Belfry Bulletin No.3. Vol. 1
BRISTOL EXPLORATION CLUB
April. 1947
A Short History of the Bristol Exploration Club By T.H. Stanbury I do not suppose there are many members that know how the B.E.C. came into being, or the hard work that has been necessary to put the club in the position that it holds today. It is the purpose of these brief notes to acquaint those who are interested with a few facts about the earlier days of the BEC. The first notes will, I am sorry to say, be very sketchy as all the earlier records were lost in the blitz. They were posted to me from Keynsham and never arrived, so I have only my memory to assist me. In 1935 a group of my fellow-employees approached me and asked if I would be willing to take them to Burrington and other places caving. Most of these lads had a little experience of Caves and Caving, and as my own experience was little better than theirs, I was extremely diffident about the whole arrangement, but agreed. The following Saturday I took them to Goatchurch, and the trip turned out to be a great success. The next four week-ends we mere similarly employed and then many difficulties loomed large before us. How could we get to the larger caves? How could we get Equipment? Would the Owners let us into the deep caves? There two solutions. The first and most obvious was that we join one of the recognised and established Cave Clubs of the district. This was debated at length and it was decided that in view of the fact that we were a group of working class men and that there were a number of points in the existing societies we did not care about, that we should not associate ourselves with any body already in existence. The second course open to us was to form an entirely new caving club, and after many misgivings the Bristol Exploration Club was duly formed with an initial membership of about a dozen. If we could have foreseen all the difficulties that beset us, I very much doubt if the project would have been launched. At the inaugural meeting a set of rules were drawn up, and although they have been modified and added to, to meet changing conditions, they were essentially the same as are in use today. For a time all went smoothly; our subs enabled us to buy ladders and ropes, etc. We familiarised ourselves with all the smaller caves and then turned to the larger ones. Here, too, we were successful, and our first year concluded with the knowledge that we were still in existence, and if not exactly flourishing, we were holding our own. Membership did not increase very much in the following years. We were not keen on too many members at first as we felt we did not have sufficient knowledge to hold them after they had joined. We preferred to move slowly, consolidating our position as we went, so that when the time came, as come it would, when members started to role in, we should be in a position to offer them something good. The outbreak of war in 1939 found the BEC in a stronger position than ever before, although membership was still only 15. We had suffered one bad loss, out Treasurer, who was also our Photographer; had been stricken with an affliction of the eyes necessitating his withdrawal from all Club activities. The last trip that he came with the Club was to Lamb Leer, where we went as guests of the UBSS. The older members were called up, one by one, so that except for one fortunate incident, we should have had to close down, like other Mendip clubs for lack of active members.