Belfry Bulletin
QUODCUMQUE FACIENDUM : NIMIS FACIEMUS
Editorial
Congratulations
The discovery of a new major cave on Mendip is always an occasion
for some rejoicing, and congratulations are due to Pete McNab (Snab) and his
merry men of the Tynings Institute for Troglodytic Studies on their successful
entry and exploration of Tynings Barrow Swallet.
Another aspect of their work which deserves praise is the
way that they stabilised and maintained good relations with the farmer. Soon after the hole first appeared, after the
great storm of 1968, some thoughtless cavers got to the swallet by breaking
through the nearest hedge. The farmer;
who keeps sheep in the field, was justifiably annoyed, and filled in the
hole. Last year, Snab not only managed
to restore good relations, but even kept them that way after an incident where
some visiting cavers once again took the
quick - but stupid - way in.
The Printing Story
In desperation, we gave last months B.B. to a professional firm to print for us, with the result which is now apparent. It would appear that these firms are just not used to dealing with paper plates, and have no idea how to handle them. However, we have at last got an expert to look at the printing machine and we hope that our difficulties are now solved. What happens to this B.B. will prove the point one way or the other!
The Do-it-Yourself B.B.?
At the time of writing, it is assumed that the article by
Graham Wilton-Jones giving a description of Tynings Barrow Swallet, has been
included in the February B.B. Graham
volunteered to type the article on duplicator stencils and get it duplicated
and supply the paper and get it included in the (already printed - after a
fashion by a professional printer!) February issue of the B.B.
There seems no real reason why this cannot be done again if
the need or opportunity arises. If some
member has a particular piece of 'stop press' news, and the means and
opportunity, the present format of the B.B. permits such a late inclusion. It does, however, make us wonder whether we
ought to go back to numbering each B.B. separately, instead of numbering pages
right through each volume as we do now. Has anybody any thoughts on this one?
Central Heating
As members will know, the committee was actioned by the last
A.G.M. to go ahead and install central heating in the Belfry should this prove
to be feasible. It would seem, however,
that things (as usual!) are proving more complex in practice than the A.G.M.
imagined.
For example, most of the quotes so far received mean that
the actual cost would be such as to spend ALL the club's available money. This is clearly possible, but is it
feasible? The condition of the Belfry is
giving the committee much cause for concern - if not alarm. An urgent job must be done on the sleeping
accommodation, and this has already got the 'go ahead' from the committee. There are also plans for improving the
showers and a longer term one for re-siting the kitchen. Plans for both these schemes are being
prepared for inclusion in the B.B. to give members a chance to air their
opinions. Certainly, the more urgent
renovations to the Belfry must be carried out. On the other hand, lack of adequate heating is a contributory factor to
the deterioration of the Belfry. One
answer would be an improvement to the heating but short of the idea of full
central heating. On the other hand, the
A.G.M. obviously had full central heating in mind.
Its not such good asking for less talk and more
action. What would you do under these
circumstances?
N.C.A. Again
The meeting to discuss the reaction of the Southern Council
to the proposed changes to the structure of N.C.A. is due to be held on
Saturday 26th of March. It is hoped to
include some comment on what seems to be the present situation in next month's
B.B.
Climbing
Just to remind you that there is a discount available to
B.E.C. current members at Ellis Brighams in Whiteladies Rd, Bristol. There is a rumour that Kevin is saving up to
get married and wishes to sell some of his climbing gear, said to be worth four
figures! See him at the shop - he's the
tall blond one. Seems they've got all
that new shop at Welsh Back has without the razzmatazz.
When the better weather is with us there will be a rock
climbing meet at Wintour's Leap near Chepstow. Good steep, safe limestone with
a good view of the river!
Russell Jenkins
Climbing Sec.
Russell has also sent a short climbing article in, which
will appear in the next B.B. Tales of
the climbing exploits of members are always acceptable, so if any climbers are
reading this how about it?
Exploring Swildons Hole.
The author of this article, Francis
Webb, died during August 1975, was an associate of Kangys and suggested to him
that the club might be interested in reading of Swildons before modern
techniques reduced it to the relatively simple trip of nowadays.
A
trip made on 6 May 1938 by Francis Webb. The Silver Jubilee of King George V.
When I was an undergraduate I made the acquaintance of a
student named B---. We used to doze
opposite each other in the University Library and to a casual observer we must
have looked equally devitalized. I
suppose that's why we first grew friendly - we recognised in our respective
attitudes the same sort of half-contemptuous, half-guilty protest against the
exertions of our neighbours around the table in the quiet bay where we
sat. There were earnest young women,
bespectacled and prim, who read and wrote simultaneously with a savage
concentration terrifying to behold. The
proximity of so much virtue intruding on our repose would cause us to exchange
an occasional troubled glance. Then B---
would settle himself back in his chair, and relapse into sightless
contemplation of the book propped open before him, never moving his eyes or
turning a page.
Still, this isnt an entirely fair and complete picture of
my friend. B--- once removed from the
debilitating academic atmosphere of the Library, could be active enough and
one and one of his chief interests lay in the 'pot - holing'. He was the Secretary of a Society which
existed to open up and explore the numerous caves in the neighbouring range of
limestone hills.
One morning I encountered B--- in the University Club. He greeted me with a little more animation
than usual. "Care to come caving this weekend he enquired we're thinking
of tackling - - - Hole, and we need a party of nine. Got to have some dull looking clots to carry
the gear, so I thought of you". Now
here I was woefully misled at the recollection of a previous excursion with
B---. It had been very pleasant, the
party had been mixed; we had travelled in a luxury coach; there had been
floodlights and underground lakes, wonderful caverns, impressive stalactites
and a first-rate tea. Nothing very
strenuous and the whole thing had been undeniably interesting. So, ignoring the somewhat equivocal
implications in the phrasing of the present invitation, I accepted at once.
When I arrived next day at the hut, situated in a lonely
part of the hills, which formed the headquarters of the Society, I was puzzled
at first by the curious lethargy which seemed to be gripping everyone. For the most part, fellows, about a dozen of
them, were lying on their backs in the sunshine doing nothing, as only
undergraduates can. After a bit I began
to wonder when we should make a start. The summer afternoon was slipping away and it would soon be
teatime. I voiced my curiosity to B---
but he was unconcerned. "It's all
right, no hurry, this is an all night show, lie down and rest". I lay down and, as I digested this cryptic
information, I began to slowly realise that this expedition, and my previous
experience of caving, were just likely to be very different.
At length, Primus stoves were lighted and Bacon and Eggs
began to sizzle in the pans. Meanwhile,
from a little shed, which formed an annexe to the main hut, coils of line and a
bulky maze of rope ladders began to appear. These were followed by sledge hammers and crowbars. My suspicions were rapidly confirmed. Evidently, 'carrying the gear' was going to
form no inconsiderable contribution to the exercise.
We set off about 6-30 pm dressed in filthy old boiler suits
and stout hobnailed boots. Together with
two other neophytes I had been allotted the humble role of bearer to the leader
of the party. We four were to go ahead
with most of the tackle to a place obscurely designated as 'the top of the
forty' whilst the seasoned campaigners followed on unencumbered and at their
leisure.
We crammed ourselves into a car already loaded with
rucksacks and ropes and bumped for several miles over a rough track to an
isolated farmhouse. Here our leader
obtained a key from the farmer and. then led us across a field to the bank of
an innocent looking stream. But there
was one feature peculiar to it. After a
few hundred yards it suddenly disappeared through a padlocked iron grill into
the ground - and it didn't seem to reappear anywhere either.
Our leader raised the grill and disappeared into the
hole. It was the most unimpressive
entrance that could be imagined. Squeezing myself through the narrow opening I could help feeling a
sneaking sense of shame in sinking out of sight down an (extra) ordinary
looking drain.
Inside, the passage was narrow, low and very dark and
wet. We lighted stubs of candle and
dragging our cumbersome burdens, groped forward, following the bed of the
stream, wading waist deep in water.
Very soon I became familiar with two common experiences
common to caving. One was the
extricating sensation of hot candle wax spilling onto the back of your hand
when you clutching for your life some knob or cranny in a slippery passage, and
dare not move a muscle to avoid it. The
other concerned the unbelievable perversity of loosely bundled rope
ladder. Of all the damnable contrivances
to attempt to convey through narrow, twisting passages, nothing could exceed
the malignancy of this horrible contraption. Lying flat on my back, with the tunnel roof an inch or so above the
face, it was necessary to pass the ladder bit by bit along and over my body,
into the grasp of the man ahead. I had
just pushed the leading end beyond my head when I found my arms and hands locked
immovably. Meanwhile the ladder travelled
slowly over my upturned face, each rung hooking me in turn underneath the nose,
until it was jerked free by an extra sharp wrench which banged the back of my
head against the floor, clunk-clunk-clunk for forty interminable feet.
Of course, we were not always in such cramped
situations. Sometimes we passed through
large and echoing caverns, the sombre, moisture stained walls reaching
endlessly up into the darkness. Still
dragging our loads we climbed along slippery ridges and slopes following the
course of the water through a maze of crevices and fissures. Occasionally we climbed down a vertical rock
face with only the faint gleam of our leaders candle at the bottom to guide us
through the darkness. Each time we came
to a particularly awkward place, I began to hate my rucksack and the rope
ladder with increasing force. Sometimes
I seemed jammed beyond all hope of release, then being hung like a worm on a
fish hook. I would succeed at last in
extricating myself and to hurry after the flicker of my companions candle
light, before fading into the distance
I had just become used to going this way when trouble
occurred. I overhauled the other three
who were holding a council. One of my
fellow bearers, slipping on a sharp rock, had jammed his leg on a crevice and
his knee was badly damaged and perhaps broken. Luckily, our leader was a doctor he decided that we would go on with the
kit to the appointed rendezvous and then return to get the injured man to the
surface. So leaving the injured securely
anchored to the rock with an array of candles for company, we continued along a
low and narrow tunnel with the water still swirling waist high around us. As we progressed, labouring under our
burdens, suddenly the roof sloped to the surface of the water, barring our
way. Above the bubbling gurgle of the
water which disappeared though its outlet I seemed to feel rather than hearing
a dull reverberating roar. Here I was
instructed to make myself comfortable whist the others returned to the scene of
the accident and the injured man.
For the first hour, the novelty of my situation was
sufficient to outweigh the disagreeable aspects but after a while, sitting in
the rushing water, I began to feel cold.
By bracing my back against one wall of the passage, and my
feet against the other, I managed to raise myself partly out of the stream but
even so I wasn't very comfortable. Then
I began to think of the weight of rock above my head. Somewhere, perhaps miles above my head was
sunshine and open air but all I could see was the dripping black roof of the
tunnel, toothed with stalactites like the mouth of some dreadful prehistoric
monster I reflected that I could not possibly find my way back alone through the
labyrinth of passages and caverns through which we had traversed. My thoughts were rather depressing and I
hoped that my friends would not forget to come and collect me. I decided to stop thinking so and amused
myself by singing all the most flippant songs I knew. Pretty soon, that got to be boring also but I
found that a new interest became most absorbing - this was in watching my
candle stub grow rapidly shorter and I watched with dreadful fascination its
dwindling - I was going to miss that friendly flicker when it eventually went
out. At length it gave its last glimmer
and I was alone in the darkness. Not
quite alone, it seemed however, for I began to be aware of a curious almost
imperceptible flutter in the air around me, something that suggested the
darting flight of a bird, but softer, more ethereal. Im glad that I didnt know then that some
caves are often inhabited by myriads of bats, I wasn't really sure at the time
whether anything was there or not; it just felt like something flitting past my
head now and again. I thought that it
was time that I pulled myself together or I might begin seeing things too and
after all there wasn't anything to really worry about. Old B--- and the rest would be along any time
now and they would laugh like hell to see me clawing the wall and
gibbering. But in spite of my best
efforts I must have looked pretty wan when at last a distant gleam heralded the
arrival of my friends.
B--- saw no reason for the obvious pleasure with which I
greeted him. He enquired briefly whether
we had rigged the ladder for the descent of the 40 foot and it was borne in on
me that the night was yet young and there was plenty more caving in store for
me before we finished.
We duck through here said B-- indicating the hole through which
the stream disappeared. "Take a
deep breath and don't get stuck. Give me
time to get my light going again when I'm through then feed the ladder through
to me. When that's through you can
follow". I swallowed down most of my
insides and took a very deep breath indeed. I suppose that the part of the tunnel completely sealed by water could
not have been more than a few feet long but to me it seemed as long as
eternity. I was determined to obey to
the letter Bs injunction about not getting stuck. No eel could have surpassed my performance in
getting through that hole and as I emerged on the other side I remembered
thinking My God, to get home Ive got to get back through there! I found myself clinging to B--- and perched
on a sloping ledge over which a tidy sized river was disappearing into
bottomless space the cause of that curious reverberation which I had
previously noted was now apparent. The
noise was deafening. Our candle threw
sparkles of iridescence on the mist of spray rising from the gulf.
B--- and the old hands got busy with the rope ladder. I realised that it was proposed to descend
the fall. When my turn came I wasn't
clear headed enough to wait for full instructions though I understood vaguely
that there was a twelve foot deep whirlpool below the fall and that the
technique was to swing on the end rung of the ladder like a pendulum, letting
go at the right moment so as to land at the edge rather than in the centre of
the pool. But the full force of the
water on my head and its removal of the candle from my grasp, half stunning me
and completely blinding my vision so confused my already partly turned wits so
that I could only cling like a clam to the ladder, breathing in ragged sobbing
gasps that choked me with water swallowed and inhaled. Somehow I found myself gripping the bottom
rung swaying slowly in and out, in and out of the full strength of the torrent
as I tried to pluck up the courage to let go and fling myself to the edge of
the pool. I lingered so long on the
bottom rung that at last a peaceful end in the depths of the pool began to
appear preferable to further delay so I jumped and landed on all fours in a
relatively shallow place from whence I was hauled by those who had descended
before me.
After that, a mere twenty foot waterfall later on in our
course seemed tame. Even a 90 foot rope
descent, the rope running in a sort of inverted parabola over inky chasms and
sabre toothed pinnacles of rock failed to dull the vivid impression left on me
by the first waterfall. I could not help
thinking that climbing up it again was likely to be just as impressive as the
descent and in this I was not mistaken.
When we arrived at the extreme point of penetration into
this particular cave, my powers of sensation were pretty well used up. I can remember eyeing the long bamboo rod
which had been used in an attempt by a previous party to blast a way onwards
with explosives. I wondered what it had
been like in getting them down here. Portions of a home-made diving apparatus which had been employed in an
effort to penetrate further underwater moved in me no more than a heartfelt
thankfulness that certain essentials had had to be taken to the surface for
repair, leaving the outfit temporarily unsuitable for use.
At last we started back. Once or twice I found myself at the rear of the party with my candle
stub accidentally extinguished with no dry matches. I resolved that I should be extremely active
in avoiding this particular nightmare in the future, and hastened to catch up
with B---, and so it was that we arrived within the sound of the 40 foot fall
far in advance of the rest of the party.
Now B--- was proud of his lamp - it was a small acetylene
affair with a naked flame like a lizard's tongue; the sort of thing that miners
wear in their caps in which are free from firedamp. He turned it up until the flame was nearly a
foot long. With this he was convinced
that he could climb up through the fall and that it would stay alight despite
the torrent beating on it. He proposed
that instead of waiting at the foot of the fall, we should surprise our friends
by waiting for them at the top. Personally, any delay would have been acceptable but I was in no state
to resist argument and B-- prepared for immediate ascent.
He explained that he would take a rope with him to serve as
a communication cord and
lifeline. When he signalled by jerking
the line I was to tie it round myself and follow him up. Without further delay he disappeared up the
ladder. As soon as I was alone I began
to hate the idea of swinging again on the ladder and the whirlpool seemed to be
making sucking noises with a sort of anticipatory relish - but at last the
ladder ceased swaying - B--- must have arrived at the top.
I grasped the life line secured to the bottom rung and
hauled it back to where I was standing. With numb fingers I began to fumble the line into a bowline round my
waist muttering the Boy Scout recipe for rabbits coming up out of the hole and
round the tree, which is supposed to produce the requisite loop. But try as I might my bowline just wouldnt
come out right. In the middle of all
this preparation I became aware of a tremendous bellowing from above. This was accompanied by fierce jerks on the
line, which slipped from my un-nerved hands. The noise of the fall effectively drowned the sense of Bs shouts but
guiltily conscious of my inabilities I interpreted that as shouts of impatience
at my delay. So, abandoning any discretion and the struggle with the bowline I
stepped onto the bottom rung and launched myself into the torrent.
My candle put out in an instant and at the same moment the
icy stream hit my head with a sledge hammer force driving the breath from my
lungs and forcing my head down between my shoulders. My knees bent beneath the pressure from above
until my arms were at full stretch, the water tore at the suspended frame, stinging face, eyes and hands and
battering my bruised senses to confusion. In the overwhelming tumult, rational thought was impossible, all the
same I became aware of my feet stumbling on the rungs as I began to clamber
painfully upwards.
Immediately the loop of the lifeline fell from my waist to
my knees and then slipped further to my ankles. For some reason B--- was not taking in the slack as I mounted. I toiled on, trying at each rung to step out
of the loop. Suddenly, one of my feet
missed the rung and I clawed desperately with the free leg, waving it madly
above the drop. The ladder, free from my
distributed weight, was pushed askew by the thrust on one leg and no longer
hung vertically but made sickening lunges in all directions, threatening at any
moment to hurl me off altogether. All
this while, B--- continued his unintelligible roaring from above. As I swung giddily in the middle of the
torrent, what I feared most suddenly occurred. My convulsive struggling caused my other foot to slip from the ladder
and I was left dangling by my arms alone. Try as I might I was unable to locate the ladder again with my toes. It
was obvious that I could not last long like this and I decided that the last
breath in my body should be devoted to communicating my difficulty to
B---. With the screech of a banshee I
informed him of my predicament. His
reply was an immediate hauling on the lifeline which was well and truly tangled
around my ankles. Slowly but
relentlessly I found myself being pulled upside down, my hands gripping the
sides of the ladder in a frenzy- and my heels disappearing above my head in the
grip of that ghastly loop. Once more I
outlined the position of my affairs to B--- in a vocal record which surely must
have created a record. Mercifully, he
heard me and stopped pulling. The sheer
relief at being up the right way seemed heavenly, it gave me strength for one
last effort and kicking myself free from the loop of line I wrapped myself
round the ladder and eventually managed to get one foot on one side of it and
the other on the other side. This is
held to be the safest way I now know but here there was a particular snag, the
top yard or so of the ladder lay over a projecting bulge of rock, the rungs
tight against its face so I was forced to risk again taking one foot off the
rungs before I could drag myself to safety on the ledge.
I was greeted by an irate B---. "You damned fool, why didn't you wait at
the bottom? I shouted to tell you that
my lamp had gone out".
Neither of us had any dry matches so we crouched on the
ledge in total darkness, listening to the fall of water, our teeth rattling
with cold and, in my case, with ill repressed emotion, until the rest of the
party came up to join us.
The remainder of the journey was relatively uneventful. Emerging at last through the very ordinary
grill I found the pale stars of a summer dawn above my head but I was not
conscious of any sublime or elevated feelings. I was just immensely glad to throw away the remains of my last candle
stub. We had been underground, in icy
water off and on, for nearly ten hours. Lying in a heap of straw in the farmers barn, warming our numbed bodies
with rum, we treated the affair with a nonchalance which I found at first a
little unnatural. But gradually the
whole experience began to fall into a more rational focus and when viewed
through the tawny mellowness of a tilted rum bottle it began to seem a pretty
good show after all.
Lead Mining Methods of Mendip and Derbyshire
For a minority of Mendip Folk, mineral mining conjures up
visions of great vaults and vast networks of passages having teams and teams of
miners hewing their existence out of the living rock. This is, of course, not an accurate picture
and the miners endured, in their efforts to eke out a living, many dangers
including those of gas, collapse and inundation.
Of the three, collapse was perhaps the easiest to deal with
as almost all of the passages were in solid limestone or toadstone, so it was
when the "old man" was driving through shale that he was troubled by
collapse problems. These were mainly
overcome by the construction of lined shafts and arched adits or levels. However, the shale also presented the problem
of Gas.
Fire Damp (CH4) only found in mineral mines when shale or
the like is exposed and the gas, when able to collect in rock crevices to mix
with four to twelve times its volume of air, is potentially lethal. The effect of its ignition could be to
produce a sheet of flame which would seal the upper part of the mine passages
and in the wake of the explosion would come the Choke Damp (carbonic ash
residue) which being heavier than air would soon overcome and suffocate any
survivors of the explosion. Another gas
hazard could arise from the imperfect combustion of the Fire Damp, Carbon
Monoxide (White Damp) was equally deadly and even if it did not kill on the
spot it had a more or less permanent effect on the inhaler as it was most
difficult to expel from the body. Explosions were not confined to being caused by gas though, the
occurrence of 'Slickensides' or 'Cracking Holes' or 'Looking Glass' (limestone
or sometimes lead ore with a ribbed and polished surface) sometimes caused
explosions of incredible violence due to stress and strain forces building up
in them. These occurrences were
particularly common in the Eyam district of Derbyshire where there are records
of many miners being killed in such explosions.
The main problem countrywide encountered by the Miner was
how to drain the workings. In Derbyshire
there was usually a simple solution by driving an adit through to the nearest
valley and so empty the water from the workings there. Sometimes, where two or more mines were
working in close proximity a joint effort was made to effect drainage.
Passages below this level were pumped out and several
methods used are worthy of note. The
Mendip miners hampered by the absence of deep valleys, hauled out the water in
nine gallon leather buckets and the miners would make use of local swallow
holes both for drainage purposes and also for spoil dumps.
One of the early pump methods in use was the Archimedes
screw which was generally produced by the use of a hollow log containing a
wooden corkscrew inside which when turned would raise a small amount of
water. However, if it was inclined at
too steep an angle the water would drain out so the more efficient Rag and
Chain type pump was used.
The Rag and Chain was used extensively in the early 17th
Century and through to the mid 19th Century. It consisted of an endless chain passed through a hollow log which was
looped and turned by a spiked wheel of 2 to 3 feet diameter. At intervals on the chain were mounted leather
bags filled with horse hair or rags and these fitted closely inside the log
pipe. When the log was immersed in the
water pumping was effected by turning the wheel and trapping water in the pipe
and transferring it to the top. This was
the first pump capable of moving large volumes of water and sludge but its
operation was exhausting to those driving it. The next generation of pumps were those of the steam age such as the
Newcomen 'atmospheric' engine and the Bolton and Watt beam engines.
But thats another story
The Festering Column
by Plagiarist
Following on in the tradition of 'Wig' and his 'Round and
About' notes, one of our local Mendippers has, after much nagging from the
production team, taken up his pen with the intention of giving us a regular
series of news and in some cases gossip.
1. The recent incredible burst of enthusiasm on
Mendip has seen the production of two new guide books as well as some major
cave extensions
Barrington and Stanton have almost completed their revised edition 'Caves of
Mendip" and publication is anticipated in late spring.
Tony Knibbs and 'Wig' will soon be issuing their new book (during March) which
is to be titled "Mendip Underground". The book is not intended to either supplant or to be a competitor to
Caves of Mendip but will be a more detailed work carrying detailed descriptions
of caves which the authors opinion, 'significant'. The descriptions are excellent and many
consultants have been called in to give information on normally inaccessible
cave passage (e.g. Swildons 10 to 12). It is rumoured that the information contained is so complete that it
will no longer be necessary to actually visit a cave to be able to discuss it
authortively - clearly this will be the best thing to hit caving since N.C.A.
2. Tynings Swallet has finally yielded some of its
secrets to the determined onslaught mounted against it by the Tynings Institute
for Troglodyte Studies (a group of select individuals dedicated to muddy digs
and abbreviations). So far the swallet
has revealed 3,000 feet of fine passage of the shredded neoprene variety. Access at present is not too easy and potential
sightseers/explorers should contact Martin Bishop or Snab.
3. Fault Chamber (Swildons) has produced a further
250 feet of passage found by the Portsmouth Poly Brigade these students get
everywhere dont they. Jubilee Turn
(Swildons still) just after sump 4 is proving interesting and chemical
hammering should eventually result in a breakthrough.
4. Iran 77 expedition has now 19 fully (?)
committed members and up to the present has received over £1,000 in grants and
donations. There are prospects that a
farewell barrel and drinking contest before the off on August 1st.
5. The note for this session - Don't be put off by
the recent collapse in the barrows. Entry has not been prevented.
Monthly Crossword Number 73
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Across (Passages)
5. Where the Marquis keeps his
money near the U.B.S.S. hut? (4,7)
6. Staid mine workings. (4)
9. After young sheep shelter right for Mendip caves. (4)
10. C.B. Chamber. (4)
11. Additional in next rawlbolt. (5)
12. There are lots of this in some caves. (4)
13. Broken off formation? (4)
14. Infill, perhaps. (5)
17. Still stal off this cave formation. (7,4)
Down (Pitches)
1. Untrue underfoot in some
caves? (5,6)
2. The hand the editor employed. (4)
3. Found in a cave, a stream or associated with water on Mendip. (4)
4. Indent a clino but still obtained what I wanted from it! (11)
6. St. Cuthberts block. (5)
7. Bury underground between. (5)
8. Vandals verb? (5)
15. G.B. has a gallery for one of them. (4)
16. All this when full of its last three quarters. (4)
Solution to No. 72
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Club Headquarters
The Belfry, Wells Rd, Priddy, Wells, Somerset. Telephone WELLS 72126
Club Committee
Chairman S.J. Collins
Minutes Sec M. Wheadon
Members C. Batstone, P. Christie, J. Dukes, R. Jenkins T. Large, Barry Wilton, G. Wilton-Jones.
Officers Of The Club
Honorary Secretary M.
WHEADON, 91 The Oval, Englishcoombe, Bath. Tel : BATH 713646
Honorary Treasurer B.
WILTON, Valley View, Venus Lane, Clutton, Nr. Bristol. Tele : TEMPLE CLOUD
52072
Caving Secretary TIM
LARGE, 15 Kippax Avenue, Wells, Somerset
Climbing Secretary R.
JENKINS, 10 Amberley Close, Downend, Bristol.
Hut Warden C.
BATSTONE, 8 Prospect Place, Bathford, Bath..
Belfry Engineer J.
DUKES, 4 Springfield Crescent, Southampton. SO1 6LE Tele : (0703) 774649
Tacklemaster G.
WILTON-JONES, Ilenea, Stonefield Road. Nap Hill, High Wycombe, Bucks. Tele :
(024) 024 3534
B.B. Editor S.J.
COLLINS, Lavender Cottage, Bishops Sutton, Nr. Bristol. Tel : CHEW MAGNA 2915
Publications Editor C.
HOWELL, 131 Sandon Road, Edgebaston, Birmingham 17. Tele : (021) 429 5549
B.B. Postal BRENDA
WILTON Address as for Barry
The views expressed by contributors to the Belfry Bulletin, including those of club officers, are not necessarily the views of the committee of the Bristol Exploration Club or the Editor, unless so stated. The Editor cannot guarantee that the accuracy of information contained in the contributed matter, as it cannot normally be checked in the time at his disposal.
QUODCUMQUE FACIENDUM : NIMIS FACIEMUS
Editorial
Hard Luck Story
A glance at any typical B.B. will show that far too much space is taken up in explaining just why the club' s journal is once again in some sort of trouble. It would seem that we might almost take it for granted that things will not go smoothly, and leave it at that without wasting space in explanations.
Fair enough. But the recent troubles have gone on for so long that members, who after all expect their fair share of B.B.s: are entitled to know just why they haven't been getting it often enough of late.
In January, just when we had got all the team working away - with plenty of stuff to print and lots of willing hands to help out generally, the printing machine started playing up again. This time it was the feed - the mechanism that puts one sheet of paper at a time into the machine for printing. By the time we had reluctantly decided that we wouldn't be able to print the B. B. for January, we had wasted a lot of paper; wrecked several plates and got a whole pile of badly printed copies.
Out first expert arrived and fiddled with the machine. It seemed to work. In the meantime, we had got desperate and given the plates for February to a professional firm to print for us. They were not used to dealing with paper plates, and the result was not very happy. It was now the end of March and we had only produced a rather badly printed February B.B. and some even worse stuff towards January.
However, the committee decided that since we had a lot of plates already typed, and they would all have to be re-typed on to stencils for the Gestetner, the best thing would be to get the printing machine going.
The only difficulty seemed to be the general shortage of, and retiring nature of the experts. By a sheer stroke of luck, I eventually found one, who came out and did things to various springs. When he had finalised, the machine fed anything from thin bank paper to reasonably stiff card. Now that we had the feed going properly, it was possible to adjust the pressures to get the right printing density. Even so, there are still some small snags, but at least we have a machine which will print. Even better, we now have a tame expert who we can call on straight away if we get any further trouble.
This episode has taught us a lot of things. Firstly, the cost of professional printing is very high, and a professionally printed B.B. (as some people had suggested at the last A.G.M.) would drain club funds to the extent of stopping almost any other use of club monies. Secondly, hybrid schemes like us typing the masters and getting someone else to run them off is full of dangers, and so on.
As a result of all this, it is natural that people have stopped writing for the B.B. until they can be assured that it will once again be regular. This is very understandable, and the B.B. will be kept going by printing various things, like the minutes of the last A.G.M. to keep it to size while the contributions pick up again.
I hope that, after all this, it will not be necessary again to have to spend time and space on the subject of what has gone wrong with the B.B.
N.C.A. and All That
Another subject which seems to go on for ever, and with which we keep threatening readers of the B.B. is that of the N.C.A. and what is happening with the ideas put forward so long by the Southern Council to make sure that the whole thing doesnt get out of control in the future. The whole thing grinding its slow and painful way, but a meeting is going to be held late in June and there is some chance that agreement might actually be reached. When we can see through the fog, we will let members know what has actually happened. Meanwhile, it all goes on a bit like the fictional University of Charterhouse, which members may remember from a Christmas B.B. of not so long ago.
Dinner
We hope to bring you news of the Dinner as soon as possible this year. One thing is certain - there will be a deadline on the date for booking, so this is a first warning to watch out for details and get cracking when they appear.
Secretarial
Once again there are a few amendments needed to your BEC address list
1582 Chris Hall 117 Lower
Ashley Road, Bristol. BS5 0YL
348L Don Thomas Pendant, Little Birch, Herefordshire.
830 John Dukes 35 Cowl Street, Shepton Mallet Tele 314933
823 Andy Sparrow 2 Grosvenor
Place, London Road, bath. BA3 6HH
New Members:
917 R Hervin - 75a Murhill,
LimpleStoke, Bath BA3 6HH
918 R Round - 131 Middleton Road, Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Congratulations to Pete and Joyce on the birth of yet another son and potential BEC Member born Saturday 16 April 1977. Benjamin Somerset Franklin.
A Weekend in the Chilterns
By Graham Wilton-Jones and Bucket
Our weekend's entertainment was set in motion by a telephone
call to me from a Farmer who, after the usual pleasantries said "I have
been told that you are a Potholer". I answered in my best non-committal way and owned to a passing interest
in the sport so the Farmer went on to say that "I have a dead dog in my
Well which I would like you to remove - can you do it? My reply was well, yes, how deep is your
well? - 330 feet with a 20 ft depth of water. Slightly staggered by this I replied that I would 'have a go' the next
evening - I put down the phone and headed for a drink.
After some reflection I came to the conclusion (inevitably) that there was only one person who could take charge of this venture so I picked up the phone again and called up Scrag (Wilton-Jones) the great Cave Explorer and SRT expert after all he possessed all the rope which would be needed.
Saturday morning saw our arrival at the Farm with the car fully loaded down with tackle, SRT gear and Acrow Screw Jacks, a few hammers and chisels and all the other caving type gear. Whilst we were entertained to coffee by the Fanner we learned that the dog was a Golden Retriever and the W-J (who is something of an animal expert) informed us that it would probably weigh somewhere around the 50-60 lb mark.
When we arrived at the Well we found that it was surrounded by a 6 ft iron fence and to me this seemed to be the ideal time to leave the SRT expert to it but, typically Scrag immediately started issuing orders about the belays and ropes. An iron pipe was placed over the Well and I was given 100m of rope to lower down the pitch. I managed to get half of the rope lowered before the inevitable tangle appeared. Naturally the expert instantly noticed this and moaned about it as though the end of the world had arrived or as if Id left club tackle, in an unwashed condition. Laying the rope on the grass would have avoided a tangle he said - XX off! and sort out the other ropes whilst I sort this out. Having solved that, there were then metres and metres of rope laid out on the grass just in time for the spectators to arrive to walk and jump all over (he's a clever lad that way)
Eventually, the Well was rigged with its 100m rope, hopefully to the bottom, and a 40m rope. We were intending to place Screw Jacks across the Well at approx 30m stages to form extra belays for the ropes and to act as work platforms. The top ten feet of the Well turned out to be a confusion of metal supports where part of the old pump equipment was fixed. From the top the Well was brickwork to a depth of 41 ft and from there down it was in rock chalk. The average diameter was 5 - 6 ft and about 1/3 of the area was taken up by the water pipes and pump linkage running down into the water. These pipes and linkage are supported (1) on wooden leaves let into the chalk - many of them now rotted away at the ends and the metal work was not in its prime condition.
Scrag was kitted up first and decided to go and have a look into the Well so with various comments from the weeg he disappeared into its maw. When he reached the position decided for the first jack he found a suitable point, locked off and asked me for the tools. Conversation from this depth to the surface was normal but below the first 30m it became more difficult. I sent down the tackle bag and whilst Scrag proceeded to cut holes in the Well side and I chatted with the spectators in the sun. After a suitable time of grunts and groans Scrag suggested that I now send down a jack on the hauling line and then come down myself to cut the second hole. I carefully lowered the jack such that it would only strike him a light blow and then with trembling legs I connected my shiny new rack to the 40m line and thought of the nice kind practice pitches at Split Rock and Local tree - I launched myself into the shaft trying hard not to think of the 330 ft below.
I met up with Scrag - rather unavoidable really as the Space tended to be a bit limited and after removing his boots from my ears I obtained the tools (not his) and hacked out the second hole for the screw jack. The screw jack was then fixed in place and to the tune of a couple of choruses of 'Rock Bottom' we both climbed back to the top to sup some ale and listen to the Boat Race.
Soon Scrag felt the need to exercise his leadership with, "You go on down, pick up the tool bag at the first jack, carry on down and start cutting out the holes for the second jack." Whilst all this was going on Scrag would fix the some rope to the first jack, lower the second jack and see that we had twin ropes at the bottom. I left him tut-tutting and descended to a lock off at approx 220ft and started to cut out the jack holes. Whilst I was busy cutting the jack appeared beside me and the 80m rope tangled itself around my gear. Scrag was only trying to help as usual.
With the second screw jack in place, Scrag joined me and before he could disconnect his rack, I suggested that he carry on down to the water and see if the dog was within reach. After a further 50ft he stopped and said that he had run into a pipe ruckle and I should come down. I slid down and joined him on a substantial platform which was supporting the old pumping gear. This pipe work contained pipes up to 6in dia and required ¾ of the available space. At this point a section of the wall had been hollowed out to allow more space. The ropes were sorted out and lowered through the hole in the staging. Below this staging the pipe work consisted of 2-6inch and 4-4inch pipes running down into the water, about 50ft below, restricting space quite considerably although the pipes were strong enough to use as supports.
Scrag descended to the water to see if the dog was visible and found that on first sight there was no sign of it. After a bit of a search behind the pipes and under the surface he said that he could see it about 1ft below the surface - he prodded the dog and, said, "you'd better come on down, it seems to be caught up in something." I descended to the water complete with the hauling line and after a bit of a struggle decided that it was not caught up and managed to fix the hauling line around its middle - whilst doing this, gas bubbled from its mouth which did nothing to improve the local atmosphere. At this point Scrag beat a hasty retreat muttering something about fixing up a jumer pulley. When Scrag fixed the rope we hauled the (past tense) dog up to the pump gear platform Scrag Sorag looked at it with loving eyes and said "that dog's in fine condition." I thought to myself he's finally flipped and said "fine condition my left foot! The bloody thing's got a broken neck" - besides which I was a bit fed up with the noxious fumes the thing had been exuding at me on the way up.
The sack which the Farmer had given us was not really large enough for the dog so we decided to pack up for the day and return with suitable wrapping on the morrow. Scrag was now going to demonstrate his Gibbs Rope Walkers for the ascent so I had to hold the rope taut, for him to start off. Off he went with a big grin on his face "see you at the top old bucket in about 1 hour," he said chuckling. Speed hog I quipped back feeling slightly despondent and as soon as he was out of the way I clipped onto the second line and started upwards. As I approached the bottom jack, where a change of rope was called for, I heard Scrag ahead muttering "siding rope walkers". As I approached the scene I pointed out that I had not expected to see him again until the top and politely enquired if I could assist in his trouble. The clogs which I was using have been much adapted and allowed for a high speed rope change and as I ascended Scrag reappeared from behind, his legs going like pistons, and rapidly left me behind again - these are just the things for big pitches he said. I plodded on paying not much attention to the above until I found that there was suddenly a boot in my face - I had reached the first jack and G W-J was still there doing his high speed change over. As his boot was at a level with my head and his face was very red I wisely (I thought) held my peace until he had once again started on the ascent.
Sunday morning found us with an extra large sack from the Farmer at the top of the Well and we quickly descended to the platform where we had left the dog the day before. Scrag with great command fixed a jumer to the pipe work and a great debate then arose as to who should be the one to manoeuvre the dog into the sack. After much unprintable language Scrag prevailed and it fell to me to get the dog into the sack. Having done so, we quickly tied the dog to the hauling rope ready for its ascent. Whilst Scrag was retreating up to the screw jack I examined the wider section of the Well and found that there were a number of names and initials carved in the surface some of them had dates and the earliest of these was 1899. I decided to carve B.E.C. 1977 but there was not enough room for the 'Gets Everywhere'.
When Scrag had rigged up the jumer as a clamp to stop the dog going down again after we had hauled it up we set about the long haul. The system was for me to precede the dog by approx. 15 ft at a time, pull the dog up to me and then repeat the process. After a long time and a lot of hard hauling work the dog was hauled out onto the surface.
After some liquid refreshment we both descended again and made our way out bringing all the gear as we ascended. Apart from the ropes tangling up a couple of times this was accomplished with only a slight fuss. After we had cleared away all the ropes into the car we paid a final visit to the Farmer who expressed his thanks by presenting us with a bottle of Whiskey to share - good spoils!
Letter From America
Sue Lord's Latest Missive With Slight Editorial Mods
Greengates School
Apparto Postal 41-659
MEXICO
20th March 1977
Dear B.E.C. Members (Home Section)
This letter aint going to be easy as a little kitten keeps attacking me and the paper keeps on flapping (in the breeze) as I lie here on the lawn, soaking up the sun. Talking of lawns, my diary recalls that a year ago today was a Belfry working day and some of you fine fellas (I think thats right - omitting Hannam & Co who didn't even get as far as leaning on a shovel) set about the levelling of the Belfry 'lawn' whilst I sat idly on Batstone's bike, in its days of service, doing my tapestry and occasionally making the odd cup of tea.
Anyway you'll gather that the weather's great now - too nice to go caving. We were due to go off at 6.00 this morning for two days, but last night was the annual rugby dinner and - well, you know how it is. Actually whilst the speeches were on we said with a sigh how different to a caving club dinner some singing whenever the band stopped - but that was the French club and I only understood the polite words! - no silly games to amuse the young and needy (? Ed).
Last weekend we had a lot of success out at Cuetzalan (the usual area in Puebla State) we get a lot of enthusiasm from people wanting to tryout this daring new sport, but our best convert by far yet is a beautiful and intelligent Mexican senorita who is over the moon about it - she is going to buy a wet suit in the D.S. at Easter (any volunteers to make up a foursome when we tackle some of the wetter caves) - anyway, last weekend we went back to my favourite find - Chicicasapan - a fair stream sinking into an impressive cliff-bottom entrance, which continues somewhat like a cross section between Swildons without its pots and O.F.Ds traversing passage, except just 3ft above the stream (guess I'd better leave the descriptive writing to Pete the way I'm rambling on).
Anyway, whilst surveying aside passage (a terrible habit we've caught from the Americans - but as there ain't no pubs here we've plenty of time for it) we found our way into our first find of old dry passage and at first glance it seems really promising - such excitement! We are aiming to explore about a km of new passage each weekend we go - we're only working in an area of around 1sq mile and theres enough to keep us going for another year at least yet. Get over here some of you and help us out.
Many thanks to Chris for the letter and congratulations to the T.T.T.S. - just don't fallout with the Farmer till after we get back for our holiday next Christmas - we're really excited that the merry Mendip Hills still have the odd something up its sleeves - did anybody ever go back to Pete & Jeffs push in G.B. or is that left till Christmas for us too?
Don't think we'll quite make Cobbett's wedding, we're planning to join with Boon and those (expletive deleted) 'hippes from Austin' as he calls them, either in Chiapas at Yo-Chip (ah well) or on the Hualtla Plateau at San Augustin which recently 'went deep'.
In the last 6 weeks we have had many visits from people going south which really cheers us up but 'bugs' the neighbours. After getting in from a party at 3.00 am the other week, an Austin group took our 'any time' invite literally and called for ½ hour at 4-30am. Boon amused us for 2 days and set off down south with a pot of fried beans to last him to Chiapas and £1 a week for food. He came all the way down from Calgary with a friend in a 50 Datsun.
Good to get the December BB with the great literary masterpiece by Sue Jordan in it and we still need lots of help out here with a few English type caves (boulder chokes and pitches) which are holding us up because of lack of backup. Come on out and see.
Sue
The Growth of the B.E.C.
How does the growth of the club to-day compare with past years? Should it be growing as fast as it once did? Is it still healthy or has it run out of steam? This series of short articles examines these and other questions and comes up with some answers.
PART ONE - INTRODUCTION
Our insurers, as most members know, are insisting that we close the list of club members on the 30th of April each year, and that any members who have not paid by that date have to re-apply for membership. This may well result in a few people deciding not to bother any more. How much this may matter in the end can be argued but in any case, it would be interesting to know how much this, or any other sudden change actually affects the total membership of the club and whether the membership is still in a healthy position even if it drops.
The B.E.C. have kept more of less complete records since the first of September 1943 and thirty four years is a longer time than many of its younger members have been alive. It would be hard luck if we could not learn something from these club records. It so happens that we can.
These jottings, which may appear in the B.B. from time to time under this title, are not going to be an excuse for ramming a whole lot of mathematics down the throats of unwilling members. It is enough to say that the way that the club records work out is enough to make any forecaster green with envy. The theory fits the practice so well as to be almost uncanny. The reason for this is because the average values of everything stay beautifully constant over the years. Thus, one can construct a model based on these averages and compare it with what actually happened. To give an example of the way the averages remain steady, if anyone had thought, fit to work out the average rate of new members joining the club up to 1949, they would have come up with and answer of 26.4 new members per year. If the same sum was done today some 28 years and nearly between, this average has never risen above 28 or dropped as low as 25. Thus we have a new bloke appearing once a fortnight or so ever since 1949.
Any given patch of new members who all joined in the same year will dwindle away as the years go on. Once again, the rate of decay is very consistent on average. Half of them will be gone in three years on average, while only a quarter will be left after 8 years, and so on.
With these steady figures as a background, it is possible to work out how big the club ought to be at any given time. For example, in 1959 it should have had 151 members. In fact, it had 148. All was well, then, in 1959. However, two years earlier, in 1957, the total should have been 144 and was in fact only 117. What went wrong in 1957?
Whatever it was (and hopefully we shall examine it later) the actual total varies quite a bit although the average stays steady. This is due not only to the number of new members in any year varying, but also due to the differences in 'staying power'. The new members of one year might tend to keep going while in the next year, they might leave much quicker. The odd thing is that a batch tends to keep going the way it started. This is probably due to the fact that some groups of new members tend to stick together and form friendships, while others do not.
Bearing all this in mind, the next short article in this series will look at the initial expansion of the club, which lasted until 1951.
Letters
27, Bath Rd.,
Frome,
Somerset.
29/4/77.
To the Editor, Belfry Bulletin.
I should like it known that the survey of Heale Farm Cave, which appeared in your most recent B.B. is a second rate copy of my material, copied without my knowledge by someone only tenuously concerned with its making.
D.A. Walker
Editor's Note:
On behalf of the B. B. we apologise to Mr. Walker and to Durham University Spelaeos. As it currently says, at the beginning of the B.B., it is not possible for submitted material to be checked for accuracy of content or other features which might preclude publication other than those which may obviously come to the notice of the editor. Whenever there appears to be any reasonably doubt, the editor tries to resolve this, but must otherwise depend on the person submitting the material and take it in good faith. We are sure that our readers will be pleased to know where they can obtain the original information on this cave, and thank Mr. Walker for his letter.
*****************************************
The next letter is unsigned, but as it contains much good sense, it seems reasonable to publish it.
To the Editor, Belfry Bulletin.
A PLEA FOR COMMON SENSE
In recent months, Mendip has become increasingly popular among walkers. One has only to travel between Priddy and Burrington to see a marked increase in the numbers of walkers and ramblers using an already overcrowded hill.
With summer just round the corner, the Mendip farmers are facing an increasing battle to keep their properties from damage by careless visitors and no farmer is going to be pleased to see his dry stonewalls broken or his fences pulled down. Trampled crops; litter; broken bottles and gates left open are just some of the problems a Mendip farmer has to face annually. Who ultimately gets the blame? "It's they cavers!"
I dare say that cavers are responsible sometimes, for we are none of us saints, but I am sure that a majority of blame rests with the casual visitors many of wham do not realise the waste of time and money which has to be put in repairing the damage they do.
Those of you who cave or walk regularly on Mendip should therefore make an effort to keep the goodwill of the farming community by using commonsense and if you see anyone doing damage, shout at them yourself. It may work, as they will probably think you are the farmer - that is, unless you happen to be dressed in a wetsuit!
Let us show the farming community that not only are we careful ourselves but that we are concerned about damage that might reflect on our good name as cavers and walkers.
Notices
Friday Night Club
Richard Kenney sends us the current list of meets for the Friday Night club and asks if any further volunteers for leading Cuthberts trips would come forward. Dates from June onward are as follows:-
June 10th Stoke Lane.
June 24th Burrington Meet (West Twin)
July 9th Wales.
July 22nd Box Stone Mines.
August 5th Eastwater.
August 19th Lamb Leer.
September 2nd Coral Cave.
September 16th Manor Farm.
September 30th G.B.
October 14th Hunters and Thrupe.
October 28th Swildons.
November 12th Wales.
November 25th Cuthberts.
December 9th Longwood.
Paul Hadfield is organising regular trips to Yorkshire and would be pleased to hear from anyone interested. All meets are at 7.30 p.m. except those to Wales. Further details from Richard Kenney, 'Yennek', St. Mary's Road, Meare, Glastonbury, Somerset. BA6 9SS. Telephone Meare Heath 296.
Assistant Hut Warden
Since Bob Cross has departed again for 'furrin parts' up north, the Committee would like to appeal to any member who feels that he or she could help out as Assistant Hut Warden. Please get in touch with Mike Wheadon or Chris Batstone"
Important Notice - Membership
Don't forget that if, for any reason, you have not yet paid your annual sub for 1977, you will not have been included in the list of members sent to the insurance company. The only way by which you can become either a club member or insured is now to GET A MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM FROM MIKE WHEADON AND FILL IT IN TO RE-APPLY FOR MEMBERSHIP OF THE CLUB. This, as you know, is not a nasty move on the part of the committee. It has been made a condition of our insurance, and we are bound to treat it seriously because otherwise we might well be invalidating our policy.
Committee Notes
Jottings from some of the more recent Committee Meetings
Graham Wilton-Jones reports that Cave Notes 1975/6/7 are about to be issued. The sections of the Cuthberts Report on Cerberus Series, Maypole Series and September Series are practically ready for publication. Roger Stenner has offered the use of an offset printer for the publications, and supplies of paper are being sought at a reasonable price. The Tynings Barrow Swallet publication is to be completed in conjunction with the Grampian Cave Club.
At present, it is not considered to be practicable to carry out the central heating proposals, although there is no question as to its feasibility. The snag is that the best estimates to date lie outside our financial capability. A 'near miss' occurred when Alfie located a complete central heating system which was being taken out of a small block of flats, but unfortunately it was all thrown on a scrap heap before the club could lay their hands on it. The chairman has, all through the discussions on this subject, reminded the committee that they have got to answer to the next A.G.M. on the subject.
The Dinner is now definitely confirmed. We are going back after a lapse of many years to the Cliff at Cheddar. Older members will no doubt recal1 that this was the setting for the Song Competition and also for the highly successful mannequin parade - also for the flame throwing act put on by the Bradford Pothole Club.
Plans to modify the central core of the Belfry are to be put to the club members, and the committee have given John Dukes the go-ahead to clean up the bunk room.
The Hut Warden says that the experiment to remove the utensils from the Belfry Kitchen has been a success to date.
The Belfry will be used for accommodation as part of the International Congress of Spelaeology during the first week in September.
Monthly Crossword Number 74
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Across (Passages)
1. Get there quickly? (3,2)
4. Gated caves are supposed to this the unauthorised caver. (5)
7. Part of Pitch A in the Maypole series? (5)
8. Foot oil for old boots? (5)
9. Steam lit gas (on cave floor, presumably). (11)
10. Les is wicked to make a friction mark on rock. (11)
14. A division of gear, perhaps. (5)
15. River associated with brewing. (5)
16. Presumably found in Bigbury according to the maps of Mendip. (5)
17. Cave surveyor gets the edge with this. (5)
Down (Pitches)
1. An unstable on of this
does. (5)
2. Initially, a digging team. (1,1,1,1,1)
3. One of those fancy desk top writing sets may have one. North Bristol certainly has it. (3,4,4)
4. Is this a man who suggests who shall NOT stand for the committee? It will cause a division, certainly. (11)
5. A feature of most club dinners they
have a rack for it in O.F.D. (5)
6. Swallet water does eventually. (5)
10. Device to put under cartwheel to make it slide downhill. (5)
11. Place underground or between. (5)
12. Optimum state of affairs in Hunters hole. (5)
13. Eastern headed version of 11 to go in. (5)
Solution to No. 73
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Club Headquarters
The Belfry, Wells Rd, Priddy, Wells, Somerset. Telephone WELLS 72126
Club Committee
Chairman S.J. Collins
Minutes Sec M. Wheadon
Members C. Batstone, P. Christie, J. Dukes, R. Jenkins T. Large, Barry Wilton, G. Wilton-Jones.
Officers Of The Club
Honorary Secretary M.
WHEADON, 91 The Oval, Englishcoombe, Bath. Tel : BATH 713646
Honorary Treasurer B.
WILTON, Valley View, Venus Lane, Clutton, Nr. Bristol. Tele : TEMPLE CLOUD
52072
Caving Secretary TIM
LARGE, 15 Kippax Avenue, Wells, Somerset
Climbing Secretary R.
JENKINS, 10 Amberley Close, Downend, Bristol.
Hut Warden C.
BATSTONE, 8 Prospect Place, Bathford, Bath..
Belfry Engineer J.
DUKES, 4 Springfield Crescent, Southampton. SO1 6LE Tele : (0703) 774649
Tacklemaster G.
WILTON-JONES, Ilenea, Stonefield Road. Nap Hill, High Wycombe, Bucks. Tele :
(024) 024 3534
B.B. Editor S.J.
COLLINS, Lavender Cottage, Bishops Sutton, Nr. Bristol. Tel : CHEW MAGNA 2915
Publications Editor C.
HOWELL, 131 Sandon Road, Edgebaston, Birmingham 17. Tele : (021) 429 5549
B.B. Postal BRENDA
WILTON Address as for Barry
The views expressed by contributors to the Belfry Bulletin, including those of club officers, are not necessarily the views of the committee of the Bristol Exploration Club or the Editor, unless so stated. The Editor cannot guarantee that the accuracy of information contained in the contributed matter, as it cannot normally be checked in the time at his disposal.
QUODCUMQUE FACIENDUM : NIMIS FACIEMUS
Editorial
Dilemma
Our esteemed Hon. Sec. puts his finger on a weakness in the
system we use to determine who does what on the club committee. In his secretarial column this month, he
suggests that comments would be useful, so here is the editor's comment which
is not, repeat NOT the official view of the committee but merely the editor's
opinion as a club member. Since we have
had no election for two years, and thus many of our current members have never
voted, I feel that Mike's point is of importance this year.
At one time, when the club was much smaller, all the officers were elected by show of hands, one at a time, at the A.G.M. Later, when we decided to allow members to vote by post if they wished, it was thought to be too complicated to elect each officer because of all the possible permutations ("I would like A to be Hut Warden, rather than B, but if B gets elected, then I would like A to be Caving Sec. On the other hand if C gets to be Caving Sec, then " - and so on.) So we adopted a system where we elected nine blokes to run the club and left them to sort it all out. Even more recently, we have gone in for a secret ballot amongst members of the newly-elected committee to avoid any embarrassment during the voting. All of this sounds fine BUT, as Mike points out, there are snags.
Many people, for instance, hold the view that if a man is
elected to the committee, he should be prepared to take any job he is
offered. In practice, this is not so and
Mike is by no means alone when he points out that he wishes to take on no other
job than that of Hon. Sec. He suggests
that
To my mind, even worse trouble occurs when somebody gets
elected to the committee who, through no fault of his own, upsets what would
otherwise be a natural choice of jobs for people. When this happens, other members of the
committee are then left with no job to do. This is not just a theory, for I found myself in exactly this position
after being elected to the committee in the election of October 1967, when I
came third in the poll and finished up five minutes after the start of the
first committee meeting with nothing whatever to do. As a result, I did not seek re-election in
1968. I am not, of course, claiming that
this did the club any harm, but there could well be times when considerable harm
might be done. For instance, a man could
be doing a particular job pretty well, but the committee might elect another on
the basis that they thought he could do the job even better. The first man (I ought to add that wherever I
have written 'man' it implies 'person') might not feel able to take on anything
else, and might resign or not bother to stand next year. The second man might not be able to stand
again, and the result would be the loss of a good club officer.
Thus, I feel that members, when voting, should consider who
is likely to be asked to do each of the main jobs, and what will probably
happen if there are two natural contenders for anyone job. The result might well be a committee having
people in it who have come high up in the voting only to find themselves
redundant. In this case, the committee
may well be forced to co-opt straight away. If a person is so co-opted who has just lost out in the election, the
committee might well feel that they have gone against the wishes of the club -
yet what else can they do?
As I see it voters must consider this point in particular,
when they choose who is to be on the club committee.
Raising The Tone
Both readers who do the Monthly Crossword will be pleased to
see that this month's crossword is much better than usual. Many thanks to Margaret Innes (Anguss wife)
for having sent in a crossword which not only fits the current series, but is
much better composed than is my usual rubbish.
Annual Dinner
A full-page advert for the dinner will be found in this B.B. It only remains to add that the A.G.M. will be held at the Belfry, starting at 10.30 (I presume, unless you hear to the contrary) and that as many members as possible are urged to attend. Mike tells me that this year it will be run strictly according to the book (which means that I don't have to write the minutes, thank God) and that he will be formally handing over the meeting to the Chairman when elected who, according to tradition, will later act as M.C. at the dinner.
The Growth Of The B.E.C.
The third part of a series in
which the membership figures for the B.E.C. over the years are examined to see
if any conclusions can be drawn from them, and if it will be possible to see
why the club has had periods of prosperity and periods - like the one in this
article of relative decline.
PART THREE BAD PATCH
(1951 to 1957)
Our last article left the club with its membership way up
above the predicted value. The impetus,
it is true, was beginning to slow up, but there appeared to be nothing to worry
about.
This month's graph is, however, a sorry-looking object. In contrast with the expansion shown in last
month's article, the club actually - and steadily - DECREASED in size from 1951
to 1957. At the start of this bad patch,
the club had 131 members, which put it at 12 above the predicted level, while
at the end of the bad patch, it had sunk to 117 - or 27 members short of those
predicted.
Now, it is important to realise that the figures can show
why this happened in terms of how many people joined the club, and how quickly
or slowly they dropped away again. What
the figures cannot do is to tell us WHY. That is something we have to make our own intelligent guesses
about. During the expansions of 1946 and
of 1948/9, it was not difficult to see the cause. The decline of the club from 1951 to 1957 is
much more difficult to pinpoint to any cause.
The figures show that we cannot blame the decline on the
effect of the 1948 batch (which was disappearing rapidly) because this effect was
near enough balanced by the 1946 group (which was hanging on despite
everything) and these two effects cancel each other out. Equally, the decline cannot be blamed on the
lack of new members (who were arriving in average quantity throughout the
period of decline). The decrease in
membership was simply due to the fact that greater than average losses occurred
in nearly every batch. In other words,
members suddenly began to leave the club earlier than one might expect, and
this did not depend on how long they had been members. For some reason, the club had stopped keeping
its members happy - old and young alike.
In 1953, the club discovered a major Mendip cave right on
its own doorstep AND negotiated an access agreement which, in those days,
virtually meant that any caver 'who wanted to explore Cuthberts regularly had
to be a member of B.E.C. One might
reasonably expect that this would have given membership a boost, but IT HAD NOT
THE SLIGHTEST EFFECT. Indeed, the year
following the discovery of Cuthberts was the worst of the whole period.
What happened in 1951, which suddenly caused members to be
dissatisfied with the club? Why did this
even more dramatically stop happening in 1957? External events nave been looked at, but nothing appears to fit these
dates. At the end of this series, a
theory will be advanced to explain all this, but in the mean time, readers may
like to speculate - in the B.B. if they wish - on what factor or factors could
have caused the bad patch, which ended so suddenly in 1957.
Secretarial
It is to be hoped that we are now over our BB production
troubles and it will be possible to produce a regular secretarial feature
carrying current information. News on
the membership front includes: -
The return of Bob Cross (680) both to renewal of membership
and to Mendip Area. His address is, once
again,
New Members - Some of these new members now seem like old
members so I might have included their names and addresses previously. If I have, here they are again and if not
-then my apologies for the delay.
912 J.E.K. Turner Orchard Cottage,
913 K.S. Baker 36 Northumberland Road,
Redland,
914 B.J. Workman Moreland, 11
915 C.M. Smart 15 Timor Close,
916 J.
917 B. Hervin 75A Murhill, Limpley
Stoke, Nr Bath.
918 R.H. Round
919
920 N. Holstead 75A Murhill,
Limpley Stoke, Nr
921 P. Rose 2 The Beacon Ilminster.
(tel 2612).
The AGM will be upon us in a few months and I would like to
take this opportunity to remind all members (just in case the BB should drift
again) that nominations for candidates for the committee are needed to be
received by at least the end of August. The club constitution rules that unless they specify otherwise, the
present committee members are automatically nominated. The Club held no election
last year, the vacancies in the committee being filled by the only nominations
received by the closing date. It is time
we had an election.
I have not yet canvassed the committee to see if all are
willing to seek re-election but it is hoped that I shall be able to broadcast
this news soon. I after much
consideration I decided that I will seek re-election and it has presented me
with something of a dilemma. Some time
ago Mike Palmer devised and introduced a system where the newly elected
committee held their own mini election to allocate posts. This system must be adhered to until or
unless the A.G.M. allows any departure from it - hence my dilemma for with my
decision to seek re-election goes the decision that I wish no other post than
that of Secretary (Barrie I think feels the same about the Treasurer's job) and
there are several posts on the committee for which I would have no competence
e.g., Hut Warden. This statement, were
it followed by my election, would imply that the club membership was satisfied
with my performance of the task and would therefore over-ride the 'mini
election' - perhaps the AGM should consider this and comments in the BB would
be welcomed. Incidentally, if anyone
else is interested in the Secretary post, it at present includes the Minute
Secretary duties and Membership Secretary in addition to General Club
Correspondence.
I see that Ive now left an embarrassingly small space for
our Editor to fill so Ill save him the trouble.
Pete and Joyce Franklin are busy on a Magnum Opus for Dinner
Entertainment. Any budding thespians
wishing to audition for parts should ring
Chris Batstone is fed up with washing up hence the removal
of most of the general utensils about the Belfry. Kettle, Teapot, Mugs will remain and he will
try to keep one of everything else available.
Hut Fees are rising and from August 1st the rate will be 30p
Members 45p for Guests. Trip leaders are requested to see that Shower fees are
collected.
Snow and Ice in
North Wales
A short article sent in by our
Climbing Sec. Russ Jenkins, which shows that the B.E.C. still goes climbing -
at least, it did last February
Around midnight on Friday, the 11th of February, we arrived
at Helyg, the climbers hut in the
After breakfast the usual low cloud had drifted away and
snow could be seen above the Heather Terrace in Tryfan. Mark and I were both giving new boots a first
outing and we set off for Tryfan, the base of which is about a mile and a half
from Helyg, past William's Farm. After a
steady ascent to Heather Terrace (for the combined ages of the three of us
amounted to well over a hundred years!) we could feel the cold from the
snowdrifts. We were on the shady North
Face and so decided on North Buttress - a route of 750 feet to the summit
ridge. This was first climbed at Easter
in 1899 by the famous O.G. Jones Abraham Pulterill.
The first patches were interesting as they were running with
water, but eventually we were forced off the rock and had to kick steps up a
sixty degree slope towards the summit. It then began to snow, and the exit ramp
to Adam and Eve was like a skating rink. A pause in the lee of the two rock boulders for raisins and biscuits,
and then we were off down. We lost
height rapidly by glissading a derriere using our cagoules as toboggans. Down past the snow line we tramped, down Cwm
Tryfan, past Williams Farm and back to Helyg and later to the pub.
After breakfast on Sunday morning, we crossed the A5 in the
opposite direction and made for the Carneddau. Shunning the new tarmac strip up to the reservoir, we used the
conventional route and we were soon up once again to the snow line. After the now familiar and much sought after
raisins, we began to slog up to the summit ridge between Carnedd Dafydd and
Carnedd Llewelyn.
The weather closed in and the clouds descended and it began
to snow. We were soon kicking steps
again, except that where my four stone lighter companions were only sinking
down a foot with each step, I was going in about two foot six on occasions. The weather improved after we got to the
summit and the view made it all worthwhile. There was a cornice on the ridge and the views of Pen-yr-Oleu-Wen and
Tryfan were superb. We scrambled off
from the ridge and skirted the lake on its other side and then back down the
hillside to the hut to complete a round trip of about six miles. My feet were sure glad of a rest!
Helyg is a male only hut and the rate is 50p a night. The hut is well appointed, with a drying
cupboard powered by a fan heater and the resident Hut Warden lives in a small
room - or large cupboard - suspended (!) over the kitchen.
Committee News
Applications for membership were accepted from Anthony
Jarratt, Trevor Hughes and William Collis. It was agreed to continue the removal of utensils from the Belfry. Work on the bunkroom is to go ahead, and it
was hoped that it would be in a reasonable state before the International
Speleological Conference. It is planned
to fit out the bunks gradually with police type mattresses. These are very expensive but are almost
indestructible. There is to be some
modification to the shower arrangements, but the matter of the central heating
is now at a standstill, since no scheme within the financial capability of the
club had so far been proposed. Since the
meeting,
Fifth
Col umn
A Birds Eye View of Mendip
One of the brighter aspects of fancy dress parties is that
we are sometimes treated to the response of the we-eg at the Hunters when odd
members turn up in unusual attire and on the 2nd of July, on the way to a
housewarming at Yarley, we were treated to some rare sights, such as Liz in a
mattress cover and fangs with Martin in soda sacks and more hair than
usual. Amazing! They must be saving up for a new car or something. Then there was Derek Targett, superbly
realistic as a werewolf, whilst Tom Gage was a rather black skeleton and
Colleen a very presentable ghost from BRI (chains and all - could be described
as looking flushed!). Graham W-J turned
up as some sort of extremely warm-blooded sea monster and John Dukes the usual
corpse. Graham, of course, we expect to
drape himself from head to foot at the drop of a beret, but it was quite warm
and with top coats on all the others looked rather limp when they left. The actual party, by the way, was a success.
The club has suffered recently from a lack of expeditionary
spirit, but cheer up; things are improving. There seems to be a move afoot to infiltrate the
Some things, never change, do they? One of our members passing through Sutton on
the way to Hunters decided to call in at the Collins residence only to find him
in a mildly inebriated state flat out on the kitchen floor with a young lady in
his arms (shocking). Sett was asleep in
another part of the cottage and the only survivors seemed to be Sally, Jan and
Graham. I comment on this only because
the visit was made in the evening - and it was at lunchtime that all the drinking
had been done. Shame of it was that Sett
was seen briefly at Hunters later that day getting carry-out lemonade. Talking about Hunters, one or two of our
older members have been dropping in recently and Maurice Iles has been seen
with either a recorder or a shillelagh stuffed into his hip pocket. Could it be that he is joining the M.C.G.
Penny Whistle and Squeezebox Band? The
same weekend saw Chris (Evening) Hall returning to wonder who everyone was, and
Sid Hobbs rabbitting on about what we need are very extreme right wingers to
resolve a certain industrial dispute. Another rare sight for Saturday night was a brief visit from Alan Thomas
but it seemed O.K. for he was chaperoned by Bob Cork.
The recent news of devaluation in
Finally, I must mention our Hon. Sec. - Mike W who is
reported to be going to an Open University Summer School with Maureen (thatll
cramp her style!) The subject is
drama. Think what an asset his dramatic
fits will be to future committee meetings! - enliven them no end!
Having a page of this B.B. to produce in time to get the
whole thing in print, it struck me that it has been some time since anyone
broke into verse in the B. B. Reading in 'Fifth Column' that our Hon. Sec. has
spent a week at Open University Summer School studying drama, one can perhaps
imagine what we may well be in for at the A.G.M. when the report of the Hon.
Secretary comes around.
According to the custom of the
years
I now must make report upon our club.
Friends! Romans!, Countrymen!, lend me your ears!
To sleep - perchance to dream - aye, there's the rub.
If music be the food of love, play on.
The quality of mercy is not strained
It falleth as the gentle
.. wait! tis gone!
That lately in my mem'ry was contained.
I have it -
as the gentle dew from heaven
But what comes now? I swear I lately knew.
(These one week courses should last six or seven)
What comes - no, 'cometh' after 'gentle dew'?
Upon the earth beneath. It is twice
bless'd.
(I wonder why? I'm beggared if I care
I reckon that I'll have to scrub the rest)
So thus I end. What say you from the
chair?
You ask me why no news of club I bring?
Like ruddy Shakespeare says - the play's the thing
(With suitable apologies to Mike Wheadon, Will Shakespeare
and all readers)
Monthly Crossword Number 76
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Across (Passages)
1. (and 22).
6. Grow dripping, perhaps, from ancient 10 down. (3)
7. (and 6 down). Overpopulated section of St. Cuthberts. (6,6)
9. Brother 7 across. (4)
11. Old unit? Sounds like golden oldie.
(3)
13. When the pub has no beer, the outlook is
(Doctor needs hearing aid). (5)
14. Not to be confused with 8 down. (1-4)
15. Popular cave, lacking gravity and clergy, provides singular fare for horse.
(3)
17. Prickly bit, caves name. (4)
19. Drives muddles men underwater. (6)
21. Eastwater-without-a-river is French!
(3)
22. See 1.
Down (Pitches)
2. Hopefully rise this when
sumping! (3)
3. Belfry Bulletin taken to heart by ancient priest. (4)
4. Priddy fair is here! Look for
paddys. (5)
5. River crossing on Mendip. (8)
6. See 7 across.
8. Last passage in Reads Cavern. (3,5)
10. Top gear for cavers. (6)
11. Initially men recovering others
.. (3)
12.
others use them initially to get
.. (3)
16. Liquor and curtailed A.G.M. somehow inevitable over the years! (5)
18. Only seen on the Mendip hills after abominable night on the tiles. (4)
20. Start Sidcot taking two directions, understand! (3)
Solution to No. 75
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Club Headquarters
The Belfry,
Club Committee
Chairman S.J. Collins
Minutes Sec M. Wheadon
Members C. Batstone, P. Christie, J. Dukes, R. Jenkins T. Large, Barry Wilton, G. Wilton-Jones.
Officers Of The Club
Honorary Secretary M.
WHEADON, 91 The Oval, Englishcoombe,
Honorary Treasurer B.
WILTON, Valley View,
Caving Secretary TIM
LARGE,
Climbing Secretary R.
JENKINS, 10 Amberley Close, Downend,
Hut Warden C.
BATSTONE,
Belfry Engineer J.
DUKES,
Tacklemaster G.
WILTON-JONES, Ilenea,
B.B. Editor S.J.
COLLINS, Lavender Cottage, Bishops Sutton, Nr. Bristol. Tel : CHEW MAGNA 2915
Publications Editor C.
HOWELL,
B.B. Postal BRENDA
The views expressed by contributors to the Belfry Bulletin, including those of club officers, are not necessarily the views of the committee of the Bristol Exploration Club or the Editor, unless so stated. The Editor cannot guarantee that the accuracy of information contained in the contributed matter, as it cannot normally be checked in the time at his disposal.
QUODCUMQUE FACIENDUM : NIMIS FACIEMUS
Editorial
Matters Arising
The minutes of the last A.G.M. will be found (as threatened
in the last B.B.) in this issue. Apart
from the almost inevitable discussion on the subject of tackle, one imagines
that comments might well centre on the various changes - actual and proposed -
to the Belfry.
Readers will note that this subject has not escaped the
hawk-like eye of the Belfry Birds who write 'Fifth Column' and who imply that,
whereas our committee (quite properly) has obtained various quotations for the
installation of central heating and found the prices to be too high, the
Shepton are about to install central heating in their hut. Much the same sort of argument could be
brought to bear about other schemes involving improvements to the Belfry.
At the risk of sticking out the editorial neck, it would appear that what we lack is the amount of effort which some other clubs seem to be able to coax out of their members. In these days of high labour rates, being able to do ones own work and merely having to buy the materials makes all the difference between a project being 'on' or 'off'. It is not intended to offer any comment on why the B.E.C. find it difficult to persuade members to lend a hand, but it is, we suggest, a fact which (sadly perhaps) we will have take into account in future plans.
Dinner '77
As many members are only too aware, the last dinner left
much to be desired on a number of fronts. We are now booked up once again with the 'cliff' and we would like to
make a plea to members to 'give it another try'. In years past, we have had good dinners
there, and we hope we have thrashed out most of the points about service, wine,
beer and other things dear to the heart of the typical B.E.C. dinner goer. We asked you what you wanted, and have done
our best to comply. We hope you will
support your dinner!
The Growth Of The B.E.C.
PART TWO EXPANSION 1943 to 1951
Since the club records started in September 1943, the first
few years covered the latter half of the war and the immediate post-war
period. Neither of these were typical
times and so it would not be surprising if the figures reflected this
fact. The published figures of total
club members over this period assumed that every member who was serving in the
forces was still in the club, and this scheme only ceased in 1948. However, the analysis of the records is
capable of some pretty fine interpretation, and this can be allowed for.
The members who attended the meeting in September 1943 were
below the average for a year's new membership as one might well expect in the
middle of the war. In contrast, their
staying power was better than average which, again, one might expect from those
people who effectively started the club going again. Much the same remained true of the 1944 and
the 1945 batches.
Thus, by the end of the war, the total number of club
members was way below the predicted value, but their better than average
staying power meant that losses from these groups would be low in future years,
and would thus help to keep numbers up. Members who are still seen from time to time from these batches include
Dan Hasell (Number 4) and Bob Bagshaw (Number 20).
In 1946, with the war now over, new members started to
arrive in large numbers. Some were friends of B.E.C. members who had been in
the forces with them and who were now demobbed. Others had been students during the war. 'Sett' (Number 78) is an
example of the latter group. Although
the staying power of the 1946 batch was only average, its large number of new
members, plus the low loss batches, pushed the total up almost to the predicted
level.
In contrast, 1947 was a disappointing year. A very average batch both in number and in
staying power. A typical disappointing and average example is Alfie (Number
89). However, the effect of the large
1946 batch served to keep the slope about right in spite of this slight setback. From 1948 to 1950, the second - and even
greater - expansion occurred. Very large
numbers of new members joined in each of these years. Unfortunately, their staying power was very
poor indeed. The 1948 batch declined so
quickly that although it started off with no less than 36 members, within ten
years not a single member remained - and to this day we have no members who
joined in 1948.
Such rapid was the decline of the 1948 batch that even the
reasonable size of the batches for 1950 and 1951 only produced a small increase
in the total membership which was by now running at about the rate of increase
one would expect from the theory. Even
so, we still se a few members whose membership dates from this time such as Pat
Ifold (number 150); Jill Tuck (number 157); Norman Petty (number 160) and Roy
Bennett (number 214). Derek Targett's
father - Fred Targett - was also a member at about this time.
Thus, in 1951, club membership stood at 131 against a
predicted total of 119. The rapid
expansion of the club had slowed up, but even so, it was still increasing at a
rate which agreed with the predicted rate and which now made it the second
largest caving on Mendip. If future
years results were in line with those predicted, then the club could look forward
to breaking through the 150 members barrier by 1955 - but as you might guess,
nothing so simple is going to happen in the next instalment of these jottings.
ISC 77
The 7th International Speleological Conference is to take
place at the University of Sheffield between Sept 10th and Sept 17th 1977. During the week before and the week after the
main Conference, various excursions and Caving Camps are being arranged.
The excursions are of a specialist nature and include
Hydrology, Archaeology etc. For the more
sporting caver, the Congress Central Committee have arranged Caving Camps in
the various caving areas of Yorkshire, S Wales and Mendip. About 1,000 foreign visitors are expected to
attend.
To facilitate these camps, local committees have been set up
to ensure that lines of communication are available and carry out detailed
planning. The local committee comprises
Prof E.K. Tratman, Tim Atkinson, Tim Reynolds, Chris Hawkes, Pete Smart and our
own Dave Irwin - each individual has a responsibility to arrange specific
functions.
As far as Mendip is concerned, the Camp will centre at the
Belfry. The club has agreed to allocate
17 bunk spaces. It is expected that be
an entourage of 'unofficial' guests and the Wessex and Shepton have agreed to
provision for overflow.
The plan of events is based on enabling the cavers to visit
all the major caving areas on Mendip and follows the following outline
schedule:
Day 1 Central Mendip - Swildons or St Cuthberts as the visitor wants
Day 2 Charterhouse - GB, Manor Farm or August/Longwood
Day 3 Eastern Mendip - Stoke, Fairy Quarry or Thrupe Lane
Day 4 Miscellaneous Caves or to Bath area and Stone Mines
If you can assist with any of the following, you should
contact Wig ASAP:
1. Could you lead a trip should leader be required.
2. Could you assist in arranging evening activities
including an informal dinner/ skittles cum beer-up/slide show etc.
3. Do anything else to provide a 'typical' Mendip
type evening (or even day).
PS Dave Irwin's telephone number is Priddy 369.
Notice
If any members know of a cheap supply of A4 size paper
suitable for the B.B. (about 70g/m2 bond) we shall be very pleased to hear from
them. At present we are having to pay
anything up to £2 per ream, and the B.B. uses (or should do if it again comes
out regularly) about 35 reams per year.
Minutes Of The 1976 A.G.M.
The annual account of the A.G.M.
is being published somewhat earlier than usual this year. This will give club members plenty of time to
read it and ask awkward questions about it at the next A.G.M.!
The meeting started at 10.45 a.m. with 44 members
present. The Hon. Secretary called the
meeting to order and asked for nominations for a chairman. "Ginger" Thomas proposed
"Sett". There were no other
nominations, and he was accordingly elected as Chairman. The Chairman then asked for members
resolutions. The next item was the
minutes of the last meeting. Owing to
the poor standard of printing in the B.B., Alfie volunteered to read them from
the plates, if required. Nigel Taylor
proposed that they be taken as read. This was then seconded by Bob Cross and carried by the meeting. The Chairman then asked for matters arising
from the minutes. There were none.
The Hon. Secretary then read his report, which
consisted of a general review of club activities during the year. The Chairman asked for the actual membership
figure. Angie Dooley said that 120
members were paid up. There were also 51
life members and there had been 27 new members this year. Some other members still owed their subs, but
were expected to pay them. Nigel Taylor
proposed than the report be accepted. This was seconded by Paul Christie and carried.
The Hon. Treasurer's report then followed. This had been published and the Chairman
asked Barrie if he wished to add anything to his written report. Barrie said that tackle fees were very low at
45p for the year. Mike Palmer said that much of the money paid as tackle fees
went into the conscience box as donations. Barrie said that his point was, whether leaders really collected these
fees. A short discussion followed and it
was agreed that leaders should make an effort to collect tackle fees. Barrie then made the point that the
refreshments for last years A.G.M. made a loss. He suggested that 40p a head should cover them this year. Nigel Taylor asked if Barrie could account
for the loss shown on the telephone account. Barrie explained that we paid the rental and that two thirds of the sum was
repaid by M.R.O. However, this year, we
donated the sum involved to M.R.O. which explained the loss. The Chairman asked whether the general
financial situation was satisfactory. Barrie replied that it was very satisfactory. The Chairman then asked whether Belfry
charges were set at an optimum level. Barrie replied that of the £1,094 from the Belfry, about £400 came from
the navy. Without them, we would only
just pay our way. Nigel Taylor asked
what would happen if the navy ceased using the Belfry. Barrie replied that we would still be in
business. There was some discussion on
the part played by guests in the financing of the Belfry. Martin Bishop asked whether the ratio of
members to guests was known, and suggested that this should appear in the B.B.
because club members would then realise that most people staying at the Belfry
were guests rather than members of the club. Joan Bennett said that a reasonably high proportion of guests was
reasonable. Apart from the club offering
hospitality to other cavers, making useful contacts as a result and
occasionally recruiting new members, guests were necessary because without them
members would find themselves paying a very much higher Belfry fee. She said that no change of attitude was
needed. Nigel Taylor then asked if
Barrie thought the electricity bill was too high. Barrie explained that previous bills had been
based on estimates which had turned out to be too low. We were now having to pay the backlog. Dave Irwin pointed out that the Survey Scheme
must be isolated financially because this was part of the agreement by which
the scheme operated. Barrie said that he
would look into this matter. The
Chairman, then read out the Auditor's Report and Dave Irwin proposed the
adoption of both reports. This was
seconded by 'Ginger' Thomas and carried.
The Caving Secretary then read his report. Mike
Palmer reminded the meeting that foreign cavers attending the International
Speleological Conference next year would need leaders to take them down caves
on an organised basis. Tim replied that
a Planning Committee already existed and 'Wig' pointed out that he was the main
organiser for Mendip. He assured Mike
Palmer that there would be plenty of warning given to clubs who were required
to help. Mike Palmer then proposed that
the report be adopted. This was seconded
by Paul Christie and carried.
The report of the Climbing Secretary followed. There was, apparently, nothing to report,
except that Russ Jenkins was actively climbing nowadays. Mike Palmer suggested that it was, perhaps,
time that the A.G.M. reviewed the position of the climbing activity of the
club. Alfie suggested that the meeting
might care to appoint the new committee or some other body to look into matters
and report to the next A.G.M. Dave Irwin
suggested that the word 'climbing' was too specific and that some more flexible
title be given to the section which would enable more people to feel that they
were involved. Colin Dooley suggested
that we got on with it and didn't bother. The meeting appeared to agree with him, for it went straight on to the
next club officer's report without adopting (or failing to adopt) the Climbing
Report.
The Hut Warden's Report was then read by the
Chairman. John Dukes asked whether it
was a good idea to remove all the crockery and cutlery. The suggestion in the report, as the Chairman
reminded him, was to retain six sets of equipment for people who were 'caught
out' with no means of eating, to use on payment of a deposit and to return in a
clean condition. Bob Cross announced
that he was against this scheme. Twas
ever thus was the general theme of his argument. Nigel Taylor doubted whether this was a
matter for the A.G.M. to discuss at all but suggested that, in any case, a
trial period could be instituted. Martin
Bishop made the point that the Belfry is always dirty and that anything which
would improve matters should be tried. 'Ginger' Thomas thought that the word to describe the Belfry should be
'filthy' rather than 'dirty'. Mike
Wheadon suggested that the lack of a set of Belfry Rules was a contributory
cause of the trouble and suggested that re-issuing the rules - or a modern form
of them might help. Martin Bishop gave
it as his opinion that an inspection by a Health Inspector at any time over
recent weeks would have resulted in the Belfry being closed on health grounds. No decision was actually reached by the
meeting however, and the report was adopted after this had been moved by Nigel
Taylor and seconded by Martin Bishop.
The Tacklemaster then read his report. Mike Palmer asked whether Graham was
proposing to standardise on Englefield Clips. Graham replied that he was not proposing to do this. Mike Palmer pointed out that
non-standardisation posed various problems, but that he was not trying to argue
the case for Englefield clips. Graham
said that he agreed with Mike, but that he had no way of making 'C' links and
had thus been forced to use Englefield Clips as the old 'C' links gradually
became unusable. A general discussion
followed, which ended when Dave Turner volunteered to provide and fit 'C' links
if necessary. It was then proposed by
Dave Turner and seconded by Colin Dooley that the club standardise on 'C' links
of the old type, or with links which are compatible with them. A vote was called for by the Chairman, and
the result was declared as carried with 29 for and 3 against. Graham said that at present only tethers
were fitted with Englefield clips and said that he would now be making more
tethers with 'C' links now that Dave Turner had volunteered to make a supply
available. Mike Palmer said that tethers
with Englefield Clips should be taken out of circulation straight away. Graham then agreed that this would be
done. The adoption of the report was
then proposed by Tim Large and seconded by Nigel Taylor, and carried without
dissent.
The Belfry Engineer's Report followed. There was no official report, but he said
that there had not been a lot done in the year just ended. Quite a lot needed doing but very little was
actually getting done. For example, the
Tackle Store needed sorting out. A
workshop would be very useful. The
tragic thing in his opinion was that the money was there waiting to be spent,
but no members were willing to help. The
Chairman said that if this were true, then the B.E.C. ought to be ashamed of
itself. 'Ginger' Thomas offered to work
on the Belfry whenever he was down on Mendip. A suggestion was made that the club might employ somebody on a
contractual basis. Various people said
that this was an insult to the club. Bob
Cross asked whether some of the money could be spent on proper mattresses. Paul Christie said that there was a lack of
motivation amongst club members and Mike Wheadon pointed out that a Belfry
Engineer must be prepared to lead as well as to work. A heated discussion followed and in the course
of this, 'Ginger' Thomas said that he was prepared to donate two storage
heaters. Dave Irwin then suggested that
some form of central heating might be a good way to spend the club's money in a
way that would prove of long term benefit to the Belfry. Dave Turner then proposed that ' The
Committee investigate the cost and feasibility of installing central heating,
and be authorised to spend the money.' The Chairman and ' Ginger Thomas both pointed out to the meeting that
heating without adequate ventilation would only produce a warm, damp Belfry
instead of a cold, damp Belfry. The
Chairman suggested an amendment of replacing the words 'central heating' with
'central heating and ventilation.' This
was agreed to by the proposer and the amended resolution was seconded by Colin
Dooley. Voting was 36 in favour and none
against.
The Chairman then announced a break for refreshments at
12.30.
At 2.30, the meeting was re-convened, and the Chairman
announced that at one time during the morning session, there had been 52
members present. The Belfry Bulletin
report then followed, which Alfie read. The Chairman said that it was obvious from the report that greater
participation from club members was needed. Angie Dooley said that perhaps we ought to look into having the B.B.
printed commercially. Colin Dooley said
that Alfie had suggested a team, and this is what the club should be
debating. He said that there must be
more involvement and said that we had had no committee election for two years,
and this pointed to the fact that members were not getting involved in running
the club. Mike Palmer said that he
agreed with Angie and that we should look seriously at the idea of having the
B.B. printed professionally. Barrie said
that he agreed with Colin. We should try
Alfie's plan, or at last discuss it. Dave Turner said that the Ballooning Clubs magazine is printed by
Electroprint and costs £400 an issue. A
B.B. printed at similar cost would work out at about £4 per member per
anum. Dave Irwin said that the Wessex
Journal costs £275 a year for six issues, and this is about £1 per member per
annum. Colin Dooley said that if we only
spent £1 per member per annum AND installed the central heating AND paid the
new insurance premium AND were faced with the loss of the revenue from the
navy, then we should go broke. Dave
Turner suggested that talk was of very little use, action is what we
needed. Dave Irwin said that if a team
could be got going, then it should be tried. At this stage, the Chairman asked if there were any volunteers. Andy Sparrow volunteered to collect material,
Alfie and Mike Wheadon volunteered to do the typing. Barrie volunteered to provide stationary
covers and Alan Kennett and Tony Corrigan volunteered to print. The Chairman said that under these
circumstances, the idea of a team as suggested in the B.B. Report should be
tried with the corollary that Alfie ran the team. Bob Cross then proposed the adoption of the
report and the Chairmans suggested solution. This was seconded by Andy Sparrow and carried without dissent.
The special item of INSURANCE was taken next. Joan and Roy
Bennett produced suitable tables showing the various options and their cost and
type of cover and Dave Irwin outlined the background to the change of attitude
by the insurance companies. At the end
of the presentation, Dave Turner proposed that the club should take up the 44p
+ 25% + 10% policy and that all members should be strongly urged to take out
their own Public Liability insurance in addition to the club's policy. This was seconded by Paul Stokes and carried
with 35 in favour and 4 against. Joan
Bennett announced that she had made arrangements for further information on
insurance to cover climbing, hill walking etc. to be sent to the committee.
The Publications Report followed. In the absence of a formal report, the
subject was referred to the next committee by the Chairman.
The Hon. Librarian's Report made the point that the
main source of concern was the damp state of the library. Apart from this, all was well. It was hoped that the work to be carried out
on central heating would remove the damp in the library. Barrie proposed that the report be adopted
and this was seconded by Mike Palmer and carried without dissent.
The Ian Dear Memorial Fund Committee report
followed. There was no discussion and
the adoption of the report was proposed by Nigel Taylor and seconded by Mike
Wheadon and carried without dissent by the meeting.
A members resolution concerning new arrangements for the
payment of annual subscriptions was defeated by 8 in favour to 25 against. There being no further business, the Chairman
declared the meeting closed at 3.50 p.m.
Dinner- 1977
The Club Dinner is fixed to be at the Cliff Hotel Cheddar
this year. As usual it will be the first
Saturday of October (1st). The Menu is
under negotiation but at present is: Choice of Starter: Soup/Prawn
Cocktail/Fruit Juice; Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing and Cranberry Sauce/Roast
& Boiled Potatoes/Sprouts/Carrots etc; Sweet will be from Fruit Salad &
Cream/Apple Pie & Cream/Ice cream; Cheese & Biscuits and Coffee - the
price will be £4.50. More details will
be given later; the main reason for advance notice is that BOOKING SHOULD BE
DONE BY 12th OF SEPTEMBER and PAUL CHRISTIE would like to know at this time if
you wish to travel from the BELFRY BY COACH. The Cliff could provide a vegetarian meal if necessary but there would
have to be advance warning of this need. Another defect (to some) will be that provision of one's own vintage
will not be allowed this year - the Cliff are troubled that it might make
someone 'ill' and their cuisine would carry the blame.
Fifth Column A Birds Eye View of Mendip
With the problems of the B.B. machine dogging us; it's nice
to be back and flattering to learn that our column was missed when we took a
rest at the ed's request. A group of our
fans were heard to ask "Where is the Fifth Column?" and both said it
was the first thing they read in the B.B. each month. It is food for thought that although we think
we have got journal troubles, it was rumoured recently that the club might be
asked by a very well known club to print their magazine, as they too have
problems which might indeed prove to be greater than ours. Not least of the B.B.'s worries would have
been a planned coup, which was luckily averted.
Celebrations and festivities abound, from the modest to the
excessive, although none organised by the B.E.C. committee who, on receiving a
request for a jubilee celebration, lapsed into unaccustomed silence. First there was Jon Jon's birthday in the village hall, attended by the usual select
gathering. Then there was the amazingly
exclusive Shepton Dinner at the Hunters Lodge. They claim the food was excellent and in excess (sounds familiar!) More personal celebrations came with the
announcement from the Franklin clan of their latest arrival - Benjamin
Somerset. Congratulations. Pat and Beryl Ifold - sadly, no longer
members, celebrated their Silver Wedding with (we hear) a splendid party. (Quite correct Ed!) The Palmers housewarming is coming up and the
Bishops held a jubilee do which turned into one of 'those' parties. Angie is reported to have been more
adventurous than can be repeated here without the use of asterisks. Brenda, found sitting on the step, was asked
what she was doing. Her reply was
"Waiting to be sick". Such
parties are only to be wondered at!
Our recent report that 'they 'orrible words' are again to be
heard at Hunters has been confounded. The whistle-and-accordion folk persons have taken over, and continue
their interminable and mournful songs in strange keys, which drives your
correspondent to drink, or at least to the other bar. Why do they never seem to enjoy their
music? Caving songs are occasionally to
be heard at the Shepton Hut after hours, and it is shortly to be
central-heated.
Mysterious plans to remove and re-located the Belfry kitchen
have not borne to fruition despite much patter at committee meetings. In any case, should we contemplate new
schemes when so many half-complete schemes already exist? Sett has been doing some talks recently on
the archaeology of Mendip and was understandably disappointed at the
response. Perhaps the non-appearance of
the B. B. can be the cause?
Tynings Barrow made the national news as the 'major new cave
of Mendip'. Congrats to the Institute;
(T.I.T.S.) who held a celebration dinner at Hunters. Soon there will be enough record holders on
Mendip to hold a dinner on their own, as Richard et al. have made an attack on
Wookey Hole and were (as they modestly report) successful. Perhaps we'll read all about it in the
B.B. The local press reviewed Wig and
Tony's new book and gave it a good write up. Strange that when the local television station did the same thing where
only Wig got a mention - he must be in with someone at the B.B.C.
At the Belfry, the mens room has a new bunk thanks to
Martin and Garth - made they said out of supermarket trolley wire! Jarrett fell out of same and has had to have
his hip pinned. Colleen Gage assured us
that all proper precautions were taken to protect his vital parts during
X-rays. Mike Holland and George Pointing
(and Dave Berry) have recently been seen on the hill. Maureen has had her second eye operation. There are bound to be some who will be
disappointed that she might be able to see them instead of using Braille to
locate them! Finally, there are rumours
that Alfie is going to talk about caving to boy scouts (can he still remember
it?) and that the Hon. Treasurer actually went underground recently.
Monthly Crossword Number 75
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Across (Passages)
1. Id be a northerner for this
Mendip cave. (6)
4. Drinks from Wales. (4)
8. Quiet nobleman found occasionally in caves. (5)
9. This ground is where caves are found. (5)
10. Not on!. (3)
11. Prolific writer. (4)
13. Pitch in bare terrain underground. (5)
16. (with 5 down and 17 down) Picture
helped P.G. in Cuthberts. (5,5,5)
19. 5 down has it if one ignores the learner. (4)
21. Posses nothing and two points of the compass. (3)
23. Arise! (3,2)
24. Tried otherwise after a caving trip? (5)
25. Reflections of a sort often noticed in caves. (4)
26. Old Mendip Cave dweller. (6)
Down (Pitches)
1. Division of Highland clan
gives short version of Cuthberts series. (4)
2. Start of well known Goatchurch crawl. (5)
3. Rope material in long or short lengths. (5)
5. See 16 across.
6. 1 down is a this. (6)
7. Soft type of stal. (4)
12. The Double Pots are in Swildons this. (3)
14. 198 for this and its Mendip Pot. (3)
15. Noise made by stream perhaps. (6)
17. See 16 across.
18. Useful aid in European caves. (4)
19. There may be restrictions on this. (5)
20. Overeat in G.B. (5)
21. Hunters criterion without learner. (4)
Solution to No. 74
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Club Headquarters
The Belfry, Wells Rd, Priddy, Wells, Somerset. Telephone WELLS 72126
Club Committee
Chairman S.J. Collins
Minutes Sec M. Wheadon
Members C. Batstone, P. Christie, J. Dukes, R. Jenkins T. Large, Barry Wilton, G. Wilton-Jones.
Officers Of The Club
Honorary Secretary M.
WHEADON, 91 The Oval, Englishcoombe, Bath. Tel : BATH 713646
Honorary Treasurer B.
WILTON, Valley View, Venus Lane, Clutton, Nr. Bristol. Tele : TEMPLE CLOUD
52072
Caving Secretary TIM
LARGE, 15 Kippax Avenue, Wells, Somerset
Climbing Secretary R.
JENKINS, 10 Amberley Close, Downend, Bristol.
Hut Warden C.
BATSTONE, 8 Prospect Place, Bathford, Bath..
Belfry Engineer J.
DUKES, 4 Springfield Crescent, Southampton. SO1 6LE Tele : (0703) 774649
Tacklemaster G.
WILTON-JONES, Ilenea, Stonefield Road. Nap Hill, High Wycombe, Bucks. Tele :
(024) 024 3534
B.B. Editor S.J.
COLLINS, Lavender Cottage, Bishops Sutton, Nr. Bristol. Tel : CHEW MAGNA 2915
Publications Editor C.
HOWELL, 131 Sandon Road, Edgebaston, Birmingham 17. Tele : (021) 429 5549
B.B. Postal BRENDA
WILTON Address as for Barry
The views expressed by contributors to the Belfry Bulletin, including those of club officers, are not necessarily the views of the committee of the Bristol Exploration Club or the Editor, unless so stated. The Editor cannot guarantee that the accuracy of information contained in the contributed matter, as it cannot normally be checked in the time at his disposal.
QUODCUMQUE FACIENDUM : NIMIS FACIEMUS
Editorial
Nominations
Once again, it is time for nominations for next years'
committee. In case of any doubt, the rules are very simple. You may nominate any club member - or as many
as you like. You do not need a seconder. You DO have to ask those who you nominate if they would stand if
elected. If they say not, or put in any conditions, they may not be
nominated. You do not need to nominate
any members of the present committee who are automatically nominated if they
agree to stand again. As far as can be
ascertained, all the present committee are, in fact, willing to stand again.
You should give or send your nomination or nominations to
the Hon. Sec. and sign the paper and include your number if you know it. You should also state that you have asked
those concerned and they have said that they are willing to stand if elected.
Rumour has it that we can expect a fairly large number of
starters for the committee election this year. Since we have had no election for two years now, it is an encouraging
sign that so many members are taking an interest in the running of the club.
Club Officers Reports
In accordance with past practice, some of the Club Officers' reports will be found in this B.B. The idea is, of course, to reduce the time taken at the A.G.M. by not having to read them out. If members have questions to raise, they should make notes or bring this B. B. to the meeting. The same applies to the minutes of the last A.G.M., which were printed in the June B.B.
The Growth of the BEC
PART FOUR - SECOND WIND
The Fourth part in our series on the growth of the club.
In the five years from 1957 to 1962, the club quite suddenly
and dramatically expanded again at a rate nearly equal to its post-war
growth. From a situation in which the
club seemed to have saturated at just over a hundred members it suddenly leaped
into a position where it had nearly twice that number of members. All this happened without any external
factors like the ending of the war to account for the large growth. It is thus a very remarkable occurrence.
Once again, the figures show that the increase cannot be
accounted for by a greater number of new members arriving over the period. In fact, over this period a total of 136
members joined the club, against a predicted total of 131, so we must look
elsewhere for the reason. It is, we
find, entirely due to a sudden reversal of the previous trend. Right across the board, members were now
staying longer with the club and these lower losses entirely account for the spectacular increase
in total membership. After 1962, the
increase levelled off, but we do not necessarily have to find a reason for
this, because a sudden increase due to a change in the rate of leaving levels
off naturally after a few years, as a new state of equilibrium is reached. Admittedly, the actual levelling off is a
little sharper than theory would suggest, but this can be accounted for by
small fluctuations in the arrival of new members which was not, of course,
entirely constant over the period.
Thus, we still have our original question to answer. What
happened in 1951 which suddenly caused members to be less satisfied with the
club, and what else happened (or what stopped happening) in 1957 which so
dramatically reversed this trend?
We have already mentioned the fact that the discovery and
exploration of St. Cuthberts had no effect on membership. Neither did the ups and downs of the
Belfry. From 1954 to 1956, Belfry usage
increased by no less than 42%, but it had no effect on the decline mentioned
last month. General club activities
were, in fact, high over the entire period covered by the decline and the new
upsurge in membership, with nothing changing in 1957 which would account for
the sudden change in the satisfaction of club members with their club.
The next part of this series discusses the recent past - the
period of time from 1962 to 1975 when the survey ends. After this, the final part attempts to sort
out what it all means and manages to put actual figures to this business of the
satisfaction of members. As was
mentioned at the start of this series, it is not intended to bore readers with
the actual maths, although this is available to any members who may be
interested in the methods used in this survey of the growth of the club.
A Fill In
The hard men who climb on the
Glyders
Are such that none ever considers
On seeing dense fogwen
They look at Llyn Ogwen
Their wives will be shortly their wyders.
P.S - If your fill in
is better, send it in.
Some Peaks in the
North West
Highlands
by Roy Bennett
Previous visits to this wet but delectable area have always
been marred by continuous rain, but reports of the fine weather tempted us to
try again. The first choice was to the
north of Ullapool where isolated
The rocks responsible for this scenery are of particular
interest because of their great age. Firstly, the pre-Cambrian Torridon Sandstone which is devoid of
fossils as it was laid down before life on this planet had developed any
hard parts. In spite of its venerable
age, the rock has lasted quite well and its massive beds normally lie at gentle
angles giving rise to impressive mural precipices. These sometimes give excellent rock climbing
but often the cliffs are loose, lacking in belays and separated by horizontal
bands of very steep grass. It is
succeeded by a White Cambrian Quarzite having Crinoids and other fossils and
giving rise to its own mountain forms.
The rocky and widespread foundations of the mountain are
composed of Lewisian Gneiss, an even older rock. This forms part of the 'Shield' area of very
old much altered rocks and was once continuous with similar rocks in Greenland
and Arctic Canada, which it has been separated from by continental drift. It is very resistant to weathering and it is
often exposed in the area as a series of hummocks, rounded and grooved by the
ice-age glaciers.
On our arrival in the area, it rained heavily. The weather had been very good and it looked
as if we were in for our usual luck. However, it cleared up quite suddenly, remaining changeable but
improving for the rest of our holiday.
First choice for a 'limber up' was the well known Stac
Polly, a fancy mountain some 2,000ft high and handy to the road. It consists of a rocky be-pinnacled ridge
offering some entertaining scrambling. Access was easy, up a steep path to a colon the, ridge. From this point, the East summit was easily
reach, returning to the col to start the more interesting scramble over the
pinnacles to the highest point on the western end. Where were some easy ways up most of these,
with an awkward few moves over the 'bad step' to the western¬most and highest
summit. In all a very enjoyable little
mountain.
After a few more rainy days, fine weather again tempted us
out (unless you like plodding around mountains in the rain, some wet weather
pursuit such as fishing, bird watching or sitting in a pub is essential). The mountain chosen was Quinag and its most
Northerly Torridon Sandstone peak rising as a great mountain wall when viewed
from the west. The traverse of the
ridges connecting its various tops made a splendid trip especially as we were
dropped off at one end. The approach to
this east summit was trackless, but was easy going apart from a crumby plod up
steep, loose scree to the summit itself. Once there, the going was speedy along the ridges on good paths. Time could not be spared to include the
highest top which lies off to the south of the main ridge due to delay caused
by a small dog chasing grouse (didn't catch any). We caught up a little time on the descent
from the final peak when we raced down almost continuous slabs of Quartzite on
the dip slope of the mountain.
The next to be tackled was Suilven, the most spectacularly
steep sided peak in
In short, a very attractive mountain but with one snag - due
to some oversight it has been placed a rather long way from the nearest public
road. Our first approach was from the
east where the OS map indicated a perfectly good foot¬path not mentioned in the
S.M.C. guidebook.
This was difficult to find at first and then followed along
the lake-side in bits and pieces, eventually to peter out altogether. The going then became very heavy - up and
down peat hags, heather and boggy clumps of grass with the mountain
tantalisingly in the distance. After
about 2½ hours, we gave up and a glance at the map showed a pathetic distance
covered.
The point being taken, I set off next day along one of the
recommended paths to the mountain. This
was a splendid contrast to the previous day as these paths were put in for deer
stalking in days when labour must have been cheap and readily available. Their mode of construction was very similar
to that of a road. First of all a good
line is taken, then a ditch is dug on the up¬slope side for drainage and the
excavated material, where suitable, is used to raise up the path. Large stones are removed from the levelled
surface and drainage channelled under the paths provided at intervals. Most still stand in good condition and are
smooth enough to cycle over. Walking on
such a path becomes a pleasure all of its own, the legs work smoothly and
efficiently and all the step breaking difficulties slide by defeated. Lakes and rivers appear and pass by and
sandpipers flute from the shallows.
In 2 hours, I was sitting at the foot of the mountain, after
5½ miles of approach with 1,000ft of ascent. Another hour was sufficient to climb to the bealach (col) and traverse
by an easy path to the north peak - Castell Liath - the Grey castle. This was quite unexpected, a large area of
mossy grass curving gradually away on 3 sides to the invisible supporting
cliffs. The view from this isolated
eminence was like that from an aeroplane. Immediately down was a Scandinavian landscape of hummocks and lochans
hardly changed since the glaciers melted away many thousands of years ago. Further away there was more grass and
heather, then a few trees and houses - to the deep blue of the sea. Costal features could be picked out 13 miles
away. Formerly there would have been
more trees and habitations, but these were finally removed during the
From the summit, steps were re-traced re-passing one of the
most remarkable features of the mountain - a man-made dry stone wall erected
across the mainly grassy ridge of the mountain from cliff top to cliff
top. The guide book mentions this, but I
was not prepared for its size 4ft thick at its base with a 5-6ft vertical height,
built of massive squared off blocks laid in brick wall fashion. It seemed enough to climb the mountain
without carrying out such work at the top. From the bealach, an easy path led over a subsid¬iary top to the highest
point. To reach the small summit plateau
of this there was a bit of a climb up a broken wall. The usual route was to return from here but -
look across the valley suggested a change of plan. There was a good path to the head of the
nearby loch which could be reached from the end of the mountains
There was not much of a path and interest quickened. This part of the mountain was clearly not so
often visited, but the guide books claimed there was no real difficulty. A long descent over loose rocks and grass led
to a col, the sides of which fell away steeply. Beyond was a vertical wall to a sub¬sidiary peak which turned on the
left via some vegetated ledges. From the
flat top of the peak, the
Some sightseeing followed including visits to Loch Laxford -
with its glac¬iated landscape.
Firstly, Ben Damph was climbed, a gentle amble through
resinous pine woods to a spacious corrie leading on to the long, broad,
switchback to a summit with extensive views.
The finale was the traverse of Ben Eighe, the longest of the
Torridon ridges and the only one largely composed of Cambrian Quartzite. In this, the tiered verticality of the
Torridonian Sandstone is replaced with sharp arêtes flanked by enormous spreads
of white scree, giving the mountain a dingy snow covered appearance. The scree is noteworthy, being mainly
composed of angular blocks like small half-bricks which slide tiringly
underfoot on ascents - and it is too coarse to run when descending.
From the usual starting point near the eastern end of the
mountain, a heathery path leads to a few dotted remnants of former pine forest
to an extensive plateau thinly vegetated with dwarf juniper and other
shrubs. From this a ridge, rocky at
first, then completely scree, rose between scree corries to¬wards the first
summit. These corries have a cold
desolate appearance intimidating to the solo walker. Apart from one long slope of loose scree, the
first ascent was not too taxing and 2 hours after leaving the road, the first
summit was reached. The scene was
enlivened by a patch of dwarf sax¬ifrage, covered with rosy, inch-high flowers,
and there were extensive mountain views in all directions.
Upwind, towards the south-east however, there was a
spreading pall of bad¬ weather which looked as if it would catch up about half
way along the ridge. After a quick bite
to eat I set off, whilst behind a subdued battle was being fought between the
southern depression and the high-pressure weather which had served us so
well. A summit and a half later,
interest was quickened by a series of small towers on the ridge - the Black
Carls of Ben Eighe. These were soon
passed and the next summit reached. By
this time, the wind was backing steadily to northerly and the weather became a
past problem, pinned down in the distance.
The rocky ridge continued to another summit past some
remarkable rock scenery sculptured by the Quartzite jointing. One particular gully had absolutely vertical
sides so that it was no wider at the top than the deeply descending bottom,
100ft below. The ridge also showed
unexpected verticality and in one place a look over the path edge showed sheer
rocks disappearing under ones feet in an overhang.
A steep scree and loose rock descent, best forgotten, and a
more pleasant ascent gave more summit views. Back along the ridge two small back dots could be seen in the distance -
the nearest I got to seeing any other walkers on the mountain that day - rather
different to the Snowdon Horseshoe or Helvellyn!
A long ridge led on, becoming softer underfoot. A tactical error resulted in a dismal
backtrack to take in the highest summit spurring off to the North. A coffee-break restored flagging spirits and
the final section was started with a plod up a mossy meadow. In sharp contrast the ridge beyond dropped
away in a series of great vertical rock steps which were bypassed with much
leaping about to a col. A final plod up
to the final summit Sail Mhor. From here
it was all down, threading a way round bits of cliff on the easy angled slopes
south of the ridge. Remnants of energy
were squandered on rattling down the tourist path to the road, where tired feet
could be dabbled in a sun-warmed stream.
The whole trip had taken 7½ hours including stops and errors
and about 11 miles had been covered with a total ascent of about 5,000ft. The actual length of the ridge, excluding
bits done twice, was nearly six miles. In all a very nice end to the holiday.
A Dryish Easter in the Lakes
Having carried out a bit of
begging for articles it is gratifying to get two excellent articles from the
Climbers - if you are not yet satiated read on the King family have joined
forces to deliver an account of the Lakes.
by Kangy, Jonathan
& Philip King
A pity about today. It started well enough and looked as if it would be scorchingly
hot. We dawdled over breakfast and
closed up the little tent but were forced back into it at mid-afternoon by
closing time and torrential rain. Lying
cosily in warm pit turned the yarning to Easter in the Lakes this year which
was not at all wet.
The Haystacks at Buttermere was our first outing. It's Ivy Bonner's favourite walk and we don't
mind! The long pull up from the lake
fills the lungs, restores the circulation and sorts out the lads so that they
have sobered up for the walk around the tops. The views are extensive and always appreciated. After the winter hazes have cleared from the
eyes, everything seems to be in glorious Kodachrome (or Agfa-colour for those
with defective colour sense) and the absolutely superb view of the end of
Buttermere in a golden light stopped us all in our tracks.
A FULL FRONTAL
A day later, when Alan Bonner and I came to look for our
sons, they had vanished into the recesses of the Bonners' old farmhouse. Not pushing the matter of whether they would
like a day out with us or not, Alan and I faced up to a day on our own. "Where? says Alan, Grasmoor says I and
thinking no more about it off we went. Well, on the way and with the weather as it was, and with the feeling of
spring in the air, an urge to do a ridge route became stronger. There was much discussion and the feeling
became mutual until two mountaineers had their blood up and felt
irresistible! And as we saw Grasmoor we
saw what we had to do. The challenge lay
in the west face of Grasmoor. Viewed
edge on, from the north to the south, it presents the appearance of a steep
ridge and provides the clue to the ascent because the choice of route is
bewildering. The geometry of the face is
that of a cottage loaf with a side sliced off. The detail is of a series of steep cliffs springing out of the scree
slopes and preventing access to the ridges and gullies of the upper
section. The whole is about two thousand
feet of intricate steep rock. It was at
the worst a frightful slog and at the best a delightful test of mountaineering
skills.
We planned our route as best we could from what we could see
of the fore¬shortened face and from what we could remember of the view from the
side as we drove up. The long upper
ridges would be our objective and to get to them we would have to penetrate the
lengthy steep rock wall which belted in the lower face. The right hand side was lower and more broken
and offered more chances of a breakthrough. It led to a diagonal traverse, which went above the main cliff but below
smaller tiered cliffs and then back onto the main line. From here we could link with the longest and
steepest ridge, the sky¬line ridge, which finished in a cwm. The exit from the
cwm would have to be found when we arrived but ideally would be a continuation
of the main ridge.
Happy planning completed, we pulled on our boots, stuck some
wind proofs into a sac with some grub and stumped off across Lanthwaite
Common. By the time we had reached a
small knoll set against the scree we were nicely warmed. The scree here was stabilised with vegetation
and we climbed this carefully to steepening rocks at its head. A way was found up a small gully amidst
heather until suddenly the pressure of the slope ceased and we could walk
freely on an almost grassy terrace. The
main cliff rose directly from the back of the terrace. It was vertical. We prospected towards the left where it was
taller but the terrace gave out in steep rocks and the wall began to
overhang. Towards the right seemed to
give a level of difficulty for which we were looking but first we tried a
twenty foot pinnacle just for the joy of rock climbing.
It defeated us mainly because it was difficult to see how we
could escape from it and we didn't want to commit ourselves with the main climb
still to be done. Alan then tried to the
right and led out across a rising traverse and climbed a small corner to the
higher terrace. I joined him, where we
found that the terrace ran back to the left and upwards at forty-five degrees
gaining height satisfactorily to the start of the ridge we wanted.
The beginning of the ridge was broad and composed of short
steep walls which we could monkey up enjoyably. As we climbed higher the choice of route became more restricted until we
were scrambling up a true ridge which occasion¬ally steepened to a rock wall
making a traverse necessary to maintain the impetus of our progress. We began to get an exhilarating feeling of
height as the gullies either side converged in perspective onto the brown
screes with Lanthwaite Common spread map like below. Like all good things, our ridge came to an
end and flattened into the grass slopes of the upper cwm.
The view from here was great and we sat sweatily and steamed
mightily whilst drinking it in. We gazed
contentedly and then gradually turned to the cwm and made a technical appraisal
of the final climbing difficulties. Far
to the right was a good looking arête but to reach it we would have to
descend. Coming round, towards the
centre, were nasty looking cliffs of vegetatious rock, then some straight
forward gullies, and, most interesting of all, a clean rock buttress which
marked the start of the continuation ridge. There were more escape routes to the left, so feeling that we were fail
safe we went to rub our noses against the buttress to see if it really was as
steep as it looked. We thought at first
we might have to cheat a bit and get onto the ridge higher up by climbing the
gully bed, but the buttress could be climbed straightforwardly by a slight
outflanking move and with good big holds on clean steep rock. We moved up and soon got into the swing of
ridge scrambling once more.
The angle soon eased and the ridge gave out onto the rounded
grass slopes below Grasmoor summit. A
brisk walk with the wind pushing got us to the top. We were glad of our anoraks, didn't linger
and raced down the incredibly evenly graded path by Gasgale Gill. I'd hate to walk up it. Two miles long in a grim grey craggy vee of a
gorge and very boring. Alright for
running down though.
The big day for Jonathan and Philip King and Timothy Bonner
(aged 14, 12 and 12 years respectively) was their attempt on
We left our friends farmhouse at about 8.00 and drove for
about an hour to Seathwaite. Here we
changed and prepared for the walk by putting on water¬proofs because it looked
as if it would rain.
We walked a wet path becoming steep past the waterfall
called Taylorgill Force. As we went past
the waterfall, we had to climb through a small steep valley over bare
rock. At the top of the waterfall we
crossed the stream to avoid the regular route which had become worn and muddy. By this time we were quite hot but when we
stopped in the shelter of the Mountain Rescue Hut at Sty Head we soon began to
feel the cold. We shared out our Easter
Eggs and ate them overlooking the tarn below. The weather looked as though it would get steadily worse. Starting off again we followed the course of
a small stream going towards the cliffs. Alan mentioned that we were going up the guide routes. At this point we saw our first snow. We went into a steep gully following the path
carefully round a deep drop leading to the snowfield. After this steep part of the path it
flattened out a bit and snowflakes started to fall. The visibility was still quite good. There were two possible paths ahead, one
indirect around the snow, one directly through the middle. The party decided to go up through the snow
and Jonathan was asked to cut the steps. He described it as follows:-
"The first few steps were difficult until I was told
how to use the ice-axe. You swing it,
letting the weight of the axe do the work. After a time I got into the rhythm, the snow field began to get steeper
so Alan told me to cut the steps in zig-zags and closer together. The difficulty was that when trav¬ersing you
have to cut across the slope and the snow was hard making it difficult to out a
decent step. I was so occupied with this
that I did not realize that the wind was getting up until I turned from a
zig-zag and caught the full force of the wind and snow in my face. This slowed me up because it put me out of
rhythm. Every time I wanted to swing the
axe I was blinded by snow and the wind pushed me off balance. At this point I felt that the people behind
had the ad¬vantage because they could lean on their axes. I felt very unsafe and asked that someone who
was used to cutting steps could relieve me.
Alan took over. As we
swapped places I looked down. It was an
almost total 'white out'. You could not
tell which was snow and which was sky. In what seemed ages as I clung to a precarious hold, I found that the
position of following was no easier than that of leading".
The slope was very steep and we moved over gradually to some
rocks. At the rooks we found the
path. On the path were a worried man and
his wife with their two small children. The man wanted to know the quickest way down the mountain and out of the
cloud. Alan took them down part way
while we went on slowly up. Because we
were going slowly I (Philip) could feel the cold seeping in and penetrating
though I was still enjoying it very much. The blizzard of snow increased and to our relief Alan rejoined us. He told us that we were not very far from the
summit and sure enough after following the well-cairned path the summit cairn
appeared out of the mist. We were now
the highest people in
We shared out some more chocolate and then set off over easy
slopes towards Esk Hause. Surprisingly
once out of the cloud the terrible wind dropped off and we could relax. The air was remarkably clear and our eyes
took quite a time to adjust to the brightness of the snow. We slid down a large, previously unspoilt,
snowfield standing on our inverted ice axe heads as little skis (quickly
changing back to the correct position when Daddy turned around). Meanwhile, Jonathan started to ski standing
up on his boots using his ice axe as a rudder. When we reached the bottom we caught up with Alan and Daddy and
snowballed them. At Esk Hause we had
lunch with sticky cake, shortbread and toffee called Supergoo and hot drinks
from Thermos flasks.
The rest of the trip was uneventful with good views and it
was satisfying that we had done our climb in good time and could see other
parties struggling to get up the mountain.
Secretarial
There were no New Members clamouring to get into the club
this month but we bid a welcome return to:
792 Ken James, Flat 2,
687 Viv Brown,
800 M.D. Taylor,
Change of address: Claire Chambers has temporarily changed
her address to 70 Rush Hill,
1977 AGM
The Annual General Meeting of the Bristol Exploration Club
will be held at the Belfry on Saturday 1st October 1971. The start is scheduled for 10.30 am. It is anticipated that the meeting will
continue into the pm and there will be the usual provision of a Beer plus
Cheese & Onion in the break. This
year it is hoped that appreciation will be made that a reasonable charge must
be made to cover the cost of the barrel and refreshments.
THE SECRETARYS AGENDA
Nominations for and Election of
Chairman - who will preside at the Dinner.
THE CHAIRMANS AGENDA
will include:-
Collection of Members Resolutions
Selection of Tellers for the election.
Minutes of the Last Annual General Meeting - As published in the June BB.
Matters arising from the Minutes
Hon. Secretary's Report
Hut Warden's Report
Hut Engineer's Report
BB Editor's Report
Publications Report
Librarians Report
Caving Secretary's Report
Climbing Secretarys Report
Tacklemasters Report
Hon. Treasures Report - together with Auditor's comment.
IDMF Report
Members Resolutions
Any Other Business.
The results of the election will be announced immediately
prior to the lunch break. This will be
followed by a meeting of the officers elected under the Chairmanship of the AGM
Chairman - to elect officers to posts. Members may vote for a maximum of nine candidates (although the
committee may number up to a maximum of 12). Nominations should be given as soon as possible to the Secretary. Nominations to date received are the whole of
the present committee (with some reservations on posts) plus the following: Bob
Cross, Martin Grass, Maureen Wheadon, Brenda Wilton. Russ Jenkins is still able to attend meetings
when his shift work permits and Chris Batstone has said that he has had enough
of being Hut Warden but will serve in another post.
The Festering Column
by Plagiarist
Your friendly plagiarist has had to be pestered into turning
out something for the BB at quite short notice and as a result I haven't
managed the greatest in stealing from others and have had to rely to some
extent on originality. Still, never mind
I'm told that every little helps.
Talking of little I'm sure that it hasn't escaped your
notice that our very own Richard Stevenson together with Martyn Farr or is it
Fartyn Mar? went to (and came back its sad to report)
Another interesting historical fact is the marathon push
that took place on 11th June in Wookey (together with its follow up on the
18th). This also had negative results as
regards material extension to the cave system. Still at 150ft depth even the bravest are not to be blamed for being
careful. Sump 25 has now reached a
The recent collapse of the Tynings entrance is a shame and
has temporarily we hope, prevented access. Although this was a joint club venture under some obscure title invented
especially for the purpose the T.I.T.S. put in a lot of work and it is only to
be hoped that entry into this quite fine swallet will be made possible again.
Who says the BEC never goes caving? (We know 'tis true but) a EEC team, assisted
by many and varied sherpas invaded
The intention to either gate or (worse) fill in Ludwell was
successfully resolved by the Axbridge CC. It was gated and the key is available from the farm. Sad to say Hollowfield and Flower Pot (the
joy of Ken James) has not been dealt with so successfully and the entrances are
now blocked.
Cuthberts apart from being the subject of many written
reports has been the site of dye testing (in conjunction with Wookey 24) to the
resurgence. Willie Stanton has found
that the volume of water beyond 24 is of the order of 3X of that downstream
from 24. This is (I'm told) absolutely
daunting to those who have seen the variation of the flooded section of Wookey
as far as 24.
After that last snippet I think that Plagiarist will have to
go but there remains a few more snippets from :
The BEC are now digging again, this time in Wigmore Swallet.
Cow Hole has been re-opened by Cerberus. The entrance is now improved and reported to
be only 'horribly unstable'.
Finally, The Nature Conservancy Wardens have decided that it
is time they covered over the entrance of Timber Hole (more news as to whether
this is to be permanent or not soon).
Monthly Crossword Number 77
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Clues
1. I led pub role out of a
ruckle, presumably! (7,4)
2. Backward part for sump? (4)
3. Apart from half a rift for example. (5)
4. One should do this oneself to a lifeline. (6)
5. Light the Wig. The result being mush
easier to tackle! (11)
6. Visitors accident description or routine expedition in Cuthberts? (7,4)
7. Beds are normally this in Mendip caves. (6)
8. Reach end of cave and feel the muscular effects within. (4)
9. Many pounds per square foot in hidden series. (5)
10. Steal apples or their product, perhaps. (6)
11. Wookey is this to the public. (5)
12. As I tell you to use an army expression, rather than this. (2,1,2)
13. Crystalline substance found in caverns parts. (4)
14. Southern Railway mobile unit taken by lifeline sometimes. (6)
15.
..which is made of this, naturally!. (4)
16. Measure pitches for a Grade 2
survey? (5,6)
Solution to No. 76
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Club Headquarters
The Belfry,
Club Committee
Chairman S.J. Collins
Minutes Sec M. Wheadon
Members C. Batstone, P. Christie, J. Dukes, R. Jenkins T. Large, Barry Wilton, G. Wilton-Jones.
Officers Of The Club
Honorary Secretary M.
WHEADON, 91 The Oval, Englishcoombe,
Honorary Treasurer B.
WILTON, Valley View,
Caving Secretary TIM
LARGE,
Climbing Secretary R.
JENKINS, 10 Amberley Close, Downend,
Hut Warden C.
BATSTONE,
Belfry Engineer J.
DUKES,
Tacklemaster G.
WILTON-JONES, Ilenea,
B.B. Editor S.J.
COLLINS, Lavender Cottage, Bishops Sutton, Nr. Bristol. Tel : CHEW MAGNA 2915
Publications Editor C.
HOWELL,
B.B. Postal BRENDA
The views expressed by contributors to the Belfry Bulletin, including those of club officers, are not necessarily the views of the committee of the Bristol Exploration Club or the Editor, unless so stated. The Editor cannot guarantee that the accuracy of information contained in the contributed matter, as it cannot normally be checked in the time at his disposal.