Obituary – Barry Lane
From Martin (Milche) Mills
VALE: BARRY LANE
Older members will be saddened to learn of Barry’s passing on 23rd June 2011 in Pembrokeshire. He was a SMCC member from 1965 – 1969, and also a BEC member (No. 475) from 1961-70. It would appear he may have been ill for some time as Roger and Jackie Dors exchanged Christmas cards with him and none was received in 2009.
My recollections of him are an impish grin and golden hair. He once gave me a lift back from The Hunters’ to the hut. We “roared” down the road in his ancient car and he had just made it into third gear when we were passed by a chasing dog before we slowed down for the hut track.
As this was my only initial recollection of him I am grateful to others who have provided other anecdotes. He was in the 1st Whitchurch Boy Scouts band, and later a GPO/BT Telecoms Manager.
Bill Tolfree recalls a Yorkshire trip (pre-motorway days) when Barry travelled the whole journey with his feet out of the car window as they smelt, and for which he gained the nickname “Footnic”. On an Irish caving trip, Barry was in O’Connors Bar in Doolin and noticed a young girl dancing while her father drank. He later married that girl, Teresa O’Driscoll, and they had a daughter. As one person remarked he was always on Mendip, and then he was gone and we never saw him again.
The hut log for 1964 – 67 reveals mention of him on over 30 trips, predominately on Mendip, but also Yorkshire, Devon and South Wales. He was a very competent caver and many were hard pushing trips: Blue Pencil Aven and First Mud Sump in Swildon’s, and to the top of High Chamber in St Cuthbert’s. Even his tourist trips were challenging: an early Damp Link and Swildon’s figure of Eight trips. Many appear to have been in the company of Steve Wynne-Roberts. This possibly influenced him to take up cave diving, including in South Wales, Wookey Hole and Swildon’s. He and Steve W-R dived to the bottom (105 ft depth) of The Lake in Pridhamsleigh Cavern on 3 June 1967 but omitted to notice the opening to Prid II due to the amount of silt stirred up. He is probably best remembered for, with Phil Kingston and Colin Priddle (both BEC) and others, laying siege (at least a dozen recorded trips) by digging underwater the then terminal sump (now Sump 1) in St Cuthbert’s in 1966 – 67, making an estimated 21 feet of progress.
One day Barry went climbing with Steve W-R in the Avon Gorge. Steve was sat belaying on a ledge facing outwards. Barry set off up the next pitch which unfortunately led out to one side, crossed over Steve’s head and continued on the other side. As Steve was changing the rope round to feed out to his other side, Barry fell off. Steve grabbed the rope with both hands in front of him and held Barry’s fall but cutting great grooves in his hands and fingers. When he went to work on Monday, he was an Engineer at Westinghouse, he found he couldn’t hold a pencil. The first aid person took one look and despatched him to hospital.
Barry broke his left arm and spent many weeks convalescing at The Hunters’ playing shove halfpenny and became so proficient nobody could beat him!
That Barry Lane was a hard caver is evidenced by his being accorded his own song (few achieve this status) of a legendary race around Swildon’s, written by Snab with obvious Scottish overtones, to the traditional tune of “Johnny Cope”, and it seems very appropriate to end with this…………………