The
Exploration Club, The Belfry,
Road
Editor: John Williams
Cover: Original
Artwork by Robin Gray
Contents
- 1 1994 – 1995 Committee
- 2
- 3 Editorial
- 4
- 5 From the Belfry Table
- 6
- 7 The Return of ‘Spike’
- 8
- 9 Extract From ‘The Adventures Of Another Pooh’
- 10
- 11 Glaciation in the High Atlas Mountains.
- 12
- 13 Memories of a Cave Diver.
- 14
- 15
- 16 “Une Petite Promenade Dans Les Hautes Atlas”
- 17
- 18 A Chicken’s Guide to Cave Diving. (or ‘One Man’s Attempts to Drown Himself.)
- 19
- 20 The Snake Pit Hole Dig – 1969-1995
- 21
- 22 Caving with Yogi and Spacemen
- 23
- 24 Vale. Graeme Robinson.
- 25
- 26 A Son Of Mendip!
- 27
- 28 A History of the 380 Foot Way and Morton’s Pot Digs. Eastwater Cavern from 1903 to date.
- 29
- 30 60 years of cave diving at Wookey
- 31
- 32 Just Another Swift Half
- 33
- 34 In search of Thomas Bushell’s Lost Swallow
- 35
- 36 St. Alactites Hall
- 37
- 38 B.E.C. Membership List as at 24/9/95
- 39
- 40 ISSA
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
Floating Estelle
Sandford
Editorial
So here we are then, another club year comes to an end and
this is the last B.B. of the present year and possibly my Swan song …
dependant on the outcome of the elections at the A.G.M.
The Sixtieth Jubilee is upon us and I wanted to make this
somewhat of a souvenir/celebratory issue, hence as you will have noticed it is
considerably larger than usual. I wish I
could always dedicate as much time to the B.B. and turn them out like this all
the time but, alas, due to minor details like having to earn a living between
issues, this is not always possible.
My thanks go to those of you who have provided articles for
this, and other, issues and especially to those members who always manage to
write up what they do … it makes an editors life so much easier. Robin Gray for the cover artwork. J-Rat has provided me with some interesting
historic stuff as well as self penned articles, Dr Newton is prolific (or is
that prophylactic!!?) as ever and Tav let me have a copy of his Scottish
article which is of interest due to B.E.C. participation. Thanks are also due to Nick ‘Chain Saw’
Williams who managed to stop playing with his power tools long enough to type
up Alex Smith’s ‘Vogi’ article for me … nice one Nick! The accompanying photograph may give some of
you ideas of how to deal with University Freshers caving parties! (Not that we are cynical!)
Also included are articles from ‘Pooh’ and John Buxton
recalling events from years gone by.
I have, by popular request, included the latest, up to date,
membership list for reference purposes …. always handy to have each others
phone numbers etc.
The B.E.C. has come a long way in 60 years both in terms of
the size of the club and the degree of its members’ exploits. (Not to mention the trashing of the odd
Belfry here and there!!) It has seen the
growth and development of serious international caving from Mendip, the birth
of the Cave Diving Group (where the BEC is still very well represented), and
also many ‘characters’ over the years, some of whom have passed on to the great
pothole in the sky(?) and some of whom are still with us! (In body if not in
mind …. but then a degree of insanity seems to have been a prerequisite for
membership since the word go!). The Club
has always had a reputation for ‘hard’ caving (read into this what you will)
and for my money is still right up there! There can’t be many other organizations where the members go camping
five miles underground for two weeks as their summer holidays!!!
There is a wealth of knowledge and experience within the
club in just about every area of caving you care to mention, indeed some of our
members’ reputations precede them even on an international scale.
For my part I am now approaching my tenth year of membership
and although in some terms this is a comparatively short period, I have gained
much from the club in this time and partly due to this have been proud to serve
on the committee, publish this here rag and represent the club at various
functions. (Although the MCG didn’t seem
to like me trying to set fire to the table at their dinner the other year – it
can’t have been that bad as they invited myself and Dick-Fred to sing for them
this year).
So there we are, I hope that this edition is suitably
celebratory, I think it spans the years quite nicely and seems befitting for
this time, I only hope you, the membership, enjoy it.
As for me, it remains to be seen whether I shall be Editor
again next year, I guess that’s up to you ….. !
Thanks again to all those that have supported and helped me.
Good Caving ………….. Jingles.
From the Belfry Table
The AGM and Sixtieth Jubilee Dinner is closing in on us at a
fast rate of knots now, and at the time of writing (12/09/95) it is in fact
under four weeks to go, so if you are going to attend as I hope you will, hurry
up and submit your dinner requests as soon as possible, do not forget that I
have to submit final numbers a week before the dinner this year. One problem that you will all curse me for, is
that the wine was not included as I had requested and thought negotiated,
sorry, but that was beyond my control. Still at £16 it still is excellent
value!
Well, about 160 of you missed last weekends “Working
weekend’. Where did you get to? New plastic facia boards and much general
work was again undertaken, but oh so few supporters! Please remember it is your HQ, sorry to
preach, but the club needs your effort as well. Never mind, there is always next time.
You will see by now that we are having an election, it is
good to see that there are twelve keen candidates, it is perhaps a pity that
with so many volunteers that only nine can be voted for, perhaps the fresh
blood will get deserved support as well, or the AGM may even consider that if
they were keen enough to stand, then the AGM is keen enough that they
serve? I make no apology for such heresy
to the purists, but newer members must be supported as it is they who will run
the club one day, and it is hard to get support if you are unknown to the club
in general. Remember to return your sealed
ballot form with your club membership number on the open side, to me at my home
address or bring it to the AGM by 10.30 am Saturday 7th. October 1995.
The B.E.C looks set to win the digging barrel this year,
come on you diggers lets find those extra few passages to ensure victory is
ours!
Response from the Life Members is coming in thick and fast,
with a vast divergence of suggestions, roughly 25% have replied to a personal
letter I sent to them. All of you who
have replied will receive a further reply from me in due course, (Election
permitting?) May I thank those whom have
shown great kindness in sending donations to the club, and indeed who have
bothered to reply so far. Please
remember we do not want you to resign your life membership, this will be
honoured whatever the eventual outcome. I have received some very touching letters from far and wide, amongst
these of particular note are those from Claire Coase, Peter Bloggs, Ken Dobbs,
DaphneTowler, Alfie Collins, Bryan Scott, John & Val Ransom, Dizzie
Thompsett-Clark, Stuart Tuttlebury, Kangy King and Tony Setterington.
The general suggestion that seems to be emerging is that the
Life members might cease to receive a regular BB, and in its place receive an
annual news-sheet or similar, perhaps I suggest, a bumper BB at Christmas time
or thereabouts? I also intend to
pressure our insurers upon the ludicrous position of paying full rate per head
on forty four not quite so active life members, sorry to any “Life
Tigers” amongst you!
I also believe that we must now look at our overheads, and
look to making economies where they can be made. I firmly feel that there is a subscription
ceiling that we cannot afford to break through, and at £24 per annum, we must
be pretty close to that now! It may be
contentious, but we now regularly exchange “B.B”s with 29 other
bodies. If the “BB” only cost
£1 each, which it doesnt, and that included postage, it follows that it costs
in excess of nearly £300 per year on the basis of ten issues. In fact, the B.B often costs double that
figure, so a sum of £500 – 600 is probably closer to the truth, and if you add
the cost of the cheapest foreign postage at nearly £1.50 per issue, for the
three foreign exchanges (Circa £45 per year postage) together with the cheapest
postage rates for the remaining 26 exchanges (Although 50% are probably passed
on by hand) you start to wonder if exchanges are really worth while. My own personal view is that many of the UK
club journals could be sourced by those who may want a particular article,
having traced it through “CTS- Current titles in Speleology” or
similar if required. Is there really any
solid financial point in keeping a full set of
journals in the club library when these can be inspected within a few yards or
more from the Belfry at Source? Please
do not think that I have a down on the valiant efforts of those who arrange the
exchanges, I just feel that the monies saved could be better employed in filling
the library with some of the recent released and excellent books, instead of
these journals, or saving costs altogether.
Anyway Food for Thought from the Belfry Table? Very best wishes to you all,
Nigel Taylor, Hon.Sec.
The Return of ‘Spike’
Hello again, bet you thought youd heard the last of me
eh?? No such luck, just because I
decided to disappear for a few issues is no reason to think I was about to stop
slinging the mud or stirring the Sh@t…(not that it needs stirring in these
here parts!!)
So current affairs Chez Bertie …….. there was the
working weekend recently where I am told a fair bit got done, food was consumed
and people got pissed (most out of character Im sure you’ll agree.) It would appear that this is the last one
that will be organized by Andy Cave as he is off to Mexico with his good lady
wife (DO WHAT??) and they are presently selling just about everything that they
own in order to finance the trip. Somehow Mendip just won’t be the same without them or their laid back
approach to life, the universe and everything.
Apparently there have been a few camps in Daren Cilau
involving the aforementioned couple and also Ivan and Becca. I have heard many tales regarding these
latter twosome and I’m not sure what to believe at all, suffice to say I think
Ivan now wants to sell a partly used Batman outfit!! (Try singing the theme tune in his ear and
see what happens!!)
I see Emma Porter (sometime scribe for this rag) managed to
get a picture of herself in a compromising position at the cavers fair into the
‘national caving press …… Im sure it was SRT – Em, but it looked very
‘friendly’ to me!!
Mike ‘Mousetrap Willett has started gardening in
Priddy. Lord help us, not contented with
digging in caves it seems he also has to try local gardens ….. no hope for the
boy I am afraid.
There have been some interesting drawings appearing on the
Belfry blackboard recently, seemingly on a weekly basis. Far be it from me to name those responsible
but I have to award ten out of ten for imagination (and Rhinoceros!)
Martin Grass seems to have bought himself a quarry to live
in, arch conservationist that he is, though most people would settle for a
house of some sort. He has recently been
seen trying to persuade anyone to partake of his home grown grapes. (Yes that was GRAPES not Grass!!.. .. Geddit)
On a more serious front, there is soon to be an attempt on
Wookey 25 by Mike Barnes, Pete Bolt et al. A team very well represented by BEC members. A lot of preparation work has been done,
including Mike practising emergency surfacing from -65m in Dorothea Quarry ….
not really funny actually, but I cant resist taking the P@ss out of him!!
Actually theres tons more gossip to be had but I think Id
better leave it there as there are certain parts of my anatomy that I wish to
remain connected to and I may be at risk if I continue further. So I’ll see you later …. but remember ….
my eyes and ears are everywhere.
Spike
Extract From ‘The Adventures Of Another Pooh’
By Dave Yeandle.
(coming to a bookshop near you soon.)
It began with a schoolboy trip to Burrington Combe, young
lads wanting adventure, two or three of the boys had been caving before. As i slithered through the muddy tubes of
goatchurch and sidcot, i thought maybe i was going to be doing a lot of this
caving. It was as though something
beyond my control wanted to draw me inwards away from the mundane world
outside, and around the next corner, or through the next squeeze just to see
what was there. But another part of me didn’t want to do this new and frightening
thing, in this strange world of total darkness and horrid mud; and wanted to
turn round and hurry back to the warm sunshine. I kept following my friends though and when i was back home in
that i had overcome my fear and kept going. I knew that now i had an exciting world to explore.
My friend Russel Mines was a member of the Axbridge Caving
Club and i joined too. Soon i was travelling over the Mendips with Stuart (Mac)
Mcmanus and Tony Jarratt on motorcycles of dubious legality and mechanical
soundness (Mac ran his on paraffin!!). We drank scrumpy and fell over a lot; which i suppose was a silly way to
spend my paper round money.
One monday night in the Axbridge hut, Mac and i were without
money and we wanted food and cider. We were
the only cavers left over from the weekend and we knew there was money in the
little envelopes in the hut fees box. I
can’t remember which one of us finally suggested that we borrow some hut fee
money, anyway we rigged up a fishing device out of wire and a stick and soon
became rich beyond measure! We did write
an iou on a piece of paper and posted it into the box. The club committee were
very annoyed with us despite our owning up.
With Russel, Mac, Tony and other Axbridge members i did
trips to most of the major Mendip caves. By now caving was the main thing in my life and i was getting
ambitious. I wanted to go to Swildons
12, to the bottom of the Berger and to go caving with my hero Mike Boon.
I heard that the BEC were the local hard men and so decided
to join them to further my caving career. I had no idea how i was going to do this, though actually it happened
very quickly. My arrival at the Belfry was
not auspicious. I was dumped at the
door, tied up and drunk, late at night by Mac, Tony Jarratt and other Axbridge members. It seems that they got fed up of me always
going on about joining the BEC and agreed that it was indeed a good idea. Some say that i was tied up in barbed wire
and minus my trousers. I don’t remember
this myself and anyway Mac and Tony would not have been so mean. (much!!) Another version of the story is that i was, in fact, tied to the milk
churns at the end of the Belfry turnoff, i think this may have been on another
occasion though. I don’t think the BEC liked
me much at first and some of them wouldn’t talk to me. They let me make them tea in the Belfry and
soon kind people like Alan Thomas, Chris (Zot) Harvey Colin Priddle, John Riley,
Dave Irwin and Roy Bennett were taking me caving. I became ‘belfry boy’.
‘The belfry boy’
Sung to the tune of sweet
By pete (snab) mcnab.
Well i’m the belfry boy,
I’m every other bugger’s favourite toy,
Oh how it always seems to give them joy,
To put me in bloody pain.
Oh how they treat me hard,
Kick me all around the belfry yard,
Lord, you ought to see how i am scarred,
From when they shoved me up the drain.
And when a member calls,
I dash inside so they can black my balls,
And splatter me around the belfry walls,
Till i’ve nearly gone insane.
They sit me in a chair,
Rub jam and marmalade in my hair,
I sit and smile as if i couldnt care,
But later hang my head in shame.
And then they all insist,
That i am something called a masochist,
Especially when they all come back pissed,
And want to play their silly games.
But now i sit and wait,
Because i’m glad to know that some day fate,
Will bring along a brand new inmate,
And then i’ll kick the belfry boy.
Alan Thomas had been on expeditions to
had bottomed the abyss of Provetina. These
were days of using ladders for big pitches and Alan ran BEC trips to Yorkshire where
the objectives were usually pots with deep entrance pitches. I was very excited when Alan agreed to take
me on one of his northern trips. I was
piled into the back of his car with buster the dog and large tins of spam left
over from some expedition.
Camping at Skirwith Farm we did Alum Pot, Marble Steps and Long
Kin West. I was very impressed with this
was abysmal and it took me more than 30 mins to be dragged up the 91m daylight
pitch of Long Kin West. Consequently i
was banned from attempting the main shaft of Gaping Gill on ladders, which was
the main objective of the visit. I was
very disappointed but managed to get to main chamber via Bar Pot. I was awe struck by the huge dimensions of
the main chamber area. I decided i
wanted to live in
this kind of caving.
Back on the Mendips in the Hunter’s Lodge, i started to hear
stories about the incredible revival of exploration in the Dales. The relatively recent innovation of the
wetsuit had enabled northern cavers to push the frontiers forward and Dave and Alan
Brook were the most successful of a new generation. Miles of new cave had been opened up by this
legendary pair and members uf the
(ULSA). I had already decided that an
academic career would best serve my caving amibitions; once i heard about ULSA my
choice of universities was an easy one.
This did mean that i actually had to start to do some school
work in order to get good A levels. Zot
had no faith in my plan. you are as
thick as pig shit, how can you go to university?” he had a point! I had narrowly avoided being
kicked out of the sixth form for exam results worse than 10%. I did start to work though and even topped
caving for a few weeks prior to my a levels. To everybody’s surprise and my parents’ delight, i got into
Exams over, i settled down to a summer of caving in
and the Mendips with my BEC friends. The
Austrian trip was to the Ahnenschacht, lead and organised by Alan Thomas. We explored several hundred metres of new
cave, living mostly on spam and reconstituted mashed spud. As usual, Alan didn’t charge me for my share
of the petrol.
I managed to combine moving north with a caving
weekend. There was a BEC trip to Lancaster
Hole, so i threw in some extra clothes and one or two text books with my caving
gear and got a ride north with Martin Webster. After the trip he dropped me off in Skipton and i travelled to
university had arranged lodgings for me and the landlady was rather shocked at
my appearance when i turned up, covered in mud with a dripping wet rucksack, at
her red brick terraced house. She let me
in though and made me have a bath before feeding me with yorkshire pudding .
……. To be continued … ????
Glaciation in the High
Atlas Mountains .
By Mike Smith.
Glaciation in
somewhat obscure subject. It was
relatively late in the nineteenth century before the Royal Geographical Society
would accept that Alpine Glaciers existed close to the equator on
the classic glacial areas of Europe and
where examples were plentiful, obvious and accessible. The major mountain masses to the south
including the Atlas have remained something of a backwater to this day.
The
formed during the late Cretaceous Orogeny 65 million years B.P. (Before
Present) since when they have been exposed to the elements. Careful examination of the landscape
indicates that like the better known areas to the north, the High Atlas became
at least partially glaciated during the Pleistocene Ice Age 2.5 million to
10,000 years B.P. This would be
consistent with current thinking on the global climate during the
Pleistocene. As average temperatures fell
by perhaps 10 – 12 degrees, climatic zones would become compressed around the
equator. High mountain masses such as
the Atlas with 4000m peaks would exhibit strong Alpine climatic characteristics
and at lower altitudes than is the case at present.
The Atlas are 31 degrees north of the equator. At this latitude and proximity to the
tropics, it is likely that the Atlas glaciers were somewhat short lived
compared with those of
there would be less time for glacial features to mature than in northern
latitudes. Examples of Atlas glaciation
are therefore on a smaller scale and less obvious than those of, for example,
the
Deposition features present problems when examining glacial
features in the Atlas. Good agricultural
land is at a premium and it is not until the higher Alpine pastures are reached
at an altitude of approximately 3000m that surface geology is likely to be
undisturbed. Additionally accessible
surface deposits of sand and gravel have been exploited by the Berber people
for construction. The climatic regime of
cold winters with a heavy snowfall, rapid thaw and Mediterranean summers
promotes rapid weathering and dynamic erosion. Much of the surface geological material is of weathered rather than
glacial origin and many of the deposits which were of originally glacial have
been transfigured by later deposition.
In the Imlil valley above an altitude 2000m there are
numerous signs of glaciation. Here at
around (Aremd) is a large terminal moraine up to 80m high and which curves
across the valley for over 800m. These deposits
of ice eroded debris are normally found at the leading edge of glaciers and
contain stones whose long profile has a common axis longitudinal to the valley.
Typically the long profile of a glaciated valley appears to
look like a gigantic staircase of alternate depressions with attendant lakes or
marshy ground and steeper rocky sections. During glaciation, ice flows rapidly over the steeper sections often as
an ice fall causing little erosion when compared with the major erosion which
develops in compression on adjacent level sections.
Above Around, the Imlil valley conforms to these
characteristics. The terminal moraine
would have acted like a natural dam, trapping glacial melt water. Today whilst an eroded channel flows through
a gorge, the Plan D’Aremd still contains a seasonal lake filled when the winter
snows melt in April and May. Towering
above the Plan D’Aremd lies a long steep curved slope approximately 3km in
length and 1000m in height. During the
Pleistocene this would have contained a spectacular icefall below which ice
would have carved out the lake on the Plan D’Aremd.
At heights above 3000m, erosional features become
clearer. There are several tributary
valleys which show signs of glaciation. All are at an altitude of 3000 – 3500m, about 800 – 1000m in length and
with a N.W. to N.N.W. orientation. Imouzzer contains some of these classic glacial features. It has steep sides, a parabolic valley floor
whilst the cirque at the head of the valley has a curved ice carved back wakk
some 200m in height. Irhzer Ikhibi
(Soud) and Irhzer Ikhibi (Nord) exhibit similar features. Irhzer Ikhibi (Nord) also appears to have an
extensive medial moraine, indicating that it was one of the last glaciers to
experience glaciation.
About 1km below the Neltner refuge the main valley contains
good examples of Roches Moutonnes and ice carved cliffs, the height of which
would indicate an ice thickness of perhaps 100m. Although glacial ice with such a thickness is
considerably less than the sheet ice over
sufficient for ice to assume the plastic flow characteristics which are
required for erosion to take place.
Today the Atlas are unglaciated but there are numerous clues
of their ice bound past. Many of the
Atlas peaks contain examples of aretes and gendarmes in addition to the cirques
and moraines. Some periglacial processes
are still active, for example there are many frost shattered rocks at
altitude. Equally above about 3000m
there are many nevee or snow patches which lie throughout the year. Snow can fall in any month and snowfall is
particularly heavy in winter when, at altitude, temperatures remain below zero
for several months. Given their height
it would only take a drop in temperature of a few degrees for Atlas glaciation
to recommence.
The author teaches geography at
Memories of a Cave Diver.
By John Buxton.
In 1949 I went to
degree in horticulture. While I was
there I joined the Mountaineering Society and soon gravitated, if that is the
right word, to the caving section. The leader was Vic Gates, an engineer, who
is now retired and lives in
during the summer, on Mendip. How we
came to stay at The Belfry I am not sure. (Paul & Tessa Birt?)
I lived near Ashbourne in Derbyshire and I used to hitch –
hike to
and go on by bus to the end of the road (Hillgrove) and then walk. When I got hooked on caving it seemed a
logical move to join the B.E.C. and was allocated No. 201. Later on I graduated to an auto cycle (98cc)
and later still to the ex J. Ifold Royal Enfield 350cc. (On the strength of the full motor-cycle
licence for the auto cycle, Setterington lent us his Dougl to ferry about 6
people to
an interesting experiment!)
The usual run of caves that were explored were Swildons
Hole, Eastwater Cavern, August Hole,
Stoke Lane Slocker and Goatchurch Cavern. Regular Belfryites I remember were
Setterington, The Ifolds, George Lucy, Don Coase, Sybil Bowden Lyle, Paul &
Tessa Birt, Alfie Collins and many others that time erases from my memory. I brought my girlfriend, later my wife,
Audrey to The Belfry (she came on a cycle master 28cc at first!).
We have a photo of No 1 and No 2 Belfries with a person
holding a “Hanham” sign. Older
members will remember, perhaps nostalgically, the communal feeding systems and
the festers that were knocked up in the old Belfry.
There was a very good team spirit in those days and while a
caving party was away there seemed always to be a willing non-caving volunteer
cook that day. Tins of beans, soup,
spaghetti, stewed steak, corned beef etc. were donated by the would be diners
and joined the vegetables and potatoes in a large pot.
One good story about these communal meals concerns a tin of
pemmican that one technical climber/survivor brought along and instead of a few
spoonfuls the whole tin was added and everyone rolled and sweated with
excessive calories in their pits that night.
The lighting in both Belfries was low voltage from batteries
charged by a Cooper – Stewart generator. The system was rather temperamental and needed a gentle hand. It was water cooled and I seem to remember
that the hot water coming from the engine was used for washing up.
Activities in the Belfry often went on quite late and as
soon as the ‘gennie’ had run out of fuel the lights soon began to get
yellowish.
As many of the caves we visited ended in a pool of water,
often with a wire or rope disappearing I began to question what happened
beyond, only to be told the divers have been through. So it was not long before I chased up the
local CDG Rep in
I eventually joined the group and started training. I was so young that my parents had to sign my
Blood Chit I believe it was one of the first times such a thing happened.
As I got more involved with diving, my caving trips got less
frequent, but I still got to Mendip. In
1957 I was asked if I would help in St Cuthberts Swallet (comparatively
recently discovered) as a person who didn’t mind getting wet was needed in
getting through the first sump (now a duck.) …. Never volunteer!!! My job was to kneel or sit in an old gour
about 2′ deep in water and hold a crowbar on my shoulder while a 15lb
sledgehammer belted it at the base of a flowstone curtain that blocked the way
on at water level. The chamber had about
6 damp bodies steaming away in it and the vis became quite bad. Eventually, inevitably, it happened … the
hammer missed the crowbar and thumped my helmet. There was a deathly hush and a little voice
said “Are you alright John?” and there was a great sigh of relief as
I replied “Yes!”
Eventually there was a body sized hole in the water beneath
the curtain and there was a by play with Don Coase to see who was going to go
through. Eventually he was persuaded
that he had done more than most and deserved the honour. I rapidly followed behind him.
I satisfied my dive trainers that I was a suitable candidate
for a leading (trainer) diver and Bob Davies checked me out on a dive in
photographic trip to the ninth chamber later that year. After the infamous night of the 13th we began
to consider using mixture breathing kits instead of the closed circuit oxygen
gear used up until then. The first
successful dive, on mixtures, was in Hurtle Pot on 20th April 1957 with Oliver
Wells.
In September 1958 I was in the party that got through to
Swildon’s 5 and found a way to float through the ducks, because I was the first
they were named after me, ‘Buxton’s Horror’. Len Dawes nearly drowned himself trying to duck out. After Bob Davies and Oliver Wells had left
for
we (Mike Thompson, Charles George and myself) found the way through the ‘Slot’
in Wookey 15, 70′ deep, which eventually proved to be THE way on. This was the end of my ‘Sharp end’ diving and
I only did a bit of training after that.
I had an attack of financial cramp and resigned from the
CDG. In most of this account I have used
the personal tense but in a lot of my latter diving I was with Oliver Wells and
often at number 2. Later as my financial
situation improved I did a fair bit of air diving in open water but eventually
retired from that.
While retired from caving and diving we occasionally acted
as hosts to Pamela and Oliver Wells on their trips to this country. Sometimes he had an air dive in Wookey Hole
and I even went to carry his gear! Oliver persuaded me to have a go and in 1990 I was back diving in Wookey
after a layoff of some 28 years. I was a little hesitant and nervous at first,
but with a bit of encouragement I got fully equipped (over equipped, says my
Wife). I began to travel about the
country …
ongoing dive series here but despite having worked up to dives of 1hr 22mins I
have still not managed to get to dead man’s handshake. (A notable constriction).
I went on a recent expedition to the Bahamas Blue Holes
organized by Rob Palmer’s Blue Holes Foundation. On this expedition off the Acklins 8500′ of
guide line was laid in virgin passage mostly in the 25 – 30m depth range. During this expedition I clocked a seawater
cave dive in Dean’s Blue Hole of 55.3m = 181′ in old money!! If one can call it such, the highlight of the
expedition was being about 300′ down a passage in Acklins No 2 about 30m deep
in company with Jim King and Rob Palmer when we met 1 or 2 sharks about 5′ long
and impressively plump. For some 30
seconds there was a turmoil of bubbles, lights, divers, mud and silt etc. off
the walls and roof and the 1/2 sharks … hence the doubt about the head count.
Over the recent bank holiday I went into Hurtle Pot and did
a 34 minute dive doing some upstream and some downstream to a maximum depth of
29.2m. This was 38 years after our
mixture dives mentioned earlier and was witnessed by your B.B. Editor ‘Jingles’
– (Who would also have dived if he hadn’t had to go to work at the Hill Inn!!..
…. ed.) – he seemed to get quite excited about it all and persuaded me to put
pen to paper.
John Buxton.
15.9.95
“Une Petite Promenade Dans Les Hautes Atlas”
Following my previous expeditions to the High Atlas
Mountains of Morocco I decided to return to undertake a circular trek through
the Toubkal Massif. Due to time
constraints I only had one week available which had to include travelling time
from
attempt a high altitude trekking expedition in a remote mountain area with only
such a short period of time available. Had I not had prior experience of the mountains I do not think I would
have even given the project a second thought. However, safe in the knowledge that at the very worst I could rely on
spending an enjoyable week with my friends in the
I decided to give it a go. I hope that
this report may serve as an inspiration to others wishing to travel in the
direction of
who find themselves constrained by time, funds or both.
Travel Arrangements
I took advantage of the new GB Airways Service which
operates between London Heathrow and
months. Flights go via Gibraltar and are
routed to Marrakech two days per week and to
alternative direct flight with Royal Air Maroc. GB Airways departures are also significantly more attractive to the
traveller heading for the mountains in that they depart from Heathrow early in
the morning arriving at Marrakech just after mid-day.
From Marrakech Airport it is possible to take a taxi into
the centre of Town for 50 Dirhams (£3.50) where one can easily arrange onward
transport to the mountains via bus or grand taxi (a shared taxi-cab in which
comfort is sacrificed for economy and speed of transit). Travel by bus from Marrakech to Asni costs
only 80 Dirhams (£5 ) and takes approximately 1.5 hours. From Asni one has to search out a taxi or a
lorry which is travelling up the dirt road to the
(this usually costs a further 50 Dirhams). Whichever method of transport is chosen it is entirely possible to
arrive in Imlil by late afternoon giving plenty of time for accommodation to be
found and trek arrangements to be made.
Accommodation
I used the Gite de Haute Atlas a small family run guest
house on the outskirts of the
the standard of his hospitality and the excellence of his cuisine (a single
night stay with full board and lodging costs 150 Dirhams (£11.50).
For those searching cheaper accommodation, Imlil has a range
of small guesthouses run by the Berber villagers and also boasts a Club Alpine
Francaise hut where accommodation can be found for only 45 Dirhams per night
(£3).
Trek Arrangements
Previous trekking experience in
is a highly desirable addition to ones trekking group. Accordingly I made arrangements on my first
evening in Imlil (avoiding the use of the hustlers who tout for business in the
early mornings and who extract a high negotiation charge for their services in
arranging a mule for hire). After
protracted negotiations I obtained the services of Mohammed and his mule for
five days for the cost of 300 Dirhams (£25). Mules will carry up to five rucksacks plus the necessary food and water
for an expedition.
Description Of The Trek
Day 1. After an
early departure from Imlil we ascended the main pathway leading up the
passing through the
Shrine of Seti Chamharouch. After a
lunch break during which we managed to catch three respectably sized river
trout in the river we continued into the upper
to arrive at the Neltner Refuge at 3,207 metres. Where we made camp for the night on the grass
plateau below the refuge.
Day 2. After a 5
o’clock start we ascended the Ouanoums Col (altitude 3,664 metres) before
descending the long and arduous
famous Lac D’ifni. The lake is famous as
the only significant sized body of water anywhere within the High Atlas chain
and is visited regularly by trekkers and more intrepid Moroccan holiday makers. From the lake we descended to the small
village of Ait Igrain where we passed the night in one of the local farmhouses
(for the modest sum of 50 Dirhams per head which included a large evening meal
comprising of Tagine, a local speciality, and fresh fruit).
Day 3. Once again
making an early start with the first rays of the sun we descended the jeep
track to the small market town of Amsouzart. From here we ascended the Ourai
(altitude 3,109 metres). This was an
exceedingly long and arduous assent up a dry and rocky slope which being south
facing took the full force of the early morning sun and being on the southern
slopes of the mountains received the full warming effect of the Harmata wind
which blows out of the Sahara Dessert during the summer months. On the far side of the
we descended into the
high altitude valley renowned for the high quality of its grazing
pastures. After an enjoyable afternoon’s
descent through Alpine type surroundings we made our evening camp at the small
summer herding settlement of Azib Likemt. Once again fishing in the local river proved fruitful and yielded up 15
fresh trout with which to supplement our evening meal.
Day 4. From Azib
Likemt we climbed over the shoulder of Bou Iguenouane passing via the Likemt
Col (altitude 3,540 metres) to arrive at the village Tacheddirt. Tacheddirt is a characterful little village
which is off the regular tourist trail although it does have a Club Alpine
Francais refuge within the village.
Day 5. From
Tacheddirt we descended back to Imlil using the main track via the Tamatert
metres).
Catering and Provisions
Throughout the course of the expedition we relied entirely
upon local provisions. The major
villages within the
small shops at which it is possible to purchase basic provisions such as
cheese, tinned sardines, dried fruit, and tea and coffee. During the summer months it is nearly always
possible to trade tinned food for fresh bread and fresh fruit and eggs from
small settlements along the way. We also
supplemented our diet by catching river trout in the mountain streams (a permit
is needed for this and should be sought from the Authorities prior to
departure).
It is normal practice for a mule driver to share all of his
client’s food so adequate provisions should be taken (re-payment in the form of
regular cups of mint tea is usually forthcoming).
Environmental and Conservation Matters.
The
are exceedingly fragile and some areas are rapidly becoming severely damaged by
the increased number of trekking parties travelling through them. This is particularly obvious in the
leading from Imlil to the Neltmer Refuge at the base of Toubkal (the highest
mountain in
with the Berber’s lack of consideration for the conservation of their own
environment has led to a situation closely resembling that on the Everest base
camp trail. Lessons have been learned
and it is encouraging to see steps being taken to remedy the problem, and to
prevent similar disasters befalling some of the other Valleys which are only
now starting to open up to trekkers. The
Toubkal area has been awarded National Park status and Wardens have been
appointed. However as yet they have
little power, no adequate job description and unfortunately little respect from
the local people as they are seen as interfering outsiders.
It is imperative that anyone visiting the area for trekking
should do their utmost to take every opportunity to educate the local
population in conservation matters.
Further
The best available guide to the
Mountains
Morocco” this is both a climbers guide and a trekkers guide to the main
areas of the Massif. Detailed maps are
hard to obtain as they are still classified as military secrets, it is however,
possible to obtain the four maps covering the Toubkal area (these can be
ordered via Stanfords in
shop at
Andrew Newton FRGS –
BEC member, Habib Fouilloux
July 1995
A Chicken’s Guide to Cave Diving.
(or ‘One Man’s Attempts to Drown Himself.)
By Jingles.
One lonely night in 1986 whilst working a nightshift at a
computer agency in
in
largely due to boredom, I started looking through the lockers for suitable
reading material. I happened across a
copy of ‘The Darkness Beckons’ by Martyn Farr that had been lent to one of the
operators by Seb Prince of the Chelsea Speleological Society (of which I later
became a member for a short while before getting kicked out.. .. which I still
feel is something of a character reference! ).
At first glance I could see that this was of interest to me
and started perusing it. About an hour
later I had found out about Balcombe et al and their antics at Wookey hole etc
.. and was at the point where I couldn’t put it down. Fortunately I had finished the workload for
the night or it would never have got done.
I read most of the book that night. I think it was the first time in my life that
I had come across something that I knew I was going to do. The following
weekend I found myself in Crickhowell at the Britannia arms, introducing myself
to Arthur Millet and thus Martyn himself with the immortal phrase I want to be
a cave diver!’ God only knows what they
must have thought of me … and I think I’d rather not know.
Having never even been in a cave at this time it was gently
recommended that I get some dry caving experience first before considering
diving, hence my joining C.S.S. I
remember my first trip being with Duncan Price and Simon Abbot who were digging
at the Snowboat in Agen Allwedd at the time. I did a fair bit of caving in the Llangattock area over the next year or
so and got to know a few people. I
eventually persuaded my sister Babs that she was going to become a caver, in
fact I took her to Bat Products and bought her a wetsuit I was so sure of this,
poor girl had no choice in the matter whatsoever. She also joined C.S.S. And for a while we
caved in
together. You’ll have to ask Babs for
details of how we came to leave that particular club as she tells it far better
than I.
Having met Henry Bennett through C.S.S., I was invited to
his 21st birthday bash at the Belfry (1987 I think) – it was a fairly standard
night a la BEC and I was left with the firm impression that I had come
home! Soon both myself and Babs became
BEC members, along with another friend of ours Garry Trainer who has since
caught a terminal case of marriage, and enjoyed several years caving with other
members who have since become firm friends. (At least they say this to people as long as we keep buying beer for
them!)
I never let go of my ambition to become a cave diver but
things got put on hold for various reasons for several years. Last year my good friend ‘Trebor’ Mcdonald
finally initiated me into the singular delights of subterranean aquatic
activity in the confines of Swildon’s Hole. Along with Dudley Herbert we negotiated our way to this side of sump
6. I was very glad that Pete Bolt had
insisted on me practising in the Minneries beforehand, where I got caught in
the weeds and consequently had experience of what is still a bit of a problem
for me in diving … STRESS! The
Swildon’s trip was a brilliant experience and although I now realised that
there was an awful lot more to it than I had thought I was well and truly
bitten by the diving bug.
In June 1994 I was accepted into the Somerset Section of the
CDG with Pete Bolt as my proposer and Pete Mulholland as seconder, my grateful
thanks go to both of these gentlemen (?). Sessions in Wookey Hole, Hopes Nose sea caves and the Minneries helped
me to get to the stage where I actually trusted myself underwater in a cave
environment. (Advice given to me years
before by Rob Harper when I sherpa’d on one of his Cheddar pushes but that I
was unwilling to listen to at the time.)
A lifetime ambition was realised shortly thereafter when
along with Trebor and Wormhole I dived through to Wookey 19. I had a small epic under the large boulder
just before the surface of 19 when I lost a fin, then the vis, became jammed as
my ABLJ was over inflated and managed to let go of the line. I surprised myself by remaining in control
and sorting myself out, finding the line again, retrieving the lost fin,
adjusting my buoyancy and making the surface. My first words when the gag was out of my mouth were unprintable here
but began with ‘F’ and ‘H’!!! I was not
a happy camper when I realised that I also had to dive back! On this occasion we took the shallow route
and although I was very tense Trebor’s presence helped greatly and we returned
without further incident. I didn’t dive
for some three months after this as I had given myself a bit of a scare and
realised just how risky Cave Diving can be. For me there is no room for complacency or over confidence in this
pursuit. I realised at this point that
my motivation had to be seriously questioned if I were to continue. Gone were the dreams of ‘Having my name in
lights’ and a slightly more realistic perspective was put on things.
My colleagues at work ask me why I do these things and my
reply these days is along the lines of.. ..The fact that you have asked me
that means that I could never really explain it to you’ …. and I doubt that I
could verbalise my reasons even now …. I just HAVE to do it!
I have been lucky enough to dive with many ‘leading’ cave
divers and am always grateful that they are willing to take me under their
(water) wings.
In the past year I have dived in Wookey many times though
have not yet been any further than before, I seem to have a bit of a
psychological hex on it at present and also firmly have learnt the lesson of
when not to dive, something that is for me very important and conducive to my
ongoing breathing.
I have spent quite a bit of time in Yorkshire in recent
months the highlights of which have been dives in Joint Hole with Steve (from
Preston) and Jonathon Simms, we even managed to video ourselves going through
the squeeze into Aquaflash. This squeeze
really is just that and is quite a character building experience and I plan to
go further in there soon.
Also John Buxton invited me to Keld Head (another personal
Everest) and diving alone on three dives I got as far as the 100m air
bell. Keld excelled my expectation, the
vis was superb and for me it is truly beautiful passage. Had I realised that I was halfway round the
short loop I would have continued, but there is always a next time. I missed out on diving Hurtle pot that
weekend but this will happen in time. Also
I suppose it would be apt for me to dive in Jingle at some point.
Although I am fully aware that in some terms my diving is
limited and there are many capable of far more than I, one thing I have learnt
is that there is no shame in accepting my own personal limitations and that I
am capable of pushing these and doing more than I would have thought I could.
I have also met some excellent people through the CDG, far
too many to mention here, but you know who you are anyway and my thanks go to
you all.
There have been times when I have thought that I was not
going to make it, like last week in Wookey when my mask flooded and I became
tangled in the line whilst negotiating some squeezes in the 9 – 9a extension in
bad vis. It doesn’t sound like much when
I describe it here but at the time it seemed pretty bloody important I can tell
you. The mental discipline involved in
not giving in to my natural instinct to panic and start scratching away at the
rock with my fingernails is no small thing for me, and there are times when I
seriously ask myself if I should be doing this sort of thing, am I really up to
it? Then again I could never have even
contemplated doing it 2 years ago and it seems that good training and lots of practise
has had a beneficial effect.
I think that a large part of it for me is actually
subconscious and possibly even a part of my psychological makeup whereby I am
dealing first hand with areas of myself that I was hitherto unaware; the ‘Id’
described by Freud as being the primordial drives of the human and being those
of survival and procreation, or possibly, dealing with areas of my darker self
that Jung would have called ‘The Shadow Self’. So thus Cave Diving for me becomes to do with building my strength of
character and sense of self esteem by pushing my personal boundaries and
confronting my own deepest seated primal fears in order that I may deal with
them on a practical level.
(Actually thats a load of crap … .ifs just bloody good
fun and I love it!)
Jingles. 23.9.95 .
The Snake Pit Hole Dig – 1969-1995
Situated at an altitude of 810ft, at ST 5482 5145, just
inside the
and opposite Wheel Pit, this short cave was dug open by the M.N.R.C. in 1969
and worked sporadically by them until 1972. About 40ft of passage in conglomerate was cleared of mud and rock in the
hope of finding the source of a tantalising draught. The diggers included C. Venus, P. Steward, R.
Windsor, J. Letheren (bang man), “Bucket” Tilbury (later BEC), J.
Lister, I. Hill, D. Jenkins, P. Walker, M. Kingdom, C. North, R. Wiltshire, R.
Tucker and M. Collins. Realising that
the site was a long term project they ran out of enthusiasm and the 15ft deep
entrance shaft was filled in. References:- M.N.R.C. newsletters Summer 1969 – Spring 1972.
The BEC interest arose in the spring of 1993 when Vince
Simmonds, Rich Blake and Graham Johnson began surreptitiously excavating a
blocked rift near the presumed site of the MNRC entrance. The writer joined them as “bang
man” and lots of large rocks were reduced in size in order to haul them up
the rift. A strong outward draught,
obvious signs of phreatic development and the presence of small but colourful
formations encouraged the diggers despite the awkwardness of excavating the
rift. Ivan Sandford constructed a
lockable steel lid for the entrance and hawthorns were planted to assist in
camouflaging the site.
On 25/4/93 RB, VS, GJ, AJ and Estelle Sandford broke through
into the “MNRC Chamber” at a depth of some 25ft. It was recognisable by the old buckets and tools
lying about – a hammer handle inscribed “MNRC” later being mounted on
a plaque and returned to its rightful owners along with a “Bertie”
sticker! A blocked rift in the ceiling
was obviously the bottom of their entrance shaft. Some 40ft or so of muddy but reasonably sized
cave was inspected and two possible digs noted. These were temporarily left while we continued digging below the new
entrance rift following small airspaces and a good draught. MNRC had not entered this area. By 10/5/93 this dig had lost its appeal and
we were attacking the inlet passage at the end of the cave – an almost
completely mud filled phreatic tube. Well over fifty skip loads of spoil were removed from this tube. Below a fine sand deposit containing black
sediment, Jake was amazed to discover a 21 3/8″ long, 1″ wide
tempered wrought iron “crowbar”. This was obviously not an MNRC tool but was assumed to have belonged to
a lead miner and bore the engraved initials “W.A.” It was not obvious how it had reached this
spot but it may have dropped down a rift from the opencast working on the
surface above. It was cleaned and
presented to
develop into a tiny tube, undoubtedly a surface inlet, and abandoned. The “downstream” dig then became
our main project. Diggers included Pete Hellier, Andy Sanders, Trev Hughes,
Tony Boycott, Alex Gee, Martin Grass, Sean Chaffey, Hugh (LUCC), Steve (BUSS),
John Ashton (Yorks.), Mike O’Driscoll (GSG), Dan Sullivan, Emma Porter, Nick Hawkes,
Davey Lennard, Nick Mitchell, Henry Bennett, Al Bolton (YSS), Stu Sale and Paul
Allen. Several months of hard work,
hundreds of bags of mud and a few tons of banged rock later resulted in the
total passage length being in the order of 100ft. The cave seemed to be developed in huge,
loose boulders held together by clay and some dodgy moments were had when great
lumps of “ceiling” or “wall” silently dropped off –
narrowly missing the diggers. It was not
at all a nice place! At the end a 15ft
shaft had been sunk through the mess following a tiny, intermittent
stream. Conveyor belting and a short
section of (useless) railway were installed to aid spoil disposal.
On 30/1/95, following heavy rainstorms, Wheel Pit was found
to be a 100ft wide lake and Snake Pit Hole was flooded some 30ft below the
entrance. The nearby Five BuddIes Sink
was taking a large stream (see separate article) and obviously held much more
promise than Snake Pit which has now been temporarily abandoned. If anyone wishes to continue digging they are
most welcome! At least sixty six trips
have been recorded on this project.
Refs: – The
Underground (3rd edition.) and the manuscript logs of A. Jarratt, V. Simmonds
and T. Hughes.
Tony Jarratt 7/9/95
REMEMBER. A.G.M.
10.30AM Saturday 7th October 1995.
60th Jubilee Dinner at 7.30 for 8.00 that evening, book NOW!
Details if required from Hon. Sec, address at front of this
B.B.
Caving with Yogi and Spacemen
by Alex Smith
On the 12th of December 1994 I entered
planned initial duration of five days. My task was as an employee of the cave resource office at
assistant cave resource specialist Jason Richards a scientific research ‘group
to the western section of the cave.
This group consisted of three scientists from the National
Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), two
veteran cavers, a photographer and a journalist doing an article for the
Smithsonian Institute’s periodical.
The purpose of the trip was to further microbiological
sampling and retrieval techniques to be employed on the planned Mars expedition
(the crap people come up with to get into
The whys and wherefores of my coming to be on this little
jaunt are founded in circumstance, chance, luck and being completely pissed of
with the onset of a British winter. After losing my job I grabbed my final pay cheque and completely out of
the proverbial blue announced to all and sundry I was buggering off to the
States, much to the consternation of Struan MacDonald and Nick Williams with
whom I was lodging with on an alternating basis at this time pleading poverty
and prostitution. The
in my seven year sentence in the Royal Navy, hence Carlsbad Caverns, the
and
articles, personal recollections and photographs from a rather well known Swiss
bestseller.
So without further a do I cracked out Nick’s Rand MacNally
and all back issues of the NSS news he held, then using his office faxed,
E-mailed and spoke to the world across the pond, notably without a great deal
of success. Vince Simmonds gave me
information that was of the most value essentially who runs the show. Relations with the park service that had been
fostered on the 92
dive in Lechuguilla by various BEC members were to ensure an initial rapport
with various local cavers and personnel in officialdom.
After hitching to Liverpool to change my defunct British
passport into a Euro techno you can’t bend it pink affair and still with
memories of the drunken escapade of chasing pissed off boars as big as your
house around a shitty field in the fog with Vince and Rich Blake on the night
of the Wessex dinner still very vivid, boarded a North Western Airlines DC10 at
Gatwick on the morning of the 3rd of November (with a great deal of help from
Struan).
Taking great advantage of the copious quantities of free
alcohol on offer I arrived in
in fine fettle, proceeded to the Cheers bar (via immigration interrogation on
video) and continued for the six hour wait for the
seat and promptly awoke rather the worse for wear with a decidedly dodgy
landing in the place that no bastard can spell.
After spending the night in a fellow passengers house in
Sante Fe I started to hitch the two week camel trek to sunny
from the ubiquitous Lucy’s Mexican “restaurant” bar.
Rob Gillespie a caver presently of no fixed abode collected
me and lent me the use of the floor of a house he was presently
decorating. In the morning before Rob
ran me up to the park I encountered my first Carlsbad small town attitude in
MacDonalds, a local redneck remarked, quote ” Hell, you speak priddie good
English for a foreigner” unquote. I
resisted the uncontrollable urge to grab him by the ears and throw his face
into a rapidly rising right knee.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a good half-hour drive
from downtown Carlsbad; situated at the end of Walnut Canyon the first thing to
hit you is the aridity and thinness of the air, the altitude is near to that of
shacking up on the top of Ben Nevis. There are two stone\timber huts on the side of the canyon controlled by
the cave resource office that are intended for the Cave Resource Foundation,
Lechuguilla Exploration and Research Network ( LEARN ), and private parties
such as NASA caving within the jurisdiction of the park service. It was here that I had my first stroke of
luck, I was introduced to Michael Queen, eminent and nationally respected professor
of cave geology also two other northern cavers, Ken Davis and Chuck
Porter. They were about to head for the
wild caves of the
higher Guadalupe mountains some sixty miles away and they invited me
along. What followed was a week courtesy
of Ransom Turner, National Forestry Officer guiding us to the wild country
caves, issuing the permits and providing ropes. Hell Below, Pink Dragon, Cottonwood and Chimney ( CCNP ) caves ensued and
were all bar Chimney twelve hour trips predominantly vertical with pitches
averaging around 200 feet. It was in
Chimney cave that I confirmed a Petzl Stop does exactly that and will not move
on dirty 11mm PMI rope, the all American favourite (actually 11.1mm) so I had
to resort to borrowing a rack.
On returning to the park I was introduced to Dale Pate, Cave
Resource Specialist and his assistant Jason Richards also Ranger Lance Mattson,
a caver my age from
who was to be my house mate for the next three months. Mike Queen recommended me as a volunteer
worker for cave resource management to Dale. This proposal was mulled over the weekend by Dale who agreed to employ
me commencing that Monday. After a week
on $5 a day working directly for the Park Dale decided to hire me for the
duration of my stay in the
using the Student Conservation Assistant scheme to pay my wages, subsistence
and contribute to flight expenses! This
essentially rendered me a federal employee for the Park Service. In the weeks that were to follow I fully
integrated with the community that lives on the hill. There are around 25 rangers who actually live
in quarters and probably around another seventy personnel who live in
welcome taking me into their homes, taking me out, inviting me to various
functions and stuffing me with turkey on Thanksgiving.
My duties working for Dale and Jason were wide and varied
but included surveying in
processing raw Lechuguilla survey and mineral inventory data, coin retrieval
from trail pools, rope cutting and labelling, visitor interpretation and
demonstrations, tackle store management and caving!
I also accompanied two Texan cavers Jim Werker and Val
Hildreth with Dale and Jason on numerous weekends to establish photo monitoring
points throughout Carlsbad Cavern; this is a resource management attempt to
finally study the rate of impact on specific areas in the cave by guided tours
and cavers engaging in survey, re-survey, restoration and inventory.
The most memorable trip in
High. This is the highest point in the
cave and next to the Spirit World most strictly guarded. From the main trail a straight forward journey
into the New Mexico room brings you to a corroded flowstone boss formation
known as the chocolate drop, above which hangs the first rope to Chocolate
High, after nearly 300 feet of sweaty ascent a change of ropes carries you the
further 150 feet past the chenile basin to a world of awesome beauty,
incredibly convoluted helictites adorn amongst the “chocolate” of
corrosion residues. Jason told me I was
one of the very few people to have been there and the first Brit, so delicate
is the area. Speleothem sensory overload
as it is known, is a real problem, you have to keep reminding yourself that you
are not going to encounter this kind of natural display anywhere else in the
world.
Access is usually the first point raised when contemplating
a visit to the States caving. Those
caves which fall under the control of the US National Park Service are subject
to exceedingly tight resource management guidelines, including the
justification of access policies that British cavers are likely to encounter
when making initial enquiries. Basically
you need a bona fide reason slanting towards conservation and restoration, or
in the case of Lechuguilla, an invitation from LEARN or one of the private
expeditions that enter to further the collection of survey data and mineral
inventory. Lechuguilla cave was
everything I envisaged except for the physical conditions inside, with humidity
in excess of 95% and a constant temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit, plus the
high altitude (4100 feet) coupled with my rucksack overloaded with supplies for
a five day stay and NASA boffins equipment, it took a day for me to
acclimatize. Tortoise on its back
impressions were quite prevalent while travelling to the deep seas camp as
well. Due to the make up of our party progress
through the cave was very slow and tedious. After the queue to descend
kept catching the group in front resulting in several forced breaks. 9½ hours later we arrived at the campsite and
I pitched my bivvy under crusty mammillaries which to the disgust of the NASA
boffs I referred to as saggy tits. I
slept like shit in Lechuguilla and resented having to climb into cold wet
clothes on awakening, trying to dump in a freezer bag is quite an entertaining
pastime, thank God for Imodium as well, I was taking no chances! The NASA people were not exactly the dome
heads you would imagine however I think it’s true to say they could indeed tell
you the cube root of an orange but unfortunately non-plussed when coming to the
actual peeling and eating part.
The next day as the space bods played chemistry with sterile
limestone chunks (yes we carried rocks into the cave) we carried on along the
trade route to the western borehole past
down the Cornflake Climb towards the rope up to the Chandelier Graveyard and
The Three Amigos further on. Emily Davis
Mobley infamous for her leg break and consequent epic rescue from Lech three
years previous had informed the office on exiting the cave on the LEARN
expedition a week beforehand that this rope needed looking at as it didn’t seem
to be in too fine a shape. So Jason
promptly sent the Brit up there. Apart
from being caked in Gorilla shit, a nice piece of sheath abrasion at a nasty
rub point warranted a replacement. Now
at this time Jasons lighting rig was at such a point of unreliability that one
could distinctly hear ” fuckin whore ” from the top of the
pitch. After failed attempts to repair
the dodgy lead in this modified wheatlamp and the rejection of a petzl mega,
(“useless pieces of shit”) Jason decided we would exit the cave and
re-enter the next day. We “hauled
ass” and surfaced in less than 2½ hours later.
Events the following morning did not bode well for a good
day either. Two minutes short of the
bring the replacement rope for the Chandelier Pitch ……….. about
turn. Two hours later with said rope now
in tow and Jason adamant he had rectified his lamp problem I commenced the
descent of the entrance pitch, I had rappelled two feet when I was to hear a by
now familiar obscene reference to Jasons lamp, so back to the now very well
trodden path back to the Lech parking lot and even more familiar drive back to
the office to steal Dale’s lamp much to his amusement. Thus our planned re-entry into the cave at
7am turned into knocking on midday.
We steamed to the camp, ate lunch and then headed out to
re-rig. Having completed this task we
backtracked after the obligatory been there photo shoot to retire to bed, I was
to escort one of the NASA boffs out of the cave (at 4am!) so he could use the
“scope” time he had booked in Albuquerque studying the corrosion
residue slides he had sampled that day, they had a stringent incubation period
so I finally exited at 2pm the following afternoon.
A curious Lechuguilla experience, after all I had caved the
most but seen the least, however I was being employed and was paid EXTRA for
suffering the ordeal of having to go to
I finally left
scenes of rowdy partying on the 19th January to head for
use of the much free alcohol. Memorable
questions and quotes while working for the US National Park Service:
In the My Way Saloon,
at approximately 1am,
Waitress, “Are
you the English Guy?”
“Yes.”
“Well we don’t care what
you do, just don’t start fighting.”
Jason Deckert, graduate son of Park Superintendent Frank
Deckert en-route to
upper and lower entrance to
“One’s higher than the other?”
A middle aged American gentleman in the visitor centre,
Hank the Yank, “Say son, can we drive through the cave ?”
A twenty something American “cool dude” from
April Weitlauf in the visitor centre by the lifts, April, Do you wish to
descend to the Cave by elevator?”
Dude, What Cave?”
Many thanks go to Dale Pate a) for hiring me b) letting me
go to
sense of humour not to deport me after various exploits.
To Jason Richards for the good times and your friendship.
To Mike (Doc Rock) Queen for the introduction to the
American caving scene and your recommendations.
To Lance Mattson for tolerating my invasion of his house and
life and the use of his banking services.
To Superintendent” Uncle” Frank Deckert and his
family for their generous hospitality.
To Tim and Barbara Stubbs and family for Christmas and New
Year.
And finally to all the Rangers and Cavern supply staff who
have made my stay in the
enjoyable, memorable but all to short, there are too many friends I have made
to mention them all individually; however I will return.
In the
immense thanks to Nick Williams, Struan MacDonald, Vince Simmonds, Rich Blake,
Tony Jarrett and Jingles. Without your
help and support the outcome of this venture may have been completely
different.
I hope that all I did and achieved will contribute further
to the growing relationship between the
Exploration Club and
Caverns
” A pint of Butcombe please Roger. “
Vale. Graeme Robinson.
Following many years of ill health, Graeme Robinson passed
away at Bodmin hospital on June 30th this year at the age of 69.
After serving in the
during the war, he became a carpenter; worked for a time at Chubb Locks, and
for Bristol Aircraft from which he retired when his health began to
deteriorate. He owned a shop for two
years before moving to
to be near his sister.
Graeme joined the B.E.C. in 1961 and remained a member until
1972. Apart from his interest in the
B.E.C., he was an excellent photographer, winning many awards for his
work. As his health became worse he took
up model making and again produced some excellent pieces.
His cremation, at
on the 5th July, was attended by his sister and family, friends from St. Issey
and a number of B.E.C. members.
Arrangements are being made for his ashes to be scattered on
Priddy Nine Barrows.
John Ransom.
A Son Of Mendip!
I am a son of Mendip
Not born in
My accent is of
But I’ll move down there yet.
I am a son of Mendip
‘Though I’m not from The Hill,
I live up in ‘The Smoke’
But I’ll move down I will.
I am a son of Mendip
I ignore the ‘No you’re nots’
I really am a son of Mendip
‘Cos I fell into Double Pots!!
Chas Wethered.
A History of the
380 Foot Way
and Morton’s Pot Digs. Eastwater Cavern from 1903 to date.
” …. an upper way, which terminates abruptly in a
choke of stones and gravel, holding up a little water, whilst allowing a
considerable quantity to pass. It is a
remarkable fact that in all the labyrinths of galleries which we have explored
in the profound depths of this cavern we have not yet alighted upon any portion
which gives access to the continuation of this channel. There, rendered inaccessible by the barrier
of debris, is, without a doubt, a cavern as extensive as that which we have
proved to exist in the sister watercourse hard by* and these two channels,
starting from practically the same point, must diverge widely, and certainly do
not unite again before the depth of 500 feet is attained.”
E.A.Baker, H.E.Balch
Netherworld of Mendip (1907)
*
Chamber – Hard Rain Aven – 13 Pots route.
EARLY DAYS – THE 380 FOOT WAY DIGS – 1903-1952
Discovered by digging in 1902, Eastwater Cavern has yielded
major extensions over the last ninety years, generally in inconspicuous areas
of the system. It is therefore somewhat
amazing that the main stream passage of the cave – found on the first trip –
has still not broken into the “extensive cavern” prophesised by the
early explorers despite continued but spasmodic digging over nine decades. This system has, in fact, been entered from
the bottom of West End Series and is the notorious Lambeth Walk, sumping
downstream but ascending steeply upstream for over 250ft to too tight
rifts. It is here that the water from
the
is believed to enter as indicated by bits of wood, poly bag, etc. found in the
mud.
The
Way
termination from the entrance of the cave via all the windings of the route
through the Boulder Ruckle – the climb down into the Dining Room not then being
accessible – and on the discovery trip it took two hours to reach. Considering the available clothing and
lighting at that period, together with the horrific sharpness and instability
of the newly entered Ruckle this was no mean feat.
The first diggers were H.E. Balch, E.A. Baker, H.J.
Mullet-Merrick, H. Bamforth, H. Willcox, H.Y. Richardson, E.E. Barnes, G.
Slater and R. Fairbanks on either the 18th or 19th-20th March 1903 when the
gravel blockage at the end of the streamway was cleared – presumably to reach a
further blockage some distance beyond. The above team set an early precedent for cosmopolitan digging parties
being from
occasions that year.
Little then seems to have been done, or at least recorded,
until 1910 when on 4th June the wet squeeze at the end was dug out between 10am
and 9pm by HEB, R. Troup, H.E. Kentish, P. Sinnock and H. Savory (MNRC). They pushed the passage to a right-angled
bend followed by a narrow vertical descent some 15ft deep (later named Morton’s
Pot) which HEK descended on a rope to find the stream sinking in what appeared
to be small, choked channels and as it was thought to be impassable the dig was
written off. The excavated squeeze later
silted back up.
No information has been found on work here over the next
thirty years but we can be sure that the site was occasionally visited if not
dug.
MORTON’S POT AND JEPSON’S DIG – 1952-1980
During 1952 and 1953 D. Warburton, A. Surrall and friends
(WCC) surveyed the cave and named the vertical rift Morton’s Pot in honour of
one of their number – Peter Morton – who once got stuck in it! The squeeze must have been washed out or
re-dug in the meantime.
In 1954 the site inspired AS, O. Wells, J. Hanwell and D.A.
Willis (WCC) who installed wooden stemples in the Pot (the last one of which
was recently presented to JH by the writer) and attempted to widen the
south-facing rift above the Pot (see survey). Much debris was dropped down this open rift and it was abandoned after
only two weekends work. This may have
been a source of some of the bits of bang wire etc. later found in Lambeth
Walk.
The SMCC took up the challenge on 15th September 1955 when
R. Carter, A. Lock, R. Frost and R. Taylor dug at the stream sink located on
the left before the crawl leading to the top of the Pot and now known as
Jepson’s dig.
On 8th March 1959 K. Dawe (SMCC) and P. Davies (WCC) banged
a constriction in the Pot. PD and P.M.
Giles banged here again on 24th September 1964 with the results being checked
by R. and A. Lawder and PMG on 27th May 1966(!) when this dig was again abandoned.
The
men then turned their attention to Jepson’s Dig and on 12th, 13th and 26th
November 1966 PD, DW, PMG, D. Drew and I. Jepson banged and dug at this
site. By 19th April 1967 they were
losing hope and on 4th May PD, T. Gilbert and D. Alder opened up the bedding
plane at the base of the Pot and left it to dig itself by the power of the
stream. Around this time A. Mills (SVCC)
and L. Devenish (WCC) blasted the south-facing rift above the Pot.
All work was then curtailed by the entrance collapse of 1967
until an assorted rabble of “post Hunter’s lunchtime” diggers from
ACG, BEC, SVCC and EGONS re-opened the cave on 12th July 1969 – much to the
chagrin and amazement of several local Eastwater “experts”. During the following month the
visited by several members of this team, including the writer, and the bedding
plane below the Pot was found to be passable for some 20 feet, much of the
infill having been washed through as a result of the intervening 1968 Great
Flood.
On 7th and 8th February 1970 A. Finch (ACG) and R. Lewis
(SVCC) dug in the bedding and built two rubble spoil dams at the end of the
and M. Bush (SVCC). On 20th September
1971 A. Jarratt (then ACG) revisited the site and made plans to install a
pulley system for dumping spoil from the bedding plane into the south-facing
rift. In the same year RL, P. Hendy, D.
McFarlane, A. Peterson, G. Irving and two other SVCC men dug at the bottom and
in Jepson’s Dig but gave up due to lack of support despite encouraging draughts
both underground and in the pub.
BELOW MORTON’S POT. 1980 – 1989.
The next burst of enthusiasm commenced on 30th December 1980
when AJ (now BEC), M. Duck and M. Bishop removed some 8 foot depth of in-washed
spoil from the base of the Pot to re-enter the bedding plane. During the next two months this dig saw more
attention than ever before with at least 16 BEC trips being recorded by the
writer and, as it was now a joint project, many WCC visits (sometimes assisted
by Northants cavers). Diggers included
M. Grass, S. McManus, R. Cross, T. Hughes, J. Dukes, G. Wilton-Jones, D.
Bradshaw, B. Wilton, C. Dooley, J. Clarke, T. Large, C. Batstone, M. Jeanmaire
(BEC), G. Bolt, IJ, PH and others (WCC), P. Staal, Edmond, Frans, Josh (Speleo
Nederland), C. Chester (Pegasus) T. Mintram (MNRC), D. Vosper, J. Miriam, G.
Smith (MCG) and B. Cowie and friends (Orpheus CC). Vast amounts of spoil were hauled up the Pot
and dumped in the south-facing rift until it was almost full. GB installed two steel dams below the Dining
Room and most of the stream was diverted through four 2″ pipes into the
Upper Traverse making the dig relatively dry. A “staircase” of spoil bags was built up the nearside of the
Pot. The bedding was completely cleared
out for some 25-30 ft to where it became too tight to dig. TL began banging the constriction. A
continuation of the south-facing rift, some 25 ft below its top, was noted on
the LH side of the bedding plane with a vadose trench entering it but before
this alternative site could be properly examined other projects lured the team
away from Eastwater. (See attached
sketch survey).
On 26th September 1982 AJ, SM, TL, T. Humphries and I.
Caldwell cleared lots of bang debris from the little changed dig and another
charge was fired with AJ and TL repeating this on 15th October. The discovery of West End Series then put
paid to this project until 7th April 1986 when AJ and T. Chapman cleared silt
from behind the steel dams in preparation for a summer digging project. This was soon aborted due to the closure of
the Priddy caves by the landowners following problems with the Nature
Conservancy Council concerning SSIs.
THE CURRENT PHASE. 1989 – DATE.
The commencement of the latest phase of digging can be dated
from 12th June 1989 when AJ and J. Stanniland found 10 feet of the bedding
plane to be full of flood debris. The
tiny rift to the left was banged and later checked by G. Johnson who reported
the results to have been a failure.
On 1st July 1990 AJ and GJ re-checked this rift to discover
that the latter had looked in the wrong place and a year old heap of bang
debris had to be cleared before using a brand new Bosch drill on its first
assignment. At least eighteen banging
trips then took place over the next five months combined with concurrent digs
in Boulder Chamber and Hard Rain Aven. GJ, TH, R. Blake and V. Simmonds in particular put in a tremendous
amount of work at the site and other new recruits included L. Williams, A.
Williams, A. Garwood, J. Evans, P. McNab jnr. (who re-excavated Jepson’s Dig to
reach an impassable 6″ diameter tube), P. Romford, J. Smart, I. Sandford,
A. Smith (BEC), A. Boycott, S. Cottle (UBSS), S. Adams (Australia), R. Farmer,
S. Taylor, M. Hogg, M. Wright (Orpheus CC), R. Taviner, N. Pollard and N.
Williams (WCC). Good progress was made
along and down the rift, which seemed to be open below, and from where GJ could
hear the sound of flowing water – presumably coming in from Jepson’s Dig. The broken rock and spoil was dumped in the
old bedding plane dig – the bigger lumps later being exhumed for use in
cemented walls up the sides of the Pot. This burst of enthusiasm lasted until the end of November 1990 and the
discovery of the Wigmore Swallet extensions which ensured that the mainstays of
the team were either there or celebrating in the Hunter’s! A visit was made by GJ and AJ on 1st July
1991 when the place was found to be too wet to dig.
July 1993 saw the start of the next onslaught brought on by
the bits of digging debris found in Lambeth Walk – possibly over 200ft below
and less than 200ft horizontally away. With thoughts of big, open and wet pitches the BEC team dug furiously at
the end, bang being unnecessary as the rift had opened up and a vadose trench
full of gravel with a bedding plane above was the only obstacle. At least eight trips were made this month by
VS, PMcN, GJ, E. Sandford, GS, AJ, A. Gee, TH and Barbera (S African SA). Much of the spoil was stacked in the side of
Morton’s Pot and cemented up. The old
steel dams were once again cleared of silt and the stream piped into the Upper
Traverse.
During August and September some thirteen trips resulted in
over 210 bags of spoil being dug and dumped in the Upper Traverse. New devotees included D. Lennard, P. Evans,
D. Shipton (Cotham SS later BEC), P. Hellier, R. May, A. Sandford and F.
Simpson (GSG). Visits in October
revealed the dig to be sumped with water entering from the LH side – presumably
from the diverted stream in the Upper Traverse. Much hard work was put in extending the pipes to Primrose Path and
giving Primrose Pot it’s first major waterfall in many, many years! Another 40 or so bags were removed. Some 55 bags came out during November but the
team concentrated mainly on cementing up the sides of Morton’s Pot. Pumping out the flooded dig was attempted
several times over the winter and a few tidying up trips took place before the
last visit of the season on 16th January 1994 when the pipes were transferred
to the
in order to direct the stream into the dig in the hope that it would flush the
place out. Many of the regulars were
sub-contracted by the Hillgrove Team to work on the remarkably similar and
equally ancient Hillgrove Swallet dig, these two sites being amongst the longest
ongoing cave digs in the world!
The 1994 season commenced in earnest on 11th July following
a few preparation trips in the spring. IS constructed a magnificent double aerial cableway (the Seilbahns) to
transport full bags from the top of the Pot to the Upper Traverse. Much work was expended in clearing in-washed
winter flood debris including a thumb sized brown and yellow leech and a
selection of live woodlice that fell out of TH’s helmet when he took it off to
scratch his head! Useful additions to
the digging equipment were the modernised “plugs and feathers”, used
in conjunction with the Bosch drill for splitting rocks. Useful additions to the digging team were C.
Smith, A. Rarity, G. Strellis, A. Livingstone, K. Anderson, C. Duberry, R.
Knight, M. Barnes,
Lavender, T. Kerley (BEC and chums), T. Haynes (MCG), R. Warke, W. Samson and
M. Ridgeman (Devon SS). Between 11th
July and 8th September over 300 bags were dug out and tipped either behind the
Morton’s Pot spoil wall or in the Upper Traverse. It should be noted that the latter site is an
obscure corner and that the dump will be neither unsightly or damaging to the
cave after the dig is completed.
The final session of the season took place in October when,
over the course of five trips, another 80 bags were removed. We had now progressed some 30ft along a low
and potholed mini-Canyon from the base of the Pot and had met a cross rift
where the passage enlarged to some 10ft high. The floor had narrowed down to an impassable rift with a tiny open hole
emitting a draught and allowing ponded water to drain away. Ahead the rift also
narrowed but an in-filled phreatic tube some 6ft up was now the obvious place
to dig. The winter floods were now once
again upon us and the team returned to the Waist of Thyme project in White Pit
until the following summer.
In June 1995 Mrs. Gibbons again became plagued by hordes of
scruffy sods bearing 50 pence pieces – almost on a daily basis! The pipes were removed from the cave, the
rift above Jepson’s Dig widened and the Seilbahn cables tautened. This year there was no foul mud bank at the
end, the finer stuff having been flushed through the tiny hole. Work commenced on blasting the rift below the
phreatic tube to make digging feasible and the rock from this was used to
continue with the cemented wall up to the top of the Pot. Some 150 bags had been dug when Adrian Hole,
working at the face, opened up a deep but narrow rift in the floor – obviously
the downstream continuation of the tiny hole found last season. A great burst of activity resulted and some
ten trips and one week later this had been transformed into a 10 foot ladder
pitch, aptly named by ES “A Drain Hole”. During this week over 300 bags were removed
and several large boulders broken up and stashed. By 13th August a further 80 odd bags had been
filled and A Drain Hole deepened to over 12ft with a rabbit hole sized airspace
leading on down at a steep angle. The
depth below the bottom of the 20ft deep Morton’s Pot was estimated at 40ft to
give the dig an altitude of 609ft. The estimated dug length from the Pot to
this date was 60ft. Work continues.
The latest batch of diggers has included J. Sillby, M.
Lumley, S. Howe, C. Wethered, R. Gray, M. Torbett, E. Porter, A. Hole, M. Willet,
P. Brock, D. Bryant, S. Flinders, K .Friedrich (BEC), G. Dunlop (GSG), H, M and
A. Potzsch (Ziloko Gizonak, a Basque caving group), J. Haynes, A. Hamblin and
P. Hartley (Burnley CC). While clearing
infill from a rift in the ceiling above A Drain Hole some animal teeth and the
rubber base protector from a carbide cap lamp were found indicating flood water
flow in, probably tiny, passages above the dig. The presence of a Peregrine Falcon, perched on a fence pole near the
cave entrance, should also be recorded for posterity.
Obviously a vast amount of man hours has been spent on this
site over the years. The writer has
personally recorded 122 working trips here to date. It is only in these days of good transport,
plenty of leisure time, the equipment available and the large number of willing
helpers that a dig of this nature can be pursued. On one Wednesday night nineteen people turned
up, much to the curiosity of passing
the years and to Dot and Ivor Gibbons for allowing us to carry on.
Tony Jarratt
Priddy, 27/8/95
APPENDIX
“But to return to the ‘380-ft. way, “E” of
the section. We find no difficulty in
locating the little chamber “G”, which from its convenient position
has been so frequently used for meals, that it has attained to the dignity of
“the Dining Room.” It is not
without an unpleasant drip on occasion. It belongs to some independent inlet in the field above, and not far
from the cavern entrance. Climbing down
into the waterway, we follow it quite easily until we reach the old choke at
“F”, which was the limit of my older section. Laboriously a party of us dug a way through
in 1911, (actually 1910 – AJ) for it was always obvious that such a channel
must have a considerable extension. It
was most difficult, from the total absence of dumping ground; but by bridging
the channel behind us with the larger stones, we did find room for the
excavated material. Presently squeezing
through, we entered the extension of the waterway shown beyond “F” of
the section, but were disappointed to find that within, only a hollow in the
floor, now disappeared, indicated where the water forced a way through choke
material under pressure, and we could not pass. The usual result had followed; the accumulating water, rising high, had
attacked a joint, and widened it. There
was a vertical pitch of six feet to reach it (now nearly disappeared through
the washing down of our excavated material), which climbed, we entered a
passage just the size and shape of a man’s body when erect. Shortly afterwards this terminated in a
right-angled bend to the west, with an immediate, narrow, and vertical descent
where a man might just pass, to a level fifteen feet below. Mr. Kentish descended on a rope, and with difficulty
found that the waterway broke up into small channels, turning first north, then
apparently east, this evidently being the method adopted by the stream to reach
the blocked ‘380-ft. way’ lower down. It
is, however impassable. No other
explorer has descended to this low level, as to do so, appears to be
useless.”
H.E.Balch – Wookey Hole, its Caves and Cave Dwellers – 1914.
SELECTED REFERENCES
Baker E.A. & Balch H.E.: The Netherworld of Mendip –
1907 Balch H.E.: Spelunca No.39 Dec. 1904
Baker E.A.: Caving – Episodes of Underground Exploration –
1932
Balch H.E.: The Caves of Mendip – 1926
Balch H.E.: Mendip, its
& Rock Shelters 1937, 1941, 1948
Johnson P.: The History of Mendip Caving – 1967
Under the Mendips – 1969
Savory J.(Ed.): A Man Deep in Mendip. The Caving Diaries of
Harry Savory 1910-1921 – 1989
Wessex Cave Club journals: 49 (1955), 143 (1972), 145
(1973), 146 (1973), 185 (1981)
Shepton Mallet Caving Club occ. pubs: 4 (1968), 5 (1970)
Cotham Caving Group nsltr: vol. 3 no. 5 (1969)
Severn Valley Caving Club nsltr: Aug/Sept 1971
British Caver; vol. 81 (1981)
Jarratt A.R.: mss. log books
The early reports of the Wells Natural History and
Archaeological Society and the Mendip Nature Research Committee are mines of
information and an excellent bibliography can be “found in (
My thanks to Dave Irwin for proof reading and helpful
comments, the old git!
60 years of cave diving at Wookey
To celebrate 60 years of cave diving at Wookey a selection
of 1935 newspaper cuttings.
AJ
CAVE BROADCAST.
Mrs. Powell and Mr. Graham Balcombe rehearsing for their
broadcast during the exploration of Wookey Hole. Caves, Somerset, which are
under water.
_______________________
SECRETS OF
HIDDEN RIVER
_______________________
Woman in Daring
Exploit
A young man and woman set out last night to walk along the
hidden bed of the underground river Axe in Wookey Hole Caves, Somerset, to
discover, it was hoped, a vast series of caverns believed to have been hitherto
unseen by any human being.
The explorers were Mr. Graham Balcombe. a post office
engineer, who broadcast an account of
his experiences to listeners throughout the country, and Mrs. Powell, a late
employee of the Wookey Hole Caves.
Their diving suits were specially constructed and a
microphone was fitted inside Mr. Balcombe’s helmet.
Heave Hard on
Pump”
They entered the water soon after 10.30. A few minutes later
his voice came through: I have to go
slowly as my ears are paining a little. I must go slowly to acclimatise them to the pressure. Heave hard on the
pump.
A dramatic moment came when Mrs. Powell was found to have
developed a leak in her air pipe. She
was instructed to come back a few yards.
At first the officer in charge of the telephones could not
get any reply from her, and he called her several times in an anxious voice
until at last she replied very faintly. She reported that she was O.K.” and re-traced her steps as
directed. The leak in her air-pipe was then rapidly repaired.
Later Mr. Balcombe reported that he had entered the sixth
chamber, which he found to be smaller than he expected and with very’ little
air-space above it.
Seventh Cavern Found
Later Mr. Balcombe reported that he found the sixth chamber
to have a large water space.
Shortly before he closed down his broadcast he was able to
report that he had entered a seventh chamber. The water in it was clear, and he could see a good way ahead.
When they emerged from the water after about an hour, both
Mr. Balcombe and Mrs. Powell were none the worse for their experience. The only
thing that troubled them was the chill of the water. The discovery of, a seventh chamber is a
distinct achievement.
*****************************************
DIVER EXPLORES FAMOUS CAVES
STOPPED BY MUD
A man in a divers suit walked 168 feet further along the bed
of the subterranean River Axe under the Mendip Hills,
been before.
He was Mr. Graham Balcombe, a
way with him into the famous Wookey Hole caves.
They were attempting to find other great caves, but muddy
water prevented Mr. Balcombe going further than the sixth chamber.
The river is 600 feet beneath the hills.
Part of the adventure broadcast.
*****************************************
EXPLORATION OF WOOKEY HOLE
THE BIRTH OF THE EXPEDITION LURE OF THE UNKNOWN
SKILL OF AMATEUR DIVERS ON THE VERGE OF NEW DISCOVERIES
(By the Leader of the Expedition, GRAHAM BALCOMBE.)
The story of the birth of the Wookey Hole ‘Exploration
Expedition is just another example of how chance can steer our courses for
us. It is, and always has been, the
premier ambition of “cavers,” or “pot-holers,” as our Northern
friends have it, to find new caves, or, just as important, to penetrate even
further into those already known.
There is no need to try to explain why they will dig for
months on end in the filthy red or black slime of the cave areas, nor why they
choose to suffer the unpleasantness of such intimate and prolonged contact with
the cold and relentless: waters of the nether world, any more than to try to
explain why mountaineers and cragsmen are so devoted to the self deprivations
of their own more noble ventures. That is far better left to the caving and climbing,
literature of the last few decades.
My own attention was attracted to the caves of the Mendip
Hills, where the, scientific interests are looked after in the south by the Wells Natural History and Archaeological Society, and in the north by
the Bristol University Speleological Society, while the Wessex Cave Club looks
after the sporting interests of the whole area. They happened to be easiest of approach and interest centred in one
particular cave terminating where the
steeply sloping roof and the floor meet in a muddy pool, so far the end to all
exploration.
A CHALLENGE.
Here was a challenge, indeed, for, unlike the British
cragsman, who must accept his playground as he finds it, and on no account may
he cut a step, or drive a piton, or otherwise aid his progress, the caver is
not so restricted. No method of
furthering his forward march is barred, unless it involves marring the beauty
of the cave. Ropes, ladders, picks, and
crowbars are his legitimate tools.
The challenge was accepted, but so far the attack has been
repulsed. An effort to explore this
water trap with homemade apparatus has so far failed.
Rather than proceed with the construction of more elaborate
apparatus, the experts in such matter Messers Siebe, Gorman and Co., Ltd.-were
approached, and, through the kindness of Sir Robert Davill, we were offered the
loan of the apparatus we needed for the work.
Now to get to the before-mentioned water trap unhindered by
impedimenta is itself a severe expedition, and to get heavy tackle down is next
to impossible. Thus it came about that
we turned to
to make first use of our golden opportunity.
THE LEGEND.
Wookey’s cavern, with its three vast and. beautiful
chambers, is known the world over. Mysteriously showing in the great cliff face
at the head of the woody, gorge, it has figured in history throughout the
centuries; in relatively recent times it was the home of the famous Witch of
Wookey, who, so says the legend, turned to stone for her sins by the holy Priest of
be seen staring over the green waters of the River Axe in the first chamber of
the cave.
Clement of Alexandria wrote of it as far back as the second
century A.D., but ages before that it had been the home of the Ancient Briton,
whose story, written within and around its portals, has been so excellently
reconstructed by that able archaeologist Mr. Balch, president of the Wells
Society, with whom we are working on this expedition.
VOLUNTEERS.
If the reader listened to the broadcast last Saturday night
(August 17) and re- ported in THE OBSERVER, he will have a fair idea of the
conditions of the undertaking; the” gang” to man the pump, to feed
out or coil down the divers’ pipes, to keep the log, and a host of other duties
are stalwart volunteers from all the country round for a hundred miles or more,
and six of them are now divers.
We found when we first took to the water that the art of
diving is not so easy as we first thought it would be. It is not given to
everybody to be a diver. For weeks we practised in a lonely pond on the top of
the Mendip plateau, until, thanks to the first-class apparatus and tuition, we
first essayed to probe the mysteries of the cave.
For the past six weeks we have been busy there, each week
penetrating farther than before, leaving
behind us a rope, weighted down at intervals, to guide us on
the journey out, for as the diver moves so he sends up a mass of fine sediment
billowing like clouds and obliterating everything. He must move quickly to
prevent it getting ahead if he is to make any progress.
GHOSTLY ROCKS.
Five seconds delay anywhere, and gone is that green vision
dimly reflecting the rays of the torch; the rippling surface, or the ghostly
rocks overhead, all swallowed up in the rolling mist. Lights are useless then,
and it is usual to switch out the torches and grope one’s way back in inky
blackness along the guide rope.
So far we have passed the fourth and fifth chambers, which
are accessible to a boat under favourable conditions and have entered a long
sloping passage with an air surface above, which means the sixth chamber, and,
we think, another, which means a seventh chamber.
Some doubt has crept in about the latter; it is possible
that, lost in the blanket of mud, the sudden glimpse of rippling surface was in
reality the sixth again, but by the time this is in print we hope to have
settled that point.
We have penetrated some 180 feet so far, and can go, if
fortune favours us, a full 400 feet. What we will find there no lone can tell: there lies the lure of The
Unknown. In a month or so, maybe, we can
say; for the moment we let our imagination run riot; it gives incentive to aid
us in our difficult task.
*****************************************
CRAWLING under
by TOM STEPHENSON
Last Sunday I spent the day exploring the infernal regions
of the Mendips.
In a misguided moment I had accepted an invitation to join a
pot-holing expedition. Led by Graham Balcombe, a rabid enthusiast familiar with
the ways of darkness in the underground world of
In the underground world of
Eastwater Swallet, near the upland hamlet of Priddy, was the
pothole chosen for our initiation and by 10 a.m. on the Sunday we were gathered
there ready for the descent.
At the foot of a limestone crag abruptly blocking the valley
of a small stream which disappeared in the ground, a small opening covered by
an iron grid was indicated as the entrance to the water-worn caverns and
channels far below.
That iron grating, which later in the day most of us were to
loathe as the very gate of hell, was removed, and one by one we stepped into
black mystery. Groping and stumbling
through cracks and crannies, we slowly descended.
At intervals we paused to pass from one to another the
various items of equipment. including climbing ropes, rope ladders. bags of
candles and food supplies.
Down and down we went into eerie, sable blankness, creeping
through low tunnels, edging and scraping through narrow cracks and hurriedly
stepping through showers of falling water, and by this time wondering what was
coming next ..
One after another, more and more arduous trials were found,
until it seemed it was impossible for any greater diabolical discomfort to be
devised.
By this time we were well saturated with cold cave water, and
were beginning to feel unduly conscious of the prominent parts of our anatomy
which discovered every possible projecting piece of rock.
Wriggling and squirming through incredible crannies, lying
full length in a pool of water and
trying to negotiate double corners which necessitated all
kinds of fantastic contortions, I began to long for the girth and slippery hide
of an eel combined with the resilience of a jelly-fish.
After interminable aeons of such progress, of trying to fold
myself into the line of an “S” or a “Z,”
it was an inconceivable relief to find a brief opportunity to stand upright and
thank the stars I have not been condemned to earn my bread as a miner.
Another ordeal was the descent of about 50 feet on a rope
ladder which itself seemed alive, twisting and swaying in the blackness of a
deep shaft as one hugged it and stepped gingerly downwards towards the distant
glow-worm representing the torch of a fellow lunatic.
More contortions and the descent of another ladder brought
us to a cavity into which a waterfall crashed and roared. Lunch was suggested, but unfortunately the
food bag had suffered a fall, and the sandwiches had been pulped into an
unwholesome mess.
For the final pitch we had to lie on our backs on a steep
bank of wet clay and slide, regulating our velocity by pressing the hands
against the rock a few inches above our noses.
About 500 feet below the surface, after four hours of cold,
dripping darkness, we were faced with the return journey. To start with, this meant climbing up the
course of a waterfall and then repeating in reverse all the twists and turns of
the descent.
After some hours of such purposeless misery we were a cold,
famished and weary band, bruised and sore and feeling vastly sorry for
ourselves when we stepped into the sweet-smelling freedom of the outer world .
There and then I vowed I would never again so much as peep
into a pothole. Next morning I felt as
if I had been drawn through a key-hole and then dragged along the full length
of the
road and run over by every passing car.
But in the party there was one enthusiast who described the
grandeur of the
would like to descend Gaping Ghyll. I
that immense pot-hole on the slopes of Ingleborough.
Just Another Swift Half
by Rob Taviner
‘The tigers of wrath
are wiser than the horses of instruction’ WILLIAM BLAKE
‘Go up, thou bald
head’ II KINGS
‘There’s a problem, you might have to give
Potential
sprogging complications threatened to put the knackers on Sutherland ’95.
‘Of course dear’ I said. ‘Not bloody
likely’ I thought.
Fortunately
the problem of how to get to Sutherland without proving I was a complete
bastard were avoided by a last minute all-clear and I was on the phone to Jake.
Ill pick you up at 5.30′ he said, ‘You won’t have to drive at all’.
Sounded
good.
‘Oh, by the way, are you in the AA.
Ummm.
Jake
shows up at 7.30.
‘We’ll have a swift half in the Hunters and then hit the road’.
Where
have I heard that one before?
‘Just another swift half … ‘.
I
pull out of the Hunters car park at 9.30 placating the remonstrating Jake only
with ready access to the on-tap cider. Estelle takes over at
north with the Talking Heads at full volume and the cold fan at full blast. Dawn breaks and Jake surfaces.
‘Where are we ?’.
‘
‘Terrific, I’ll drive’.
Bastard.
We
blow away Jakes’ strange taste in German stomping brass band music on the swing
bridge above the Corrieshalloch Gorge. Jake tests the swing part just as I’m taking a photo – I always wanted a
shot of that particular piece of sky. Ullapool follows swiftly, the Canadian flag flying from every
trawler. I try not to look Spanish. After 650 rain free miles we pull into the
Grampian hut at 10.00 a.m. It’s a glorious day with deep snow on the
peaks. Perfect. The hut is full with a motley crew of
climbers, cavers and hydrologists (Expert Quote – ‘The water goes in at the
top and comes out at the bottom).
A quick breakfast then we’ll
shift a load of scaffolding up to Damoclean Dig’. OK.
‘We’ll have a quick one in The Alt before we go’.
Ummm.
The
Alt has a new landlord – Eric – he opens all day and serves food. Four hours and numerous pints later the plan
is abandoned. With just two hours sleep
in 48 an early night is called for – oh, with just time for a swift half.
Sunday
sees us dumping five scaffold bars into Damoclean, 2.5 knackering miles up the
side of
up Traligill to try and locate the long lost Blar nan Fiadhag Pot. This small open pot, discovered in 1970, lies
in the middle of a featureless moor and has a potential on-going rift. Frustratingly it has never been
relocated. We prospect the two distinct
grid references quoted for this site but apart from some fine limestone
pavement there’s no depression and no cave. We poke about in one or two minor sinks before heading back to the hut
where the Tonys’ Jarratt and Boycott have arrived. Later that night Mike O’Driscoll invites a couple
of Knockans finest back to the hut to sample the scrumpy.
‘Looks like piss’ Ian ventures disdainfully. ‘Tastes like piss’ agrees
Hughie.
The
atmosphere is aggressive. J-Rat tries
his ‘hands across the ocean, we’re all brothers together’ routine. Hughie
steadies himself searching for profound words of wisdom.
‘Piss off, ye baldy-headed Sasunnaich bashturd’.
Gradually
the deadly nectar works its magic. By
the time they crawl from the door at 3.30 a.m. they’re convinced it is piss.
Mayday
breaks gloriously. A session in Tree
Hole is planned. Most of our work in
Sutherland has been concentrated on linking together the known sections of the
underground Traligill. We had pushed
downstream Tree Hole for 70m, practically connecting it to Uamha a’ Bhrisdeadh-Duile
(
100m on the surface, lay between upstream Tree Hole and Lower Traligill
CavelLower Traligill Flood Sink. In ’94
we’d pushed a grim wet and muddy crawl for 15m to a wide flat out section with
a howling draught, since pushed by Grampian members Goon, Martin Hayes and
Roger Galloway for a further 5m. We were
absolutely certain it would go.
‘Let’s stop in The Inch for a quick one’ says J-Rat. The Inch also has a new landlord – Derek – he
also opens all day and also serves food.
Twenty-four
hours later we follow the Two-Tones’ into the cave. They’ve cleared four skiploads in twenty
minutes. ‘It’s about to go’ shouts
J-Rat. With difficulty we manoeuvre a
couple of larger boulders away down the crawl. As Tony digs his way through the rest of us follow. A couple of squeezes under roots and
streambed boulders see us sliding down to a small muddy chamber with the roar
of water visible but not attainable through an eyehole at the top of a low
bedding crawl. However a squeeze to the
left enters a big scalloped bedding, 4m wide and a metre high, which meanders
via an entertaining roof-level squeeze to a boulder choke and short section of
streamway. Upstream looks hopeless but
downstream can be seen to continue through a low fast-flowing duck for at least
10m. Nobody fancies it in dry kit. The ‘Swift Half Series’ had gained us
60m and closed half the gap to
in one hit. With time to kill we wander
up-valley, first building a dam to divert the surface river into Lower
Traligill Cave and open the Flood Sink, before looking at Uamh Cailliche
Peireag, an impressive arched sink/flood resurgence and old battleground of
J-Rats. Something very dead and very
smelly blocks the main stuff off to the left but a trongly- draughting crawl to
the right is noted for later attention. A quick trip down the Waterslide in Cnoc Nan Uamh to check on the state
of the divers line and another promising lead bagged and it was off to The Inch
for a celebratory impromptu (‘be there at 8.30 sharp’) Ceilidh. Celebration proves a fine mix of beer,
whisky, bagpipes, drums, crash-barriers, vomit and blood. Simply magnificent.
Wake
up with a mega hangover and a mouth like a vultures crutch. J-Rat looks like he’s had the shit kicked out
of him. Half a bottle of paracetamol
later I’ve got kidney failure but the hangovers fading fast. We watch the worlds worst sheepdog herd his
flock straight down the middle of the road to the consternation of two coach
loads of tourists and one despairing owner. Funny, I’ve never heard those commands on One Man and His
Dog. It’s turned really hot, just the
sort of a day not to carry 13 scaffold bars up to Damoclean, so we carry
13 scaffold bars up to Damoclean – or rather carry 9 and watch Gadge dehydrate
his way up with 4 strapped to a mountain bike. Two hours digging see a further 3ft depth
gained in this classic swallet which promises another Claonaite. For Wednesday night digging we take a look at
a flood rising behind Elphin, to verify reports that stones can be heard
rattling down 8-10ft. They can, but
fifteen minutes boulder rolling reveal it to be a long-term dig.
Thursday
and we’re back in Tree Hole, pushing, photographing and surveying. Little progress is made in the choke at the
end of the dry stuff leaving the low streamway which J-Rat pursues tenaciously
for 20m past the other end of the impassable eyehole to a sump. The survey totals 80m from the start point of
the ’94 dig, taking the length of the cave beyond 200m – the 5th longest in
Assynt and in excess of 500m once the sumps downstream separating it from Uamha
a’ Bhrisdeadh-Duile and Traligill Rising are connected. The photographic trip is abandoned due to a
broken cable. Afterwards, whilst the
Two-Tones begin a much-needed surface survey I take advantage of the dam to dig
open the rarely visited Lower Traligill Flood Sink, the next cave upstream and
one we’d always been hopeful of extending. A quick trip reveals a fairly uninspiring hole with one possible lead –
a boulder preventing access to a small streamway which can be seen to sink in
gravel a few feet downstream, but upstream appears to continue – albeit with an
apparent potential of only a few feet. Still a lead is a lead so we apply some rock-remover for a follow-up
trip the
following day. Whilst J-Rat and Estelle
play in Waterfall Rising, Tony Boycott and I transport some of the digging kit
further up the valley, attacking the promising lead in Cnoc Nan Uamh en
route. The Waterslide drops very steeply
and dramatically for 75m to a sump, passed the previous year by Tony and Pete
Mulholland to 500m of excellent passage. An inlet, so small that none of us had ever noticed it before, debouches
directly into the sump pool. Investigation revealed a low pebble-filled crawl leading to a
water-filled but on-going and apparently roomy passage. We felt that by removing the rock-lip at the
entrance to the pool we may be able to drop the water level sufficiently to pursue
this passage further. It was just
possible that it could provide a sump bypass, or at that depth, at least a
decent inlet. Jake and Gadge spend the
day expanding the bedding in Uamh Cailliche Peireag which looks long term but
draughts well and is heading straight into the large blank area housing the
sinks. Just for a change we rounded off
a productive day in The Inch. At the
bottom of Traligill, a big house which had stood empty for years and had
recently been bought by some enterprising lads from
centre~ had been the scene of some excitement. During the course of the day they had
uncovered some interesting war relics, including a live hand grenade and
concerned at the prospect of nutters roaming the hills laden with explosives,
had called the army to dispose of it. Later we’re entertained by a group of drunken bikers serenading some
lads from
with Wurzels songs.
‘Where are you lot from’ they ask.
‘Somerset’. Silence.
After
a week of fine weather, things finally deteriorate and despite fortification in
the Culag Hotel in Lochinver enthusiasm is low for a return to Flood Sink. Whilst the Tonys’ and Simon Brooks complete
the surface levelling from Glenbain Cottage, I grovel back in to check that
things have rearranged themselves satisfactorily. They have, but with a gain of all of 2m
prospects look between grim and nil. Upstream, the water enters from a very low pebble-filled crawl
presumably entering from a sinkpoint only a few feet from the entrance. Interestingly only some of the water sinks in
the bedding to the right, most of the water disappearing through a tiny hole
straight ahead. We now believe that most
of the water in upstream Tree Hole derives from the water sinking in Flood
Sink, with the main underground Traligill travelling through a flooded loop
from
to enter Tree Hole at one or more points downstream, in particular at the old
upstream sump and the impressive waterfall discovered in 1991. To finish we give Simon a guided tour of the
clearing out Uamh Cailliche Peireag en route. The draught has diminished but the low and undulating bedding can be
seen to continue behind a big boulder, so we fire and retire. Jake and Gadge spend the day constructing the
scaffold frame in Damoclean to facilitate a push ahead.
By
Saturday, an influx of Grampian regulars swells the numbers sufficiently to
enable us to concentrate on specific projects. Tony Boycott and Simon plan a lengthy trip beyond the sumps in Cnoc Nan
Uamh whilst Jake, Estelle and Gadge headed back up to Damoclean, which is now
in full swing. The rest of us return to
outside Uamha a’ Bhrisdeadh-Duile, I guide Goon & Co through the delights
of the various Tree Hole extensions, culminating in a little progress beneath
the upstream choke and another failed photo session. A potential way on is noted and we head out
to assist J-Rat into Uamha a’ Bhrisdeadh-Duile to investigate both the
downstream and upstream sumps for the first time. Only 15m of approach passage separates the
entrance from the downstream sump but it proves to be 15m of extremely tight
and muddy thrust plane which takes an interminable time to negotiate and where
the limitations of certain items of kit designed for more spacious occupations
become only too apparent. Still it helps
to take J – Rats mind off the dive and he pursues a large descending and
fast-flowing thrust passage beneath fine roof pendants for 10m until concerns
about line belays force a retreat. The
sump continues in fine style, heading straight for Traligill Rising the
upstream point of which can only be a few metres away. We quickly ferry a single kit the 100m up
toward the upstream sump where a connection with Tree Hole appears a certainty
but disappointingly we’re repelled at the Compass Sucker by a mixture of
boulder rearrangement and high water conditions. None too enthusiastic to repeat the bottle carry
immediately; we abandon the kit on a ledge and head out for a well-earned
bath. Goon, chuffed at having propelled
his 46-Inch chest through the inaptly named 40-Inch squeeze, confesses his
delight at a having visited more virgin Sutherland cave in one day than for
some time, although with some reservations as to the general dimensions. Despite fine diving conditions further
boulder rearrangement and cut line also defeat Tony and Simon at Cnoc Nan Uamh
and they are unable to locate the underwater squeeze into Northern Lights. Progress at Damoclean Dig has fortunately
been more forthcoming and hopes are high that the swallet will soon begin to
open up.
For
three of us, Sunday is our final day and whilst Gadge goes off to try and
remove a large offending and rather public boulder plugging The Elephant Trap
and the divers head for Claonaite, most of our party return for an all out
session at Damoclean. It’s been a hard
weeks digging, drinking, sherparing, drinking, scaffolding and drinking so I
decide to take a day off wandering the sizeable and relatively untouched
limestone plateau behind Elphin, taking in Cold Water Cave and some interesting
localised sinks and risings on the Southern shore of Loch Urigill. A mellow spot. Packed and ready to go we wander over to the
Allt Nan Uamh to pick up Estelle and J-Rat who have been killing time waiting
for the divers listening to Tony Boycotts’ car radio. With perfect timing we materialise as one,
only to spend the next twenty minutes bump-starting Tonys’ not unexpectedly
flat battery. Safely ensconced in The
Inch the divers reveal that they’ve finally located the contentious main flow
in the terminal Sump 6 complex. Further
trips are planned. A swift half, a quick
bite to eat and farewells all round see us on the road before midnight,
arriving after an uneventful journey – bar an entertaining police chase and a
pathologically high rabbit count – on oh so green Mendip by mid-morning.
The
late arrivals stayed on for an extra week to pursue a whole mess of leads. An attack on the new terminal choke in Tree
Hole was begun – to be continued next year – and further attempts were mounted
on downstream Uamha a’ Bhrisdeadh-Duile. Mike O’Driscoll eventually managed the furthest penetration yet but
reported it to be getting too tight, although there was a feeling he may have
missed the main way on. Damoclean
developed into a relatively solid rift pursued for 20ft into an area of loose
bedding planes. Only time prevented more
substantial progress but at least the game is afoot. Uamh Cailliche Peireag was pursued but
continues to keep a firm lock on its secrets and would appear frustratingly
long term. Bad weather threatened to
prevent a return to the Waterslide dig in Cnoc Nan Uamh but relented long
enough to reveal a powerful air current above the newly broken sump. This will prove difficult to pursue but is
potentially an exciting site which could go just about anywhere.
A
fortnight later an inspired Simon Brooks returned with a second wave of
Southern invaders to achieve Sutherlands’ discovery of the decade. Diving with Mike O’Driscoll he continued the
passage investigated with Tony Boycott in the Claonaite Sump 6 complex,
surfacing to 300m of stream passage and ‘The Great Northern Time Machine’, a
huge chamber. Follow up trips revealed
numerous avens, fossil oxbows and inlets taking the total discovery beyond
800m, restoring Claonaites’ recently usurped position at 2.5km as
longest cave. Many leads remain and the
big stuff lies tantalisingly close to a number of
known caves. It is likely that future
work will concentrate heavily on the Allt Nan Uamh whos’ remote boulder-strewn
crags and dark brooding flanks doubtless harbour many a secret yet.
So
another successful expedition has flown by and as in previous years the main
aim had been achieved only for yet more leads to reveal themselves. The combination of more and more cavers
seeking success north of the border coupled with the discovery of two ‘big
ones’ in consecutive years suggests that it is only a matter of time before
Sutherland takes its’ rightful and inevitable place amongst our major caving
regions. Whether this will be a good thing or not remains to be seen. The attraction, at least for this over-crowded
Sasunnaich lies in its’ unspoilt remoteness. For some reason the prospect of hordes of tourist cavers stomping around
Sutherlands’ wild mountains and glens fills me with trepidation.
Ah
well ….. best have another swift half.
REFERENCES
1. Blar nam Fiadhag Pot (C Jeffreys) G.S.G
Bulletin 1st Series 4(4) p. 11 (1970)
2. Some Wanderings – 10 Or More Years Ago
(B. Mehew) G.S.G Bulletin 3rd Series 1(4) p.23 (1990)
3. Tree Hole (T. Jarratt) Belfry
Bulletin 45(3) No.460 p.28 & G.S.G
Bulletin 3rd Series 2(1) p.12 (1991)
4. The Dig At Uamh Cailliche
Peireag
(T. Jarratt) G.S.G Bulletin 2nd Series 1(4) p.19 (1976)
5. Progress At Uamh
Cailliche Peireag (T. Jarratt) G.S. G Bulletin 2nd Series 1(5)
pA5 (1977)
6. The Lower Traligill Flood
Sink (S.
Elwell-Sutton) G.S. G Bulletin 1st Series 5(3) p.20 (1973)
7. Recent Discoveries At
Uamha a’ Bhrisdeadh-Duile And Tree Hole (T. Jarratt) G.S.G Bulletin 3rd
Series 2(5) p.16 (1993)
8. Highland Fling (P. Glanvill) Belfry Bulletin 44(3) No.455 p.4 (1990)
9. Assynt Antics (P. Glanvill) Belfry Bulletin 45(3) No.460
p.24 (1991)
10. Elphin Epics (P. Glanvill) G.S.G Bulletin 3rd Series 2(5)
p.26 (1993)
11. Assynt – The Big One (P. Glanvill) G.S.G Bulletin 3rd
Series 3(2) p.ll (1994)
12. The
Journal Vo1.21 No.230 p.66 (1991)
13. Assault On Anus (R.M. Taviner) W:C.C Journal Vo1.22 No.240 p.68
(1994)
14. Valley or The Trolls (R.M. Taviner) W:C.C
Journal Vo1.22 No.243 p.122 (1994)
15. Elvis Found By Alien Divers In Worlds Deepest Chasm – Is That So ? (R.M. Taviner) W:C.C
Journal Vo1.23 No.245 p.20 (1995)
16. Mega-discoveries in Assynt – Claonaite 7 is here! (I.
Young) G.S.
G Newsletter No.85 p.1 (1995)
In search of Thomas Bushell’s Lost Swallow
– a proposed dig at Five Buddles Sink. Chewton Minery.
On 14/8/95 a meeting was held between representatives of the
Somerset Trust, BEC and a group of mine archaeologists from
archaeological/cave dig at the above site, situated in a S.S.I. Following a most informative hour or so at
the site it seems likely that, pending acceptance of all the relevant
paperwork, permission will be obtained.
Situated at ST 54815138, this site is an intermittent
swallet at the east end of a line of four small and one large
“buddles”/settling pits some 200ft south of Wheel Pit. It was dye tested on 7/2/79 by Willy Stanton
and supposedly traced to Cheddar Risings after a 55 hour period. Unfortunately a similar test was in operation
at Longwood Swallet at the same time so a measure of doubt must be
applied. The nearby caves of St.
Cuthbert’s Swallet (tested to Wookey Hole) and Waldegrave Swallet
(theoretically to both Wookey and Rodney Stoke) would seem to give the lie to
this, as would supposed historical traces from the adjacent Wheel Pit to Rodney
Stoke. Incidentally, Willy, who named
Wheel Pit for ”
now of the same opinion as the writer in that the name may have originally been
applied to Five BuddIes Sink – also named by him.
This inconspicuous grassy hollow, with a lime-mortared stone
wall on one side, has attracted only a small amount of attention over the years
but suddenly became prominent earlier this year when the writer noted that it
took a large stream when the surrounding area was flooded almost to road level
(see Snake Pit article).
For many years work has gone on in this area in search of a
lost cave explored by lead miners in the pay of Thomas Bushell between 1657 and
1674. At a depth of some 96ft they
commenced driving an adit from this cave up towards the deep and flooded
Rowpits lead mines, some 900ft away in what is now Stock Hill
industrial strife. It is possible that
Five BuddIes Sink may give access to this cave and if so would be of immense
interest to both mine historians and cavers. The surface layout itself and the possibility that the sink was used as
a waterwheel pit (similar to that found by Willy at Waterwheel Swallet,
Charterhouse) is also fascinating. Very
little industrial archaeology has been attempted in this area so the proposed
investigation would be of some importance.
It is proposed that, should permission be granted, a trial
surface excavation will be carefully carried out to determine the extent and
nature of the mining remains. John
Cornwell’s team of enthusiasts are at present working on the site of a local
18th century colliery and are amongst
field, with over twenty years of experience.
The advice and assistance of Somerset Trust members and
officers has also been offered and will be gratefully accepted: the three
groups – cavers, mine historians and naturalists – working together and
learning valuable techniques and information from each other.
As this is such a sensitive site it is essential that any
work is done carefully, discreetly and safely and is also fully
documented. All available information
must be logged such as thickness and nature of sediment infill, full
measurements of revealed stonework and any artefacts found. The latter will hopefully be presented to
for preservation and display.
Anyone wishing to assist with this project will be welcome.
Specialists will be needed for surveying, photography,
fencing the site, engineering the cave dig itself, restoration of remains
uncovered and documentary research.
It is unlikely that permission will be granted before the
end of the year so next spring may be our starting date. In the meantime, see
you down Eastwater!
Tony Jarratt
St. Alactites Hall
On the next page there is a rare
print from the archives of the Rathaus. Here we see the Blessed St. Alacitite being comforted with strong drink
as he prays for a breakthrough in his latest drink. Note that his assistants (mainly
and MCG) appear not to be taking the matter seriously. Bertie, the B.E.C. representative (centre) is
about to make a contribution).
I was interested to read in BB478, Tony Jarratt and Vince
Simmond’s article on St. Alactite’s Hall – particularly the bit about naming
this chamber and the suggestion that I might be able to provide further details
of this Patron Saint of cavers. However,
as an ex-editor of the BB, who was thrown out for making the club’s journal a
laughing-stock, it is with some trepidation that I submit this short treatise
in hagiography.
Little (or to be exact, nothing) is known of the early life
of the brothers Alactite and Alagmite, whose claim to fame began when they
arrived on Mendip at some time during the Dark Ages. Appalled by the high sickness rate amongst
the local cavers due to drinking the native brew made from apples, dead rats,
wasps and the like, the brothers resolved to devote their lives to improving
the wretched condition of these unfortunate drinkers, most of whom were, of
course, cavers.
To this end, they founded a religious order of monks (some
of whom were of great renown) dedicated to producing a more wholesome beverage
and, after much labour, they invented a drink which they made by fermenting
malted barley. They called this new drink Bar (short for Barley) but the locals
pronounced it as ‘beer’.
Such was the excellence and potency of this new drink, that
Alactite could often be seen hanging happily upside-down from a rafter in the
roof of their monastery, while Alagmite lay in an untidy heap below him on the
floor. As the reputation of their new
drink grew, they came to be jointly thought of as a pillar of the local
society. After their untimely death, by
falling into a vat of their brew, the grateful drinkers of Mendip got up a
petition and in due course of time, they were canonised and became known as St.
Alactite and St. Alagmite, the Patron Saints of cavers.
For some obscure reason, it was St. Alactite who came to be
remembered while his brother got forgotten.
This sort of thing often happens (Who can remember Muller,
of the Geiger-Muller Counter, for example?). St. Alactite’s Day falls on the fifth Tuesday in February – an event
which only occurs once in every twenty eight years. For many centuries, this day was celebrated
on Mendip with various forms of, revelry, obscenity and general debauchery,
which culminated in the performance of the Mendip De-floral Dance.
B.E.C. Membership List as at 24/9/95
1212 (P) Julian Aburrow Southampton, Hampshire.
987 Dave Aubrey
20 (L) Bobby Bagshaw Knowle,
1201 (P) Chris Baker Lisleard,
Cornwall
392 (L) Mike Baker Henton,
Wells, Somerset
1150 (J) David Ball ConeyHurst,
Billinhurst,
1220 Mike Barnes Butleigh,
1145 Roz Bateman East
Harptree,
1151 (J) Ruth Baxter Coneyhurst,
Billingshurst, West Sussex
1079 Henry Bennett London
390 (L) Joan Bennett Draycott,
Somerset
1191 (J) Lorna Berrie Clevedon, Avon
1122 Clive Betts Clapham,
Bedfordshire
731 Bob Bidmead East
Harptyree, Nr. Bristol, Avon
364 (L) Pete Blogg Chaldon,
Caterham, Surrey
1114 Pete Bolt
1205 (P) Nicola Bone Illogan,
Redruth, Cornwall
145 (L) Sybil Bowden-Lyle Calne,
Wiltshire
1104 Tony Boycott Westbury
on Trim,
1206 (P) Henry Bradley Illogan,
Redruth, Cornwall
868 Dany Bradshaw Wells,
Somerset
1217 (P) Paul Brock
751 (L) T.A. Brookes London
1196 Dave Bryant Salford,
201 John Buxton Flitwick,
Beds.
956 Ian Caldwell Redland,
1214 (P) Rebecca Campbell Frome,
Somerset
1014 Chris Castle Axbridge,
Somerset
1062 (J)
1142 (J)
1184 (J) Sean Chaffey Banwell,
Avon
1197 John Christie Brompton,
North Allerton, North Yorks
211 (L) Clare Coase
2259, Australia
89 (L) Alfie Collins Litton,
Somerset
1204 (P) Julian Collinson Pemboa,
Helston, Cornwall
1175 Ali Cooper Brighton,
Sussex
727 Bill Cooper Totterdown,
862 Bob Cork Pen
Hill, Wells, Somerset
870 Gary Cullen Southwater,
Nr Horsham,
405 (L) Frank Darbon
423 (L) Len Dawes Minster
Matlock, Derbyshire
815 Nigel Dibbden 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
1038 Alan Downey
1207 (P) Chris Dubbery Street,
Somerset
830 John Dukes Street,
Somerset
996 Terry Earley Wylye,
Warminster, Wiltshire
322 (L) Bryan Ellis Westonzoyland,
Bridgwater, Somerset
232 Chris Falshaw Crosspool,
Sheffield, South Yorks
269 (L) Tom Fletcher Bramcote,
1218 Stephen Flinders Burrington,
Somerset
404 (L) Albert Francis
Wells, Somerset
569 (J) Joyce Franklin Staffordshire
469 (J) Peter Franklin Staffordshire
1159 John Freeman Upper
Radford, Paulton,
835 Len Gee St.
Edgeley,
1098 Brian Gilbert Cheshire
1069 (J) Angie Glanvill Chingford,
London
1017 (J) Peter Glanvill Chard,
Somerset
647 Dave Glover Chard,
Somerset
1006 Edward Gosden
790 (J) Martin Grass Twyford,
Hampshire
1009 Robin Gray Wookey,
Somerset
1155 Rachael Gregory Cheddar,
Somerset
1089 Kevin Gurner Pentir,
Nr.,
Gwynedd
1088 Nick Gymer Theydon
Bois, Epping, Essex
104 (L) Mervyn Hannam Theydon
Bois, Epping, Essex
1186 (J) Helen Harper Semington,
Trowbrdge, Wiltshire
999 (J) Rob Harper Somerset
4 (L) Dan Hassell Somerset
1160 Nick Hawkes Moorlynch,
Bridgwater, Somerset
1078 Mike Hearn Westbury-sub-Mendip,
Wells, Somerset
1117 Pete Hellier Wells,
Somerset
974 Jeremy Henley Nempnett
Thrubwell, Chew Stoke,
691 Dudley Herbert Shepton
Mallet
952 Bob Hill c/o
The Belfry
1105 Jo Hills Port
Gentil, Republic de Gabon
905 Paul Hodgson Wisborough
Green, Billingshurst,
1215 (P) Adrian Hole Burcott,
Wells, Somerset
1219 (P) Sean Howe Stockland,
Honiton, Devon
923 Trevor Hughes Frampton
Cotterell,
540 (L) Dave Irwin Bleadney,
Wells, Somerset
1141 Gary Jago Priddy,
Somerset
922 Tony Jarratt Farrington
Gurney, Avon
668 Mike Jeanmaire Priddy,
Somerset
995 Brian Johnson Paek
Mary, Devon
560 (L) Frank Jones Wells,
Somerset
567 (L) Alan Kennett Priddy,
Somerset
884 John King Charlton
Musgrove, Wincanton, Somerset
316 (L) Kangy King Wisborough
Green, Billingshurst,
542 (L) Phil Kingston Pucklechurch,
413 (L) R. Kitchen
4122, Australia
1162 Joc Large Yelverton,
Devon
667 (L) Tim Large Brislington,
Bristol
1129 Dave Lennard Brislington,
Bristol
1199 Alex Livingston Wells,
Somerset
1180 Rich Long Clevedon,
Avon
1057 Mark Lumley Paulton,
1071 Mike McDonald Stoke
St. Michael, Somerset
1195 Struan McDonald Knowle,
550 (L) R A MacGregor Devizes,
Wiltshire.
725 Stuart McManus Baughurst,
558 (L) Tony Meaden Priddy,
Somerset
1044 Andy Middleton Westbury,
Bradford Abbas, Sherborne, Dorset
1194 Nick Mitchell Hardington-Mandeville,
Somerset
1172 (J) Sean Morgan Ash,
1210 (P) Guy Munnings Clevedon,
Avon
1176 Brian Murliss Croydon,
Surrey
1183 Andy Newton Weston-super-Mare,
Avon
936 Dave Nichols Weston-super-Mare,
396 (L) Mike Palmer
1045 Rich Payne Yarley,
Wells,
1188 (J) Sharon Penny Orpington,
Kent.
1134 Martin Peters Banwell,
499 (L) A. Philpot Wells,
Somerset.
944 Steve Plumley Bishopston,
1193 Emma Porter Burrington,
1209 (P) Martin Postlethwaite Mansfield,
Nottinghamshire
337 Brian Prewer London
481 (L) John Ransom Priddy,
Wells, Somerset
1126 Steve Redwood Patchway,
986 (J) Lil Romford Draycott,
Somerset
985 (J) Phil Romford Shepton
Mallet, Somerset
921 Pete Rose Shepton
Mallet, Somerset
1208 (P) Stuart Sale Crediton,
Devon
240 (L) Alan Sandall Isleworth,
Middlesex
359 (L) Carol Sandall Nailsea,
Avon
1170 Andy Sanders Nailsea,
Avon
1173 Estelle Sandford Peasdown,
Avon
1178 Ivan Sandford Wells, Somerset
237 (L) Bryan Scott Crewkerne,
Somerset
78 (L) R Setterington
213 (L) Rod Setterington
1036 (J) Nicola Slann Harpendon,
Herts.
915 Chris Smart Wookey,
911 Jim Smart Nr.
Bradford on
1213 (P) Alex Smith c/o
The Belfry
1203 (P) Bob Smith Devizes,
Wilts.
1192 Carmen Smith Camborne,
823 Andy Sparrow
Sherborne,
1 (L) Harry Stanbury Priddy,
Somerset
575 (L) Dermot Statham Bude,
Cornwall
365 (L) Roger Stenner Warkworth,
Northumberland
1084 Richard Stephens Weston
super Mare, Avon
1187 Mark Tanner Wells,
Somerset
583 Derek Targett Fishponds,
772 Nigel Taylor East
Horrington, Wells Somerset
284 (L) Alan Thomas Langford,
Avon
571 (L) N Thomas Priddy,
Somerset
74 (L) Dizzie Thompsett-Clark Oulton
Broad, Lowestoft, Suffolk
1216 Martin Torbett Great
Baddow,
381 (L) Daphne Towler Cheddar,
Somerset
1023 Matt Tuck Nyetimber,
382 Steve Tuck Yelverton,
Devon
1066 (J) Alan Turner Yelverton,
Devon
678 Dave Turner Leigh
on Mendip,
912 John Turner Leigh
on Mendip,
1179 (J) Kirsten Turner Tavistock,
Devon
635 (L) S. Tuttlebury
1096 Brian van Luipen Buck
Hors Rd., Farnham, Surrey
887 Greg Villis Wick,
Littlehampton, West Sussex
175 (L) D. Whaddon Weston
super Mare, North Somerset
1185 Chas Wethered Welling,
Kent
1118 Carol White
1068 John Whiteley
1202 (P) Mike Willett Brislington,
1190 Chris Willey
1092 Babs Williams Knowle,
1087 John Williams Weston-super-Mare,
Avon, Somerset
1164 (J) Hilary Wilson Keynsham,
Avon
1130 (J) Mike Wilson (snr) Keynsham,
Avon
1153 Mike Wilson (jnr) Whitchurch,
559 (J)
568 (J) Brenda Wilton Haydon,
Nr. Wells, Somerset
721 Graham Wilton-Jones Watton,
Thetford,
1211 (P) Michael Woolnough Hornchurch,
Essex.
877 Steven Woolven West
Chillington,
477 Ronald Wyncoll Holycroft,
Hinkley, Leics.
683 Dave Yeandle Greenbank,
Eastville,
ISSA
Press Release
International Society 
for Speleological Art
Contact: Robin Gray, Cheddar,
The International
Society for Spelaeological Art Is a group of keen cavers & artists
including a number of full time professional artists.
Until recently all worked on their cave subjects in
isolation, some with great success, unaware that there might be others with a
similar interest.
Contact has recently been made with like minded artists in
and
members, making the Society truly international.
A dramatic spectacle
Personal styles differ dramatically, ranging from highly
representational and academic works to stylised and the almost totally
abstract. Yet all portray the atmosphere
of being there and when exhibited together, the pictures form a cohesive
collection harmonised by the subject matter, exuding a compelling enthusiasm
and knowledge of what caves and the sport of caving are all about.
Members regularly meet to go drawing and caving together and
are active and regular club cavers as well.
Now, working as a group in order to promote their work to a
wider public, one can imagine the excitement when artists with similar
interests make themselves known.
Great Public Interest
Just one year after the formation of ISSA, interest from the
general public and galleries far outstrips the considerable attention and
acclaim shown by the ‘caving crew’, however, it must be said that the caving
enthusiasts have welcomed the greater prominence of cave art warmly and a
painting comes nearly as high on the list of requirements as a new wetsuit!!
Exhibitions by individual members at the annual conference
of the British Cave Research Association have produced a wave of interest and
excellent sales as have the two previous group showings, one in
(both major caving areas).
ISSA EXHIBITION ~ WORKSHOPS IN CHEDDAR –
October- December
1995
An exhibition of the groups’ finest work, together with a
series of workshops will take place in the Bar Gallery of the Kings of Wessex
Leisure Centre, Cheddar from Saturday 28 October to Friday December I st., from
10am to 9pm daily.
The private viewing will take place on Saturday 28th October
11.30am to 2.30pm.
The exhibition, in the heart of the South of England’s
finest caving area is bound to generate even more interest. It is anticipated
that this interest will extend to the art centres of
and
Pictures exhibited will include drawings and paintings in a
variety of media depicting cavers in caves and potholes in the
& overseas.
Several very well known names from the art world will be
represented as well as a variety of well known and ‘colourful’ characters from
the sport of caving.
Author and caver Alfie Collins will be signing copies of his
latest book at 12am.
A weekend to
remember.
Running alongside the ISSA event will be an exhibition of
cave photography at the Cheddar Library and an exhibition of caving cartoons.
In addition to the three exhibitions ISSA is organising
workshops on drawing and painting both above and below ground on the Sunday and
anybody is welcome to join in (only cavers on the underground workshop).
The
Underground Press!!
If you would like an
interview or a demonstration of how we work underground this can be arranged by
contacting either: Robin Gray. Cheddar,
or, in the daytime contact:
Mark Lumley (Gonzo) at the
Creative Edge,
For a moment your
light is the only light in the World …
Your light is the
World!
Bruce Bedford