still be crossed on foot by balancing on remaining beams. However, the jeeps had to ford the
river. We had heard reports that
upstream of the bridge were two caves, so having crossed the river we set off
up a ‘seriously’ rutted track to investigate. Four kilometres of bone jarring, body bruising travel brought us to a
point where the other team could walk in to their site. Unfortunately we had another four kilometres to
drive before we could escape the ordeal of off road travel. At the end of the track we arrived at the
extricate our battered dusty selves from the jeep we were surrounded by dozens
of villagers all eager to see and maybe touch the strangers in their
midst. It appears that we were the first
Europeans to have visited the village in living memory and the eight kilometres
we had travelled from the road had, somehow, changed us from interesting
curiosities to very important people.
Despite our desire to get changed and head off to explore
caverns measureless etc., we had to observe the rituals of social
niceties. A meeting with Hemason M.
Sangma, the village head man (Noc-Ma), regarding the caves, involved several
glasses of tea and offers of beetle nut. Eventually it was agreed that the Noc-Ma would lead us up river to the
cave. The walk-in takes about an hour,
the route at first crosses paddy fields and then enters the jungle following
the Chibe Nala gorge. The Noc-Ma, a
short wiry man dressed in flip flops, shapeless trousers rolled up to the
knees, ill fitting jacket and carrying an ancient single barrel shot gun tied
to a piece of string over his shoulder, lead us up the river. We followed over large banks of sand and
shingle, the river soon narrowing into a gorge, its steep, craggy, limestone
walls, jungle clad, alive with birds and monkeys. We passed two hot springs (32 and 35 degrees
Celsius) before the river became a succession of isolated pools as it started
to play that exciting game of hide and seek that quickens the pulse of any cave
explorer. Eventually we arrived at a
spectacular stretch of the Chibe Nala, the river here runs in a series of deep,
blue-green pools, liberally decorated with huge blocks of limestone and pure
white sand banks. The eastern side of
the gorge consists of massive slabs of rock rising almost vertically and set
with impenetrable jungle; the western side is a continuous wall of rock in
which the almost round ‘Hobbit hole entrance of Tetengkol is to be found.
TETENGKOL :
Alternatively interpreted as ”
At the entrance we hurriedly kitted up and as I was ready
first I rushed in to have a quick look around. The entrance passage, clean washed, finely scalloped and approximately
1.6 by 1m reached a small stream after about 10m. I set off upstream in slightly larger passage
traversing about 150m of joint controlled development, stopping when it
diminished to less than 1 m high, then rushing back to meet the others. On my return the rest of the team had not arrived
so I pushed on downstream. The passage
runs almost parallel to the Chibe Nala, slowly diminishing in size, until after
130m, I, having been reduced to flat out crawling in the stream, returned. When I met Jenny, Shoon and Daniel, they were
already busy with the survey and as there was not enough room for more than
three to work I went off to push the upstream passage. Passing several side passages I soon arrived
at the previous limit and pausing just long enough to check on the local young
man who decided to accompany me (dressed in white shirt, slacks, slip on shoes
and no light) we pushed on. Some twenty
or thirty metres of stooping later, the passage began to enlarge and we were
soon trolling along a two metre tube. This fine passage ended suddenly at a junction with a superb
river-passage (
5m wide zoomed off into the darkness. Now completely gripped with exploration fever I rushed up stream,
closely followed by my loyal companion whose lack of light and inappropriate
clothing seemed to present no problem. We covered about half a kilometre, passing many side passages, some of
them beautiful 3m tubes. Deep pools had
developed wherever the passage changed direction and it was while negotiating
one of these that I decided that we ought to go back and let the others into
the good news. My companion (standing
chest. deep in water, broad grin splitting his face) was still keen to go on
but I could not wait to share this exploration with the rest of the team. On returning and passing on the news, we all
had to keep our exploration fever under control while we got down to surveying
the complexities of the entrance series (Daniel’s Topo Teaser Series). Slowly, leg by leg, the survey progressed up
to the point already reached. Jenny, who
was now scouting ahead reported that 30 or 40m ahead the passage ended at a 6m
waterfall which had a big black space above it. At the base of the fall a break was taken to allow for lamp
“fettling”, survey leg additions,
underground rituals cavers get up to. During the break I tried to climb up to the higher level. Having negotiated a route I found myself in a
very large chamber (The Planetarium) some 60m long, 30m wide and 30m high. With a quick shout over my shoulder of
“I’m up”, I gave in to exploration madness and set off across the
chaotic mass of boulders which was the chamber floor. The boulder pile proved to be
“interesting”, for at one point whilst descending the unstable 50
degree slope I found myself “surfing” a table sized slab into the
unknown. On the far side of the chamber
a huge passage (
Street
distance, this was followed for about 60m before a return was made. The cave was surveyed to just beyond this
point, before, with great reluctance, we had to return to the entrance. The only way we could bring ourselves to
leave such impressive ongoing passage was to keep telling each other that we
would return the next day.
The journey out of the cave and back to the village passed
in a euphoric haze, dreaming of caverns as yet unseen. The excitement however was not over for the
day, as on our return to the village we were to be treated as honoured guests
and invited to eat at the home of the Noc-Ma. After a superb meal, lots of tea and several Biries (a small cigar, hand
made out of Birie leaves with dubious effects) we were ready to leave. As it was now late and we had 8 kilometres
off road and 20 kilometres of appalling road to drive before we could sleep, we
were keen to be going, but, the Noc-Ma had other ideas. Apparently one of the village hunters had
just returned with a Barking Deer and we, as honoured guests, must have a share
of the kill. Simon and I were taken to a
house where the deer was skinned and jointed using nothing but a razor blade
and an old bamboo knife. Later, after
shaking hands (yet again) with what seemed like the population of a medium
sized city we set off, very tired, very happy and with about 2 kilos of fresh
meat.
18th. Feb.
After an all too short night (at the Circuit House in
Backmara) and a breakfast of Puries and Channa Dhal we were again heading for
Nengkong. The twenty eight kilometre
journey was uneventful but: uncomfortable and by mid morning we were engaged in
the elaborate game of trying to change in front of 30 or 40 villagers who were
all desperate to find out if we were white all over. During these gymnastics we were in
conversation with the Noc-Ma who gave us information regarding other caves in
the area: – Matchakol (
examine the new leads, we returned to Tetengkol. On entering the system Simon and I set off to
have a quick look at some of the side passages leading off
series of large passages and breakdown chambers running parallel to the
streamway. We were soon back in
the rest of the team and heading for the previous days limit. As we moved through the cave I remember
thinking how quickly familiarity changes one’s perception, the Planetarium
which only yesterday had seemed awe inspiring was passed as just” on the
way to somewhere else. The final survey
station was reached and the now familiar sequence began, however I must admit
that I find exploring and surveying at the same time very hard, to be on the
end of a tape with unexplored passage calling you on is difficult to
resist. The ongoing passage was followed
until it suddenly ended in a complex area of cross rifts and smaller
passages. We all set about looking for
the way on, unfortunately many of the passages ended in “hanging
death” boulder problems. However
Simon followed one through an area of breakdown to reach a clean washed
vertical rift about 10m deep; having no rope we were unable to descend and had
to reluctantly abandon this lead. Whilst
poking around above the rift 1 found a route through the boulders and after a
short crawl entered another large chamber. Following one of the passages leading off of the chamber Daniel walked
into a massive passage (Paula’s Parallel Universe) running parallel to (
30m legs until it bifurcated. To the
right was a smaller, clean washed and descending passage, to the left it
continued large but partially choked with banks of sand. We followed the left hand passage for a few
metres until the in-fill forced us to crawl, leaving it ongoing, we returned to
the junction. The right hand route
continued in fine style, passing one major junction and finally opening into an
impressive chamber high in the roof of
descending from this point we returned to the last junction and tried the
alternative route, this led eventually to the Planetarium. Time again was getting late and as an hour’s
walk down a jungle river in the dark is not a healthy pastime we had to start
heading for the entrance. As we were due
to head for Balpakram the next day it was with great reluctance that we left
the cave.
19th. 20th. 21st.
22nd. Feb.
The next four days were spent in the Balpakram area where
our team was singularly unsuccessful in discovering significant new cave,
despite close encounters with vanishing rivers, moving boulder chokes and large
spiders. However, that, as they say, is
another story.
23 Feb.
We returned to Nengkong with the intention of staying in the
village for the next few days thereby saving on travelling and having more time
for caving. The villagers were very
pleased at our return and soon found us a place to sleep (the mustard seed
store). We soon dispensed with the
necessary niceties (several glasses of tea and endless hand shakes) and were
once again tramping up the Chibe Nala. This time we stopped to examine Matrongkol (
western bank of the river at the end of a rocky, jungle clad gully. By the look of this gully a sizable stream
must resurge in wet weather. The walking
sized entrance was found to be blowing a gale and was well decorated with dry
calcite formations. I followed the
passage for about 40m to where it descended into what must be a sump in wet
conditions. I went for another 20m in
sandy passage before deciding to postpone further exploration until I had more
than a head torch. We never got enough
time to return and the picture of that ongoing passage lives on in my dream.
On our return to Tetengkol we first surveyed the maze of
joint controlled passage in Daniel’s Topo Teaser Series, before moving on to
un-entered passages running off the upper end of Paula’s Parallel Universe. On the way we decided to have a closer look
at the passages running parallel to down stream
the area already visited and dropped down through breakdown to a 2 by 3m
ongoing passage. This fine passage was
followed until standing water was encountered; we pushed on in a deepening
canal, when on rounding a bend we saw daylight through a wide arch. This entrance fitted the description we had
been given of Balwakol (
complex of passages just traversed became known as the Balwakol Series. Returning to Brooks Street, we paused only to
climb into the two high breakdown chambers either side of the stream way (Toad
Hall) and confirm that they closed down, before pushing on to our objective for
the day. From the head of Paula’s
Parallel Universe (P.P.D.) all of the large rift passages soon ended in massive
boulder problems and although big black voids could be seen it proved impossible
to reach them. Next we turned our
attention to a passage that Simon was keen to explore; it was a 4m tube
entering P.P.D. 2m above a blue-green lake. Having gained entry we rushed off for about 60m to confirm it was
“going”, before returning to start surveying (Simon’s Series). The fine tube continued past inlets before
becoming a wide bedding plane with an uncomfortable quantity of cobbles
partially filling the passage. After a
few metres of crawling we entered a complex of high rift passages, mostly
ending in the now all too familiar boulders. One rift however continued to where one huge boulder seemed to be
blocking the passage, closer examination revealed a low space beneath the
boulder. It’s amazing when passing a
massive boulder with no visible means of support, how one can negotiate a 6m
crawl without disturbing a pebble (or even breathing). We were now at a T-junction- to the left was
about 20m of fine cave to a partial calcite fill almost blocking the passage. As further progress would have required
“proper” caving, we tried the other direction. This soon developed into a lovely little
streamway (Hidden Streamway) about 3m high by 1m wide, waist height ledges well
decorated with columns added to its appeal. We followed for about 120m until further progress would have required
crawling before returning to Simon’s Series to look at some of the wide open
(walking sized) leads. The first passage
we tried soon became partially blocked with gravel reducing it to 1.5 by 3m. Following gently down slope we encountered
standing water and although the passage size remained the same the air space
slowly diminished. Expecting the passage
to sump at any moment, I cautiously pushed on; after about 60m the air space
had reduced to 10cm and I was about to give up when the roof started to rise. Unfortunately it was only a junction chamber,
to my left an uninviting passage lead back towards Simon’s Series (later
confirmed) and on the far side of a deep pool a low wide passage lead on. Retuning through the low air space canal, my
lamp started to play up. Just when I was
beginning to feel a little bit lonely, a VERY LARGE white fish, panicked by my
presence, rushed straight at me like something out of “The Black
Lagoon”. This generated some
colourful expletives and a name for the passage (Brian’s “biggest white
fish ever” Passage).
Again time had beaten us so we returned to the village,
happy that we still had more leads than you could throw a stick at.
24th. Feb.
The tasks for the day were to survey the Balwakol Series and
to examine all the un-entered leads off
‘unnoticed passages. One lead through a
joint controlled maze to a fine passage ending in the roof of Daniel’s Topo
Teaser Series and the second one, discovered by Jenny, lead through a chamber,
well decorated with multi-faceted calcite formations (Jenny’s Jewel Box) to two
other daylight entrances. A low, wide
passage, completely lined with sharp calcite crystals was found heading north
from Jenny’s Jewel Box but it was only pushed for 20 painful metres.
Having finished the survey of the Balwakol Series we moved
up
several impressive inlets were entered, all, however, closed down within 30 or
40m. One, uninspiring passage was
entered and surprisingly went on to yield 200+ metres of new cave. This passage (Hole in the Roof Passage) runs
parallel to and in several places connecting with
frustratingly un-entered passage at the top of a smooth 4m aven. Having surveyed all the new stuff we had
again run out of time, without even going beyond the lower cave; we had,
however, discovered over 500m of new cave.
25th. Feb.
We spent the day going to look at another cave Dobhakol, (
further up the Chibe Nala. The difficulty
experienced in reaching this site led us with just enough time to survey the
main passage. However, in the short time available, we did manage to clock up
over 1.5 kilometres of new cave.
26th. Feb.
This was to be our last day in the Nengkong area, so despite
many passages not pushed to conclusion in Tetengkol, we decided on the
following plan: one, to try to descend the rift found by Simon, two, to tie up
several survey loops in the upper end of the cave and three, to spend what
remained of the day photographing the cave. We had just failed to achieve our first objective and were starting on
our second when I looked under a low arch at the side of the passage, and there
between easily movable boulders was a big black space. Having dispatched the boulders and ascended
an easy climb I found myself in another huge chamber (Brian’s “I’m sorry I
think I’ve found a way through the boulders” Series). With the floor of this chamber consisting of
huge slabs some 5m across and the roof a large unsupported malevolent presence,
it is not surprising that conversations were carried out in whispers. We commenced surveying the new-chamber but
the sound of falling water enticed us into a side chamber where a small stream
was found tumbling into a shaft which occupied most of the floor area. Traversing around the unstable lip we entered
a fine stream passage, this was followed passing several (un-entered) side
passages for about 200m. At this point
the passage had diminished to a high, narrow, inclined rift, requiring sideways
travel. Just when we were about to give
up we popped out at the base of a clean washed, elliptical shaft, its fluted
walls rose sheer for at least 20 m, the stream reduced to fine spray by its
fall from passages as yet unseen. Returning to the big chamber (Agoraphobia Chamber) we continued our
survey only to be seduced yet again by the sound of a stream. This time the stream passage only went for
30m to a wide, high rift, with the water cascading from an obvious large
passage about 10m above. Completing the line survey of Agoraphobia Chamber we
found ourselves in an impressive passage about 10 to 12m square, this was
followed to where it split into several smaller passages, none of which were
pushed to conclusion. As we were fast
running out of time and, as yet, had not taken a single photograph in the cave,
we made the difficult decision to leave many ongoing passages unexplored. We photographed back to the entrance wishing
we had more time to do the job properly and it was with great reluctance that
we finally left the cave.
Epilogue.
Tetengkol is now the longest cave in the Indian
subcontinent, having over 5 kilometres of surveyed passage, it has at least 27
ongoing leads so the possibility of doubling its length is quite high.
The Chibe Nala area also offers Matrongkol (not fully
explored), Dobhakol (not fully explored), several cave entrances seen but not
entered, a massive resurgence (not closely examined) and a 3 kilometre totally
unexplored limestone gorge. Needless to
say, I for one wish to return.
Expedition members involved in the Tetengkol exploration
were Jenny Brooks, Simon Brooks, Daniel Gehauer and Brian Johnson.
The other members of the Meghalaya ’91 expedition were Tony
Boycott, Helen Harper, Rob Harper and Chris Smart.
MEGHALAYA – ΣΨΝΟΠΣΙΣ
02 February to 02
March 1994:
Simon BROOKS, Tony BOYCOTT, Jennifer BROOKS, Herbert Daniel
GEBAUER, Helen HARPER, Rob HARPER, Brian JOHNSON & Chris SMART
|
|
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
|
1 |
Area |
Cave |
Survey |
Alt + |
State of mapping |
Text print |
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
BALPAKRAM |
Mahadeo Chirenkol |
1,679.30 |
17.29 (-0.88, 16.41) |
wire |
y |
|
4 |
|
Mahadeo-?-Kol |
1.028.26 |
18.30 (-2.81. 15.54) |
wire |
y |
|
5 |
|
Mingsingkol |
507.62 |
16.54 (0.00, 16.54) |
wire |
y |
|
6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
CHERRANPUNJEE |
Krem Phyllut |
1,003.11 |
29.21 (-8.54,20.67) |
wire |
y |
|
8 |
|
Mawnluh-Aven (30,21) |
|
11.42 (0.00, 11.42) |
wire |
y |
|
9 |
|
Mawnluh-b (598,35) |
|
15.05 (-11.24, 3.l81) |
wire |
y |
|
10 |
|
Mawnluh-Fossil (265,82) |
|
23.27 (-23.27, 0.00) |
wire |
y |
|
11 |
|
Adds to Mawnluh (3607,3) |
834.38 |
Total length: 4501.7m |
|
|
|
12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13 |
KHARAKOL |
Bok Bak Dobhakol |
1,052.53 |
31.64 )-13.74, 17.90) |
wire |
y |
|
14 |
|
Dobhakol |
1,616.30 |
14.66 (-3.73, 10.93) |
wire |
y |
|
15 |
|
Tentengkol |
4,666.96 |
45.32 (-0.51, 44.81) |
wire |
y |
|
16 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
17 |
MAWSNYRAM |
Krem Dram |
421.54 |
13.98 (-2.76.11.22) |
wire |
y |
|
18 |
|
Krem Phusjasim |
244.57 |
13.82 (0.00, 13.82) |
wire |
y |
|
19 |
|
Krem Lumsymper |
135.87 |
3.28 (-0.98, 2.30) |
wire |
y |
|
20 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
21 |
SIJU |
Shit Pot |
161.94 |
18.49 (-18.49, 0.00) |
wire |
y |
|
22 |
|
Dobhakol-a (131,85) |
|
1.80 (0.00, 1.80) |
wire |
y |
|
23 |
|
Dobhakol-b (517,57) |
|
26.38 (-5.04, 21.34) |
wire |
y |
|
24 |
|
Dobhakol-c (49.24) |
|
9.02 (-6.66, 2.36) |
wire |
y |
|
25 |
|
Adds to Dobhakol (2900) |
649.42 |
Total length: 3198.8m |
wire |
y |
|
26 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
27 |
TURA |
Tetenkol |
8.00 |
2.2 (-0.00, 2.2) |
drawn |
no |
|
28 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
29 |
|
Total: |
12,390.50 |
Metres surveyed length |
|
|
Membership Matters!
Mem Sec:- Dick-Fred,
Cheddar. Somerset.
When Jingles asked me to write this for the next issue of
the B.B. I must admit I sat staring at an empty screen for a while. Finally the words began to flow …….
Having recently taken over the job of Membership Secretary
for the B.E.C. I suppose I ought to direct my comments in that direction. Firstly I would like to thank Mr. N. for the
job he has done over the past few years, he has managed to get the membership
details in such a well organised state that has made it easy for me to slide
gently into the role.
Then I would like to thank Jingles for actually having the
patience and time to enter onto computer the complete list of paid up members
as at the A.G.M. this year.
Now seems the time to remind the membership, myself
included, that subs are due and to remind you that up to the 31st of December
1994 subs are £20 single, £30 joint. After that the subs rise to £24 single, £36 joint.
There is always a period of grace for those who do not pay
their subs, as they will receive only one or two further B.B. ‘s after the
start of the next year before they are then removed from the distribution
list. (This is normally at the
discretion of the B.B. Editor and the Membership Secretary.)
On the following pages you will see the current membership
list. Inclusion on this list does not
mean you have paid your subs! If your
details are wrong, or you know that somebody else’s are wrong, please let me
know. I feel it is very important that
your details are kept as up to date as possible and I will try to publish
updates in every B.B.
Please send your subs and information to either the Belfry,
for my attention, or my home address at the top of the page.
Ciao for now,
Dick-Fred.
Bristol
Exploration Club Membership List 94 95
987 Dave Aubrey
20 (L) Bobby Bagshaw Knowle,
392 (L) Mike Baker Henton,
Wells, Somerset
1150 David Ball ConeyHurst,
Billinhurst,
1151 Ruth Baxter ConeyHurst,
Billinhurst, West Sussex
1145 Roz Bateman East
Harptree,
818 Chris Batsone Tynings,
radstock, Avon
1079 Henry Bennett
390 (L) Joan Bennett Draycott,
1122 Clive Betts Clapham,
Bedfordshire.
1125 Rich Blake Priddy,
Somerset
731 Bob Bidmead West
harptree, Bristol
364 (L) Pete Blogg Chaldon,
Caterham, Surrey
1114 Pete Bolt
145 (L) Sybil Bowden-Lyle Calne,
Wiltshire
1104 Tony Boycott Westbury
on Trim,
868 Dany Bradshaw Haybridge,
Wells, Somerset
751 (L) T.A. Bookes London
1140 D Bromhead Worlse,
Avon
1196 Dave Bryant Salford,
201 John Buxton Flitwick,
Beds.
956 Ian Caldwell Redland,
1091 A Curruthers Whitehole
Hill, Holcombe, Bath
1014 Chris Castle Axbridge,
Somerset
902 L M Cavender Westbury-sub-Mendip,
wells, Somerset.
1184 Sean Chaffey Banwell,
1197 John Christie Brompton,
North Allerton, North Yorks
211 (L) Clare Coase
2259, Australia
620 Phil Coles Totterdown,
Bristol
89 (L) Alfie Collins Draycott,
Somerset
1175 Ali Cooper Goring
on
727 Bill Cooper Totterdown,
Bristol
862 Bob Cork Pen
Hill, Wells, Somerset
1062 (J)
1142 (J)
680 Bob Cross Knowle,
Bristol
870 Gary Cullen Southwater,
Nr Horsham,
1165 D Cunningham
405 (L) Frank Darbon
1166 Arron Davies Shepton
Mallet, Somerset
1167 Malcolm Davies Shepton
Mallet, Somerset
423 (L) Len Dawes Minster
Matlock, Derbyshire
815 Nigel Dibden Holmes,
Chapel, Cheshire
164 (L) Ken Dobbs Beacon
Heath,
829 (L) Angie Dooley Harborne,
Birmingham
710 (J) Colin Dooley Harborne,
Birmingham
1000 (L) Roger Dors Priddy,
Somerset
830 John Dukes Street,
Somerset
322 (L) Bryan Ellis Westonzoyland,
Bridgwater, Somerset
232 Chris Falshaw Crosspool,
Sheffield
269 (L) Tom Fletcher Bramcote,
404 (L) Albert Francis Wells,
Somerset
1159 John Freeman Upper
Radford, Paulton,
1182 Alex Gee
835 Len Gee St.
Edgeley, Stockport, Cheshire
1098 Brian Gilbert Chingford,
London
1069 (J) Angie Glanvill Chard,
Somerset
1017 (J) Peter Glanvill Chard,
Somerset
647 Dave Glover
790 (J) Martin Grass Wookey,
Somerset
1009 Robin Gray Draycott,
Somerset
1123 Ian Gregory Bedford
1089 Kevin Gurner Theydon
Bois, Epping, Essex
1088 Nick Gymer Theydon
Bois, Epping, Essex
104 (L)
Annes, Lancs
1156 Brian Hansford Weeke,
Hants
1186 (J) Helen Harper Wells,
Somerset
999 (J) Rob Harper Wells,
Somerset
581 Chris Harvey Paulton,
Somerset
4 (L) Dan Hassell Moorlynch,
Bridgwater, Somerset
1160 Nick Hawkes Nempnett
Thrubwell, Chew Stoke, Bristol
1078 Mike Hearn
1117 Pete Hellier Nempnett
Thrubwell, Chew Stoke,
974 Jeremy Henley Shepton
Mallet, Somerset
952 Bob Hill PO
Box 82, Sultanate of Oman
691 Dudley Herbert
1174 Kevin Hissey Twerton,
905 Paul Hodgson Burcott,
Wells, Somerset
923 Trevor Hughes Bleadney,
Wells, Somerset
855 Ted Humphreys Wells,
Somerset
73 Angus Innes Alveston,
540 (L) Dave Irwin Priddy,
Somerset
922 Tony Jarratt Priddy,
Somerset
668 Mike Jeanmaire Paek
51 (L) A Johnson Flax
Bourton, Bristol
995 Brian Johnson Ottery
St. Mary, Devon
1111 Graham Johnson Wells,
Somerset
560 (L) Frank Jones Priddy,
Somerset
567 (L) Alan Kennett Charlton
Musgrove, Wincanton, Somerset
884 John King Wisborough
Green, West Sussex
1105 Jo Hills Wisborough
Green, West Sussex
316 (L) Kangy King Pucklechurch,
542 (L) Phil
413 (L) R. Kitchen Horrabridge,
Yelverton, Devon
667 (L) Tim Large Shepton
Mallet
1162 Joc Large Shepton
Mallet
1171 Rich Lewis Weston-super-Mare,
Avon
1129 Dave Lennard
1137 Bob Lewis Odd
Down,
1180 Rich Long Stoke
St. Michael, Somerset
651 Pete MacNab (Sr) Cheddar,
Somerset
1052 (J) Pete MacNab (Jr) Cheddar,
Somerset
1071 Mike McDonald Knowle,
550 (L) R A MacGregor Baughurst,
725 Stuart McManus Priddy,
Somerset
558 (L) Tony Meaden Westbury,
Bradford Abbas, Sherborne, Dorset
704 Dave Metcalfe Whitwick,
Leicestershire
1044 Any Middleton Hardington-Mandeville,
Somerset
1172 (J) Sean Morgan Clevedon,
Avon
1191 (J) Lorna Berrie Clevedon,
Avon
1053 Steve Milner Broadview,
S.A., Australia
1194 Nick Mitchell Ash,
1195 Struan McDonald Waterbrook
Mews, Devizes, Wilts
1183 Andy Newton Worle,
WSM, Avon
936 Dave Nichols Camborne,
Cornwall
396 (L) Mike Palmer Yarley,
Wells, Somerset
1045 Rich Payne Orpington,
Kent
22 (L) Les Peters Knowle
Park,
1134 Martin Peters Chew
Stoke,
1107 Terry Phillips Denmead,
Hants.
499 (L) A. Philpot Bishopston,
944 Steve Plumley Burrington,
Bristol
337 Brian Prewer Priddy,
Wells, Somerset
886 Jeff Price Knowle,
481 (L) John Ransom Patchway,
1126 Steve Redwood Draycott,
Somerset
662 (J) John Riley Chapel
le Dale, Ingleton, Via Carnforth, Lancs.
1033 (J) Sue Riley Chapel
le Dale, Ingleton, Via Carnforth, Lancs
985 (J) Phil Romford Shepton
Mallet, Somerset
986 (J) Lil Romford Shepton
Mallet, Somerset
921 Pete Rose Crediton,
Devon
240 (L) Alan Sandall Nailsea,
Avon
359 (L) Carol Sandall Nailsea,
Avon
1170 Andy
John,
1173 Estelle Sandford Wells,
Somerset
1178 Ivan Sandford
237 (L)
78 (L) R Setterington
213 (L) Rod Setterington Harpendon,
Herts
1128 Vince Simmonds Wells,
Somerset
915 Chris Smart Nr.
Bradford on
911 Jim Smart c/o
The Belfry
1041 Laurence Smith Priddy
823 Andy Sparrow Priddy,
Somerset
1 (L) Harry Stanbury Bude,
Cornwall
1192 Carmen Smith Sherborne,
Dorset
575 (L) Dermot Statham Warkworth,
Northumberland
365 (L) Roger Stenner Weston
super Mare, Avon
1084 Richard Stephens Wookey,
Somerset
1187 Mark Tanner Fishponds,
583 Derek Targett East
Horrington, Wells Somerset
772 Nigel Taylor Langford,
Avon
284 (L) Alan Thomas Priddy,
Somerset
348 (L) D Thomas Bartlestree,
Hereford
571 (L) N Thomas Salhouse,
699 (J) Buckett Tilbury
700 (J) Anne Tilbury
74 (L) Dizzie Thompsett-Clark Great
Baddow,
Essex
381 (L) Daphne Towler Bognor
Regis, Sussex
1177 C R Tozer Worle,
W-S-M, Avon
382 Steve Tuck Dousland,
Yelverton, Devon
1023 Matt Tuck Eastfield,
Edingburgh.
678 Dave Turner Leigh
on Mendip,
912 John Turner Tavistock,
1154 Karen Turvey Welloington,
635 (L) S. Tuttlebury Boundstone,
Farnham,
1096 Brian van Luipen Wick,
Littlehampton, West sussex
887 Greg Villis Weston
super Mare, North Somerset
175 (L) D. Whaddon
949 (J) John Watson Wells,
1019 (J) Lavinia Watson Wells,
Somerset
973 James Wells
1055 Oliver Wells
1185 Chas Wethered Welling,
1118 Carol White Castlehead,
Pately Bridge,
1092 Babs Williams Knowle,
1068 John Whiteley Heathfiled,
Newton Abbot,
1087 John Williams W-S-M,
Avon
1146 Les Williams
1075 Tony Williams
1164 (J) Hilary Wilson Keynsham,
Avon
1130 (J) Mike Wilson (snr) Keynsham,
Avon
1153 Mike Wilson (jnr) Whitchurch,
Bristol
559 (J)
568 (J) Brenda Wilton Haydon,
Nr. Wells, Somerset
721 G Wilton-Jones Watton,
Thetford, Norfolk
914 Brian Workman Catcott,
Bridgwater, Somerset
477 Ronald Wyncoll Holycroft,
Hinkley, Leics.
683 Dave Yeandle Greenbank,
Eastville,
1169 Chris York Kettering,
Northants
Alternative Glossary Of Caving, Mining & Underground Rescue Terms
ABSEIL
Hand
& bollock warming technique
ADIT
Smug
look on caver’s face on Sunday morning
ANCHOR Act of
fancying a Casualty Bag (see below)
AMMO
BOXES Large
cigarette carriers
ASCENDER.
Opposite to
Headender
AVEN
Light-swallowing
phenomena which goes nowhere
BANDMASK
Hi-tec
euthanasia device
term for switching on light
BEDDING
PLANE Conjugal
accommodation for dwarfs
BELAY What
students hang their tackle on having previously ascertained its instability
BELAY
BELT The act of
kicking a belay to check its strength
BLACKDAMP
Found on inside
walls of caving huts.
BLUEWATER
Only thing
certain Cave Divers will be seen in
BODY
HARNESS Used to remain
upright at bar
BOLT
As
in “Last Orders!”
& tamped into inquisitive reporters oesophagus
CARBIDE
LAMP Device used to
extract jammed cavers
CARRYING
SHEET What you have to
do when its your turn to empty the Elsan
CARTGATE
Rustic door
CASUALTY
BAG CRO groupie
CAVE
Something
not to be seen dead in
CAVE
DIVER Something
not to be seen alive in
CAVERN
Posh name
to rhyme with “Tavern” in caving songs
CEAG
Celebrated
Electrical Activity Generator
CHAMBER
Receptacle
in which to store spectacles, teeth, spare d iced carrot, etc under bed
CHEST
HARNESS Ring Miss
Smotherem for details
CHIMNEY
Play
equipment for cavers supplied in most pubs
CHOKE
Realisation
that its your round
C-LINKS What walls
hold up
CLINT Ethnic
CLOG
Anti-squitter
medicine
COE
Pratt
in running shorts
COFFIN
LEVEL Scale of
noise made by smoking cavers
CONTROLLER
Receptacle for
abuse, car keys, reporters bribes, etc
COW’S
TAIL Grip for
use whilst keeping arm warm in bovine heat-pack
CRAWL
Saturday
night auto-pilot
CROSS
CUT Very
annoyed bleeder
CURTAIN
Device to
prevent Constabulary observing after-hours activities
D-RING
Noise
D-phone makes
DEADS
Retired
Controllers
DESCENDER
Person sending
letter from .Jamaica
DOLINE Queue at
DHSS Off ice
DRAG
SHEET Crap found
in bottom of Mexican stretcher
DRIFT
Course
brain steers on Saturday evening
DRY
SUIT Clothing
for first 10 minutes in bar
DUCK
Sheep
substitute
EDGE
ROLLER Go-faster
device for lowering stretcher
ELECTRON
LADDER Detumescent
ascending device
EXIDE Elephant’s-foot
waste paper basket
EXPOSURE
BAG Heat-pack with
big tits
FAULT
Something
a Controller never, ever has
FIREDAMP
Found in
cavers sleeping bags
FIGURE
OF 8 DESCENDER Large bottle opener
FLAT
Pre-pubescent
female speleologist
FLUORESCENCE
Adrenaline rush
induced by realisation that you forgot to ring the Weather
FLOWSTONE
Whiteboard for
cavers graffiti
Patricks Day Guinness dye
FLYGT
Service
offered on
FOREFIELD
Just behind
the foreshore in the Goddam Isles
FORMATION
Underground
clothes pegs
FURRY
SUIT Last
year’s club dinner suit Centre
filling
GATE
Part
of dry-stone wall to avoid
GINGING
What the
Gang do with their Goolies
GROTTO
Disreputable
Spanish caver
GROVE
or GROOVE Caver listens to “Leonard Cohen sings AC/DC”
HADE
What
Goon keeps falling on
HAND
JAMMER Person who
runs out of Andrex
HANGER
Irate Hut
Warden
HARNESS
Fluorescent
purple/green Petzl truss
HEADING
Bit at the
bottom of rescue report in
HILLOCKS/HILLOCKING Guardian misprint
KARABlNER
West Indian
jet-setter
KARST
Term
used to describe limestone area when applying for grant for foreign holiday/booze-up
KEYHOLE
PASSAGE Double-deck passage
– lower level for
KIBBLE
80g
food
KRAB
Krustacian
LEG
LOOPS For use
in cases of extreme constipation
LEVEL
Most
East Anglian caves
LIFELINE
A four-
pack carry-out during rescue
LITTER
What
you put rubbish cavers on
LITTLE
DRAGON Opposite to
Fucking Big Aardvark
MAILLON
RAPIDE Device for
slowing down rigging
cave over 2′ high
MOLEFONE
What Jasper
Carrot should have had
NElL
ROBERTSON Inventor by
Appointment to Spanish Inquisition
NICAD
LAMP Hidden bit
of an FX2
OGOFONE
Downstream
from Ogoftwo
OLDHAM
Book
vendor from the wilds of
OLD
MAN Anyone
who remembers the Swildon’s Forty
OPEN
Passage
that someone else always finds
OPEN
RAKE What
Vietnamese do – Open rakeaway
OX-BOW
Humane
killer for club barbecues
PARAGUARD
STRETCHER Pretty stretcher for use
when TV cameras
PETZL
French
manufacturer of bespoke bondage gear
PIPE
or PIPE VEIN Where
cavers store exotic vegetation
PITCH
Always
lacking in singing cavers
PITON
Recycled
cut-down hangers
POT
Most
important caving accessory
POTHOLE
Groove worn
in bar counter
PRUSIK
Heaven
for rope fetishists
RACK
ladder
RAKE
Shit-stirring
at committee meeting
RAFPEL
Frenchman
with hot hands & bollocks
RESURGENCE
Wrong end of
Swildons
RIG
Dave
Irwin (Wig) in
RISE
That
early morning feeling
RISING
What a
gentleman cavers does before 4 pm
ROCKET
TUBE Bit they kick
you up when you get a rocket
ROOF
TUBE Concrete
tube sticking into dig
ROPE
pitch head
RUCKLE
Crowded
bar
SERIES What happens
when Sid Perou makes a half hour film which runs for 105 minutes
SHAFT Saturday
night horizontal clogg dancing
SHAKE
or SHAKEHOLE Farmers waste bin
SHUNT
Wizard
prang chaps
SINK
or SINKHOLE Diced carrot
& tomato skin receptacle
SHUNT What
happens if you puke whilst pissing in bath
SIT
HARNESS Truss
designed by Barbara Woodhouse
SKED
Decoration
with in Y fronts
SLING
What
to do with hook after farting in pub
SOLE
Arse
SOUGH
Flat
wet bit of mine
SPAR Late Nite
pie & booze vendor
SPREADER
Conjugal
stemple
SQUEEZE
Bit of cave
that keeps shrinking
SRT
Sexual
Relief Technique
SRT
HARNESS Rubber band
and pipe cleaner
SRT
RIG Rubber
band and pipe cleaner with feather
STARDRILL
Famous divers
parade for the Media
STEMPLE
Conjugal
knee stretcher
STITCH
PLATE Used by
students as pulley
STOP
(PETZL) Heartfelt
plea by other equipment manufacturers
STOPE
Olde
Englishe for above
STRIKE
Geological
feature that buggers up cave passage
SUMP
No
room for any more beer
SURVEY
Caving
very, very slowly
SWALLET Baby swallow
SWALLOW
At least 9
pints
SYSTEM
Any NHASA
dig over 50 long
TACKLE
Any
important equipment – as in Wedding Tackle
TAILINGS
Bits left
in trap when mouse gets away
TALKING
ROPE Warning you’ve
had too much Strong Ale
TAPE
Flat
string
TETHER
Bit that
Controllers are always at end of
TIRFOR
Stretching
device for trapped cavers
TRAVERSE
Wasting time
at top of pitch
TROLL
member
TUBE
Shaft
lying on its side
VADOSE
TRENCH Scar left by
burst vadose veins
VEIN
Famous
caver/diver
WARDEN
Failed
rat-catcher and lobotomized caver
WATER
GATE Flat bit of
water over sump with no key hole
WATER
TABLE Theory
without a leg to stand on
WAY
BOARD Committee
of cavers who decide on dig’s direction
WETSUIT
Drinking
kit at end of evening
Competition
Snab has recently come into possession of some 600 odd
buckets!! All these buckets have a hole
drilled in the bottom of them (Dear Liza Dear Liza … ) and there is in fact a
Bona Fide reason for this. If anyone
knows the true reason for this they can tell Snab and he might buy them a pint,
although he is far more likely to have a two word conversation the second word
being off!
The competition prize, however, will go to the most
original, inane, insane, inventive, innovative, idiotic, idiosyncratic or
incredible idea for possible usage of aforementioned articles (not necessarily
all 600 at once). Anyone daft enough to
want to enter should post their entries to the editor (address inside front
page) to arrive no later than January 31st 1995. Winner of the ‘Mystery Prize’
will be chosen at the editor’s discretion (though some would say there is
nothing discreet about your beloved editor).
Also on the following page is a crossword compiled by
Angie or Jingles will win one of Snabs Buckets and if they are lucky a free
pint! (Wow … how can you resist such
an offer.)
Crossword on Next Page
Across
2 (&3) UDDER [3,4]
3 THE
WE HEAR. [4]
6 (& 38) BLACKHEAD? NO. THE REVERSE [5,3]
7 SEE 41A
8 (&3) TRENCH [8,4]
11 CALL YOURSELF A CAVER? [3,6,9]
12 PURE CAVER? [6]
13 (& 35A) GUANO [3,8]
14 (&3) EARTH [5,4]
16 SEE 41A
18 GOES INTO GROTTO, RIGHT? [5]
20 SEE 32A
22 (&33D) A SORT OF NOVICE? [8,4]
24 (&3) DISOWNS, BUT LEFT INSIDE [8,4]
26 SEE 41A
29 SEE 17D
32 (& 20A, 37A) 20 PAST 11 [8,2,4]
34 (& 3) WHAT YOU SEE DOWN THE MIDDLE
OF A PACKET OF POLOS? [4,4]
35 SEE 13A
37 SEE 32A
39 SEE 41A
40 (&3) WHAT YOU SEE DOWN THE MIDDLE
OF A PACKET OF POLOS? [4,4]
41 (&7A, 39A) GO IN 3 DIRECTIONS
BEFORE PUB [3,3,3]
(&16A, 26A) SHOT OF THE BATS
HERE FIRST
(&15D, 38D) ASK THIN PETE IF
ITS OK TO
42 3 IF YOUVE GOT THE RUNS? [7,4]
43 3 THAT YOU SEE IN 42 AFTER 32? [4]
Down
1 WINDS GO CROSSING WIRES OVER WATER FOR
EXAMPLE [7]
2 DRAW THESE
FORMATIONS! [8]
4
5 SEE 11A
8 (&21D) LAMBS GROW INTO THESE, THEN ALL
MUTTON EWE DONT EAT IS THROWN UP HERE [7,6]
9 PLACE OF IDOLATRY? [4]
10 (&3) WHICH 3 DID YOU SAY? [6,4]
13 LOOK DOWN ONE FOR BEER? [6]
15 SEE 41A
17 (&29A)
MENDED TIGHTS ESPECIALLY FOR CAVING? [5,6]
19 SEE 36D
21 SEE 8D
23 SINK 3 [7]
25 SEE 30D
27 BEDROCK HERE
28 DOCTOR
WITH PROBLEM SPINE COULD
30 (&25D,
3) E GOT NO EARS APPARENTLY [5,5,4]
31 (&3)
3+13D=) 31DE+3 PERHAPS [7,4]
33 SEE 22A
36 (&19)
EXERCISE WITH NO ROPE? [8,5]
38 SEE 6A, 41A