The
Bristol
Exploration Club, The Belfry,

Wells
Road
, Priddy, Wells,

Somerset
.
Editor:
Estelle Sandford

Contents

Committee Members

Secretary: Nigel Taylor
Treasurer: Chris Smart
Membership Secretary: Roz Bateman
Editor:
Estelle Sandford
Caving Secretary: Andy Thomas
Tackle Master: Rich Blake
Deputy Tackle Master: Mike Willett
Hut Engineer: Nick Mitchell
Hut Warden: Becky Campbell
Librarian: Alex Gee

Editorial

Hi

Here we are again; it seems such a short time ago since the
last one!! !

Since then, we have had an excellent stomp, which raised
lots of money for tackle (see tackle report) 26km have been found in Meghalaya
(see Synopsis and the article to follow in a future issue) Tuska’s (WCC) fall
has been captured in a picture, and it appears that some of you have been
caving.

Many thanks to the two non-members who have contributed to
this issue.  Keep the articles coming, I
can never have too many!!!

The cut off for articles and letters for the next BB is 3rd
June.  Last minute news and dates can be
taken until 6th June.

Regarding the stomp, many thanks to the people who gave the
raffle prizes for the stomp and helped with the organisation to make it a great
success.  I believe a brilliant time was
had by all.

It’s nice to see we are getting a few new members this year,
hopefully other members of the club will follow Mike Wilson’s example and help
to encourage the new and prospective members in their caving career.  (See Mike’s trip report).

By the way, for those of you who thought we had found a new
species of caterpillar in Meghalaya in the last BB, they were wrong, it is
actually a spelling error on my part, it should had been a centipede.  Nice pair of legs, pair of legs, pair of
legs, etc.!!!

Estelle

Letters and
articles in the BB are not necessarily the views of the Editor, the BEC
Committee or the club in general.

No prizes for this one!!!!

 

See if you can guess where in which cave on Mendip this
picture was taken.

Answer in the next issue, and also on Belfry photo-board if
you are visiting the Belfry .

Photo courtesy of Pete Glanvill.

 

Caving and BEC News

Members News

Chris and Gwyn (nee Timson) Taylor are to become parents in
September.  Must have been a good
Christmas!!!

Reminder

Photos are still required for the photoboard at the Belfry
and also the Belfry Bulletin.  Slides or
prints or pre-scanned files are all more than welcome.  I will return any slides or prints that are
sent to me once copies have been made or they have been scanned in – Ed.

BEC Website

Is accessible at the following URL www.mendipnet.co.uk/BEC. (clearly now
defunct)

If you try to access it from links from other Websites, you
will probably still get the old WebPage. It takes a little while to get other sites to change their links for new
addresses.

Stoke Lane Slocker

Further to the article in the last issue, the following
information has been confirmed by Dave Irwin:

The Stoke Lane human and animal
bones have been found.  After a years
searching for them I’ve seen them and they are being photographed.  Eventually they will be dated – Tratman guessed
(1955) that they dated somewhere between late Iron Age to Middle Ages. Dating
is important to give date for collapse of entrance into Bone Chamber.  More details in the proposed caving report
relating to this cave.  Those who thought
that Max Unwin was responsible for the loss of the bones were wrong.

49ers Party

For those of you who are not aware, there are quite a number
of BEC members and other regulars from the hill who were born in 1949 and are
therefore 49 this year.  They have
decided to celebrate in style Midsummer’s night (20th June) with a mass party
at the Village Hall in Priddy.  Tickets
will be available soon from Tony at Bat Products and Quackers in the Hunters
Lodge.

Mendip Technical Group

A meeting was held at the Hunters Lodge on Saturday 31st
January 1998 to try and hammer out a bolting policy for Mendip.  General conclusions were that re-bolting with
resin anchors will generally only be carried out when existing anchors are no
longer safe – i.e. no program of systematic bolt replacement although Rhino
Rift is an exception as CCC have already approved a complete re-bolt.  The technical group will not have an
independent identity (not another caving committee) but will be a loose
association of cavers prepared to get involved. Further details from Andy Sparrow.

Speleoscene no. 32

This is available from caving shops (Free – but how about a
donation to your local Cave Rescue Service).  This issue contains an article on unsafe maillons, information on
karabiner/descender loading, training bulletin on ‘Safe Abseiling’, also
general news and access and conservation issues for all the caving regions.

Thailand 98 Update

Following the stop press in the last BB regarding the recent
BEC expedition, “Thailand 98” featuring Rob Harper and Tony
Boycott.  It coincided with a very short
item in the Sunday Times which also concerned Thailand.  I wondered if there was any connection.  I think we should be told!

The Sunday Times article reads
…. “A man who tried to make love to an elephant gave an ingenious
explanation to a court in Phuket, Thailand, last week.  Kim Lee Chong, a 61 -year-old chef caught
standing semi-naked behind the five-ton colossus, claimed that the animal was a
reincarnation of his wife, Wey.  She died
28 years ago.  Chong told the court:
“I recognised her immediately ….. by the glint in her eye.”  He was given 15 years/jail to expunge his
crimes, but they say an elephant never forgets.

BEC Motto – Help

When I was looking at an old BB recently, I noticed the
Latin motto “Quodcumque Faciendum Nimis Faciemus”.  What does it mean?  When did we adopt it?  When did we drop it?  Where did it come from?  Please contact Blitz (see address for
treasurer) if you can enlighten him on this.

Caver Training Facility

A caver training facility for Mendip Wells community
education have been successful in their lottery bid to finance a new sports
hall which includes a climbing wall and specially designed caver training
facility.  This will consist of a balcony
with rigging points where SRT, ladder and lifeline or rescue techniques can be
practised by local cavers. Completion is due in early 1999.

Digging and Caving News

(mostly courtesy of Andy Sparrow’s web site)

Swildons.

Someone has dug out Binney’s Link
(the direct route into the dry ways in Swildons).  The passage was easy enough as a bit of a
wriggle – it is now nearly hands and knees size.  This may be no big deal, but the Mendip
principle has always been not to make existing passages easier just for the
sake of it – after all where does it stop? Possibly the same persons have tried to open the hole under the hollow
tree at the entrance – this will be noticed by the landowner who may not be
best pleased at the modification of his property.  Anyone out there who knows the culprits
please have a word in their ear!

The Mud Sump. The drain hole was attacked again recently but
remains pretty well blocked.  There was a
small airspace recently but bailing is still difficult from either side and
parties completing a reverse Round Trip or Priddy Green Sink through trip may
find exit this way impossible.  Free
diving is not recommended as the sump can be as much as 10m long.

Five Buddles Sink

Update – Work continues
attempting to follow the stream.  The
cave is draughting strongly.

Dave Mitchell’s dig

The dig at Charterhouse is
progressing well.  This depression was
opened with a Hymac and work continues between stal cemented boulders.

Hunters Hole

There is a massive digging
operation at the bottom and much equipment left in situ. Several bolts are
stripped and replacing these with P hangers will be an early objective of the
new Technical Group.

St Luke’s

This is a Wessex Cave Club dig at
Nordrach (central Mendip).  The dig was
hymaced a couple of years ago since when digging has continued steadily.  At -15 metres a small well decorated chamber
has been entered.  There is a slight
draught and work continues.

Cairo Shaft

This is also in the Nordrach
area.  A 17 metre mined shaft enters
about 100 metres of partly mined natural passage ending in a sump beyond a
tight section.  The sump appears to be a
flooded mine level and will be dived soon.

Frog Pot

This is at Chancellors Farm near
Priddy.  A surface dig in a depression
has revealed a fluted shaft which seems to be exciting everyone who sees
it!  Prospects look very good.  Update – a short length of natural passage
(10-20 metres) has been entered.

Eastwater Cavern

The bolt in the boulders above
Dolphin Pot is very dangerous.  You are
advised to use a long tether around a boulder about 8ft back from the head of
the pitch.

Flood Alert

Heavy rain earlier in the year produced very high levels;
Swildons was up to the second pipe with local flooding in the fields by the
pumping station.  At Thrupe the water
went straight down the entrance shaft making the Ferret Run and Perseverance
impassable.

 

Tackle Store Report.

From Mike Willett.

Tackle Master. Richard Blake.
Deputy.  Mike Willett.

Hello all.  Firstly I
am pleased to say that the BEC stomp was a success and raised six hundred and
thirty nine pounds for the tackle store. Thanks to everyone who attended and to those who helped in the running
of it, and a special thanks to Roz Bateman for her hard work in the organising
of the event.  How the money will be
spent has not been discussed in any detail to date, but we’ll keep you
informed.  As most of you are aware
Richard Blake is back with us, and he has been busy sorting through the tackle
and engineering a new system to make tackle easier to access, which brings me
to the point of this report.

There is now a new tackle store!  This is the old MRO carbide store situated to
the left of the old tackle store. The old store is now a workshop for ladder
making, or anything related to digging projects.  Surplus tackle is also stored here, but
cannot be accessed through your Belfry key. The new store can be accessed in the same way, through the members cave
key box; the new key is a padlock key. The contents of the new tackle store at
the moment are:

  • 1
    x ten meter ladder.
  • 1
    x 18 foot ladder.
  • 2
    x spreader.
  • 3
    x wire belays.
  • 2
    x lifelines (new).
  • 1
    x tackle bag.
  • For
    ease the St Cuthbert’s ladder will also be stored here.

 

 

 

 

 
Now for the crunch! If not returned, the tackle in the new store will not be replaced!  This new store will run on trust.  You will no longer have to book tackle
out!  Simply take your ladder or anything
you require, use it, then put it back after giving it a quick rinse under the
hose-pipe.  This is for member’s
convenience but must be respected.  If
abused this system will stop; all tackle will be locked away, and as before
will only be accessed through a committee member.  Despite the money raised at the stomp, tackle
is very expensive to buy, and no amount we could raise would enable us to buy
more tackle to replace ladders left in car boots!  Of course the tackle will be inspected and
damaged ladders will be replaced.  Common
sense will tell you not to put tackle that is obviously damaged back in the
store.  The stock is maintained by a
small number of members for the benefit of all. It’s your tackle, please respect it, not only for yourself but also for
other members of the club.

If people require ladders for digging or long term projects,
please contact either Richard or myself as we have some older ladders for this
purpose in the surplus store. Alternatively for digs, we could supply you with the materials and
equipment to make your own ladders to suit your project.  If you have any comments or suggestions
please feel free to let Richard or myself know as any help is most welcome.

 

Letter

Wookey Hole,
Wells,
Somerset

To my fellow BEC members

Following the publication of my letter in November’s issue
of the Belfry bulletin, I was informed by the committee that Andy and Nigel
felt hurt by some of my comments, and that some of the committee felt my
remarks could be misinterpreted by non-members to the detriment of the club’s
image.

So in the cause of preventing any possible misinterpretation
of my remarks, and to repair the hurt to Andy’s and Nigel’s feelings, I have
agreed to clarify and retract some of my comments as detailed below.

With regard to my comments on the post of Club Rescue Team
Leader, Andy and myself have discussed this and he has told me that he felt I
was inferring that I was unwilling to work with him in the post and questioning
his competence as a caver.

I wish to make it clear that I inferred no such thing and I
was only giving the reasons for my resignation.

With regard to my comments on Nigel’s proposal, I have now
discussed this with Nigel and given him the reasons for my comments.  Likewise he has also assured me that there
was no malice intended in his proposal and I fully accept that this was the
case.  So I fully retract any comments I
made in my letter regarding Nigel’s Proposal.

In the interests of not boring you all further I will not go
into further detail, just to say that Nigel, Andy and myself have now settled
our differences and look forward to working together to further the interests
of the club and its members.

Regards Alex.

St Cuthbert’s Swallet Maintenance

Date:  Saturday, 28
February 1998

Attendance:  Graham Johnson (Jake), Richard Blake, 1van
Sandford, Mike Willett, Alex Gee, Gareth Leadbetter, Roger Haskett, Mr Michael
Duck, Dave 1rwin, Roger Stenner & the Hut Warden (Production Manager,
Refreshment Division).

Project:  Replacement
of the valve on the entrance damn.

Over the past few months there has been increasing trouble
with the entrance damn, culminating with Chris Castle proclaiming that the
valve was totally buggered on 24.02.98. Jake and Richard investigated the problem during the Saturday morning
and found that the fault was due to general wear and tear which had destroyed
the thread on the gate mechanism. Unfortunately, the bolts connecting the whole valve to the pipe behind
were rusted in place, making a straight forward replacement impossible.  As considerable water was backing up in the
depression, they were left with little choice but to remove the internal gate
piece and leave the depression to drain over lunchtime.

The workforce swelled over the lunch period and the crew
returned in far greater force.  During
the afternoon they split themselves into two sections, one working on the valve
replacement problem, whilst the other looked to cutting off water flow into the
depression through sealing and improving the upstream damn.

The new valve was bolted onto the old and a silt trap was
constructed in the form of a low dry stone wall, which conveniently, also
serves to direct most of the water down the soak-away.

Further maintenance work is required to unblock the
soak-away, but this will not be attempted until water levels drop during the
summer.

Report by: Rebecca
Campbell

 

Charterhouse Caving Company Limited

Update to BEC members
in respect of the Company’s AGM on 4 April 1998

BEC Representative:
Rebecca Campbell

The BEC committee has
received no correspondence in respect of CCC Ltd activities this year.  As such the only item that we raised was the
matter of company budgeting.  The company
has slightly excessive accumulated funds that we believe the directors should
keep an eye on, in a move to both set and maintain a reasonable level of
reserves. The CCC subscription levels will be reviewed accordingly at the next
AGM.

Items of interest
to General Membership:

1. Conservation Day –
GB Car park

11:00am Saturday, 20 June 1998

The company is going to be continuing the cave cleaning work
in GB and Charterhouse on the above date. Volunteers are needed to undertake the work.  All workers will need to bring a Daren drum
and tackle bag for water carrying.  I
would be grateful if any members who have Daren drums would offer them to the
caving secretary for use in this event, even if they cannot attend themselves.

Work in Bat Passage will require conservationists to bring a
spare clean undersuit and spare clean wetsuit socks.  Normal permit and key provisions will apply
for that day.  As all BEC members are
entitled to a one year permit this will cause them no extra cost.  If any non-members wish to attend under the
provision of a BEC key they will be issued with a permit free of charge.  We have two GB keys so numbers are
restricted.  If you are interested please
contact the Caving Secretary, Andy Thomas.

2. Rigging in
Rhino Rift

Resin anchors are scheduled to be fitted on the first three
pitches during the Summer of 1998.  The
type of anchor is non-negotiable for insurance reasons.

Finally, on the subject of Rhino Rift, the club has an
official dig site at the terminal choke. Little work was undertaken during this year, but Paul Brock is keen to
continue the project.  Anyone interested
should contact him, whenever.

 

Membership Secretary

By Roz Bateman

I would like to thank all members who have paid their
1997/98 subs.  In order to up date the
membership list printed in the last BB please note the following additions.

New Member:

1237 (P) Jake Baynes, Priddy, Nr
Wells, Somerset

Additional Paid up members:

1125     Rich Blake, Priddy Somerset
868       Dany Bradshaw, Wells Somerset
862       Bob Cork, Wells Somerset
1057     Mark Lumley, Stoke St Michael,
Somerset
1226     Stephen Ostler, Nailsea North
Somerset
1068     John Whiteley, Crediton Devon
1202     Mike Willett, Wells Somerset

I hope that all life and non members have received their new
membership cards.  However if this is not
the case please contact myself as soon as possible so that you too can be a
proud BEC member.   In issuing the last
BB to some life members via post, I asked for all undelivered mail to be
returned. Does anyone therefore know the current whereabouts of the following
members:

  • D
    Waddon
  • Dermot
    Statham
  • Pete
    Blogg

 

 

 

PS. If anyone who has paid after the 31st Jan. did not
receive a February BB, please ask Tony at Bat Products as there are still a few
left. Ed.

Club Rescue Practice

Saturday 13th June – Location to be arranged

Meet at the Belfry 10.00 am

Contact Andy Sparrow Club Team Rescue Leader for further
details

 

The BEC In Austria 1951/1960 to the present day.

During the preparation for a frustrating, but enjoyable, and
for me, first trip to Austria last year, on which we attempted to dive the sump
in Magnum Hohle (a report is under preparation for the next BB).  I spent some time in the BEC library looking
through old logs, reports, etc., for material relating to the site and the
B.E.C.’ s activities in the Dachstein in general.

What struck me was the large amount of work and exploration
that the BEC has carried out in Austria and the total lack of any definitive
collection of reports, surveys etc.  Any
records, surveys, etc., seem to be scattered between reports in the BB, some logs
in the library and logs, surveys and photo’s in member’s private collections.

After reading the comprehensive data, collated by the
Cambridge University Caving Club, on their Austrian exploits, I feel that this
is a poor state of affairs.

To that end I have started to collate together all the data
contained in the library on the B.E.C.’s Austrian activities, with the eventual
intention if possible, of publishing a comprehensive book report.

So if any older members who were participants in the
Austrian caving expeditions, (particularly those involved in the early sixties
to late seventies trips) have any relevant material cluttering up their loft or
information of any kind, I would be most interested to hear from you.

I would be particularly grateful if any of you are willing
to donate or loan relevant items to the library for this purpose, and to hear
your recollections.  If you are loathed
to loan items, it is possible for me to scan the items concerned and return
them to you within a short period.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Regards Alex

P.S. We will be returning to Austria again this year if
anyone is interested.

I can be contacted at email xxxx@compuserve.com or write to
my address listed at the front of this BB.

 

An Appeal from your Librarian.

Those of you that use the library will have noticed that all
is not well, journals and publications stacked on every available surface,
boxes of reports cluttering up every corner and it is generally in a
disorganised mess.  What is the librarian
playing at you might ask?  Well the
problem is that we have run out of cupboard space, and this is the subject of
my appeal.

Some years ago the late Jill Tuck, left a very generous
bequest to the BEC.  This bequest enabled
the librarian at the time, Trebor, to purchase the existing library bookcases.

Unfortunately these are now full and the un-filed collection
of journals and acquisitions continues to grow by the month.

I feel that as so much effort and expense went into
providing the club with smart and attractive bookcases that do justice to their
invaluable contents and set the library apart from the rest of the hut.  It would be a shame not to purchase similar
or identical bookcases to match the existing ones.

I have found through contacting the original manufacturer,
that the same bookcases are still available. Here though is the crux of the matter each bookcase now retails at
approximately £200.00 plus VAT and we require three at the very least,
preferably 5 or 6 for the long term.

I have asked the club treasurer and the committee if there
are any fund’s available for their purchase, but alas there is not.

So I appeal to you my fellow club member’s generous
philanthropic bunch that you are.  To see
if there are any of you generous enough to donate some of your hard earned beer
vouchers or any odd spare cash you might have hanging around towards the
purchase of some new cabinets.

I will start the ball rolling by purchasing one cabinet
myself and I look forward to hearing from those others of you that are willing
to assist in the upkeep of the library and its contents, please remember no
amount is too small and all donations will be gratefully received.

If you wish to donate anything please either contact myself,
or post your donation into the hut fees box in a suitably marked envelope.

Thanking you in anticipation, Regards Alex BEC Librarian

You can contact me on 01749 xxxxxxx or email xxxxx@compuserve.com

 

Wind. Vodka And Vomit

by Gonzo

“This is the worst tea I’ve ever tasted” said
Robin, resplendent in his bright cherry floatation suit with matching cheeks,
rod and neoprene gloves.

Gradually the cheeks changed to an avocado green and he
leaned majestically over the side of the boat to distribute his own special
ground bait comprised of vindaloo, sweetcorn, bacon fat, diced carrots, bile,
stomach lining and, of course, the tea.

It was late March, 8.30 am, and three miles out in Lyme Bay
the sky was leaden, the sea argumentative and the motley fishing party of 5
(those who had actually woken up in time to catch the boat) were grinning from
ear to ear, with their rods in their hands as is customary with all Belfryites
on a Sunday morning!

Over the next eight hours there were all sorts of
entertainment on the good ship Neptune including a 7 lb bull huss, numerous
dogfish, pouting, lugworm sandwiches, channel whiting.  Trevor pulling up the anchor when the winch
broke, pouting, Butcombe, cuckoo wrasse. Whitbread, more bloody pouting. Gonzo wearing two left wellies, the smallest ling ever, wind, Vodka and
vomit.

Arriving back at the Cobb in Lyme Regis everyone agreed that
it had been a superb day and we booked the boat for a cracking good tide on
Saturday June the 6th.  This will be a
day out on the wrecks about 15 miles out (not over-fished, no divers).

If you’re a closet angler and you fancy joining us then you’re
very welcome, empty your freezer and bring beer, butties and a camera to the
Cobb at 8.00.

We’re trying to make this a more regular occurrence, perhaps
3 or 4 times per year.

The boat costs £180 for the day, rods, reels and tackle
included, and will comfortably accommodate 10 fishermen (or
fishergirlies!).  To avoid being landed
with extra expense when people don’t show, anyone who wants to secure a place
should send a deposit of £15 well in advance to Robin Gray, Albany House,
Cheddar, Somerset BS27 3PT, or put it in his pot at the Hunters.  If you can’t make it and we can find a
replacement you will get your deposit back, otherwise it will go towards the
cost of the boat and bait. In the event of a cancellation due to bad weather,
plan B will be a day’s beach-casting and a new date will be arranged for the
boat.

We are also organising a weekend down at Prawle Point,
between Start Point and Sa1combe.  The
fishing here off the rocks is superb, especially the bass fishing at night, the
diving apparently is exceptional (don’t ask me, I’m not a diver) with very
clear deep water straight off the rocks. There is a secluded camp site at Maelcombe House with unspoilt views
over the sea which is just 100 metres away, diving gannets and all (twit-free,
limited Grockle appeal with the nearest decent beach being 2 miles away).  There are no facilities except water, take
your own bog.  2 good pubs are about a
mile away at Prawle.  I’ve seen small
boats being taken to the beach from the house by tractor, this might be of
interest to the divers in the club.

This trip will take place some time in July or August, dates
to be sorted out soon.

I hope that this is all of some interest.  There are certainly a lot of barroom
fishermen in the club and it would be good if we could make these sort of meets
a regular occurrence and a welcome break from digging, digging and more
digging.

 

Cartoon – Undergrounders

 

 

Edmund’s Chamber~ Wookey – Further Notes

By John Cordingley
(CPC/CDG)

Pete Glanvill wrote a superb article in the February 1998
Belfry Bulletin giving information about various high level possibilities
available for further work by cave divers. On page 10 he briefly describes some passages reached by a long climb
above Edmund’s Chamber.  The ascent to
the water surface here is one of the most impressive bits of diving in Britain
and the huge aven soaring above is certainly very inviting.  However – a word of caution wouldn’t go
amiss.  Andy Goddard, Russell Carter and
I went there in 1989 and I got “volunteered” to de-kit and go and
have a look at the high level dry stuff (see C.D.G. Newsletter No 93, page
35).  I free climbed most of it next to
the in situ rope but had to put a jammer on it to protect the final overhanging
moves up to the passage.  On arrival at
the top the rope was found to be fastened to a single 8mm bolt which was finger
tight and would only go in two and a half turns.

Pete had invited us to go and take a look at this area of
Wookey and I passed a boulder restriction at the previous limit to explore
about another 9m of crawl in a small sloping bedding plane to where it got too
low.  It’s almost certainly a bang job
and there was nothing obvious to aim for and no really convincing draught.  All that remained was to get back down safely
which was slightly problematic in that I’d been assured that I could abseil
back to water level.  There was no way I
was going to trust that bolt and so free climbing back was the only
option.  This was eventually managed after
several worrying moments but was far from easy. I don’t know if anyone has been and sorted out this rope but if not, the
next visitors to this particular section would be well advised to ignore the
existing rope and re-climb the aven from scratch.  If you rely on the rope and that bolt fails
you could fall almost 30m.  There – my
conscience is clear … !

 

Thrupe Lane Trip

By Mike Wilson

SATURDAY 31st JANUARY 14:00 hrs

Persons present: Zot, MR Wilson, Rich, Vee, Mark, Mike, Toby
(Trainee Belfry Boy)

This trip was designed to be a steady bimble on ladders to
orientate new and future BEC members into the intricacies of Thrupe Lane.  I had a pleasant surprise when everyone
turned up on time, including my right hand man Zot.

We all gathered at the entrance, a positive crocodile by BEC
standards, and laddered down the entrance pitch.  Then having tootled down the ferret run,
pointing out the Railway tunnel as we went, we then laddered Perseverance pot
and pottered down to Cowsh Crawl.  I
mentioned that 10 years ago Cowsh Crawl was tight, IT’S NOW AS SLACK AS YER
HAT.  The team wandered down Marble
Streamway and had a look at Atlas Pot, Zot and I pointed out the various routes
and bolt points.  We then toddled back to
Butts Chamber had a look at Avalanche Pot, then following some neat little Orange
markers, which proved to be Zot’s oversuit which was slowly shredding.  Not surprising as he had found it in a ditch
somewhere on Mendip.  Clearing up the
mess as we went we exited the cave; Toby had a peep at the Railway Tunnel while
the rest climbed out. Sadly he declined to have a shower with me back at the
shed; I was only trying to save money!! A steady trip with 4 potential BEC members in the group; I intend to
jack up another trip on Mendip sometime during the Summer months possibly Stoke
Lane or Eastwater Twin Verts the classic way.

I hope other elder members will follow my example this year.

 

Collecting: Caves or A Crap in Little Tripnell

(as Spooner might have said)

By Peter Glanvill, Jan.
98

The spate of Hymac initiated digs in the last few years
seems to have resulted in more digging than caving.  In other words the caves get found, are
explored and then quietly forgotten (especially if they aren’t listed in a
guide for years). While this is great for conservation it does pose
difficulties for those who want to know the cave’s characteristics before
entering it.  I’ve concluded that any
advice from J-rat on a cave’s dimensions carries the assumption that I carry
cakes and bottles marked ‘eat me’ or ‘drink me’ for dimensional alteration
during the trip.

Sally in the entrance series in Little Crapnell 

I approached Little Crapnell armed only with information
gleaned from one Descent article and some brief chats with one or two visitors
to the cave none of whom gave very precise advice. However I decided if
somebody could contemplate diving the sump at the end and do the trip out breathing
from their bottles due to high C02 levels then it couldn’t be too awful.

So, one Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago Sally, my daughter,
and I arrived at Dave Speed’s farm and met the man himself.  The visitors’ log only extends to half a page
or so, so clearly the cave’s fame had not spread far and wide.  There then followed one of those ‘I had a
little trouble’ conversations with Dave guaranteed to make one think twice
about doing the trip at all.  However a
recce. trip with Ken Passant a week or two earlier as far as the duck beyond
Great Expectations suggested it couldn’t be too bad so off we set.

 

‘No worries about carbon dioxide anyway with the recent damp
weather’, I thought, ‘and the streamway will be pleasantly active’.  We dived down the cemented boulders into
solid cave.  A coffin lid like slab was
the way on with a slither and bump into a crawl past an incongruous galvanised
dustbin lid (to protect the drip formations (?)).  The stream is met here and the crawl ends in
a climb down through boulders to enter a wide descending tunnel – Great
Expectations.  It all looks promising but
unfortunately GE seems to be just a washed out shale band.  Beyond is a low gravelly twisting descending
streamway which led to the first real obstacle – a low elliptical wallow in the
stream a bit like Sump One in Cuthbert’s but narrower.  ‘Cell off and drag the ammo box’ I decided
after jamming my head between floor and ceiling.  Once through the first bit it was very
straightforward although some minor contortions were required to drop into the
rift just beyond into which the water cascades. Sally with her Kate Moss configuration didn’t notice it was a
constriction; nauseating!

A shuffle sideways reaches a point where the upper part of
the passage can be seen to be much wider and formations appear at The Old
Curiosity Shop.  The rifty nature of the
passage reminded me a little of caves in County Clare although not nicely
scalloped.  Another cascade followed
(‘This is nice’ I thought) at which point I was abruptly confronted by a narrow
rift passable only at stream level.  A
test thrutch with the battery on encouraged me to take helmet and cell off
before a snagging wallowing sideways thrash in the water got me through.  My elation didn’t last long.  I was lying the wrong way round in a pool
facing down a ramp with another squeeze/contortion to tackle.  A few pathetic wriggles later I noticed the
stream had gone quiet.  I did a press up
– a loud roar from the backed up stream was followed by the realisation that
there were two of us, I was leading, and I was the wrong side of an awkward
squeeze.  I wimped out and after an
interesting reverse thratch (thrash and thrutch) I rejoined Sally.

 

We had stopped just short of a feature called Ebenezer’s
Escalator which apparently is ‘roomy’ and well decorated.  Beyond it the cave sounds like purgatory and
according to Estelle probably is although she cannot remember much apart from
the pain. (this cave is not a good hangover trip – Ed!!)  On the way out I photographed the very nice
chamber above the streamway although this time the damp had got into all the
electronics.  Passing the first
constriction going out was a doddle, and I certainly would go back again
although wearing a wet suit for ease of movement in the constrictions.

Back at the farm we had one of those ‘How far did you get?’
conversations with Dave Speed when I discovered the blighter hadn’t even got as
far as I had!  He also told me he is
trying to increase the Little Crapnell cave quota to 3 this year when one of
the other depressions on his land gets Hymaced. What’s the record for number of caves on your land (excluding Lord
Bath)?

The previous week Ken Passant and I had visited Honeymead
Hole which lies only a hundred metres from Little Crapnell.  There is no detailed description yet
available of Honeymead although its total passage length is now a respectable
356 metres with 52 metres depth.  This
account is derived from the experiences on our trip and information from a variety
of Descent articles.  Honymead Hole is
interesting in that the entrance was only located after 30 feet of topsoil had
been removed by the standard digging technique. It is unlikely this cave would ever have been found by more conventional
means which makes one wonder what else remains buried beneath Mendip.

 

The concrete entrance shaft drops through boulders to reach
a roomy chamber – Slab House with a few stal formations dotted about it.  A hole in the floor was rigged with a ladder
which seemed OTT when we descended what was basically a short and easy free
climb.  I am told the ladder was to
prevent too much pressure on hanging death boulders.  At the bottom a short low section opened into
a walking sized rift and within a few metres to another laddered pitch (we
begun to wonder if we needed the ladder we had brought).  This again seemed eminently free climbable
(especially as the ladder didn’t look too hot – more of this later) and at the
bottom a narrow rift led into the darkness.

I had a little trouble here and found it easier to do head first
as there is an awkward boulder to get over at the far end if you do it feet
first (as I did).  At the end a cross
rift was entered.  A short but tricky
looking drop on the right was ignored in favour of a rift chamber on the left
off which led another rather narrow looking rift.  We aborted a climb into the roof when all the
foot holds seemed to turn to clag the higher one got and decided to do what
turned out be the easy drop back on the right.

Although there is very little water in the cave, at this
point we did seem to enter a rather immature twisting streamway which ended
abruptly at a pitch partly covered by a false floor with a nice little grotto
above.  Yet another ladder hung down the
pitch which looked deeper than the rest – and the ladder didn’t look quite so
superfluous.

A muddy grovel past the pitch opened into a really decent
looking rift with some nice stal on the far side (Balcony Pot) and an obvious
way on in the floor.  A duck under an
arch to the right at the bottom let to an interesting zone of hanging death
where the boulders are dry and red (Neptunian dyke (a term which has nothing to
do with butch lesbian mermaids)).  Ken
and I wormed our way down into the floor following a bang wire and found the
cave to end in a too tight rift.  A climb
up through the hanging death enters quite a decent sized chamber – Neptune’s
Hall but the bar placed to prevent one touching the boulders didn’t inspired
confidence so we made our excuses and left.

Several abortive and one successful flash shots of Balcony
Pitch later saw us ready to shove Ken down Keen’s Pitch.  This is a nice pitch by anyone’s standards
and it is disappointing to report that after some nice formations at the bottom
the tiny streamway starts to take on Easy Street type dimensions so more
excuses and a departure.

On the way out I decided the second ladder pitch would look
photogenic.  Several shots later the
slave worked and Ken who had been clambering up and down to fiddle with the
flash gun after each failed effort started up the ladder for the last
time.  2 metres up the ladder broke
dropping a surprised Ken back at the bottom yet again.  After this little fiasco we made an
uneventful exit muttering about dodgy fixed aids!

Honeymead has numerous interesting side passages and could keep
diggers busy for ages particularly as there is no obvious terminal point to
dig.  It will be interesting to see if
the meadow yields another cave.

 

Wessex Cave Club Hymn

This is a collection of known verses sung to the same tune
and with the same ideas.

Tune: The Church is One Foundation. Author: Many

Source: They Words, They Words, They ‘Orrible Words,
collected and compiled by Nick ComwallSmith, GSG / Alfie, to name but a few!

 

We are the Wessex Cave Club, no
bloody use are we,
We have a half of cider, and then we have to pee,
And when we’re down in Swildons and haven’t got a light,
We stand beside the Forty beside ourselves with fright.

The B.E.C. they help us, through every pitch and squeeze.
We like the way they do it with such consummate ease.
And when we are much better at caving we agree
It is our one ambition to join the B.E.C.

We are the Shepton Cave Club, a family clique are we,
Ken Dawe he was our leader, a clever bugger ‘ee.
He led us over field and stiles, down potholes vast and deep,
Because we follow meekly we’re called the Shepton Sheep

We’ve dug down South East Inlet, we’ve dug in Priddy Green,
And in between the digging, we’re often quite obscene.
We tell prospective members, with regularity,
To do just as the song says, and join the B.E.C.

We are the Cerberus Cave Club, we are not worth our salt,
Max Unwin is our leader, but that is not our fault,
He lectured us on caving, his wisdom was profound,
He told us that most caves are located underground

Caves are discovered for us, from digging we all shirk,
And when it gets too dicey, other clubs can do the work,
For they can draw the surveys and they can make the maps,
‘Cos when it comes to caving, we really are the chaps.

We hold committee meetings, we talk and never cave,
We pass firm resolutions, to show that we are brave,
We very often argue, but on one thing we’d agree,
If only they would have us we’d join the B.E.C.

We are the Axbridge Cave Club, we know we are so good.
We blow up every Elsan, just as we know we should,
But as we go to blow it, in the middle of the night,
When the turds go skywards, we run like f**king shite.

We are the Cotham Cave Club, but not as we may seem,
You show us a cave entrance, and we will start to scream,
For we do not like caving, but give it all the snub,
The nearest we touch caving, is in a Mendip pub.

Additional Foreign Verses

Swildons goes to Wookey, or so they do confide,
There is a sign to say so, on the Sump 1 downstream side,
But this is misconception, there is a brand new sign,
Now Swildons is an Entrance, to Dan-yr-Ogof 9.

We are the Clockwork Cave Club, and South Wales is our home,
And from our native valleys we do not care to roam,
And when we go out caving it is a certain bet,
That we will carry with us a great Meccano set.

We don’t go down Pwll Dufn, you’ll find no rawl bolts here,
The thought of ladder pitches, it fills us with despair,
And if you go out caving with S.W.C.C.
You’ll always find a welcome, if you’ve got a B.Sc. (in Engineering)

The U.B.S.S. divers, they’ve found a brand new hole,
They told no-one about it, they did not tell a soul,
And when we found out about it, they said please stay away,
Until they all got stuck there, one dark and wintry day.

We are the Tratmans Fan Club, we are a shower of shits,
We often need the rescue to extract us from a fix,
And when we are in Yorkshire, before we go below,
Our automatic procedure is to inform the C.R.O.

The U.B.S.S. Choir boys, they are a dreadful crowd,
Each song becomes a death march, at volume extra loud,
And when they get a chorus, they chant in ecstasy,
They only trouble being, it’s in a different key.

We are the Mountain Rescue, and a bloody fine thing to be,
The only time you’ll see us, is breakfast, dinner and tea,
And when we see a climber, we shout with all our might
Per ardua profundo, blow you Jack, I’m alright.

We never go up mountains, they are too bloody steep,
We never go down potholes, they are too bloody deep,
And when we see a caver, we shout with all our might
Per ardua profundo, blow you Jack, I’m alright.

I am a lazy speleo, and a bloody fine thing to be,
My weekends spent on Mendip, in a hut of luxury,
When someone mentions caving, we shout with all my might
Celeriter ad plumen, blow you Jack, I’m alright.

We never go out sumping, it is too bloody wet,
And when we go Black holing, you know how far we get,
And when we see a sumper, we shout with all our might
Per ardua sub aqua, blow you Jack, I’m alright.

We never help out cave divers, they are a bloody bore,
We set fire to the bat shit, and sleep outside the door,
And as the flames rise higher, we cough with all our might,
Per ignea via asbestos, blow you Jack, I’m alright.

We never go out digging, it is too bloody cold,
And unless Tratty finds it, it’s never really old.
But when we find some charcoal, we shout with all our might
Per ardua sub muro, blow you Jack, I’m alright.

 

Bahamas December 1997

By John Buxton

Some of you will know that I am a geriatric cave diver, and
if you have read your BB Vol. 48 No.6. (The 60th) you will know that I have in the past dived in the
Bahamas.  This last year in December I
went on my 4th expedition, this time I persuaded my wife Audrey to go too of
course her baggage allowance did come in useful.  It allowed me to take a full set of diving
gear and lighting with me!  All I had to
use of the equipment on the boat were weights, cylinders and a reel.  Nevertheless by the time I had 6 torches and
a dive helmet, a l2V Nicad dive light (by Stewart Kirbythe fancy coloured one!)
and 4 demand valves and all the usual equipment that seems to be essential for
serious cave diving these days, we found it quite a load.   We had to use most of our clothes as padding
for the more delicate parts of the equipment such as chargers.

I had extolled the virtues of this type of diving, and found
out not long before our departure that Robbie Warke from Devon was going on the
same expedition.  We had not talked in
detail but we found ourselves at Heathrow waiting for the same AM Virgin flight
to Miami.  We chatted and found that
Robbie was on a different connecting flight to Nassau and we did not see him
again till the next morning. International luggage can be “booked through” from one Airline
to another, so we had no problems with luggage to worry about; but schedules
for change over have to include a certain time for the luggage to travel from
one airline to the next.  We had allowed
about 2¼ hrs and booked on American Eagle who fly a frequent service to
Nassau.  Robbie had booked on Bahamas Air
with about l½ hrs between the two timings. Unfortunately the Virgin plane was an hour late mainly due to
head-winds.  We had a leisurely walk
through the airport to the AA departure area and found that due to violent
electrical storms (which apparently started half an hour before our takeoff
time, and half an hour after Robbie left – he got to Nassau on time!) most
flights were on hold.

Following on from this, one or two planes went unserviceable
mainly from weather problems.  With the
available day crews running out of hours, efforts were made to get crews who
were off duty.  The weather gradually
improved, and postponed and delayed planes began to load.  We had now been waiting from 5.0pm to
midnight.  We got on a flight that was
packed solid – some of the passengers had actually been loaded onto a plane
that turned into a shower cubicle just before take-off!  We left about 1.0am and arrived at Nassau
about 2.0am.

 

Brian and Graham in “The Victor’s Pose’

Finding a Taxi who knew where we were going was not easy, we
had to share and do a detour through a very upmarket residential area with a
security man on the gate.  We had an
interesting search in the dark for a “canal basin” sort of mooring at
the bottom of someone’s garden.  Knowing
that it was in sight of Nassau Scuba Centre helped our location directions
quite a lot!  Eventually we found our
boat the “Ocean Explorer” tied up No.3 from the shore.  By 2.30 in the morning we had carried all our
luggage on board over the two yachts, the movement woke the skipper Gene who
came down and showed us our cabin.

The following morning we staggered out for breakfast and
were introduced to the crew and the two divers who were already on board.  One, of course was Robbie Warke, and the
other one was introduced as “Brian”; it was late that day before I
realised his other name was Kakuk.  He
had explored Guardian Hole in North Andros to a depth of 420ft. amongst many
others.  Friday had a fairly easy start,
Robbie told us during breakfast he had got to Nassau airport by about 5.30pm
the previous evening; but his luggage had not made it!  He soon departed by taxi to do some luggage
hunting.  We were also waiting for Kevin
Mack and Murray Bilby to arrive from America. I had met them both on previous trips.

Eventually Robbie and his gear were aboard and as nothing
much was happening he and I decided to assemble our kit and sort out our
buoyancy in the canal, which was fairly clean salt water (with a sea fish
population which was quite friendly).  We
were allocated cylinders from the large selection on board and we fitted them
with the Side Mount attachments for our style of diving.  When the rest of the party had arrived with
their gear, we set off for Andros under the early afternoon sun.

When we got into the deep water of the Tongue of the Ocean
Gene put on speed and we had a reasonable trip, only rolling a bit when we
turned towards the Andros shore and were across the wind.  Progress was halted three times while fish
were removed from fishing rods; these had lures which were pulled through the
water by the boat.  The first one was a
“Wahoo” a local delicacy, and Gene had just started to fillet it when
the engine was shut down again.  (The
person operating the boat can hear the reel scream when the fish hooks itself,
and immediately shuts down the engine to a tick-over).  Those in the know immediately rush to the
stem to watch.  The second event had two
rods in action with a fish on each. These turned out to be “Wahoo” also.  With three large fish on the stem the cameras
were busy – 3 at one time was a first!



Brian’s scooter in its ‘parked’ mode

By the time all three were filleted the stern was a rather
bloody mess and the fire hose was exercised to restore order.  When all was clear and we were on our way
again another rod started to scream and again the engine was shut down.  A volunteer was called for who had not landed
a fish before.  Never volunteer they say!
I did.  I was fitted with the pukka leather
harness with a socket at the front to hold the butt of the rod (rather like
Anna who carried the Banner.. … I).  I
began the familiar process (to those who have seen it/or on the telly) of
pulling in, relaxing and winding in, pulling in, relaxing and winding in etc;
and I had pulled in some 50Mts. out of some 150Mts., and was thinking this is
not too difficult, when there was a terrific pull and despite all my efforts
line was pulled off the reel against the brake at quite a rate.  When the pull stopped I started winding in
again, and again a vigorous pulsing pull could be felt, but not as bad as
before.  I carried on winding and it got
easier, I thought the fish was tiring. It definitely was!  When in
gaffable range it was seen that a gigantic mouthful was missing from the
middle, and the tail piece had gone.  In
fact after photographs, it was thrown back into the sea!  It was decided by the experts present that it
had probably been nibbled by a large Wahoo – identified by the shape of the
bite.  I hesitate to think what would
have happened if it had hooked itself.

Quite soon the sun was sinking in its usual Tropical
splendour and dark came quickly.  Gene
with the skilful use of Radar, Depth-sounder, the odd flashing light and a lot
of local knowledge, navigated through the shoal water.  We ended up anchored near the Benjamin Blue
Holes, just south of Lisbon Creek.  We
moored there for the night.

The following day, i.e. just after midnight, we started our
standard routine for the rest of the week. Dive the holes as the suck dies away, if possible, so that the change in
direction helps on the swim out.  Kevin
and Murray, who both dive back-mounts were paired up together.

Brian was really a one man diving crusade, he had a large
customised Aquazepp with twin cylinders underneath it, and it had a stab jacket
wrapped round it to adjust its buoyancy as needed.  He himself carried two side-mounted cylinders
also mounted on a slender stab, jacket, and usually took with him, a cylinder
of oxygen to leave at a suitable place for decompression.  This left Robbie and myself to form a pair.  Robbie had not done any long deep swims
before and so he was introduced gently to our first dive.

Benjamin’s No 4.  This
is the “Cousteau dived here” cave where they all used underwater
flares – yes I am old enough to have seen it the first time round!  The dive starts as a wide inclined bedding
plane; this soon steepens into a vertical rift where the line runs at about
36M.

The S. line follows the easiest route along a deep rift
descending to 46M before rising up to the Stal Chamber.  We turned the dive here after admiring the
scenery with my 50 watt light.  We had
Nitrox 40 available on all dives for decompression and/or extra safety as we
decompressed on our air computers.  Most
of our dives followed the same routine.

Our next dive was to be the North passage, but having
followed the jump line down we could not find the N. line – so we did the S.
passage again.  Robbie said that he
enjoyed it probably more than the first time. I found that these big rifts were a bit overwhelming when I first met
them.  On most of these dives we were
dropped by the RIB in pairs, but sometimes as the boat swung on the anchor with
the tide it was much nearer, and we swam back on the bottom at about 3M.



The author after swimming back to the boat from a Blue Hole

The next dive was to be Stargate, – arguably the most
awe-inspiring underwater decorations most divers are ever likely to see.  It is an inland Blue Hole, where the diver
jumps in and climbs out.  The kit is
pulled up by pulley.  Apart from the
formations it has a Halocline where the freshwater lens sits on top of the
lower salt water.  This has an
interesting effect on vision at the junction and also produces a rotten egg
taste in the water – hydrogen sulphide. The water gives a greenish hue to daylight filtering from above.  We set out on the S. passage; Murray, Robbie
and myself in procession, and found the line, a blue English style poly-prop.
on the R.H. wall at about 30M deep.  We
followed the S. line, admiring the decorations as we went, until the large
passage ends at a narrow rift on the RH. side. There was Brian’s scooter parked on end by the wall and a faint haze
where he had swum off into the rift. Murray elected to swim down too, but I
being the cautious one, decided that as there seemed to be two lines in there
already, and Murray had added somewhat to the silt, two was company, so I
indicated to Robbie we should hold fast where we were for a while.  When Murray had not returned after a couple
of minutes we swam back up the line and by the belay into the greenish twilight
zone beneath the entrance and looked for the North line.  It was not easy to spot, it was a white
American style parcel-string belayed on a white flow stone sheet.  The delay in finding it allowed Murray to
catch us up.  We swam rapidly along the
line, admiring as we went as our air supplies were approaching turn round
point.  We did get to the Cathedral like
end of the chamber and then swam back to the green zone and slowly ascended to
our Nitrox deco cylinders hanging on ropes, put in by the shore party.  I had dues of some 35 minutes decompression
(we had been at an average depth of 40M for some time) but as usual I did
extra. Robbie had a definite twinkle in his eye after this dive.

The next dive at 04.30 I declined, and slept in.  Brian had another go at Benjamin’s No.2, in
case he got to No.4 the jump line was left in. Early the next morning I volunteered to take out the jump reel and the
marker buoy, so the others would not get large deco penalties.  Brian took me out in the Rib., I had put one
cylinder only on my wings and extra weights, but as the hole was in full blow I
had to swim hard vertically down the rift. The whole operation took only 9 minutes, but I got to 36.2M!

The next dive was Atlantis where the entrance shaft soon
opens up into a very large chamber.  There
are three labelled lines in it, so divers have a choice.  Robbie had already elected for a bit of depth
so we started on the Highway line and when we were above the deep line we
dropped down to it.  Both of us decided
at the same time that 57M was enough, and we ascended to the Highway line and
followed it towards Murray’s chamber. Thirds beat us to it, so we never got there.  The next dive we decided to do Murray’s
chamber first! but as we kited up Robbie felt “proper poorly” and
retired to bed with Aspirin etc.  So left
to my own devices I dived solo down the Middle line, this goes down to an arch
at 72M and ascends a big white (coral) sand bank.  I went a short way up the sand slope and
decided I was far enough for a first time look.

The next dive was Funnel Hole which was discovered and first
explored in 1996.  Robbie, after twelve
hours in bed declared himself fit.  We
turned right (S) along the rift and swam to the end of the line at 68.2M,
another deepest for Robbie.  Deco was
done in the early dark on a sand slope in front of two large Brain corals and
quite a selection of fish.  The next dive
was the left (N) passage and again we found the line we had laid in 1996 was in
good order, leading down to a mere 65.6M. Deco was made more interesting by a large crab sitting on one of the
Brain corals “knitting”.

Towards the end of the week we had two quiet calm sunny
days, and as the morning sun and the tides coincided, we could see the Blue
Hole effect of rising water over the coral heads.  A snorkeler was despatched to check out
potential sites, and about six were considered possible and put on the GPS for
further investigation.  The last three
dives were devoted to some of these new holes, some were named after Alena, the
crew member who did the first recce by snorkel, and two were named after Brian
Kakuk who was once stationed at the mothballed Autec base on Highpoint
Cay.  He could have swum out to some of
the holes from the shore in ten minutes! Robbie and I tackled Ellenita No 3 (I am not sure we got the right
spelling on the boat).  It was also
called “The Cheese Grater” by those who looked at it!  We had a thrutch but failed, we only got down
to 12M.  It had a maze of small passages
at the top.  Brian had a go later and
achieved 146ft (he dives in Imperial units!) he thought he had missed the way
on.  We had a go at Ellenita No l  next. Murray and Kevin had tried with back-mounts and had managed about ten
feet.  When we started the cave was still
sucking gently, and our progress was hampered by our own silt – this was a
virgin cave with a fair bit of soft silt on the floor of tightish bedding
planes.  Robbie decided he had lost the
way on and we turned, as we exited the flow changed and he saw a clean water passage
on the right, but by then I was wriggling out of the entrance.  We had achieved a depth of 22M which in
England would be quite promising, but in Blue Hole terms was a comparative
failure!

Our last dive together was to be Brian’s Remorse (North of
Highpoint Cay).  Robbie and I started
together, but having found a suitable dumping spot for the Nitrox cylinder, I
looked around for him and saw him back at the RIB (he had bunged up ears from
his bug of three days ago).  As he had
the exploration reel, and surfacing would have seriously reduced my air
supplies I carried on down and followed a descending line put in by BK a few
minutes earlier.  (He was still on the
other end of it).  This followed a
steeply descending rift which narrowed here and there and was blocked by wedged
rocks and coral.  These had made useful
belay points for the line.  I was now
quite deep, 70M+ so stopped my descent at a largish blockage.  I could see lights coming up from well below
me and soon BK appeared.  We exchanged
greetings and after an exchange of courtesy (after you; no after you!) we
exited in convoy.  RW met us at 55M on
our way back, having sorted out his ears. I did a deliberate stop of 2 minutes at 35M and carried on to the entrance
shaft to decompress alongside BK- but due to his long deep dive he still had an
hour to do when I left.  In fact we both
did our dues at 6M where we had a comfortable lie, BK entertained us both by
teasing a young Grouper from behind a rock-rather like a pussycat!

I was now to leave the boat and so there was a feverish
washing of gear in fresh water and it was all hung up to dry and was packed
with some twenty minutes to spare.  At
Lisbon Creek we were ferried ashore to catch a taxi to our hotel on Andros, for
a short stay.  Of course the phone on the
quay would not work; but fortunately Leroy Bannister was at home in the Aqua
Marine Club and we used his phone.  Leroy
provided accommodation and transport for George Benjamin when he was diving the
Blue Holes in the 60′ sand 70’s. Leroy is now a very old Bahamian, but still
has a fund of anecdotes.

Well, that ended my diving holiday; I will attempt to
persuade Audrey to describe her impressions.

 

Janet’s Last Munro – (after the Famous Scottish Poet McGonagall)

From Kangy King who caved with Janet in the 50’s

This is the day that Janet has
completed her last Munro
Even though she thought she might not have done so a short time ago.
The SMC who seem to have little else to do but revise their lists
Decided to find some more which had been lost in the Scottish mists.
Greta and Janet learnt about this to their consternation just as they were due
to finish
And had to fit in a lot more weekends of climbing in order not to diminish
The success of this memorable day when we have all got together
To celebrate Janet’s mountaineering triumph against allsorts of awful weather

Even though the SMC had thought that they had found a way
To lengthen the list from 277 to 284 they could not gain the day
Against a very determined lover of the Scottish scene
Who can remember all the mountains upon which she has ever been,
Though it must be said that her memory understandably was not too clear
About whether in 1955 or perhaps later she had climbed Am Basteir,
And I am happily the result of her honest doubt about her labour
Because Janet phoned me to ask if could remember climbing it with her.
This I must say I could not do because according to my log we hadn’t
And so we decided to meet after 42 years to climb when it became apparent
That I, a woeful sassenach, needed to experience the splendours of a Northern
height
Which I must admit exceed those of the South in quantity and also might.

The most part of the latest Munros were tops, not a separate massive,
And when Janet faces the challenge of the hills she is not passive.
These tops were usually on a splendid ridge which no one of sensibility could
resist
So that is why she has respected her original schedule and we are able to get
blathered
And enjoy the hospitality that has been given to us here
Both now and later on with things to eat to soak up all that beer.
So friends both recent and quite old now gathered to praise a feat
Which many would admit is a very fine one not easy to repeat
Please lift your glasses and drink a toast with me.
Here’s to Janet, mountains, her good companions and present company!

CHEERS (Thank you Mr. McGonagall, R.S.K., September 1997)

 

White Pit – Prophecy Pot Extensions

By Tony Jarratt

 

Discovered on 4/11/92 White Pit has seen a great deal of
effort put in to extend the cave over the last five year notably in Waist of
Thyme, Brian’s Attic, Talus IV and above Masters’ Hall.  The one place that has received little
attention since its discovery by Andy Sparrow on 1/12/92 has been Prophecy Pot
– the lowest part of the cave.  It was
visited by a large team the day after it was found and on the next day the
writer and Trevor Hughes dug here, following loose rocks and gravel downwards,
but decided it would be a long term job. A month later the writer returned with Rich Blake but they were again
put off by the large amount of spoil to be moved.  Due to CO2 problems throughout the cave the
bottom of the Pot was only rarely visited over the next few years and it was
only after the proposed abandonment of Estelle’s Anticlimax dig that it was
once again investigated with a view to digging on 3/4/97.

Four days later the writer and Jeff Price were wielding a
pick axe at the lowest part of the floor until thwarted by calcited breccia and
boulders.  Probably due to the increased
airflow from St Alactite’s Hall air conditions were good and the expected mud
flow from the Waist of Thyme spoil dump below Forty Backs had not materialised.

On 12/5/97 the writer, Rich Blake, Quackers Duck and Tony
Boycott were laboriously hammering away at the floor when they were astonished
to feel a distinct draught.  Three solo
trips by the writer (one involving a dropped tackle bag, broken drill
connections and an ear sliced open by a falling ammo box lid) gained several
feet of depth and necessitated the use of bang on the calcited rocks.  A tarpaulin was used to deflect fly-rock from
the formations in the Pot above.

He returned again on 2/6/97 with Jake Johnson and Tony to
lower the dig another four feet to draughting holes in the floor.  A second, very noisy, charge was fired.  This was cleared on a solo trip on 16th and
the dig was banged again the following day.

The 20th saw the writer and Stuart Sale clearing this and
filling up the inlet passage at the base of the Pot with spoil leaving very
little dumping space without encroaching on the gours opposite.  A return was made on 22/6/97 along with
Estelle Sandford, Nick Mitchell, Mike Willett and
Guy Munnings and despite a plague of light pox the dig reached over ten feet in
depth.

The next day the writer installed four sections of scaffold
pole in the hole and carried on digging downwards under a rain of large rocks
peeling from the walls.  The draught and
echo gave intimations of a large void nearby.

The first breakthrough came a day later when the writer,
Estelle and Jake banged the floor and, following a fag break in Masters’ Hall,
returned through the rapidly dissipating fumes to dig down into a small and
heavily calcited chamber below the choke. A couple of ways on needed bang to progress further.  More raining rocks and the onset of closing
time saw a late exit from the cave by the elated diggers.

“Our great hopes of yesterday were not fulfilled but
once the floor choke is removed I am sure we will be off again!” – A.
Jarratt, MSS log, 2/12/92.

The delightfully clean, calcited boulders were drilled and
banged on 25th 28th and 29th June, the latter trip being notable for the sudden
increase in the outward draught just as we had finished laying the charge.  The writer, Tony B. and Estelle were suddenly
enveloped in bad air pouring up from below the dig and were lucky to get out of
the cave before they were affected too much. Despite this the charge was fired on the way out!  A temporary new lock was then put on the
entrance and the cave left alone for two days until exploration fever stupidly
got the better of the non medical pair of the trio!  Candles were taken down and they burned with
a bright, yellow flame as the bang spoil was confidently cleared giving no
indication of CO2.  Unfortunately other
noxious gases (nitrous oxides?) were present and as a fresh charge was laid on
the one remaining boulder preventing access to a 10 feet deep by 4 feet wide
black hole these took effect on the diggers. Another slow and worrying retreat was made with lots of resting on the
way out – at one point to fire the charge. Jane Jarratt was about to raise the alarm as the gassed ones staggered
down the drove to West Cott.  Not wanting
a third dose of fumes and despite knowing that the way on now had to be wide
open, a longer period of time was left for them to clear.

The breakthrough trip came on 6th July when the writer,
lubricated with Guinness got firmly wedged in the hole opened up by the last
bang.  After being extricated by Tony B
and Estelle, he widened the rift to allow the three of them plus Jake to
squeeze down into a “walking sized” phreatic bore passage heading
steeply down-dip for some 20ft to a choke with a nice grotto above.  At least there was plenty of room in the
extension to open and imbibe the bottle of Vintage Brut brought along for the
occasion! (note 1)

The following day Andy Sparrow and the writer dug at the
choke until the poor air conditions necessitated the usual slow retreat.

On July 9th a larger team continued digging here in improved
circumstances and two further trips on the 16th and 21st saw more rock and mud
being dumped in the phreatic tube.

The next breakthrough came on 23rd July when the final
boulders in the bottom of the calcited choke were barred out to reveal a 12ft
climb down into a 15ft long, 6-8ft high phreatic alcove with the only feasible
way on being back under the dodgy breakthrough choke.

Estelle, Rich and the writer returned on the following day
with a scaffold pole and long crowbar to attack the choke which was eventually
passed after some very hairy boulder redistribution to reach another large
phreatic tunnel.  This went steeply
down-dip, apparently directly to the Swildon’s/Wookey Master Cave! Estelle was
given the honour of the discovery but after only some 25ft or so the cry
“Bastard, bastard” rent the air as a nasty little, un-diveable sump
pool loomed up!  Cancel one Master Cave.

The air at this point is decidedly stale and the draught
seems to have been lost in “Follow Through Choke” (tastefully named
in honour of Richard who was at this time somewhere on the surface
contemplating the purgative effects of a surfeit of Butcombe!)

The writer and Estelle returned on 3rd August to vainly
probe the Choke in three different places – all of which seem to be dangerous
long term options.  At this point we are
some 250ft deep with about 300ft to go to the streamway.  The total length of the extension is around
100ft of quality passage, most of which was surveyed to BCRA grade 5c on 13th
August by Trevor, Tony B and Estelle until the bad air drove them out.  The job was finished by the latter two and
the writer on 30th November when more air samples revealed conditions to be
much improved.  An attempt at digging the
choke is being co-ordinated by Jake, to whom all volunteers should apply.

References:

Sparrow. A. Feb. 1993 Descent 110 p.11 (Discovery)

Sparrow. A. Dec. 1992 Belfry Bulletin 466 46 (4) (Discovery)

Jarratt. T. Aug. 1993 Belfry Bulletin 468 47 (2) (Waist of
Thyme)

Anon.    Jan. 1994
Belfry Bulletin 472 47 (5)  (Access
procedure)

Jarratt. T. Mar. 1995 Belfry Bulletin 478 48 (3) (St.
Alactite’s Hall Simmonds V. & survey)

Jarratt. T. MSS Logs Vol. V 1992 – date.:

Hughes T. MSS Logs and unpublished survey and other diggers
MSS logs.

Note 1   Tony Boycott took some air samples with a
Drager analyser at the bottom of Prophecy Pot with the results as follows:

617/97             Way in              Way
out

C02                  1.5%                 3%

CO                   Nil                    Nil

Nil                    Nil                    Nil

He suspected that the O2 level
was lower than normal but had no means of measuring this.  He repeated the readings on 1317/97 (CO2
only):

                                                            Way
in              Way out

            Bottom of
Prophecy Follow         2%                   2%

            Through
Choke                          4%                   4.5%

 

Wigmore – The Criticism has Landed

By Trevor Hughes

A recent e-mail to the editor from Graham Mullan (UBSS),
prompted this computer illiterate handraulic surveyor to study the Wigmore
Report and answer his queries in a personal reply and in these pages as the
enclosed errata sheet.

The text of the report is, by and large, correct – the odd
figure may be quibbled over in the statistical pages, but that is small beer
(i.e. for the Wessex).  What lets the
report down is the quality of presentation of the surveys.

Keith Savory’s geological work is first class, but the
survey plans/elevations have no scale. The map facing page 3 does not use the best available information on the
downstream passages – The 1:200 sheet (available from Bat Products) gives the
better overview.

The Surveys at the end of the report have an incorrect scale
– it should have been 1:707 (i.e. 1:500 x -…12 as a result of the
photo-reduction from A3 to A4).  The
north point of the plan is drawn at 342.5° mag. and the downstream sump
passages have been rotated without due explanation.  The foreshortening as a result of the radio
location on 4th April 1993 has not been incorporated into the survey plan.

In my reply to Graham I referred him to the original
published surveys and reminded him that source material is essential for
serious research (I enclosed to him the BB 1:500 and original 1:200 master in
my reply).  The small scale surveys used
in a caving report are essentially a guide and not a means to an end, but I do
feel that more care should have been taken in the preparation of the report’s
surveys and on that issue, Graham voices a very valid point.

I hope the errata sheet is self explanatory. If anybody is
still in the dark then proffered beer and snuff will entice a more
comprehensive reply – especially in the Hunters!!

Caving Report Number 23 – Wigmore Report Errata Sheet

Facing Page 3:

Delete: Not to meaningful scale – proportion only

Insert:   Scale 1:3125

Add:     Grid is Ordnance Survey, North point is O/S.

Facing Page 12:

Insert:   Scale = 1:300

Facing Page 13:

Insert:   Scale” = 1:300 N (mag. 1991) = Page long axis

Between Pages 13
and 14:

Insert:   Scale” 1:320

Facing Page 24:

Delete: Scale 1:500

Insert:   Scale 1:707 (141mm reps 100m)

Facing Rear Cover:

Delete: Scale 1:500

Insert:   Scale 1:707

Note:

1.                  North point as drawn is 17.50 west of N (mag
1991)

2.                  The downstream passages from sump one have been
rotated to fit the page.  The major
orientation is 0800 mag.

3.                  The length of the passages/sumps does not take
into account of the radio-location carried out 34m downstream of sump 9.

 

Miswritten

·        In a Tokyo Hotel:  Is forbidden to steal hotel towels
please.  If you are not person to do such
thing is please not to read notice.

·        In another Japanese hotel room:  Please to bathe inside the tub.

·        In a Bucharest hotel lobby:  The lift is being fixed for the next
day.  During that time we regret that you
will be unbearable.

·        In a Leipzig elevator:  Do not enter the lift backwards, and only
when lit up.

·        In a Belgrade hotel elevator:  To move the cabin, push button for wishing
floor.  If the cabin should enter more
persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor.  Driving is then going alphabetically by
national order. 

·        In a Paris hotel elevator: Please leave your
values at the front desk.

·        In a hotel in Athens:  Visitors are expected to complain at the
office between the hours of 9 and 11 AM daily.

·        In a Yugoslavian hotel:  The flattening of underwear with pleasure is
the job of the chambermaid.

·        In a Japanese hotel:  You are invited to take advantage of the
chambermaid.

·        In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a
Russian Orthodox monastery:  You are
welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers,
artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursday.

·        In an Austrian hotel catering to skiers:  Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours
of repose in the boots of ascension.

·        On the menu of a Swiss restaurant:  Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.

·        On the menu of a Polish hotel:  Salad a firm’s own make; limpid red beat soup
with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef
rashers beaten up in the country people’s fashion.

·        In a Hong Kong supermarket:  For your convenience, we recommend courteous,
efficient self-service. 

·        Outside a Hong Kong tailor shop:  Ladies may have a fit upstairs.

·        In a Rhodes tailor shop:  Order your summers suit.  Because is big rush we will execute customers
in strict rotation. 

·        Similarly, from a Soviet Weekly:  There will be a Moscow Exhibition of Arts by
15,000 Soviet Republic painters and sculptors. These were executed over the
past two years.

·        In an East African newspaper:  A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape
since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers.

·        In a Vienna hotel:  In case of fire, do your utmost to alarm the
hotel porter.

·        A sign posted in Germany’s Black Forest:  It is strictly forbidden on our black forest
camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live
together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.

·        In a Zurich hotel:  Because of the impropriety of entertaining
guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be
used for this purpose.

·        In an advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist:  Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.

·        A translated sentence from a Russian chess
book:  A lot of water has been passed
under the bridge since this variation has been played.

·        In a Rome laundry:  Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the
afternoon having a good time.

·        Advertisement for donkey rides in Thailand:  Would you like to ride on your own ass?

·        On the faucet in a Finnish washroom:  To stop the drip, turn cock to right.

·        In the window of a Swedish furrier: Fur coats
made for ladies from their own skin.

·        On the box of a clockwork toy made in Hong
Kong:  Guaranteed to work throughout its
useful life.

·        Detour sign in Kyushi, Japan: Stop:  Drive Sideways.

·        In a Swiss mountain inn: Special today — no ice
cream.

·        In a Bangkok temple:  It is forbidden to enter a woman even a
foreigner if dressed as a man.

·        In a Copenhagen airline ticket office:  We take your bags and send them in all
directions.

·        On the door of a Moscow hotel room:  If this is your first visit to the USSR, you
are welcome to it.

·        In a Norwegian cocktail lounge:  Ladies are requested not to have children in
the bar.

·        At a Budapest zoo:  Please do not feed the animals.  If you have any suitable food, give it to the
guard on duty.

·        In the office of a Roman doctor:  Specialist in women and other diseases.

·        In an Acapulco hotel:  The manager has personally passed all the
water served here.

·        In a Tokyo shop: Our nylons cost more than common, but you’ll find they are best in the
long run.

·        From a Japanese information booklet about using
a hotel air conditioner: Cooles and Heates: If you want just condition of warm in your room, please control
yourself.

·        From a brochure of a car rental firm in
Tokyo:  When passenger of foot heave in
sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still
obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.

·        Two signs from a Majorcan shop entrance: English
well talking.    Here Speeching American.

 

The Bleadon and Hutton Caverns, West Mendip

A re-assessment

by David J. Irwin and
Christopher Richards

Abstract

Each of the known sites on
Hutton Hill, near Weston-super-Mare, is defined and placed in their historical
context. Details of previously unrecorded events during the 1970s are given.

In modern times the naming and association of Hutton Hill
caves to historic accounts has been confused and frequently misleading.  It came about following the discovery of
three caves on Hutton Hill in 1970, 1973 and 1974 by the Axbridge Caving Group
and Archaeological Society (ACG & AS). Each cave was subsequently extended on occasion by the Group until work
ceased in 1976.  At the time of the
opening of each site the ACG & AS thought that they had relocated the two
long lost Hutton caverns first recorded and excavated by Alexander Catcott
[1725-1779] in 1757.  The earliest of the
two discoveries, known by a succession of names, was later identified to be the
lost Bleadon Cavern and it was also soon realised, as a result of extensive
research by Richards and Shaw, that the site known as Hutton Cavern (1973) was
not the lost bone site but a previously unrecorded cave.  None of the caves relate to Catcott’s notes
and the numerous names by which these sites were subsequently known led to
serious confusion.  Details of the fourth
Hutton Cavern site, not associated with the Catcott caves, discovered in 1974
by ACG & AS are given for the first time in this paper.  The 1970 and 1973 caves are correctly listed
in the Mendip cave guidebooks as Bleadon Cavern (note1) (ST35/3606.5813) and
Hutton Cavern (ST35/3603.5816) respectively.(note 2,3)  Incorrect naming of these caves in other
published material has led to the current muddle.  The caves are discussed separately and a
bibliography is given for each is given in Appendix 1.

THE HUTTON HILL CAVERNS –
IDENTIFICATION

Five caves are known to exist on Hutton Hill in the
immediate vicinity of Maytree Farm and to avoid further confusion they will be
designated Hutton Cavern -1, Hutton Cavern – 2, Hutton Cavern – 3, Hutton
Cavern – 4 and Bleadon Cavern.

Hutton Caverns -1 and – 2, were opened by ochre miners in
the 18th century and recorded by Alexander Catcott following a visit on the
10th June 1757.  Both sites are now lost.

Hutton Cavern – 3 (ST35/3605.5816) is described in
Barrington and Stanton.  The entrance to
this cave was sealed on instructions of the landowner in the late 1980s.

Hutton Cavern – 4 (ST35/3506.5818) were opened by ACG &
AS in 1974 but the entrance was sealed by ACG & AS in the same year.

The fifth site is now known to be the lost Bleadon Cavern
(ST35/3606.5813 )

A sixth site, not associated with the group just identified
but has a similar name, is Hutton Hill Hole (ST35/3424.58l4).(note 4)  This was first opened in 1994 by the
Bracknell and District.

Caving Club/ACG, (note 5) and is a separate site lying some
half mile to the west in Hay Wood and is not considered further in these notes.

THE CAVES

Hutton Cavern -1

A certain Mr. Turner of Loxton (note 6) sent Catcott a small
collection of Elephant’s teeth & bones which made him aware of a bone ‘pit’
on Hutton Hill then recently opened by the ochre miners.  Catcott received the bones sometime between
27th August 1756 when he returned from a visit to Tenby in South Wales and the
23rd October 1756.  On this date Catcott
wrote a letter to a Mr. Price which was subsequently published in the
Gentleman’s Magazine? (note 7) In it Catcott explained that he intended to
excavate at the site at Hutton in the near future.  The planned excavation was delayed until 10th
June 1757 when he travelled from Bristol to Hutton with his friend and
companion, Mr. Gore.

Catcott and Gore entered the cave with the miner who had
found the bones and by the end of the expedition Catcott had gathered together
a sizeable collection of specimens. (note 8) During that day they met William
Glisson, (note 9) an ochre miner from Loxton with whom Catcott was already
associated following his visit to Loxton Cavern during the previous month.  Glisson informed the two men that the mining
activities on Hutton Hill had commenced about 1739-1740.  He added that during the course of that time
the miners had opened up a number of similar holes.  Catcott entered in his diary’ … The whole
hill is full of Swallet holes.’

In the first edition of Catcott’s.  A Treatise on the Deluge [1761] the bone site
at Hutton is not mentioned for he had concentrated his literary efforts on an
explanation and proof of the Deluge as told in the Scriptures. (note 10)

It appears that it was not until about 1761 that Catcott
wrote in some detail of his visit. (note 11) This was in a letter to an unknown
recipient. (note 12) Seven years later Catcott published a supplement to the
‘Treatise’ in which the first published account of the cave is given. (note 13)
Hutton Cavern was also included in the account of his visit to the cave in the
1768 edition of the Treatise and which has been reprinted on a number of
occasions.

The cave had been entered at a depth of about 25ft where a
20ft square bedding chamber was entered floored with a mixture of ochre and
bone material.  A three foot square
tunnel led downwards for about 50ft into the second chamber, this being about
30ft x 15ft followed by a further descent of about 10-12ft into the final
chamber.  Catcott, in a letter to an unknown
recipient, noted that the there were great quantities of bone and that: (note 14)

…the whole exhibited an
appearance not much unlike the inside of a Charnel House. We staid in this
place two hours and being well provided with implements dug out a vast number
& a great variety of bones and teeth and different species of Land Animals,
but finding the Roof began to yield and the sides much weakened we thought it
not advisable to continue any longer but proceeded to return … but with full
intent to revisit the place as soon as it could be secured and propped up with
wood-work. Before this was effected the whole fill in and the cavity rendered
inaccessible.

Catcott is not known to have returned to Hutton Hill and the
cave remained ‘lost’ until about 1828 when David Williams considered the
possibility of re-opening the site. Catcott’s geological collection had by that date been given to the
Bristol City Library.

Williams, Rector of Bleadon, a local geologist and
archaeologist had carried out extensive geological excavations at the famous
Uphill Cavern, near Weston-super-Mare and becoming aware of Catcott’s work in
the Hutton Hill bone caverns, made an attempt to locate the site.  By this time many of the ‘pit’ entrances had
collapsed making it difficult to determine which pit was the entrance to the
bone cavern.  Help was forthcoming in the
form of Catcott’s unpublished c.1761 (note 15) description of Loxton Cavern
then in the possession of an old friend, Mr. Richardson of Farleigh which
proved of great assistance to Williams. (note 16)  An approximate location of the entrance was
given as being .

.. about three hundred paces
South of the Gate of a field called Down acres in the parish of Hutton.

Finding scraps of bone Williams became hopeful that he might
well have found the spot. However, to start a major excavation would be a
costly exercise if it were not the Catcott cavern.  Luck was with Williams when an old miner,
William Jones, confirmed that the pit in which he had found the bone was indeed
the place; for his help he was paid one shilling by William Beard.  Permission was given to excavate and, in
conjunction with William Beard, work began on the 19th of September 1828.  John Webb and Isaac Coleman were employed to
re-open the cave and when it was successfully achieved the men were kept in
partial employment carrying out exploratory work in the cave. (note 17)  Confirmation that the cave they had opened
was that explored by Catcott is given in Williams’ account (note 18) of 1829.

After working some time, we
opened what may be termed three chambers in the fissure, the floor of the one
above forming the roof of the room below, consisting of huge fragments of rock,
that have sunk away and jammed themselves between the strata, their interstices
being filled with ochreous rubble and bones.

Beard’s Notebooks (note 19) contain further details of the
excavation and on occasion a number of important visitors went to the site
including George Henry Law [1761-1845], the Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1829
and Sir Richard Owen [1804-1892] in 1850. The bones were distributed to William Buckland, the Bishop and to
various institutions. Many specimens found their way into the collections
created by both Beard and Williams. (note 20) Williams wrote a note to Rutter stating that the excavation was brief,
lasting only six weeks. However, though Williams may no longer have been
involved at the site Beard continued, albeit intermittently, the search on
Hutton Hill, employing both Webb or Coleman, on separate occasions, until January
1831.  When work ceased the entrance was
allowed to collapse and its location lost and remains so to this day.

 

Fig 1 Elevation of Hutton Cavern  1 : published in both Rutter and Phelps.

On February 16th 1829, David Williams wrote to William Patteson,
Vicar of Shaftesbury, outlining his work at various bone caverns in the West
Mendip area including Banwell Bone Cavern, Uphill Cavern and Hutton
Cavern.  The letter was published as a
pamphlet by John Rutter later that year. (note 21)  It was this work that was the source material
for Rutter’s description of Hutton Cavern and other sites, in his
‘Delineations’ and the ‘Banwell and Cheddar Guide’, both published in 1829.
(note 22,23)

The Rev. William Phelps (note 24) in his ‘History and
Antiquities of Somersetshire’, published in two volumes, relied on the Catcott,
1768 edition of the ‘Treatise’.  A survey
of the cave was drawn by Williams (note 25) and a wood-cut prepared from it by
William Barnes (note 26) and used in all the 1829 publications of Rutter and in
Phelps’ 1836 ‘History and Antiquities of Somersetshire’.  There have been several reprints of Catcott’s
1768 description of Hutton Cavern, three of them appearing in British Caver.
(note 27.28)  During the first half of
the 20th century at least two searches were made to locate the lost Catcott
cavern but to no avail. (note 29.30)

Hutton Cavern – 2

Fig 2. Surveyors notes for the Bleadon Cavern 1833
survey.  Reproduced with permission of
the Somerset Record and Archive Service .

This site is lost and was first recorded by Catcott in his
diary entry for the 10th June 1757.  In
it he wrote: (note 31)

About 40 yards West from the last
hole [Hutton Cavern – 1] was opened another, of a similar nature, with ochre,
bones etc. – @ about as deep. From this was dug a large long head of an animal;
about 3 or 4 feet long: 14 inches broad at the top or hind part & 3 inches
at the snout.

A mention of this site is made in the 1768 accounts of
Hutton Cavern – 1 by Catcott. (note 32)

One of the men, that had been at
work in these pits, brought me a collection of small bones that he had found in
a pit adjoining .. The same person assured me that before I came down, he had
found in digging in the same place the head of a strange animal that he
believed was near three feet in length.

A similar account appeared the same year in a Supplement to
the 1761 Treatise. (note 33) Since that time no definite mention of this cave
is known except for a passing mention in Richards’ 1974 paper. (note 34)

Hutton Cavern – 3

Hutton Cavern – 3 was originally an old mineshaft that was
excavated by the ACG & AS and first entered in 1973.  The only published description of this site
appears in Barrington and Stanton. (note 35) Initially it was thought, again, to be the lost cave – the Hutton Cavern
– 1 known to Catcott.  However, it soon
became apparent that this was not the case and, although it had been
extensively mined for ochre, no previous record of its existence has been
found.  The distinctive three
superimposed chambers in the cave known to Catcott, Beard and Williams were not
present and further no bone material was found in the ochre and other
deposits.  The following account places
on record for the first time the sequence of exploration.

In March 1973 an old mine shaft
was cleared of infill by ACG&AS. This led into a natural cave passage, steeply sloping, reaching a depth
of about 30ft below the surface where there were extensions left and
right.  The sloping passage, and the
extensions, were heavily choked with natural breakdown and ochreous fill
together with detritus thrown into the shaft. To the right (north-east) digging led to the discovery in June of a
small passage level at first and then rising over rocks thrown down through a
blocked up mine-shaft connecting with the surface.  To the left (south-west) excavation was
hindered by overhanging masses of loose debris up against the bottom of a
steeply dipping limestone bed.  In
September work was abandoned and the entrance shaft into the dig re-filled.

In May 1974 a filled-up shaft
lying a few feet south-south-west of the first was cleared and part way down a
passage was found leading away in a south westerly direction but partially
choked.  Digging led to a breakthrough
after about 15 feet on 12 May into the roof of a roomy passage extending
south-west for about 25 feet.  The work
of the ochre miners was obvious and there were signs that a bone deposit had
been dug out.  From the point of
breakthrough, and around a corner, a roomy chamber headed north-east and sloped
upwards to a choke that lay at the bottom of the shaft that had just been dug
out.  The candle-smoked initials “D
W” were observed in the roof of the chamber.  Was the Rev. David Williams responsible for
these?

The diggers thought that they had
relocated the upper chamber of Hutton Cavern 1, and decided to look for a way
on beneath the mass of debris on the floor of the chamber.  To do this the shaft first dug out in March
1973 was re-opened for the lowest point of that dig lay beneath the debris in
the new chamber.

Efforts were made throughout the
rest of 1974, and in 1975, 1976 and 1977 to find a deeper extension, not only
under the chamber but in other places in the system.  It was during 1976 and 1977 that the Hutton
Scouts became involved.  The shaft first
attacked in May 1974 was sunk deeper to connect with the chamber so spoil could
be hoisted to the surface.  However, no
extension was found and the idea that Hutton Cavern – 1 had been found,
evaporated.

 

Fig 3. Bleadon Cavern 1833 survey.
Reproduced with permission of the Somerset Record and Archive Service

Hutton Cavern – 4

A site, not previously recorded in Speleo-literature, was
discovered in 1974 and lay a short distance from Hutton Cavern – 3.  This is the first time details of its
existence have been published.  Its
length is about 100ft and an overall depth of 35ft.

The site lay about 17 yards
north-east of Hutton Cavern – 3. Digging by ACG&AS began in December 1973
and an infilled mine shaft cleared.  At a
depth of about 10 feet a breakthrough was made on the 13th January 1974.  A small passage, showing signs of blasting,
sloped down into a domed phreatic chamber about 6ft high and with a floor paved
with stones by the miners. In the floor was a shaft about 15ft deep neatly
walled around at the top with “deads” sunk into an ochre pocket.  No bone deposits were observed.  The entrance shaft was filled in again on the
10th February 1974 by ACG&AS.

 

Fig 4. Bleadon Cavern 1972 survey

Bleadon Cavern [Or Hutton Cavern Ii]

At the centre of all the confusion is Bleadon Cavern.  When it was re-opened in 1970 it was thought
to be the ‘lost’ Hutton Cavern -1 and understandably called Hutton Cavern.
(note 36)  As a result of further
investigation following the publication of the CRG Mendip Bibliography Part II
prepared by Shaw, (note 37) it became clear that the site was not Hutton Cavern
– 1.  In 1973 the discovery of Hutton
Cavern – 3 threw the thought processes into turmoil. The following year after
an intensive study of available sources Richards reassessed the historical
evidence of the 1970 discovery and published a paper on the subject in the
Wessex Cave Club Journal. (note 38)  In
this he re-named the site Hutton Cavern II in the belief that it was the second
site excavated by Beard and Williams in 1833 and known to them as the Second
Cavern on Hutton Hill as well as it being known as Bleadon Cavern.  Richards, though, went further and allied
this site to the second site outlined by Catcott.

…we do not have the classical
Lost Cavern of Hutton but we have re-found the lesser of the two caverns no
discovered at about the same time (c.1740)…

No evidence has been found to suggest that this is the
second Catcott cave, even though it had previously been entered by the ochre
miners, other than assuming that only three caverns were known to exist at the
time of Catcott’s visit.  This must be
wrong for the Glisson evidence shows that a number of caves had been found
between c.1740 and 1757.  It could be any
of them.

However, the matter did not rest there.  Confirmation that the site was the lost
Bleadon Cavern came as a result of a study of a cave survey residing in the
archive collection at the Somerset Record Office that had been produced in
January 1833.  This survey was compared
with that produced by ACG & AS shortly after the cave was opened and
similarities were recognised by Trevor Shaw. (note 39)  The cave had been finally proved to be the
re-discovery of Bleadon Cavern [or Beard’s Second Cavern] a site first opened
between c.1740, and as will be shown, not later than 1746, and excavated for
the first time in 1833 by Beard and Williams.

During the exploration of the site a lower series was found.
This was a new discovery unknown to the pre-20th century explorers.

Bleadon Cavern is unique from the other known Hutton Hill
caves in that the cave plan area straddles the boundary of the parishes of
Hutton and Bleadon and was known by this name simply because the entrance to
the cave lay in Bleadon Parish.  During
the Beard-Williams excavation two entrances were opened, the first in Hutton
Parish.  This proved difficult to remove
the bones so Beard ordered a second shaft to be opened – this lay in Bleadon
Parish.  The ‘Hutton’ entrance was then sealed
and re-opened by ACG & AS in 1970. The Bleadon entrance has not been re-opened but its location is known
from underground evidence.  Relating this
site to the 18th century discoveries by the ochre miners is difficult.  It may well be one of the many caves
discovered before Catcott visited the area or it could be the second ‘pit’
noted in his diary [Hutton Cavern – 2]. All that is known is that Catcott’s second cave [Hutton Cavern – 2] is
40 yards west of Hutton Cavern – 1 but as the latter site is lost there is no
fixed point from which to start measuring. However, what is fact is that the cave had been worked by the ochre
miners for the remains of a candle and smoke-marked date of 1746 were found by
the ACG & AS explorers.  Thus the
cave had to have been found between c.1740 and 1746 based up on Glisson’s
evidence.

On the 4th of January 1833 Beard commenced work on the
‘second cavern’ or Bleadon Cavern and worked at the site in two sessions.  The first was from 4th January- 2nd February
1833, and on the 15th January John Heal of Shipham was employed to produce a
survey of the cave for which he was paid five shillings.  At the end of the first session Beard entered
the following into his account book:

2nd Febry 1833
Paid Isaac Coleman for 6 days work        £
–        9          0 [nine shillings]
Gave him [Isaac Coleman] to have some Beer when I
finished my researches at Hutton & Bleadon hill where
I discovered a Multitude of bones             £
–        1          0 [one shilling]

Beard also knew the cave as the Second Cavern: (note 40)

Friday the 4th of Janry
1833.  I discovered the second cavern of
Bones at Hutton hill.

Much material was removed and at the end of the first
excavation Beard had amassed a sizeable collection and of sufficient importance
that Buckland thought it necessary to visit Banwell to view them. Beard records
the visit and identifies the landowner’s name that is indecipherable on the
survey of the cave.

Also on Friday the 26th of April 1833.  The Revd. Dr Buckland and the Revd D.
Williams and the Revd. Mr. Lunn and Mr. Hyde Whalley paid me a visit to see my
collection and last discovery which extended from the Ochre Pitts on a part of
Hutton Hill under the boundary wall into Mrs. Fears allotment in the parish of
Bleadon the distance of about 250 feet they was much pleased to see it.

Indeed was they?

Work recommenced again on 7th September and finally ceased
on the 22nd March 1834. (note 41)

Miscellaneous Sites

Though Catcott discusses Hutton Cavern – 1 in his various
papers he added that subsequent to his 1757 visit that Glisson had found
several other bone bearing pits but none were identified; the subsequent
discoveries by ACG & AS are probably some of these. (note 42)

A BRIEF REVIEW OF
LATER SOURCES COMMONLY USED BY RESEARCHERS RELATING TO THE HUTTON FILL CAVES.

Strangely Phelps makes no mention of Bleadon Cavern though
he records the activities of 1828 in Hutton Cavern -1 based on Rutter.  The discovery of bones in this cave are
referred to in many local topographical and guide-books of the middle 19th
century.

Buckland (note 43) reprints the Catcott 1768 account of
Hutton Cavern – 1 and Dawkins (note 44) mentions it as an important bone
site.  A problem is found in Knight’s
(note 45) account of the Beard-Williams excavation in Bleadon Cavern – this
site is confused with the bone deposits found in a quarry close to the
village.  The date given in Knight for
the discovery of Hutton Cavern – 1 is given as ‘about the year 1650’ and should
be discounted.

Balch too, totally confuses the situation in that to his
knowledge there was only one bone site in the area and that in a local
quarry.  Balch (note 46,47) compounds the
problem by merging the bone finds from both Bleadon Cavern and that from the
quarry which he calls Bleadon Cave.  It
occurs in his Mendip: its Swallet Caves and Rock Shelters fold-out sheet
entitled Man and the Wild Beasts on Mendip.

Gough in his Mines of Mendip uses Rutter and Knight as his
historical sources and a reference is taken from Catcott’s Diaries of
tours.  Bryant & Philpot use Rutter
and Phelps for their source material. Finally, the listing of Palaeolithic and Pleistocene sites published in
1989 should be amended to associate various papers to the correct sites. (note 48)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bleadon Cavern

Anon, 1970, Mendip News (Hutton Cavern) Cer SS Ntr 6(24)4;
brief note on reopening Balch, Herbert E., 1937, Mendip – its swallet caves and
rock shelters. Wells: Clare, Son & Co., 211pp, illus. figs, surveys

Barrington, Nicholas and Stanton, William, 1977, Mendip: the
complete caves and a view of the hills. Cheddar: Barton Productions with
Cheddar Valley Press, 236pp, illus., maps

Haines-Nutt, R. Frank and Mulvey, Christopher, 1963, Not in
Barrington – or Oldham WCC Jnl 7(90) 199-207(Jun)

Irwin, David J. and Jarratt, Anthony R., 1993, Mendip
Underground: a caver’s guide [3rd ed] Castle Cary : Mendip Publishing, 240pp,
illus., surveys, maps

Knight, Francis A. 1902, The Sea-Board of Mendip. London:
J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., xiv + 495pp, maps, illus., figs

Richards, Christopher, 1970, The lost cavern of Hutton – its
rediscovery: a preliminary account. ACG Ntr 115-118(Sep), survey

Richards, Christopher, 1971, Notes on the 1970 Hutton Cavern
Survey. ACG Ntr 90-91(Dec) Richards, Christopher, 1972, Notes on the 1972
edition ofthe Hutton Cavern survey. ACG Ntr 2526(Jul)

Richards, Christopher, 1972, Hutton Cavern : a
reconsideration in the light of recent discoveries. WCC Jnl
12(142)110-118(Aug), survey

Shaw, Trevor R., 1972, Mendip Cave Bibliography. Part II
Books, pamphlets, manuscripts and maps, 3rd century to December 1968. CRG
Trans. 13(3) viii + 226pp(Jul)

Shaw, Trevor R., 1972, Hutton Cavern No.2: a plan of 1833.
WCC JnI12(144)199-200(Dec), survey

Bleadon Cavern and Hutton Cavern – 1

Sanford, W. Ayshford, 1865, Notice of carnassial and canine
teeth from the Mendip caverns, probably belong to Felis antiqua. Gool Mag, Ser
1 2,43 Read before the Brit Assoc. – ref also Rep Brit Assoc (34(1864)

Sanford, W. Ayshford, 1869, Rodentia ofthe Somerset caves
[abstract] Q Jnl Geol Soc 25,444 Sanford, W. Ayshford, 1869, On the rodentia
ofthe Somerset caves. SANHS Proc 15(2)5157(1868-1869), figs

Sanford, W. Ayshford, 1870, On the rodentia of the Somerset
caves. Q Jnl Gool Soc 26,124-131, fig

Stoddart, W.W., 1870, The quaternary deposits ofthe Bristol
neighbourhood. Proc Bristol Nats Soc, Ser 2 5,37-43, map

Hutton Cavern – 1

Anon, 1870, Beedle’s popular visitors’ handbook of Weston-
super-Mare; with walks, rides, and drives in the neighbourhood.
Weston-super-Mare: T. Beeble, 128pp, map, illus. Bristol Ref Lib Green
Collection 7223 B.L. 16B2

Baker, W., 1850, Geology of Somerset SANHS Proc 1, 127-139
(1849-1850)

Balch, Herbert E., 1937, Mendip – its swallet caves and rock
shelters. Wells: Clare, Son & Co., 211pp, illus. figs, surveys

Balch, Herbert E., 1948, Mendip – its swallet caves and rock
shelters. London: Simpkin, Marshall (1941) Ltd., [vi] + 156pp, surveys, illus.

Bryant, T. Charles and Philpott, R. Antony, 1962, Hutton
Cave. WCC Jnl 7(83)22-25, survey Catcott, Alexander, n.d., Description [sic] of
Loxton Cavern. MSS. c.1761. Transcribed by c.J. Harford. Photocopy presented to
Bristol Central Reference Library 1974 by Dr. H.S. Torrens, Dept. Geology,
Keele University. 66ff 4to, illus. Originally belonging to Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution.

Catcott, Alexander, 1969, [Hutton Cave – from Treatise on
the deluge, 1768] Brit Cav 52,36-37 Knight, Francis A, 1902, The Sea-Board of
Mendip.  London: J.M. Dent & Sons
Ltd., xiv + 495pp, maps, illus., figs

Platten, Gerard [ed], 1948, Lost Mendip Caves Brit Cav
18,26-28

Oldham, Anthony D., 1963, The Caves of Mendip 2nd Edition. Additions,
Errors, Corrections, Etc. WCC Jnl 7(88)153(Feb)

Sanford, W. Ayshford, 1864, Notice of carnassial and canine
teeth from the Mendip caverns, probably belong to Felis antiqua (syn
Pardus).  Rep Brit Assoc (34) Trans Sect,
69

Tratman. Edgar K., 1921, Field work Proc UBSS
1(2)95-97(1920/1921)

Williams, David, 1829, Some account of the fissures and
caverns hitherto discovered in the western district of the Mendip range of
hills comprised in a letter from the Rev. D. Williams … to the Rev. W. Patterson.
Shaftesbury: John Rutter, 16pp, surveys: mentioned. Ref Men Bib Pt II, No.867

Hutton Cavern – 1 and Hutton Cavern – 2

Catcott, Alexander, 1748, Diaries of tours made in England
and Wales. MSS; 11 sheaf of loose papers, various sizes bound together. 17.5cm
[1748-1774]. Sheaf 1 138p, sheaf 5 44ff : Bristol Ref. Library. B 6495. Strong
Room IB3

Catcott, Alexander, 1768, A Supplement to a book, entitled a
treatise on the deluge. Bristol: printed by Farley and Cocking, iv + 65pp,
illus.

Catcott, Alexander, 1768, A treatise on the deluge …
London: printed for the Author by E. Allen, 421pp, illus.

Hutton Cavern – 3

Barrington, Nicholas and Stanton, William, 1977, Mendip :
the complete caves and a view of the hills. Cheddar: Barton Productions with
Cheddar Valley Press, 236pp, illus., maps

Hutton Cavern – 4

No details of this site has been published

Hutton Hill caves – unidentified

A[   ] ,F S, 1859,
Mammalian Remains Geologist 2,219-220: extract from 1756 letter by Peter

Collinson to Gents Mag 1757, p.220 – discovery of Elephant’s
teeth

Stanton, William 1., 1950, Extracts from a diary of a
schoolboy in Mendip. Part 1. Brit Cav 21,6572(Winter)

Acknowledgements

Our thanks to Chris Hawkes for the loan of a copy of Phelps,
1836, and to Ray Mansfield whose comments were invaluable.

D.J. Irwin, Priddy, Somerset.

C. Richards, North Somerset
Museum Service, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

30th August 1997

Revised by D.J. Irwin,

8th February 1998

Notes

1.                  Originally the site was called Maytree Cavern
after the name of the adjacent farm – a name not now used. When the ACG &
AS researches commenced it was thought that it was the second site mentioned in
the Catcott diary account – hence for a time it was known as Hutton Cavern. It
was later realised that the site was in fact the lost Bleadon Cavern.

2.                  Barrington, Nicholas and Stanton, William, 1977,
Mendip : the complete caves and a view of the hills. Cheddar:

Barton Productions with Cheddar Valley Press, 236pp, illus., maps

3.                  Irwin, David J. and Jarratt, Anthony R., 1993,
Mendip Underground: a caver’s guide [3rd ed] Castle Cary: Mendip Publishing,
24Opp, illus., surveys, maps

4.                  Norton, Michael, 1995, [Hutton Hill Hole] ACG
Ntr [20](Summer/Autumn)

5.                  The Archaeological Society and the Caving Group
decided to separate in 1976 for reasons relating to caving insurance. Since
that time the caving section has been known as Axbridge Caving Group.

6.                  Possibly Rev. Turner, who was rector of Loxton
at this time.

7.                  [Catcott, Alexander], 1757, [letter],
Gentleman’s Magazine Vol.27, Pt.1, p.199

8.                  Catcott, Alexander, 1748-1774, Diaries of tours
made in England and Wales. MSS; 11 sheaf of loose papers, various sizes bound
together. 17.5cm [1748-1774]. Sheaf 1138p, sheaf 5 44ff : Bristol Ref. Library.
B 6495. Strong Room IB3

9.                  Catcott described Glisson as ‘Lord Royal of the
Hill’

10.              Catcott, Alexander, 1761, A treatise on the
deluge … London: Withers, xiii + 296pp, illus. general

11.              Catcott, Alexander, n.d., Description [sic] of
Loxton Cavern. MSS. c.1761. Transcribed by C.J. Harford. Photocopy presented to
Bristol Central Reference Library 1974 by Dr. H.S. Torrens, Dept. Geology,
Keele University. 66ff 4to, illus. Originally belonging to Bath Royal Literary
and Scientific Institution. The location of the Catcott original letter is
unknown, presumably lost.

12.              Stephens, J., 1761, Proposals for printing by
subscription a work entitled The Natural History of Somersetshire. [dated
February 16th, 1761]

13.              Catcott, Alexander, 1768, A Supplement to a
book, entitled a treatise on the deluge. Bristol: printed by Farley and
Cocking, iv + 65pp, illus.

14.              Catcott, Alexander, n.d., [as above]

15.              Catcott, Alexander, n.d., [see above]

16.              Williams, David, 1829, Some account of the
fissures and caverns hitherto discovered in the western district of the Mendip
range of hills comprised in a letter from the Rev. D. Williams … to the Rev.
W. Patterson. Shaftesbury : John Rutter, l6pp, surveys

17.              The first shaft opened was not the bone cavern
but a passage leading away from it. The original shaft was subsequently found
but considered unsafe and so a third was opened up. These are shown in the
survey that appears in the Williams (1829), Rutter (1829) and Phelps (1836)
publications cited elsewhere in this paper.

18.              Williams, David, 1829, [see above]

19.              [Beard, William]. 1824-1865. [Manuscript Note
Books on the caves at Banwell, etc.] Taunton: Somerset Record Office, ref. no.
D/P/ban 23/25.

20.              Bishop Law’s geological collection was sold at
auction in Weston-super-Mare on the 27th September 1860.  The fate of this collection is unknown.  The Beard and Williams’ collections were
purchased separately by the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society
in 1864 and 1851 respectively.  The
collections are now housed at the Somerset County Museum, Taunton but are not
currently on view for the condition of the bones is in need of urgent
restoration work. This is in the hands of specialists from the Natural History
Museum specialists.

21.              Williams, David, 1829, [see above]

22.              Rutter, John, 1829, Delineations of the north
western division of the county of Somerset, and of its antediluvian bone
caverns … London: Longmans, xxiv + 349pp, map, illus.

23.              Rutter, John. 1829, The Banwell and Cheddar
Guide … Shaftesbury: J. Rutter, [iv] + 78pp, surveys, illus.

24.              Pelps, William, 1836 and 1839, The History and
Antiquities of Somersetshire. London: printed for the author by J.B. Nichols
and Son. 2 vols [Vol. 1 published in 1836, Pt.1 – xiii + 192pp, Pt.2, vii +
599pp and Vo1.2 published in 1839, [3] + 272pp], maps, surveys, illus.

25.              Williams, David, 1829, [see above]

26.              Richards, Christopher, 1971, Notes on the 1970
Hutton Cavern Survey. ACG Ntr 90-91(Dec)

27.              Catcott, Alexander, 1966, [Hutton Cave – from
Treatise on the deluge, 1768] British Caver (43) 15-19

28.              Catcott, Alexander, 1969, [Hutton Cave – from
Treatise on the deluge, 1768] British Caver (52)36-37

29.              Tratman. Edgar K., 1921, Field work Proc UBSS
1(2)95-97(1920/1921)

30.              Duck, Jack W., 1937, Report for 1937 MNRC Rep
(30)45-51, survey

31.              Catcott, Alexander, 1748-1774, [see above]

32.              Catcott, Alexander, 1768, A treatise on the
deluge … London: printed for the Author by E. Allen, 421pp, illus.

33.              Catcott, Alexander, 1768, A Supplement [as
above]

34.              Richards, Christopher, 1972, Notes on the 1972
edition of the Hutton Cavern survey. ACG Ntr 25-26(Jul)

35.              Barrington, Nicholas and Stanton, William, 1977,
[see above]

36.              For a time it was known as Maytree Cavern after
its close proximity of a small-holding – Maytree Farm.

37.              Shaw, Trevor R., 1972, Mendip Cave Bibliography.
Part n Books, pampWets, manuscripts and maps, 3rd century to December 1968. CRG
Trans. 13(3) viii + 226pp(Jul)

38.              Richards, Christopher, 1972, Hutton Cavern: a
reconsideration in the light of recent discoveries. WCC Jnl 12(142) 110-118(
Aug), survey

39.              Shaw, Trevor R., 1972, Hutton Cavern No.2: a
plan of 1833 .. WCC Jnl 12(144)199-200(Dec), survey

40.              [Beard, William]. 1824-1865, [see above]

41.              [Beard, William]. 1824-1865, [see above]

42.              Catcott, Alexander, n.d., [see above]

43.              Buckland, William, 1823, Reliquiae Diluvianae.
London: John Murray. 1st ed., vii + [i] + 303pp, maps, surveys, illus. [1824,
2nd edition: no text change, identical pagination]

44.              Dawkins, W. Boyd, 1874, Cave Hunting. London:
Macmillan & Co., xxiv + 455pp, maps, surveys, illus.

45.              Knight, Francis A., 1902, The Sea-Board of
Mendip. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., xiv + 495pp, maps, illus., figs

46.              Balch, Herbert E., 1937, Mendip – its swallet
caves and rock shelters. Wells: Clare, Son & Co., 211pp, illus. figs,
surveys

47.              Balch, Herbert E., 1948, Mendip – its swallet
caves and rock shelters. London: Simpkin, Marshall (1941) Ltd., [vi] + 156pp,
surveys, illus.

48.              Mansfield, Raymond W. and Donovan, Desmond T.,
1989, Palaeolithic and Pleistocene sites of the Mendip, Bath and Bristol areas.
Recent bibliography. Proc UBSS 18(3)367-389(Nov)

 

Cartoon

 

 

Meghalaya  1998  – Synopsis

10.03.1998

03 February – 08
March
: Georg BAUMLER, Susanne Annette, BECHER McNAB, Eleazar ‘Leo’ BLAH,
Tony BOYCOTT, Jenni,  A. BROOKS, Simon
James BROOKS, Ian CHANDLER, Sijon DKHAR, Spindro DHKAR, Gregory DIENGDOH,
Undsey DIENGOOH. Clive W. DUNAI, Richard FRANK, H. Daniel GEBAUER, Kirmm C.
HIWOT, PASSAH, Tony JARRATT, Brian JOHNSON, Refulgent KHARNAJOR, Brian D.
KHARPRAN DALY, Uwe KRUGER, Kyrshan MITHUN, Thilo MULLER, Fairweather W.
MYLLIEMNGAP, Langspah RYNGKHUN, Gurjinder SINGH, Sher SINGH, Donbok SYIEMUEH,
Andy TYLER, Valery VALVULA, Raphael WARJRI, Yv0 WEIDMANN.

Guides &
Informants
: Kham AA (Chiehruphi), Nigel AA (Chiehruphi), Miniren HAMON
(Tongseng), Lucky DKHAR (Chiehruphi), Sijon Dkhmr (Nongjri), Kynsai JONES
(Cherra Pdengshakap), Robert LAL (Chiehruphi), Wikyn L YNGDDH (Thangskai),
Zuala RALSEM. (Khaddurn). Langspah RYNKHUN (Nongjin), Stingson SH1ANGSHAi (Chiehruphi).

date from

date to

area

cave

1997- length

1998-survey

1998-length

vertical range


 


 


 

East Khasi Hills District


 


 


 


 

02.16


 

Cherra

Dam Um (Nongthymmai)


 

476.66

476.66

21.4

02.11


 

Cherra

Lawkhlieng

2,043.21

141.21

2,184.42

21.3

02.17


 

Cherra

Phyllut No.2


 

434.12

434.12

16.2

02.16


 

Cherra

Rong Umso (

Ochre
River
Cave
)

369.81

369.81

39.8

02.17


 

Cherra

Soh Pang Bnait (

Thornapple
Cave
)


 


 


 

02.23


 

Nongiri

Diengnai


 

116.08

116.08

16.2

02.21


 

Nongiri

Dukabor


 

66.95

66.95

4.2

02.20


 

Nongiri

Khriang


 

69.12

69.12

3.8

02.20


 

Nongiri

Kurdot


 

129.87

129.87

20.4

02.23


 

Nongiri

Longkurdom


 

243.13

243.13

41.3

02.20

02.21

Nongiri

Lubon


 

428.51

428.51

43.0

02.16

02.21

Nongiri

Lymput

2,759.35

3,790.34

6,549.69

89.1

02.03


 

Nongiri

Mawkanong (W. Thylong)

60.00

15.00

75.00

6.0

02.19


 

Nongiri

Priang


 

67.70

67.70

21.0

02.22


 

Nongiri

Wah Sir


 

94.59

94.59

3.9

02.22


 

Nongiri

Wah Synrem


 

20.00

20.00

6.0

02.19


 

Nongiri

Wah Thylong


 

95.00

95.00

7.0


 


 


 

Jainta Hills District


 


 


 


 

03.06


 

Lumshnong

Citrus


 

11.50

11.50

2.3

02.22

03.03

Lumshnong

Kotsati-Umiawan

19,230.20

2,004.12

21,234.32

213.7

02.24

02.27

Lumshnong: Thangskai

Malo

467.51

1,854.37

2,321.88

42.5

02.28


 

Lumshnong: Village

Mawiong


 

27.40

27.40

19.4

03.05


 

Lumshnong: Chiehruphi

Muhubon 1


 


 

5.00

5.0

03.05


 

Lumshnong: Chiehruphi

Muhubon 2a


 


 

15.00


 

03.05


 

Lumshnong: Chiehruphi

Muhubon 2b


 


 

15.00


 

03.05


 

Lumshnong: Chiehruphi

Muhubon 3


 


 

25.00


 

03.05


 

Lumshnong: Chiehruphi

Muhubon 4


 


 

252.46

7.0

03.05


 

Lumshnong: Mynkre

Moolih


 


 

0.00

0.0

03.05


 

Lumshnong: Mynkre

Moolih No. 2


 


 

0.00

0.0

03.01


 

Lumshnong: Musianglamare


Musianglamare
Cave
1


 

0.00

0.00

0.0

03.01


 

Lumshnong: Musianglamare


Musianglamare
Cave
2


 

0.00

0.00

0.0

03.03


 

Lukha/Lubha

Paltan Puok


 

805.75

805.75

10.3

03.01


 

Lumshnong: Musianglamare

Pdieng Salah


 

0..0

0..0

0.0

03.02

03.06

Lukha/Lubha

Pile Theng Puok


 

2,535.00

2,535.00

110.0

02.27


 

Lumshnong: Chiehruphi

Pyrda

250.00

581.61

831.61

23.7

03.05


 

Lumshnong: Thangskai

Romai Synhin


 


 

0.00

0.0

02.23

02.25

Lumshnong: Chiehruphi

Sarang


 

698.23

698.23

19.1


 


 

Lukha/Lubha

Sielkan Puok


 


 


 


 

03.05


 

Lukha/Lubha

Skei


 

205.19

205.19

3.8

02.19

03.07

Lumshnong: Musianglamare

Synrang Pamaiang

1,655.34

4,562.42

6,217.76

200.8

02.25


 

Lumshnong: Mynkre

Thloochrieh (

Monkey
Cave
)


 

45.07

45.07

14.4

03.08


 

Lumshnong: Chiehruphi

Umim


 


 

0.00

0.0

02.20

02.25

Lumshnong

Umkseh

234.00

976.10

1,210.10

17.1

03.06


 

Lumshnong: Chiehruphi

Umkhloo


 


 

39.52

23.8

03.03


 

Lumshnong

Umlawan No.3


 


 


 


 

03.03


 

Lumshnong

Umlawan No.4


 

15.90

15.90

10.6

03.03


 

Lumshnong

Umlawan No.5


 

40.67

40.67

12.4

03.03


 

Lumshnong

Umlawan No.6


 

363.41

363.41

25.9


 


 

Lumshnong: Thangskai

Umso

1,479.90

0.00

1,479.90


 


 


 

Lumshnong: Musianglamare

Umsynrang

1,668.46

3,190.01

4,858.47

63.4

03.01


 

Lukha/Lubha

Urhulu Puok


 

310.89

310.89

10.2


 


 

Accumulated length of the spring surveys:

24,779

metres


 

 

 

Caving in the Abode of the Clouds – Part III

Synopsis of 1998
Expedition to Meghalaya, North East India – by Simon Brooks (Orpheus CC) March
1998

Between the 11th of February and 8th March 1998 a team of
eight cavers from the UK, five from Germany, a Swiss caver and members of the
Shillong (N.E. India) based Meghalaya Adventurers Association completed another
successful expedition to the State of Meghalaya in North East India.

During the course of the expedition a total of 27 new caves
were explored and several existing caves extended to yield a total of just
under 26 km of new cave passage, taking the total length of surveyed cave
passage in the State of Meghalaya to 95 km.

The expedition divided its time between four separate areas,
namely: Cherrapunjee and Nongjri in the East Khasi Hills; Lumshnong; and the
Lukha Valley in the Jaintia Hills.  In the
Nongjri area, Krem Lymput, partly explored in 1997, was extended to 6.5 km in
length, establishing it as India’s second longest cave.  Several other smaller caves were also
explored.  In the Lumshnong area, Krem
Kotsati-UmLawan was extended by another 2 km to 21.2 km in length, further
reinforcing its status as India’s longest and deepest cave.  To the north of Lumshnong, in the vicinity of
the village of Musianglamare, significant extensions were made to Umsynrang
extending it from its 1997 length of 1.7 km to a new length of 4.8 km.  In the same village, Synrang Pamiang was
extended from 1.6 km to just over 6.2 km in length, making it India’s third
longest cave.  The current end of Synrang
Pamiang is wide open, being a canyon style stream passage some 5m wide and up
to 30m height with considerable potential for further extensions.  However, the cave is beginning to present
logistical problems in that it is now 5 hours of hard caving from the entrance
to the end of the surveyed passage.

Following the brief reconnaissance made to the Lukha Valley
in 1997, the area was revisited, revealing considerable speleological
potential.  One of the main finds here
was Piel Theng Puok which proved to be a fantastic resurgence river cave,
situated in a small gorge at the head of a 50m high tufa waterfall.  This stunning cave is characterised by huge,
square-sectioned river passage up to 20m wide and 30m in height and never less
than 10m by 10m.  The passage is
punctuated by massive calcite gours/dams of up to 6m high.  These latter features create large lakes and
necessitated over 500m of swimming in the first 2.5 km of passage.  With the huge catchment area, the impressive
size of the passage at the final point, numerous unexplored side passages, and
the fact that only one third of the distance to the assumed sink has been
found, the potential for extending the system is considerable.  Piel Theng Puok is definitely one of the most
impressive Indian River caves found to date.

As has been the style of previous expeditions to Meghalaya,
equipment (including surveying instruments) has been left with the Meghalaya
Adventurers in order to assist them with further cave exploration.  Plans are already being made for a return
visit by two teams in January/February 1999 and February/March 1999.

 

A Map of the Three Streams which enter St. Cuthbert’s Swallet.

Surveyed By Roger And
Frances Stenner In 1996.

INTRODUCTION

Frankie and I were in the final stages of making the survey,
in head-high rushes near the tramway. After this time there wasn’t much need to talk much, we were just
getting on with the work.  A family –
couple, two small boys and a big dog – came by, and stopped to watch.  Of course the adults and the older boy were
far too reserved to say anything, but the smaller boy’s curiosity got the
better of him, and he asked us what we were doing.  We told him, and the father couldn’t hold his
tongue.  “Why don’t you just buy a
map?”  Why indeed!  Up-to-date large scale maps of the area are
available in theory, but the price is high enough to make them effectively
unavailable.  The 1:2500 (“25
inch” series) O.S. map of ST 5450 and ST 5550, published in 1963, showed
only two of the three streams connected with the cave.  The 6″ to 1 mile O.S. map, ST 55 SW,
published in 1961, showed only one stream, which looked like the last part of
Ladywell stream tagged onto a piece of creative fiction.  So even in the days when maps were still
available, the situation was unsatisfactory.

In 1967, when I needed to show the location of the three streams,
the only option was to survey them myself. Since I only needed to illustrate the streams to the south of the line
through Plantation Swallet and Maypole Overflow Corner, the surveying was
limited to this area.  The map was
included in a description of the hydrology of the cave (Stenner, 1968).  A later drawing, extended to include the
streams as far as the Mineries Pool, was made after re-plotting the 1967 data
at the scale of 1:2500.  This map was
included in the draft of Caving Report No.13 Part L, which was never
published.  To illustrate the surface
hydrology, the St. Cuthbert’s Report contained a map which included incorrect
features from the 1961 6″:1 m O.S. map (Irwin, 1991, Fig.7, p.64).  At some time between 1985 and 1991,
Plantation Stream changed its course. From being a mess, the map situation had
become an obsolete mess.

The description of the surface hydrology, also written up in
the draft caving report, had likewise become obsolete. Stream studies needed to
describe the current situation began in 1994, and once again a map was needed.

MAKING THE SURVEY AND COMPASS CALIBRATION

In 1996, Frankie and I began surveying the streams, using
Suunto gear belonging to the club, and a Fibron tape (a genuine Cuthbert’s
veteran!).  Closed traverses created a
framework on which to hang the data.   As
to calibration, something new was tried. I took one wall corner near the Belfry, and a second near Fair Lady
Well, both of which were clearly identified on the 1963 1:2500 map.  The justification for using these two wall
corners will be examined later.  The plan
co-ordinates of the two wall corners were measured on the map to 1/4 m.  The angle needed to yield the best closure
from the first corner to the second was the compass correction for the
day.  Spreadsheets by Lotus were used for
all the computations.  Four different
routes from one corner to the second were surveyed, each one in a single
day.  One of them contained a mistake,
but the other three gave mutually consistent data.

Early attempts by Ellis to survey in the St. Cuthbert’s
Lead-works in Priddy Minery failed because of magnetic disturbances.  In the 1967 survey and in the present survey,
the method described for detecting and avoiding magnetic anomalies (Irwin and
Stenner, 1977) was used successfully.

 

25” Map of the Cuthbert’s area

Key:

V St. Cuthbert’s Swallet Entrance Shaft

1.                  Sample site, Mineries Pool outflow stream

2.                  Sample sitte, St. Cuthbert’s stream main sink.

3.                  Sample site, Fair lady Well.

4.                  Maypole Sink.

5.                  Intermittent.

6.                  Maypole overflow corner.

7.                  Intermittent tributary complex.

8.                  Aqueduct.

9.                  Source of former (pre 1985) Cuthbert’s stream.



6” Map of the Cuthbert’s area

Key:

8 St. Cuthbert’s Swallet Entrance Shaft

1.                  Sample site, Mineries Pool outflow stream

2.                  Sample sitte, St. Cuthbert’s stream main sink.

3.                  Sample site, Fair lady Well.

4.                  Maypole Sink.

5.                  Intermittent.

6.                  Maypole overflow corner.

7.                  Intermittent tributary complex.

8.                  Aqueduct.

9.                  Source of former (pre 1985) Cuthbert’s stream.

10.              Former Pool, now breached.

THE CLOSURE ERRORS OF TRAVERSES IN THE SURVEY

Seven closed traverses were examined, and the results are
shown in the following table.  Lengths
are in metres.

No.

Length

Legs

Horiz.
Misc.

Vert.
misc.

Slope
Misc.

%

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

389 

350 

508 

478 

479 

895 

854 

29

26

37

33

35

65

62

0.48

0.45

0.93

2.87

1.51

4.54

1.74

0.57

0.68

0.11

0.37

2.25

2.74

2.36

0.75

0.81

0.93

2.90

2.71

5.30

2.93

0.13

0.23

0.18

0.61

0.57

0.59

0.34

The method developed for the St. Cuthbert’s Survey for
closing networks (Irwin and Stenner, 1975) was used.  Seven survey routes from the first corner to
the second were calculated and tabulated. The resulting co-ordinate changes, given in the following table, show
that route 7 contained a substantial error. Details of the seven routes led to the identification of the section of
route 7 which contained the error, and the misclosure error was distributed
along this section.  Spot heights were
calculated using the height of the top of the Entrance Shaft.  The 1967 survey data were recalculated, and
were consistent with the new data.


 

East

North

Height

Mean change of  6 routes (metres)

Standard deviation of  6 routes

Change given by route 7

Difference between route 7 and
Mean

Change from 1963 1:2500 O.S. map

Difference from Mean

210.4

1.4

207.4

3.0

211.5

1.1

295.4

0.4

294.8

0.6

295.4

0.0

4.1

0.4

6.8

2.7


 

MAPS USED FOR COMPARISON WITH THE NEW MAP

While the survey was being made, the positions of present
and former stream courses were measured. The intention was to try to reconcile the map being made with the 1961
and 1963 maps, and with earlier maps, and hence to establish the sequence of
the stream changes.  Copies of 6″:1
m O.S. maps of 1883 and 1903, and the 1:2500 O.S. map of 1903 were also
available.  During this stage of the
work, Chris Richards of Weston-super-Mare (and Axbridge C.G.) gave me a
photo-copy of a map which was probably made in about 1860, in connection with
the Ennor/Barwell legal dispute which came to court in 1860.  The map shows, at a scale of 1:2500, the
hydrology of the Chewton and Priddy Mineries. It included these features: Priddy Pot (=Potable?) Water Stream, Wheel Pit
(at Maypole Overflow corner) Swallet (at Plantation Swallet) and another Swallet
at Five BuddIes Sink.  The Mineries Pool
did not exist, and upstream of its present position were two Reservoir Ponds,
supplying water to the Washing Works near Five Buddles Sink.  The map showed the route of the stream in the
valley under the Reservoir Ponds, so it is possible either that the ponds were
relatively new in 1860, or that they were drained from time to time.  Efforts to reconcile the information in the
various maps will now be discussed.

STREAMS ASSOCIATED WITH ST. CUTHBERT’S SWALLET

Fair Lady Well and the Ladywell Stream were shown (as Spring
and Priddy Pot Water Stream) on the 1860 map. From the spring to close to Plantation Swallet, the stream followed a
bowed route, slightly to the east of the present route.  Beyond Plantation Swallet, the map of the
sinuous course can be superimposed perfectly on the present map of the stream,
drawn to the same scale.  When, in about
1850, Ennor took on the lease of the Priddy Minery (later renamed St. Cuthbert’s
Leadworks) one of the conditions stated that the Priddy Pot stream must not be
used for mineral purposes (Tilly, 1967, p3). Before being diverted, Ladywell Stream would have flowed into the
depression and into the cave; so in about 1850 the Ladywell stream was already
an artificial feature.  Close to
Plantation Swallet the 1860 map showed Priddy Pot stream crossing a stream to
Plantation Swallet, so a Ladywell aqueduct must have been in place then.  The date when the Ladywell stream course was
constructed is not known.  Perhaps parish
records may contain relevant information. The reason why the stream followed a sinuous course from Plantation
Swallet to the comer near Mr. Foxwell’s Drive is straightforward; it followed
the hydrological contour around the depression. This shows that the fundamental geography of the depression has not
changed since before 1860.  The
impression given by the 1860 and 1883 maps, that the area between the Belfry
and St. Cuthbert’s Lead-works was featureless, is misleading.

In 1860, the stream from Fair Lady Well was shown to have
been augmented by drainage from Chewton Minery. It would have been a larger stream than it is now.  Annual maintenance would have sealed leaks
such as those which currently allow the stream to shrink so much between the
source and the Belfry.  As late as 1954
the stream still reached Eastwater Lane, and vanished in a marsh on the far
side of the road to Priddy Green. In its prime, it flowed as far as the field
opposite the Queen Victoria Inn.  Since
the new Belfry was built, water flowing from the Drinking Pond does not
reappear on the surface.

The 1860 map showed five streams leaving the area around the
present Mineries Pool.  The first was
water from Fair Lady Well.  The second
was drainage from a part of the Chewton Minery which joined water from Fair
Lady Well, as described above.  The third
flowed into the Priddy Minery, and sank in the position of the Maypole Sink,
with overflow to the South.  The fourth also
flowed into the Priddy Minery, to the east of the third stream, to the Washing
Works, where it was joined by water captured by leets on the slopes of Stock
Hill.  The fifth, Dr. Somers Course, led
from an area near Fair Lady Well to the Wheel Pit near Maypole Overflow comer.  The present studies have failed to find the
exact location of Dr. Somer’s course; but from the comer, two courses were
shown which can still be identified; west to Plantation Swallet, and east to
St. Cuthbert’s depression.

The history of the five streams following the construction
of the Mineries Pool, and the later extension of the Chewton Minery tramway
from the pool to the Priddy Minery smelter, is not clear.  By 1953, water from Fair Lady Well had been
diverted into a new artificial course from the spring to close to Plantation
Swallet, where it rejoined its earlier course. This is the present Ladywell Stream, as shown correctly on the 1963
1:2500 O.S. map.  Also by 1953, the water
which had formerly made up the other four streams emerged from a single channel
underneath the tramway.  This was
Plantation Stream, which flowed in an artificial course (via a swampy pool
about half-way) to Maypole Overflow comer, where it turned west into Plantation
Swallet.  This stream was also shown
correctly on the 1963 1:2500 O.S. map, but the 1961 6″:1 m map was incorrect.  The sequence of changes between 1860 and 1963
is uncertain, and the new surveying has not removed the uncertainties.

The (approx.) century between 1860 and 1953 has given the
most difficulties, when attempting to reconcile maps.  In the 1883 and 1903 maps, the depicted
stream geography was different from that shown in the 1860 and 1963 maps.  Essentially the same single stream was shown
in all three available maps. (Mineries Pool appeared first in the 1883 map, the
tramway in the 1903 maps; locations of buddles in the depression, and small
ponds associated with them, were different in all the maps).  The single stream shown in the 1883 and 1903
maps was also reproduced in the 6″:1 m map of 1961.  In the 1:2500 map of 1903, Fair Lady Well was
shown as a small stand-alone pool.  About
25 m to the south-east, a stream rose, close to the present Mineries Pool
Outflow.  This stream followed a looping
course to the south-east of the “1860” Priddy Pot stream, to close to
Plantation Swallet (which was not shown in any form) from which location it
continued, following the old Priddy Pot stream course (which was drawn much
less sinuously than in the 1860 or the 1963 1:2500 maps, which may indicate a
lack of care in draughts mans hip).  Just
how this stream can be reconciled with the 1860 map or with the 1963 map is
anyone’s guess!  To take the 1903 map at
its face value, if the Mineries Pool outflow was indeed mixed with the flow
from Fair Lady Well and taken to Priddy as “potable water”, the
resulting water quality would have been dreadful. And if this was indeed the
situation, the Pool Outflow stream was already leaving the valley.  So why was it necessary to divert this water
into Plantation Swallet to drain the valley? Perhaps more information will come to light to clarify this muddle.

There is still ample evidence of a large number of minor
(and some major) drainage channels in the area downstream of the Mineries
Pool.  Evidence presented in connection
with the Ennor/Hodgkinson legal dispute showed that at the time, large
quantities of water were used by buddIes at the Priddy minery to concentrate
ore-bearing material, that the process resulted in serious contamination of the
Axe, and that flows of water entering swallets in the depression and Plantation
swallet had been measured.  It seems
likely that the outflow from the Mineries Pool could be diverted by means of
sluice gates either to buddIes in the depression or to a route to Plantation
Swallet.  After the conclusion of the
legal dispute, which forbade the disposal of contaminated water into swallets,
the water needed to prepare the ore was continually re-circulated.  For a number of years, valley floor material
was smelted directly, with no pre-treatment, and the volume of slag generated
by this process was substantial.  When
the Chewton Minery tramway to the Mineries Pool was extended to the Priddy
Minery, it covered the site of a group of buddles in the depression, and it
also covered drainage routes from Stock Hill to the Priddy Minery.  The tramway bank incorporated a
“siphon” for the outflow from the Mineries Pool.

Around 1900, the entire Plantation stream was diverted into
the artificial course shown in the 1963 1:2500 map.  This work could not have been carried out
without first diverting the Ladywell Stream from the course shown in the 1860
map, but this diversion could have been carried out at any time between 1860
and about 1900.  After the St. Cuthbert’s
Leadworks closed in 1908, annual maintenance of the Ladywell Stream was
continued by villagers until about 1960.

Between 1985 to 1991, the flow of Plantation Stream switched
completely to a “new” route from the swampy half-way pool into the
depression.  Here it merged with the
former St. Cuthbert’s Stream, and flowed on into the cave.

During the time when Plantation Stream was sinking in or
near Plantation Swallet, St. Cuthbert’s Stream (about one third of the size of
Plantation Stream) was an entirely separate stream sinking near the Entrance
Shaft.  There was no indication of this
stream on any of the O.S. maps which have been referred to, although earlier
versions of this stream were shown on the 1860 map.  The stream could be followed for about 170 m
to the north-east, where it emerged from a marsh.  In the St. Cuthbert’s Report, Dave Irwin expressed
the opinion that this water came from the Mineries Pool (Irwin, 1991,
p.63-64).  Recent studies have produced
new data.  Between September 1995 and
January 1996, a quite unprecedented surge of sulphate ions passed through the
Mineries Pool.  At the swallet, the
sulphate was shown to have been diluted by mixing with water from the former
St. Cuthbert’s inlet stream, which had normal sulphate levels.  By the Method of Mixtures it was possible to
use sulphate levels and discharge measurements, before and after mixing, to
calculate the sulphate levels in the hidden inlet stream.  Sampling was continued to February 1997, and
the sulphate surge was completely absent from the inlet.  This is proof that the water did not pass
through the Mineries Pool.

The 1860 map showed two leets (drainage channels) on the
south-western slopes of Stock Hill, where the underlying rock is at first
impervious Old Red Sandstone, then Lower Limestone Shales.  One leet took water to the lower Reservoir
Pool on the Chewton Minery.  Flow from
the second leet was divided between the two leadworks.  The area drained by the two leets is
substantial, and without artificial interception, the water would have drained
as “interflow” to the Priddy Minery. Earlier flow routes are now buried under the tramway from the Pool to
the Priddy Minery smelter, and under heaps of slag.  But in wet weather, water can be seen welling
up from beneath slag heaps, and flowing into the very marsh from which the
former St. Cuthbert’s Stream emerged. The chemistry of the former inlet (measured directly from 1966 to 1973
and by 6 samples taken in the recent studies, and from recent data calculated
by stream ratios) is similar to that of another spring nearby which drains Old
Red Sandstone; Fair Lady Well.  It is my
conclusion that the buried flow-lines from Stock Hill to St. Cuthbert’s Stream
still operate, and that drainage from this part of Stock Hill is indeed the
major source of the St. Cuthbert’s Stream inlet.

COMPARISONS OF MEASUREMENTS MADE FROM MAPS OF THE AREA

The reliability of two maps of the area was checked (they
were both originals, not photo-copies). The maps in question were the 1961 edition of the 6″:1 m O.S map,
and the 1963 edition of the 1:2500 O.S. map. First the north-south and the east-west grids were checked. Next the
diagonals were measured to check for angular distortion.  Then the checks were repeated on several
parts of the maps to check for planar distortion.  Both maps passed the tests.  The co-ordinates of 11 objects (such as wall
corners or junctions) were measured, and 2 point-to-point distances were
measured.  Measurements were estimated to
the nearest 0.1mm equivalent to approx. 2 m on the first map, and to 1/4 m on
the second.  Lengths had therefore been
measured to 4 m and 0.5 m respectively. From the results, the differences in east and west co-ordinates were
tabulated, and the plan differences were calculated.  The mean difference was 9.3 m, with a
standard deviation for 11 values of 6.40. The difference for one important corner, the one near Fair Lady Well,
was 25.5 m.  Without the distortion
caused by this exceptional value, the mean of the remaining 10 differences was
7.7 m (S.D. 6.04).  The difference in the
bearing of the wall between the two corners was 3¢.  A wall here is known to have been moved, but
it was obviously very important to know which of the sets of figures was
correct.

Two distances were measured on three maps; the 1963 1:25000
map and the 1961 6″:1 m O.S. map, as already mentioned, and a copy of the 1903
1:2500 O.S. map.  The lengths in the
present (1996) survey were also calculated for the same two distances.  The legs were chosen so as to include both
wall corners which had been chosen to calibrate the compass.  The two distances were:

1.                  From the lower wall corner to the wall junction
behind the Belfry, and

2.                  From the higher wall corner to the middle of
Fair Lady Well.

The results (in metres) are shown below:

Map

1961

1903

1963

1996

Lower
corner to wall junction

Upper
corner to Ladywell

53

8

57

2.5

47

23

49.0

23.5

The figures suggest that the 1963 1:2500 map was, in this
case, much more reliable and accurate than the other O.S. maps.  They also confirm that the two wall corners
originally chosen to calibrate the compass were satisfactory in this particular
case, but there had been a high risk of making a serious error.  Field results have once again demonstrated
the crucial need for taking very great care when calibrating compasses for cave
surveying.  The statistics quoted here
quantify the reliability of measurements which have been made from large-scale
O.S. maps.  If greater precision is
required, the use of satellite location technology will be necessary.

REFERENCES

Irwin, D.J. 1991 St. Cuthbert’s Swallet. BEC, pp82.

Irwin, D.J. and Stenner, RD. 1977 Magnetic influences and
cave surveying.  BEC Cav. Rep. 21 (Cave
Notes 1975-1977) 35-6.

Irwin, D.J. and Stenner, RD. 1975 Accuracy and closure of
traverses in cave surveying.  BCRA Trans.
2(4), 151-165.

Irwin, D.J., Stenner, RD and Tilly, G.D.  1968 The discovery and exploration of St.
Cuthbert’s Swallet. BEC Cav. Rep. 13(A), 36pp.

Stenner, RD. 1968 Water tracing in St. Cuthbert’s Swallet,
Priddy, Somerset.  Trans. CRG 10(2),
49-60.

Tilly, G.D. 1967 Manuscript draft of his contribution to
Irwin, Stenner and Tilly, 1968.

 Working Weekend

Cleaning, repairs, general
maintenance.

Plenty of work for all!!

BBQ free for all workers

Sat/Sun 16th/17th May

Meet at the belfry at 10.00 am

Contact: – Nicke Mitchell,

Hut Engineer For Further Details:

Rolling Calendar

25/4/98 – 8/5/98          Annual
Assynt Expedition, Scotland – J’Rat, Bat Products

10/5/98                      BEC
Committee Meeting, 7.00pm

15-17/5/98                  NAMHO
field meet Nenthead Village Hall, Nenthead, Alston, Cumbria

16-17/5/98                  BEC
Working Weekend -Nick Mitchell

16/5/98                      CSCC
Meeting

5/6/98                        BEC
Committee Meeting

13/6/98                      Rescue
Practice,  Location – T.B.A. – Andy
Sparrow  Meet at Belfry 10.00am

20/6/98                      The
49ers Birthday Party, Priddy Village Hall, Tickets available soon – Quackers,
J’Rat – Via Hunters Lodge or Bat Products

20/6/98                      GB
Conservation Day 11.00am at GB car park Andy Thomas Caving Sec.

317/98                       BEC
Committee Meeting

4-5/7/98                     Cavers
Fair Priddy Village Hall, Mendip, Alan Butcher

7/8/98                        BEC
Committee Meeting

??/8/98                      Austria
Expedition – Alex Gee

21-22/8/98                  BEC
Working Weekend -Nick Mitchell

4/9/98                        BEC
Committee Meeting

18-20/9/98                  BCRA
Conference, Floral Hall, Southport

30/9/98 – 14/11/98       ISSA
Exhibition, St David’s Hall, Cardiff – ISSA

3/10/98                      BEC
AGM and Dinner

18/11/98 – 28/11/98     A Brush
with Darkness – Paintings of Mendip’s caves – Wells Museum- ISSA

26/11/98                     Underground
painting techniques/demonstration, Wells Museum 7.30pm Robin Gray

There have been no specific requests for bookings for caving
trips in Yorkshire, Derbyshire or Wales from any members as yet.

Andy Thomas is planning to book some permits for the club
shortly, but what we don’t want is booked permits not being used, as per some
previous years; it’s not fair on the other clubs if we have unused permits and
they can’t book trips for a particular weekend. If you wish to visit a particular cave, please contact Andy with some
ideas for dates and he will do his best to book them.

We’re sure we have quite a lot of members who have done very
little caving anywhere apart from Mendip, so come on guys and gels, be a bit
adventurous!!!

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registered in England and Wales as a co-operative society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, registered no. 4934.