The
Exploration Club, The Belfry,
Road
Editor: Martin Torbett
Contents
- 1 Committee Members
- 2
- 3 Club News and Views
- 4
- 5 Dachstein Caving Expedition 1999 Eisturen Hohle (G5)
- 6
- 7 Passages Named Pooh
- 8
- 9 An Excursion To Harptree Combe And Mines
- 10
- 11 Caves At Branscombe
- 12
- 13 Shatter Cave – Exploration Fever
- 14
- 15 Another Breakthrough in Fairy Cave Quarry
- 16
- 17 Bats and Basques in America
- 18
- 19 Armchair Caving for the Alcoholic
- 20
- 21 Stock’s House Shaft – A Winter’s Tale
- 22
- 23 Rolling Calendar
Committee Members
Secretary: Nigel Taylor
Joint Treasurers: Chris Smart, Mike and Hilary Wilson
Membership Secretary: Roz Bateman
Editor: Martin Torbett
Caving Secretary: Rich Long
Tackle Master: Mike Willett
Hut Engineer: Toby Limmer
Hut Wardens: Vince Simmonds, Bob Smith
Librarian: Alex Gee
Hut Bookings: Fiona Lambert
Letters and articles published in the club magazine do not
necessarily represent the views of the Editor the Committee or the club in
general
Club News and Views
Members will receive a new Membership handbook with this issue which has been produced by Roz
Bateman. A lot of thought and work has
gone into this small book. New members
especially will be able to draw on club history, leaders and a wealth of other
useful information. Well Done Roz!
All members are
entitled to a yearly permit for Charterhouse Caves. This permit must be renewed and signed every
October. I know, like me, there are many
of you out there who have a permit but its 3 years out of date. Your committee insist that all cavers using
Charterhouse caves MUST have a signed permit yearly. Sorry about that but YOU are NOT indemnified
from claims otherwise. Ed.
If you have not paid your subscriptions by 1st April this year, you will cease to be a member
and will have to re-apply to the committee to join as if you are a prospective
new member
Recent Break in at the Belfry
A mentally challenged person or persons thought that
breaking in to the club house would yield something for the pocket. A small amount of money was taken, the
showers were wrecked and the overall effect is that you will have either NO
showers – too dangerous electrically, or free showers – no coin box. Please note- if a notice asks not to use the
showers DO NOT USE THEM. Hut Warden.
Withyhill and W/L
caves are now open for visits. Please use the same procedure as for other caves in this area- contact
Martin Grass before your trip.
Apologies to John
Williams for not publishing his article about GS cave in the last issue- it
arrived too late for printing. You may
have already read a similar article in Descent. John was able to go on this trip due to funds made available to him from
the Ian Dear Memorial Fund.
The Ian Dear Memorial
Fund offers financial help to cavers who wish to go on expeditions abroad,
but who may not be able to foot the bill. Currently there are still funds
available. Contact a committee member for further details of how to apply.
Mendip 2000 event
– see later article – The club will be promoting open days during the weekend
of 9-11 June, specifically for visits to St. Cuthbert’s Swallet cave. It is hoped to run a series of tourist trips
into the cave and there will be a display in the Belfry relating to the cave. Further details later. Ed
Dachstein Caving Expedition 1999 Eisturen Hohle (G5)
By John
“Tangent” Williams
Photographs by Joel Corrigan
Over the first two weeks this August, 11 cavers from various
places based themselves at the wonderful wooden Weisberghaus (a bit like the
Hunter’s except at 1883m). The main
objective of this trip was to continue pushing Eisturen Hoble (G5) towards the
Sudwestem series of Hirlatz Hohle in the hope of making a connection. A quick look at the survey will show that no
connection was made this year. However,
the cave was extended to a depth of approx. 520 m., with potential for further
discoveries next summer still remaining very good indeed. Several other cave sites were explored also,
however, I’ll write about those another time. This was my first trip to the Dachstein area, and my first time caving
outside of the
its caving.
“If it holds its own weight up it must be safe”
John and Chris Lloyd at the Entrance of G5
Chris Lloyd and I made the first visit to the cave of the
trip. A ladder was fixed in the narrow
entrance and down we went. The ambient
temperature of the cave felt shockingly cold. I was surprised by this. It was
an entirely new experience. Once off the
ladder we moved down a short climb and then into a twisting rift. Presently we found the way on at floor level
blocked by ice.
A handy rock was found and the ice plug was slowly broken
up. The dry creeping cold that emanated
from the ice began to gradually penetrate through my caving gear. Lying sideways in the rift on a floor of ice,
occasionally moving backwards chunks of ice that Chris had chipped away, I
tried to distract myself from the chill by looking at the rock. It was mostly a yellowy white colour with hints
of orange in places, it appeared to be very crystalline, and was spikily
sculptured by lots of small scallops. The way it reflected my torch light as I lay there it seemed almost to
glow with cold.
Soon we were on the move again, and at a pitch head which we
would rig and then call it a day. This
bit of passage was like Eastwater meets Wigmore, except on ice. After passing Chris various bits of
ironmongery he thrutched his way forward whilst I moved along behind to stuff
the rope through a hole up on our right.
“Rich sure did a job on this one!” (vertical guru
speak) exclaimed Chris as he moved backwards and forwards trying to move to
near where the bolt hole was.
“John, why don’t you try this instead … ” said
Chris as he reversed from the passage for a rethink, which seemed to involve
me. “I haven’t got my harness with
me Chris, besides I haven’t a clue how to rig stuff” I replied.
Chris tried the move again, “I’m thinking of Pacific
beaches … ” (more vertical guru talk).
Meanwhile, I searched the passage walls for an alternative
belay point. Picking up some rocks I
eventually persuaded one to become a chocks tone in the rift, a plan was
formed. With less ice than in previous
years, an alternative approach to the pitch head was possible lower in the
rift. The rope was belayed to the newly
created chockstone, another small rock was tied to the end of the rope to help
us swing it, and grab at it as it went past the hole we were trying to
thread. I thrutched back up into
position whilst Chris slid along on the ice below towards the pitch head. The cowboy bit was done with the rope and
after a bit of “Go, go gadget arms!” I caught hold of the line and passed it back to Chris to do some vertical
guru knot work. After some half hearted
ice chipping in the approach to the pitch we made our way back out. I returned to the surface certain that the
next two weeks were going to be very enjoyable indeed (which they were!)
“My kingdom for a carbide rocket pack”
Huw Jones on the entrance Pitch of G5
On the next trip I finally had to put my rather theoretical
S.R.T. skills into practice. Waiting at
the base of the “Action Reaction” pitch for my turn on the rope, time
seemed to just stand still.
Once I’d managed to take most of the stretch out of the
rope, and was left hanging just above the ground, the clock began ticking once
more. The passage of time was nudged
forwards by the bounce of the rope as I slowly pulled away from the
ground. After a while the motion became
routine and I found myself hanging in the harness kind of adrift. I sat there spinning in the void barely
conscious of the increasing exposure anymore wondering how long it might take
to reach the top.
Occasionally I was jerked back to semi reality when my Croll
would slip back down the rope, and I would have to pull the slack through the
device. Near to rock once more, I pulled
a flake of ice from the wall and sucked on it. Feeling refreshed by this, I suddenly for the first time became acutely
aware of where I was. Far below me now I
could see the faint flicker of a carbide lamp amongst some boulders. All around was both the awesome and sickening
panorama of rock, ice, and blackness, being briefly disturbed by the feeble
glow from my lighting. After looking
about, I decided to hurry on upwards. Time jumps ahead a little at these moments.
An insane worm or Gecko in G5
Then a rebelay loomed ahead. As it approached, the world I had briefly glimpsed shrank back to become
just the few inches of rope in front of my face, as the procedure for a
changeover flooded back into my mind. Time stood still once again, whilst I concentrated on completing the
changeover, and then to my surprise shouted, “ROPE FREE!” I had learnt a few things on the ascent and
time had made another jump forward.
The Cast of Characters
(In order of appearance)
Chris Lloyd (the token Canadian a.k.a. Vertical Guru), Pete
‘Snablet’ MacNab (the one responsible for this gathering) Joel Corrigan, John
‘Tangent’ Williams, Rob Garrett, Mike ‘Quackers’ Duck (as surface support ‘cos
TSA don’t make oversuits large enough anymore) Ian Wilton Jones, Peter Wilton
Jones, Chris Densham, Huw Jones, & Peter Hubner.
Acknowledgements
John Williams relaxing after his trip
Thank you very much indeed for the hospitality and support
of Wolfgang & Alfi at the wonderful wooden Weisberghaus. “PROST!”
to Pilz Robert for flying the B.E.C. flag, and sharing a drink or two with us.
The Ian Dear Memorial Fund for helping me get there in the
first place.
Plan survey of G5 I have only printed this part of the
survey as the complete A3 survey would have been too small on reduction. Ed.
Passages Named Pooh
by Dave Yeandle
During the summer of 1972 I spent several weeks caving in
the Pierre St Martin in
world. Our Expedition planned to make it
even deeper. One day Dave Gill, Paul
Everett and I were pottering around near the bottom of a series of shafts
called the Maria Dolores. These shafts
were completely separate from the Puits Parment series of shafts, which led to
the deepest point in the cave. Our plan
was to push the bottom of the Maria Dolores to below the depth of the Parment
and become “The deepest men in the world”. On an earlier trip Dave had found a pitch in
amongst some nasty boulders at the bottom of a 35m pitch called Puits
Sauron. On that occasion he did not have
sufficient ladders to explore further. As Dave now prepared to descend the new pitch I decided to have a look
around the boulder choke. I found that I
could do a tricky, traverse over the new pitch and reach a continuing
rift. My carbide light was very dim by
now so I stopped to fettle it. To my mild
surprise I soon had a lovely bright light and could appreciate the nastiness
and exposure of the traverse I had just done. I was glad I had had such a poor light earlier as I seriously doubted
whether I would have made it into this continuation had I appreciated what I
was actually doing. Still, new cave
beckoned so I set off to explore. After
a few metres I reached another pitch.
I set off back to Dave, quaking a lot this time on the
traverse. By now Dave had laddered his
pitch and set off down. I quickly
followed and we explored several short, sporting wet pitches to a rift that
became too tight. Still keen for more
exploration we rushed back up the pitches and over the traverse to the new
pitch. We hung a ladder down and I set
off. At first it was tight and I
thrashed around to make downward progress. Soon though the rift widened and I excitedly zipped down the ladder for
20m to a fair sized downward sloping passage. The walls of the cave were clean white limestone and decorated with
pretty cave flowers and calcite crystals. I was very pleased with myself and scampered off downwards. Soon I came to another pitch, but I had run
out of ladder and that was it for the day. This was great, a wide-open cave that was obviously going to go
deep. The icing on the cake for me was
that we would not have to carry all the ladders back out as we would clearly be
returning. Unencumbered we could make a
rapid exit to our wonderful little world of campsite, sun and cheap wine.
Back at Saint Engrace, word soon got around that we had
broken through in the Maria Dolores. Soon a group of most of the cavers in our rag tag expedition were
gathered around to hear our tale. I felt
really chuffed for amongst this group were some of my caving heroes; Dave
Brook, Mike Boon and Mike Wooding. I
gave a dashing account of our explorations and announced that the word depth
record was going to be ours. This
produced a round of cheers.
“Hooray! Well done Pooh” exclaimed Mike Boon.
“We’ll call the new pitch, Puits Pooh,” announced
Dave Gill.
“Good old Pooh, Puits Pooh!” the whole group
shouted.
Caver in PSM
All a bit over the top really, but that was how we used to
carry on and we were happy enough! Guess
what, we didn’t actually break the world depth record. In fact it all went a bit pear shaped and
ended in epics on dangerous, but not deep enough pitches and silly grovellings
in passages that refused to go. At one
stage Boon ended up lowering me over the edge of a 30m pitch on a rope because
we both thought that we were only above a short drop. This caused me great alarm and it took a
while to sort the problem out. Boon
thought it hilarious.
It was a good expedition though and we had many caving
adventures, found quite a lot of new passage and kept getting very drunk and
falling over in the field in St Engrace. Apart from that there is a little bit of
Pooh.
In 1975 I dived two sumps at the bottom of Pippikin
Pot. These dives happened as a result of
a heavy drinking session I had at the Hill Inn with Tony Boycott, Bob Churcher
and Tessa Pearse. After too many pints I
had mentioned that I would like to dive these sumps some time in the future. Somebody outside of our group must have
overheard me and started a rumour. Imagine my surprise when later in the evening a guy came up to me and
offered to help me carry my bottles on my diving trip down Pippikin the
following morning! The conversation went
like this.
“Are you Dave Yeandle”
“Afraid so”
“Can my friend and I come on your trip down Pippikin
tomorrow. We’ll help you carry your
gear”
This was shocking! ” Thanks mate, but we haven’t got
enough ladders to do the trip”
(Relief an excuse!)
“We have plenty of ladders, don’t worry we’ll ladder it
for you”
Very worried, “Oh great, see you tomorrow”
In the morning I managed to scrounge a line reel off Bob and
eventually we got going. The party
consisted of the two guys we met in the pub, Tessa, Tony and myself.
I think our two new friends (J Fox and J. L Preston) were a
bit disappointed by the disorganized nature of the venture they had so kindly
become part of. In any case they set off
to Leck Fell ahead of us to start laddering up the tight entrance series.
After a large breakfast in Bernie’s Cafe; Tessa, Tony and
myself drove up the road to the Lost Johns car park and staggered down Leck
Fell to the entrance. We were laden with
diving gear and wondering how on earth we were going to manage it all underground. We were very pleased to find our new friends
at the entrance who informed us that they had teamed up with two other
cavers. They did not know who they were
but they had volunteered to help. These
new people had gone on ahead into the cave and were laddering it up. So now we had five of us to carry the diving
gear and the ladders for the lower pitches. This trip seemed to be just happening on it’s own. All I had done was to say I was going to dive
both sumps at the end of Pip. People
were so willing to help me that it was now actually getting done.
We just seemed to zip down the cave and the diving gear was
not a problem. I suppose we were young,
fit and on form. It was all going rather
well. At the junction with Ratbag Inlet
we caught up with our new members and made our introductions.
“Pleased to meet you Pooh, I’m Dave Savage”
I was astonished. “Not the Dave Savage, who pushed
Wookey Hole!!”
“Well yes, I haven’t done much caving for a while, I
fancied a look at Pippikin but we didn’t bring enough ladders; it was lucky for
us we met up with your party.”
I was getting even more amazed now. Here was one of the cavers who along with
Mike Wooding had been first to Swildons 12. He had been one of my schoolboy heroes. Now he was helping me to do a dive and he seemed to be nearly as
disorganized as I was; and also a really nice bloke. Upon reaching the final pitch we discovered
that we were still short of one ladder. Dave Savage was still above the previous pitch and agreed to stay where
he was and lower a ladder from that pitch, to enable us to reach the dive
sites.
I decided to dive downstream first. The sump was tight and wide and becoming
disorientated I did a U-turn and started to swim back the way I had come. I surfaced one metre away from where I had
entered the sump. I did not know this
though as my friends upon seeing that I was coming back had hidden and turned
out their lights. My light was a bit dim
and I did not realize what was going on. Even so I could hardly believe that I had broken through so easily so I
tentatively called out, “Can anybody hear me”. After the inevitable merriment at my expense
I dived again and found the way on into an apparently large underwater passage,
which I followed in poor visibility for about 100m. I turned back before reaching the third
margin in my 40 cubic foot bottle, in order that I would have sufficient air
for a dive in the upstream sump.
The summer had been dry and water levels in Pippikin were
low. This helped with my second dive of
the day as the upstream sump started much further along the inlet passage than
it had back in 1970 when I had been with a party exploring this part of
Pippikin. When it did sump, it did so
decisively and I easily followed a small but comfortable sump, in good
visibility. I passed two air-bells in
mounting excitement and reached a slight upward constriction, about 50m from
where the sump had begun. I had now
almost reached the third margin of a bottle that had been well depleted on the
previous dive. A desire for self
preservation now started to dampen my urge to continue. I felt very strongly that I was about to
break through into something big and yet I knew I would be taking a big risk
going into what may turn out to be an underwater squeeze, with a low air
supply. My explorations were usually
like this, an almost schizophrenic battle between two personalities; one
needing comfort, safety and an easy life. The other needing massive adrenaline hits, success and adventure. Pooh version one won this little battle and I
turned back.
I returned to base, I think in retrospect, near hypothermic
but then feeling weak and despondent at having turned back. I gave an account of my dive to my excellent
supporters. Tessa gave me some of her
food and a hug and we set off out; everybody but myself well pleased with our
efforts. We made a short side trip on
the way leaving the narrow streamway and climbing up into the spacious Hall of
the Ten. This is the place where my
mates from the Happy Wanderers had realised that they had hit the jackpot with
Pippikin Pot. While resting, I told my
newer friends some stories about the Wanderers and my adventures with them,
underground and on the surface in the Dales, in Europe and in
crazy game called caving and that I was soon to combine this with my passion
for world travel. In a few days time I
was finally leaving for
Guinea
in the sump. New adventures beckoned.
It was three years in later, in 1978 that I returned to
and I was fortunate enough to get involved with the filming of the Yorkshire TV
film, The Underground Eiger. Better know
to us as “The Keld Head Film”
During the period we were involved with filming in Kingsdale
exciting discoveries were being made by the Northern Pennine Club over in
Easegill. They had dug open a shaft in
Easegill Beck and dropped into a large passage that they rapidly explored to
the top of Echo Aven in Lancaster Hole. Meanwhile other passages in this new cave they had named Link Pot were
being discovered and some of these were heading towards Pippikin Pot.
Andy Eavis had a few years previously climbed Echo Aven and
if at the top he had only entered a hole over the other side he would have
found Link Pot. Not wanting to miss out
in a similar manner I felt I should return to Waterfall Chamber in Pippikin and
do another dive in the upstream sump. This dive kept on getting delayed partly because I was busy with the
filming and partly because I had trouble getting enough helpers. I knew I had probably left it too late when I
heard that Bob Hryndyj had dived at the end of a passage called Easy Street in
Link Pot and got through to an underwater passage which sounded from his
description to be the same place I had been in 1975.
One Saturday morning, shortly after hearing about this
imminent connection between Pippikin and
/ Easegill / Link, Geoff Yeadon and myself were in our sleeping bags at
Henpot’s caravan. Once again Henpot had
given us accommodation after a night in the Craven Heifer pub. I was not feeling well and things got even
worse for me when Bob Hryndyj unexpectedly burst into the caravan and said to
the already arisen Henpot:
“Hey Henpot, can you lend me a line reel? I need it to clinch the connection from Link
to Pippikin before Pooh has a chance to do it the other way, upstream from
Pippikin”.
He then noticed to his surprise that the very same Pooh was
glaring at him from a horizontal position in a sleeping bag. Somewhat embarrassed at this discovery Bob
for once was lost for words. Unlike me
Henpot was most amused and was laughing too much to reply to Bob’s request. I could hear quiet chuckling coming from the
direction of the Yeadon pit.
“Go on, let him take it Henpot”, I said in ill
humour. “I’ll get my revenge on you
Hryndyj,” I added in frustration. “Now get out of here and leave me to die in peace”. I concluded illogically in reference to my
unmanageable hangover.
Bob made the connection that day and I never did “Get
my revenge”. A few years later
Geoff pushed the downstream sump in Pippikin. The one I had dived immediately prior to doing the upstream sump. He broke through to a dry passage and named
it “Pooh’s Revenge.”
I hope that some of you readers enjoy reading these
adventures. If you think you can put up
with more of this sort of thing, why not visit The Adventures of Another Pooh
Website at www.veandle.co.uk
Left A photograph of the EDF hut which is inside the tunnel bored
by EDF to harness the waters of the underground river- they don’t use the
tunnel apparently! !
Right La Vemain in PSM
An Excursion To Harptree Combe And Mines
O/S EXPLORER MAP 4 (Orange series)
By Vince Simmonds
Start in the
local shop, in a south-easterly direction to the combe. Follow the path through the combe, taking
note of some very good outcropping of dolomitic conglomerate, until reaching
the aqueduct beyond which is an obvious fork. Take the left-hand path (towards Proud Cross) follow for approx. 200m
where Mine No.1 is located in the right-bank approx. 20m from the path at the
base of a large beech tree.
Mine No.1 (5619/5566)
A short mine of approx. 11m (4.5m of which is open
gully). It is 1m wide and up to 1.6m
high. There is a vein of dog-toothed
spar, which has been blackened, and some small geodes of calcite.
On the way up to the mine a series of sinkholes are passed
these are most probably linked to the line of works that run down this
valley. There is a gated conduit that
flows into the main combe where the two meet near to the aqueduct.
Back at the fork follow the path up-valley for approx. 200m
where Mine No.2 is located, in the right-hand bank approx. 10m above the combe
floor.
Mine No.2 (5603/5576)
Twin Passage Mine
Two parallel passages approx. 7m in length 0.75m wide and up
to 1.75m high. At the end both passages
are joined. The most southerly passage
has a pool of water and ends in boulders.
To the south and above the mine is an open rift approx. 20m
in length.
Directly opposite Mine No.2, in the left-hand bank, are
Mines No’s.3,4 and 5.
Mine No.3 (5606/5574)
Rift Mine
This is the largest of the mines and is approx.30m in length
although the first 10m is an open gully where the earthen roof has
collapsed. The single passage is 0.75m
wide and up to 6m high. The roof through
most the mine consists mainly of earth. It ends at a large chamber with obvious workings and along its length
shot-holes are visible
Mine No.4
10m south of No.3 another rift mine approx. 11m in length
(5m of open gully) with a solid roof
Mine No.5
10m south of No.4. Single passage approx. 13m in length 1m wide and up to 2m high.
Mine No.6 (5603/5568)
70m south of No.5 and 25m up left-hand bank. Follow steep gully upwards, the mine is just
below the top. It is 5m long, up to 1.5m
and 0.75m in width. The roof is entirely
made up of earth and numerous roots.
Between Mines No’s 5 and 6 a footpath up the right-hand bank
(west) leads across fields to a track. Follow the track to where it meets
right into the lane (downhill) will take you back to
Harptree
Alternatively you may wish to explore the rest of the combe
or take the path to the left (east) of the mines and look around the site of
look to have been worked at sometime. It
is possible that some of these excavations could date back to the mid-1500’s
when calamine was used in the brass industry, a valuable commodity being used
for arms in the war against
REFERENCES:
Haines – Nutt. R. Frank & Mulvey. Christopher
1963 Not in
– or
WCC (Jnl) 7(90)199-207(Jun)
Hendv. Philip G.
1967 Mines of
Harptree
SVCC Newsheet (9)(3-4)
1968 Analysis of rock samples
from mines in East Harptree Combe
SVCC Newssheet (2)(2)(Feb)
1971 Qualitative analysis of rock
samples from E.H. Combe
SVCC NIL (9-11) (Dec 1970/Jan
1971). Map
D.
1963 Mines of
Harptree
SVCC NIL 1(2)3-4(May)
1963 Mines of Harptree Combe,
with a brief reference to
in these mines and the geology of the combe.
MNRC Jnl. 1(1)14-17(Jan)
Budd. Jon
Harptree
Caves At Branscombe
Rob & Helen Harper
Branscombe, which is between Seaton and Sidmouth in
Southeast Devon, is the most westerly place that chalk sea-cliffs occur in
these cliffs there are a number of short sea caves. Most of these are the result of enlargement
of faults or fissures and none is of any great length, at least so far! This article is the result of a spare
afternoon during a week’s break last May.
CAVE DETAILS
Although these caves may have local names we have just
numbered them from west to east. These
are just the caves at beach level, there is another small rift system on the
cliff above as well as numerous extensive stone mines in Beer.
CAVE 1
NGR SY225879
The first obvious cave at beach level when walking west from
Branscombe Mouth. Large oval entrance
followed by an inclined shingle floored rift which quickly becomes too narrow
for further progress.
CAVE 2
NGR SY225879
Low entrance approx.1.0 x 0.5m about 50m west of Beer Head
leads to a shingle floored rift with dimensions approx. 0.6 x 1.8m quickly
narrowing to end after 20m. All level
and on a bearing of 005 deg.
CAVE 3
NGR SY226879
20m west of Beer Head an obvious large entrance at the top
of a 3m rubble slope next to a sewage pipe. Sandy floored chamber with two rift passages leading off both of which
quickly narrow.
CAVE 4
NGR SY228879
An oval opening in the cliff face on the point of Beer Head
approx. 1m above the high water mark. The 1.5 x 2m entrance leads into a small chamber with another smaller
entrance on the right. Straight ahead is
a ‘T-junction’ at a rift approx. 1m x 4m. To the left a short climb goes up to another entrance and to the right a
scramble down leads to yet another entrance with or without a pool depending on
the state of the tide.
CAVE 5
NGR SY228880
A large rift approx. 50m east of Beer Head. The impressive entrance soon lowers to a
crawl after 10m and becomes too narrow after a further 4m. Shingle floor throughout.
CAVE 6
NGR SY228884
The most interesting of all these caves. About 80m east of Beer Head next to an
obvious cliff fall a slightly inclined shingle floored rift about 2m high and
between 0.5 and 1m wide leads after 10m to a boulder pile in a small breakdown
chamber. The passage continues beyond
this boulder pile as a crawl with a very strong draught. This has not been pushed to a conclusion.
CAVE 7
NGR SY229884
Walking east along the beach from Cave 6 pass through an
obvious rock arch and the entrance to Cave 7 is easily seen at beach level in
the next point. A short section of
shingle floored rift (another low entrance on right) leads into a rock floored
walking sized passage with a pool in the floor. Just beyond the pool a short (2.25m) aven leads to daylight. Straight ahead is a three-way junction. Right leads out to the beach through a low
shingle floored arch and straight ahead leads via a constriction to a small
shingle floored chamber with no way on.
CAVE 8
NGR SY229886
Obvious entrance about 3m above beach in cliff approx. 40m
east of cave 7. A level tubular passage
in rock initially 1.0 x 1.0m becomes too narrow after 8m all on a bearing of
349 deg.
SURVEY NOTES
Surveys have been attempted of all of the caves whose
termination could NOT be seen from the entrance. A grade of 2b has been claimed for the
surveys. Compass bearings were measured
using a hand held “Silva” walking compass measured to the nearest two
degrees. Distance was measured to the
nearest 5 cms. using a fibron tape. Inclination was estimated. The
notes were written at the time of surveying. Subsequently centre line and passage wall plots were drawn using
“COMPASS” survey software. These plots were then imported to Corel Draw and the detail added.
Shatter
Cave – Exploration Fever
Pete Glanvill and John Walsh both
write about different discoveries in Fairy Quarry that occurred within a few
days of each other. Ed
On Sunday November 7th 1999 a rather large and optimistic
party assembled outside
Grass Jonathan Chipchase Nigel Cox (Pete G’s brother in law) and Ken
Passant. We still hadn’t established a
name for the new series we were about to enter, nomenclature having varied from
the topical (Viagra Rift) through the descriptive (Halloween Rift, Shatter Pot)
to the memorial (Ellis Pot). I felt it
would be nice to commemorate Brian Ellis in some way by naming a bit of cave
after him. He was instrumental in
expanding my knowledge of
schoolboy by indicating where they were and how to visit them. He also supplied me with all my original cave
surveys and exchanged notes over the exploration of
Intrepid caver entering new rift
Anyway back to the 7th of November and the top of the new
rift. After Martin had driven in a bolt
and some gardening had been done it was decided to let Nigel descend first –
the more sensible assembled having relatively little enthusiasm to be first
down a shaft possibly overhung with boulders. After a short interval some mutterings from the base of the 5 metre pitch
confirmed our fears. After a short look
over some boulders one way and a peep the other Nigel decided to return leaving
the indestructible Chipchase to descend closely followed by yours truly.
The rift drops over jammed boulders to a mud floored boulder
pile sloping downstream to a roaring streamway all of 2 metres long. Although the stream seemed to be entering a
sump, one could see and hear by lying full length in it that the passage was an
impossibly constricted duck beyond which it continued – presumably into Conning
Tower Cave where intriguingly there is, at present, no apparent flow. Below the entrance climb and beneath some
nasty looking hanging death boulders the rift continued upstream and the muted
roar of the stream could be heard from its depths.
Peter Glanvill cautiously weaved his way over and under the
dodgy boulders and slithered the 6 metres to the bottom of the rift where the
stream could be heard under a low choked phreatic arch. After some desultory digging his glasses
steamed up and after a worrying thrutch he managed to re-ascend the rift
without rearranging the boulders.
Back at the cave entrance a council of war ended with PG
re-descending armed with a bolt kit and a crowbar, moral back up being provided
by Chipchase. A decent belay for a
ladder was then constructed to avoid the really hairy boulders before Pete got
back to the digging face. Ten minutes
work enabled him to slide feet first into another 2 metre long stretch of
streamway. Downstream the water gurgled
into the boulders while upstream a very constricted duck/sump would admit a
boot. There might be scope for a dig
here as the floor of the stream consists of loose boulders. Skinny cavers with a resistance to
hypothermia should apply. The streamway
is very immature with little signs of sculpting by the water at stream level.
Exploration completed we removed the ladders but left the
bolts and hangers in situ. Prospective
visitors please note that if you visit the new series first you can forget
about doing the rest of the system unless you have a complete change of
kit. A trip to the bottom coats you in a
nice layer of mud.
So there you have it.
now has 2 – 6 metre pitches and 4 metres of streamway!
Peter Glanvill November
21 st 1999.
Another Breakthrough in
Fairy
Cave Quarry
by John Walsh
Tuesday 16th November.
Myself, Andy Thomas and two prospective BEC members, Helen
Hunt and Mat Davey were exploring a muddy little tube on the right side of
Balch cave. After moving a large rock in
the mud floor, I managed to squeeze through into a six foot long mud
wallow. I reluctantly crawled through
only to come up in the quarry!!
Friday 19th
Mat and myself returned to have a look at Erratic Passage. Halfway down on the left hand side a small
slot under the wall looked interesting. After moving some mud and rock we could see a drop. I threw a pebble
down- it sounded like a fair drop. We
were unable to proceed due to lack of equipment.
Tuesday 23rd
With the aid of pick and bar, and Andy’s sweat and blood, we
opened the slot enough for me to squeeze through. It dropped straight down a sloping twenty
foot water worn chute into a small chamber. On the right was a phreatic tube about three feet in diameter running
down dip for about one hundred feet, with a lot of shattered formations in the
floor. About half way down the tube
there was a twenty foot pot with a jammed boulder halting progress. On the opposite wall of the small chamber a
hole at floor level presented another surprise – a forty foot deep water worn
pot about ten feet in diameter. Due to
lack of tackle and time, we retired to the Hunter’s to celebrate.
Sunday 28th
Helen, Mat and myself descended the forty foot pot to find a
mud floor taking water- no way on there yet.
At the bottom of the tube there is a slot. Through this there is a flat out crawl at
floor level that needs to be dug; also, an S bend with a ten foot climb at the
end to a small terminal chamber.
John Walsh
No chance of metrication in Fairy Quarries it seems. Ed
Bats and Basques in
America
by Rich Long
If anyone is expecting a lot of technical information on
caves and caving techniques from my trip to
WELL!!
If you have ever had to catch an early morning flight from
Heathrow you will already know that the booking in hall and seats were designed
by the Marquis de Sade and his even more degenerate chums. By three o’ clock in the morning and check in
time I was completely crippled. My neck
was now stuck at a ninety degree angle, my right knee had become disjointed and
had taken on a life of its own, locking up or giving way as it wished. Hobbling along slumped across my dribble
soaked luggage and attempting to steer my little trolley, with one half closed
bloodshot eye my fellow travellers were strangely quiet and gave me a great
deal of room. Even the kind baggage lady
asked “Would I like some help to board the plane and would I care for a
wheelchair?”
“Nooo, Nooo, Fank you!”I said from numb, slobbery
lips as I limped away to the next wait in the departure lounge, behind me I
heard one of the passengers say “Oh, isn’t he brave to attempt such a trip
alone, in that condition. ” I turned to see who she was talking about but
there was no one there, our eyes met, well her eyes met my one open eye and she
waved. I returned the wave and grinned;
she gasped and fell back against her husband who said “Christ!”
We boarded the plane, I got a nice aisle seat near the
toilet, I find you suddenly get an enormous bladder problem if you are blocked
in at a window seat. My next seat
traveller turned out to be a young lad about 8 years old who took great delight
in telling me all about Jumbo jets, while his Dad snoozed, until we hit an
airpocket somewhere over
fell over. Some prayed, some wept, I did
both of these and cursed with every swear word I had ever heard at the top of
my voice. This seemed to work as the
plane suddenly ascended as quickly as it had fallen. There was silence for several minutes after
this as all of us adults came to terms with a near death experience. I came out of this quite quickly as I am used
to caving with Zotty on a regular basis.
So, we landed in
I collect my baggage, a rucksac as big as a small bungalow and phone Jay
Jordan, the guy-I have been e-mailing for about 2 months- the phone doesn’t
answer! No matter how many times I ring
he is not there! (The BEC reputation has
gone before me?)
Nothing for it, book into a Motel, sleep, eat and see what
turns up. Two days in Dallas and I am
going insane, it is mobile phone land, get out NOW!
Well the trips in
dead, so
here I come!
Flew into Carlsbad and the lady at Hertz rental was so nice
she actually shut up shop and took me into town to find a Motel, American
hospitality or what!
I got to
and met Stan Alison and Jason Richards, who sends best wishes to you all, they
remember some of you, you know who you are!
Now my luck started to change a little. I met a great guy called Curtis Perry, who is
a lighting technician, climber, caver and store owner and he invited me to go
on a filming trip to
as he said they were only making a nature movie and not Return of the Living
Dead IV. I would just be carrying
batteries and lights but I would meet some of the top cavers in the
and get some more trips from there.
Next day, Curtis brings his friend Gus Widen- a man who, I
found out later, could climb up glass. Gus was so good at climbing they had him try to escape from the bear
compound in the Living Desert Zoo. This
was because the bear himself was a bit of a Houdini and he kept getting out and
raiding the local cabins. Well the
keepers would drag him back and lock him in and then he’d get out again. They put up an electric fence, he still got
out. Well, they stuck Gus and a few
other local climbers in and Gus got out. So did Aaron, another human fly, but the rest were captive along with
the bear. So, a second electric fence
was put in and up to now the bear hasn’t escaped but, I watched him study those
fences and that wall, it’s only a matter of time!
Anywhoo, back to the story. That day was the weekend for hunting so everywhere along the road across
the desert and up into the mountains were guys with red hats and big guns,
anything. Not too many ramblers about
that weekend!
On the journey to the cave we were unfortunate enough to hit
a cattle guard and bust one of Gus’s bearings on his pick up- just what you
need on rough mountain roads. We limped
up to the mountain top and met the film crew who were doing the interviewing of
the principal players.
Eventually we got to enter the cave carrying huge packs, the
entrance was about 30 feet across and an easy zig-zag path down into it. The formations started immediately at the
entrance, huge stalagmites 40 to 50 foot high, massive flowstone. I was off but Tom Zane, the director, soon
advised me of my position in the scheme of things. Alright, I am a Limey but I do know who both
my parents are!
The filming went great, there were even some Mexican long
tailed bats still flying in to roost, so we had to be very careful not to
disturb them. Everything was over by
about 8 pm and watching the huge lights illuminating the formations was a
magnificent sight. We exited the cave to
look at a star studded sky with no light pollution – it was absolutely
fantastic. Then we sat round an old
Apache mescal pit and had a barbeque. Whereupon, my new found friend Gus and I managed to demolish some tasty
American beers and a litre bottle of Chivas Regal between us before we both
nearly did headers into the fiery pit. It was decided bed was the safest option!
Now, there is a saying in
Englishman has had enough to drink, you can smell his skin burning! ”
Next day after finding all my clothes and boots which seemed
to have been scattered all over the clearing we headed out to
home.
To be Continued. Ed
Armchair Caving for the Alcoholic
by Tony Jarratt
The Editor’s request in the last BB for more cave theme beer
labels inspired me to delve into my collection of “speleobooze”
ephemera – both subjects being dear to my heart. I came up with the following
and I know that there is a vast amount more available worldwide. Serious students should consult the pages of
the Belgian published bulletin Collections (now defunct). To keep in with the current interests of some
members I have included mines as well as caves.
Beer – Cans and Labels
Canned Anchor Beer,
Archipelago Brewery Co.,
including a tiny picture of a cave scene and the words “The Sarawak
Chamber,
Liquan Beer,
photo of
Belfry Brew. The blue and gold label commemorates the 50th
Anniversary of the BEC and sports a gold “Bertie Bat” .
Rescue Ale
(Morland’s Old Speckled Hen). The label
has a Balch drawing of Eastwater boulder ruckle to celebrate the British Cave
Rescue Council Conference, Priddy, 9-10 July 1994.
Association of
Bottled Beer Collectors, August 1989, Hunter’s Lodge Inn, Priddy. The back label bears an old engraving
(c.1750) entitled “A View ofOkey Hole”. (This society was run by the writer’s brother,
Dave Jarratt and the above two label designs were suggested by the writer.
Barrie Wilton produced the end results).
Le Casque (The
Helmet). Biere artisanale naturelle.
Brasserie La Binchoise, Binch, Belgique. The label has a blue caving helmet and Petzl carbide unit.
Krugman, Attendorner,
Hohlentropfchen. Sauerland. The label
bears a small coloured photo of a grotto – presumably in a show cave.
Canned John Davey’s
Cornish Ale, Redruth Brewery,
Carries two small, identical logos of a Cornish engine house.
Shakemantle,
Freeminer Brewery,
in the
Freeminer Bitter,
ditto. Label shows the famous mediaeval
iron miner logo.
Deep Shaft Stout,
ditto. ditto.
Slaughter Porter,
ditto. (I have no label for this beer –
named after
– as the name was changed soon after due to its unfortunate appearance at the
same time as the infamous Fred West murders!) It is now back on draught with the original name. Freeminer Brewery produces other mine
inspired tipples – see the Good Beer Guide 2000, p.472 for more details.
Pick Axe Pale Ale,
Tommyknocker Brewery,
American micro-brew shows a working gold miner (or a “Tommyknocker” –
a fairy miner) and the neck label sports a miner enjoying his ale!
Beer – beermats
and visitors admiring parakeets.
Miners Arms Brewery,
Own Ale, Brewed in Westbury-sub-Mendip,
Has a drawing of a miner’s safety lamp similar to the model lamp hanging on the
end wall of the (now defunct) Miners’ Arms restaurant, Priddy – original home
of this (also now defunct) brewery.
Tinners Ale, St.
Austell Brewery,
Cornish engine houses.
Beer – beer cooler
Shades of
Murrindal,
A neoprene “tube” cooler with a bat logo. (Essential Australian caving equipment!).
Whiskey – label
Stitzel-Weller Distillery, KY. This 1940s label has a superb coloured drawing
of the cave entrance.
Wine – labels, bottle and cork
Clamouse 1987 Shows
a b/w photo of this fantastically decorated show cave.
Clamouse 1993,
Two labels bearing coloured photos of different scenes in this cave
Cotes du Vivarais,
Orgnac, The label bears a coloured photo of the immense stalagmites in this
famous show cave.
Cotes du Vivarais,
Orgnac, Cuvee de la Speleologie Robert de Joly. A 1.5 litre bottle with coloured, stencilled
wording and a b/w photo of the stalagmites on the reverse.
Cuvee du Centenaire
de la Speleologie 1988. Shows a
drawing of two cavers on one SRT rope!
12eme Congres
international de speleologie 1997 La Chaux-de-Fonds. The label design appears to show an antique
statuette of two men enjoying their wine. Helmets, lamps and a bat have been drawn on for effect!
Cuvee des Grottes,
The main label shows a scene in the Grottes d’Arcy-sur-Cure show cave (
label has a small drawing of a cave guide with an instruction to “follow
him”.
Vin du Pays du
Caverne, Perigord. The label shows stylized prehistoric cave paintings.
Chateau de Lascaux. A stylized
horse is shown on both the label and cork.
Equus. The label shows a stylized horse cave
painting. (Available from Tesco!).
Grotte du Grand Roc. Shows a photo of helictites in this show cave
at Les Eyzies, Perigord.
Cuvee des Grottes
Petrifiantes. Bears a photo of the
show cave (ancient underground stone quarry?) at Savonnieres.
Caverns
a very fine reproduction of a painting of formations in this immense New
Mexican show cave.
Cigarettes
Bisonte. A Spanish brand with a coloured drawing of a
bull cave painting from
packet.
Zhijintiangong. The packet has a coloured photo of a Chinese
show cave scene.
and for the driver:-
Naktigone. A very unpleasant Lithuanian soft drink with
a “Bertie” type bat on the label!
Endless Caverns
Premium Mountain Spring-Water, Shenandoah Valley, New Market,
Well, that’s enough of that – I’m off down the Pub!!!!! Cheers, J.Rat
ADDENDUM: It seems that B&T Brewery of Shefford, Beds.,
produce both “Black Bat” and “Old Bat” winter beers. Plans are in hand to sample this brew.
Stock’s House Shaft – A Winter’s Tale
by Tony Jarratt
Continuing the series
of articles from BBs nos. 502, 504 and 505
“Failure is not
an option.”
The film “Apollo 13”
Enthusiasm for the dig tailed off as winter approached and
surface hauling became a bitterly cold chore. During November 1999 a total of 166 loads were winched to surface. Some half-hearted dowsing was done above the
conjectured courses of the three stream passages but the results of this will
only be known when they have been excavated and followed underground.
The Parallel Upstream Level was cleared of Old Mens
backfilling for some 6-7metres (20ft) to a blank wall and the recently
uncovered passage (Loop Level) opposite the Treasury of Aeops partly emptied of
its fill of sandy tailings and backfilled to rejoin the main Downstream Level
after some 5 metres (15 ft) – see updated plan. Along with these projects continued clearing of the Shaft bottom area
took place. In the Treasury itself a
boulder blocked rift in the ceiling was banged and cleared to reveal some 4
metres (12ft) of natural passage, becoming too tight.
On 29th and 30th November the end of the Downstream Level
was attacked after the water had been pumped back behind the 2nd dam. Digging conditions were atrocious but
eventually enough tailings were cleared to produce an airspace and strong
draught. Considerable amazement was felt
when the apparent noise of a falling stream was heard ahead! This was when the Five BuddIes stream was not
flowing and the Stock’s House stream was dammed. Could it be the Wheel Pit water? More banging and clearing was done in the Rat
Trap and plenty of full bags stored awaiting removal.
December started optimistically with a strong team digging
at the end and 232 bags were hauled out by the 8th. The “lawn mower winch” was deemed
to be not man enough for the job and was replaced with the M.C.G. power winch –
unfortunately proving to be inoperable and resulting in the continued use of
the man-powered winch. A third dam was
constructed in the Upstream Level and a fourth just downstream of the 2nd
dam. Being ridiculously optimistic that
we could cope with lots of water we took a bottle of “champagne” down
to cool ready for the big breakthrough! Needless to say the weather conditions at the end of December were the
worst for months with much of Chewton Minery flooded. There was some 4 metres depth of water in the
Wheel Pit depression. Despite this the
Stock’s House stream only backed up a couple of feet.
In the meantime work continued in the more accessible
passages. On 10th, 12th and 13th the Rat
Trap was further cleared to reveal a gallery heading south. This was named Greg’s Level and was emptied
of backfill for some 3 metres (10ft) to a blank wall. On 15th another 130 bags were hauled out and
clearing continued. P.B. found a 3″
long curved metal spike that may have been one of the prongs of a rake. More clearing of the Rat Trap was thwarted
when, on 26th, a minor roof fall was found here with a large boulder almost
blocking the level at the 6m aven just beyond. This was unfortunately the “shape of things to come” with a
whole series of collapses caused by floodwater washing out clay seams in the
fault above – exacerbated by the shock waves from bang used to break up large
fallen boulders.
On 27th the Parallel Downstream Level was the next to be
cleared of miners’ backfill.
Yet again a blank wall was reached after some 3 metres
(10ft) and this very short level may have been blasted out to act as a
“manhole” or refuge for the Old Men when they fired their black
powder charges further downstream. A
tiny trickle of water bubbled up from the floor at its end.
The following day discouragement reached a new height when
another major collapse was found in the Rat Trap and the writer had to beat a
swift retreat as a further one occurred while he was clearing it. One load was winched out that day and another
100 the day after when the Wednesday Night Team were treated to “Major
Dick White’s Levant Mine Punch”. This concoction was based on a Dorset recipe involving Jamaica rum,
cognac, Benedictine, lemon, sugar and boiling water and was distributed to the
Adventurers at the Count House dinners at this famous Cornish mine in the 1890s
– ” …. so potent that the smell of it a quarter of a mile away would
knock any man blind drunk”. Our two
new
recruits were suitably impressed. Another 22 loads reached surface the next day.
The last day of the 20th Century saw a boulder banged near
the 6m aven. It was revisited on 2nd
January to find the bang had done a good job – too bloody good in fact! Just beyond this point was now a blank rock
wall where the Downstream Level should have been. A massive roof fall had completely blocked
off the last 30ft of this passage but the stream was still gaily flowing on
underneath it. Utter despondency soon
gave way to the realisation that this lot would otherwise have eventually
fallen on its own – with probably fatal results. Resigned, the diggers started to clear the
collapse …..
Throughout January work was concentrated on this
problem. As the huge boulders slumped
down they were blasted at floor level (seven bangs) until an 8 metre (25ft)
high chamber resulted. This was so
impressive that it earned the name Heinous Hall (from the climbing cartoons of
Canadienne Tami Knight). A total of 325
loads of rock and mud were hauled out during the month and lots more remains
underground awaiting removal. WARNING: High in the ceilings of both the
Rat Trap and Heinous Hall are several huge and suspect boulders apparently
defying the force of gravity! DO NOT
HANG AROUND IN THESE AREAS!! It is
intended to construct some form of protective roof here using RSJs once the
level has been cleared. On 30th January
the continuation of the level was re-entered and found to be in good condition
Work continues and the
bottle is still unopened (but perfectly chilled).
Thoughts on the Hydrology.
Willy Stanton considers that all the swallet streams in this
area (Waldegrave, Wheel Pit, Five BuddIes and Stock’s House) feed the Cheddar
catchment via the dolomitic conglomerate filled basin or valley containing the
Wigmore Swallet drainage. He suggests
that this is partly proven by the Chewton Minery streams not having polluted
Wookey Hole during the period of the washing and smelting. At this time Cheddar Risings were permanently
polluted – partly by drainage from West Minery (Charterhouse). It is hoped that U.B.S.S. will soon conduct a
series of water tracing experiments to solve this for once and for all. Volunteers to test the risings at Cheddar,
Wookey Hole and Rodney Stoke will be required. Collection of samples every six hours over several days will be
needed. Anyone interested please contact
the writer.
The 1874 drawing of a Charterhouse lead miner (BB 505) is
one of only a small number of representations of the Old Men. Here are a few of them taken from various
publications. There are others in the
small but excellent Mendip mining display at
From a
map of 1612. A spade wielding”
groover” opening up his rake
From Thomas Bushell’s “ABRIDGMENT Of the Lord
Chancellor BACON’S PHILOSOPHICAL, THEORY IN Mineral Profecutions.”
1659. A 17th century miner with
pick/gad, leather (?) helmet, breeches and unknown object (ore sample?).
From a 16th century map of Mendip
1) Three working miners with pick, hammer and borer
2) Miner with pick
Additions to the Digging Team
Paul Warren, Tim Large, Jesse Brock, Guy Munnings, Anthony
Butcher (SMCC), John “Tommo” Thomas (WCC), John Williams (WCC),
Additional Assistance
Dr. Willy Stanton, Chris Richards (
Tony Jarratt, 27/1/00
The Editor writes please can you let me have articles for
the next issue of the magazine as soon as possible. This issue is a bit thin and if material is
not very forthcoming I will have to write a boring article about how the
Bulletin is produced and why it seems to take so long.
Rolling Calendar
Date Details
– Contact
19/2/00 A
night out with the MRO – Priddy Village
Hall 8pm
26/2/00 MRO
Resuscitation workshop – Hunters Lodge
Inn 7.30pm
03/3/00 Committee
meeting – Belfry 8pm
17/3/00 MRO
General meeting – Hunters Lodge Inn 8pm
25/3/00 MRO
lecture Casualty Care – Hunters Lodge
Inn 7.30pm
7/4/00 Committee
meeting – Belfry 8pm
15/4/00 MRO
Lecture-Use of Molephone – Hunters Lodge
Inn 7.30pm
5/5/00 Committee
meeting – Belfry 8pm
6/5/00 Underground
rescue practice venue to be arranged – this date is subject to change
2/6/00 Committee
meeting – Belfry 8pm