Monthly Notes. No.11
by WIG
SIDCOT SWALLET.
On 2nd February 1968 Fred Atwell, Dave Light and Sam
Powell found a very tight squeeze leading to a decorated chamber. Only Fred could get through and he writes,
.. a very tight squeeze which I had tried six months ago. I wriggled my way through the squeeze into a
large chamber
.The formations are white and quite untouched
. I found a passage
on the right hand side which went up a little way but came back because the
others could not get through the squeeze (readers will understand why when they realise that Fred is about 5
nothing and proportionally as small the other way round! Ed.). A sketch plan of what he entered is sown below does any reader know of
this passage? If you do please send a
note to the B.B.
WOOKEY HOLE
On Saturday 17th February 1968 the 19th Chamber was found by
Dave savage (C.D.G.). The chamber lies
about 250ft. further on from the 18th and is very near the resurgence
level. To get to this point involves not
only a very long dive but that the diver has to swim to a depth of 70ft. and
then rise steeply to the 18th chamber and then on to the 19th at a depth of
-10ft. below the show cave water level. It is certainly to be hoped that open passage is not very far away. When this happens does it increase the length
of Swildons or St. Cuthberts or Wookey? Itll give the club politicians a
heyday sorting the problem out.
NEW DIGS IN THE HILLGROVE AREA.
The
ROOKHAMWOOD MINESHAFT
On 26th November (now it can be told! Ed.) Mr. Glass, the
owner of Rookham Wood, came to the Belfry and asked whether anyone was
interested in old mineshafts. A mass
visit of festering (because of Foot and Mouth Restrictions) B.E.C. members was
the result as soon as the Sunday closing hours permitted! Members crowded around the top of the hole
and soon had the shaft laddered. It was
about 25ft. deep. Watched by the Glass
family Jock Orr and Bob Cross descended the shaft with Wig and Kangy taking
turns to lifeline where necessary. At
the bottom it sloped away but a mixture of animal skulls, bones, assorted tin
cans and other rotting matter prevented Bob from getting far although he became
suitably muddied in the process.
Later, after some more probing, Alan Thomas persuaded a
boulder to disintegrate enabling the cavers to get by. By courtesy of the W****x C.C. sheer legs
were erected above the shaft in February and the following weekend saw several
members assisted by the climbing section of the B.E.C., Messrs Sell, Sutton
and Rees, digging at the bottom of the slope, entered another, but larger,
shaft. On breaking through the others on
the surface heard their voices coming up through the ground some little distance
from the open shaft. The three below
climbed towards the surface and found that the shaft was capped; this was soon
removed and the shaft opened up once more to the light of day. The depth of the new shaft is 80ft.; 40ft.
down to the entry from the shorter shaft. Digging is continuing at the bottom.
On the bitterly cold afternoon of the initial inspection
Phil Kingston and Wig found a small, choked, hole that was emitting warm
air. This site is further down the
valley and could possibly connect with the shaft that is now being dug. Has anyone details of the shafts in this
wood? As far as I know there are several
noted by older members of the B.E.C. just after the 1939-45 war.
SPELEODES.
To help raise money for the ne Belfry Alfie has very
kindly given the club copyright of all his Speleodes. It is intended to publish these in booklet
form. They are being illustrated by Jock
Orr. Further details will appear in the
B.B. when available. Those interested in
purchasing a copy should get in touch with Alan Thomas so that he can get some
ideas of the likely demand from Club Members. Just think you can have the Caving Machine and Percy Pound in your
own home.
DID YOU SPOT IT?
- the editors
deliberate mistake! To those who did he
would like to offer his sincere apologies for putting the time back a month
to those who didnt well
.! A
reasonable excuse going to be offered by the Editor was that he was
experimenting with a fortnightly B.B.! Oh! by the way in case you did not spot the error just glance at the
front page of B.B. No. 239 and you will see that it reads January instead of
February.