Redcliffe
Caves Survey 1953
By Alfie
Towards the end of 1952 it was decided to approach the
Bristol Corporation to see if the Club could obtain permission to survey the
caves under Redcliffe Hill. These caves
were cut into the sandstone of Redcliffe Hill several centuries ago and have
been used at one time or another for storing almost anything from slaves to old
Corporation wheelbarrows.
There were two reasons for undertaking this survey. One being that a complete survey no longer
exists (although the Corporation posses one of the caves lying under their
land) and the other to give members of the club an opportunity to uses cave
surveying equipment and methods under something approaching caving conditions.
Permission having been granted, various bods presented
themselves at the caves on Wednesday 7th January and we all spent about an hour
going around in circles and getting lost generally. Don Coase then organised a competition for
reading an astrocompass with a pint of beer as the prize. Soon after this we adjourned to the pub.
The next four weeks were spent in getting a line survey of
the Corporations part of the cave. We
hoped to get two teams working, but owing to Coases accident, which put him
out of action for quite a time this was rarely possible, and during the two
months after this, a team started detailing by means of a plane table constructed
for the occasion.
By the beginning of May about half of the cave belonging to
the Corporation had been plane-tabled and it was decided to stop work during
the summer months. Since then a large
new fall in the part not belonging to the Corporation has caused this part to
be closed and it will no longer be possible to survey it. In addition to this, the members who
undertook most of the work are now at a stage where actual surveying down a
cave amongst more difficult conditions could be undertaken and so it looks as
if further work in Redcliffe has lost most of its point.
However, useful results have been obtained. As a result of the work in Redcliffe, a plane
table has been used on a cave survey (Brownes Hole) and proved surprisingly
useful, adaptable and accurate. And plans are under way for the construction of
an automatic plane table, which, if it works, will permit one-man surveying to
be carried out.
The most useful result of this surveying exercise will be
apparent, however, if it leads to members coming forward to assist in any new
caves which might require surveying in the near future. There is a distressing lack of decent cave
surveys on Mendip at the moment, and our own Clubs
Alfie