Belfry Bulletin Number 018

Belfry Bulletin Vol. 2 No. 18

BRISTOL EXPLORATION CLUB

December 1948

List of Members 1948 No. 9.

T. Kendrick Cherry Street, Bingham, Notts.

W. Mack 313. Watford Road, St.Albans, Herts.

Miss P.M. Brazier 14. Kendale Road, Bridgwater, Somt.

W.J. Shorthouse Hon.Sec.London Section BEC, 7. Marius Mansions, Rowfant Road, Balham, London SW13 Mrs. L Eno 6. saville Place, Clifton, Bristol. 8.

Miss V.N. Inseal 35. Petherton Road, Knowle, Bristol. 4 T. Driver 10. St. Pauls Road, Clifton, Bristol C. Ratcliffe 12. Mayfield Road, Dagenham, Essex R.H. Morgan 4. Brook Road, Montpelier, Bristol. 6.

B. Smailes 16, Armoury Square, Stapleton Road, Bristol M le R. Perree University Settlement, Barton Hill, Bristo1. 5.

Miss F.Chapman 38. Devonshire Road, Westbury Park, Bristol. 6.

R.T. Humpidge 26. Cavendish Road, Henleaze, Bristol ********************** FOUND!! FOUND!! FOUND!!

We seem to be making a habit of finding watches. A watch has been found in Swildons Hole. Found in the wet way this watch is of a type hopefully designated as ‘Waterproof’. Will all claimants write the Hon. Sec. who has the watch in his possession. A claim was laid to it by the Marine Commandos who visit Swildons occasionally but the watch lost by them was of a totally different type to that found. *********************** CAVING EXHIBITION The exhibition at Bristol Museum attracted great attention in the district and has been acclaimed as a great success. From the Club point of view the Exhibition marked the first publication of the provisional plan of Stoke Lane, and the showing, for the first time, of a number of Photographs taken there. Except for the Plan which is copyright, the idea of strict suppression of the Club name was kept to, although several blatant exceptions were noticed from others. ************************* REPORT ON ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 1. It was prop by R.A. Setterington Sec by D.A.Coase that D.H. Hall be elected chairman of the meeting, and this was carried unam.

2. Hon Secs Report This report was compiled on Nov 28th.

Our membership at the present stands at 94. That being the number whose subs have been paid and whose membership is current. Besides those there are a small number whose Subs. are due and will probably send them during the next few days.

The proposal at the last AGM that the subs for new members run to the anniversary of their date joining has been carried out with the result that; a. the club is assured of a steady income through the year instead of having all the subs. coming in on Jan. 1st; b. The Hon. Sec. has far less work to do, it being far easier to type one or two reminders forms per month than 100 in Jan. A considerable increase in the tempo of caving has been noticed in the last few months. But we should be glad if members could; a. send in a report of their trip so that the club can have some record of their activities and; b. let us know in advance as far as practicable where members are going each week. If this had been done there would have not been the uproar in the papers and the police inquiries about clothing at GB.

BB18/2 The survey of Stoke Lane has at last been published; it is only provisional and will be superseded by another issue later on. The difficulties on S/L seem to keep people away from the place when there is work to be done. Certain surveying instruments have been bought and it is hoped that members will use them in caves as well as finding their way over hilltops.

Tackle. A quantity of rope has been bought and put into our reserve stock. One ladder has been condemned but has not been rebuilt owing to the fact that there is so little interest in the tackle shown by members that the last two ladders were made almost in their entirety by three of four people who have rebelled against further forced labour.

Belfry. A separate report will be coming from the Hut Warden, and I will not trespass on his ground except to say that our new Hut still awaits the willing hands of members to help in its erection.

Exhibition. The exhibition being held at the city Museum has been a great success and I have been asked to read the following letter: Dear Mr. Stanbury, My committee have asked me to extend to you their sincere thanks for the splendid effort which the Bristol Exploration Club and Cave Diving Group have made in connection with the Mendip Caving Exhibition. They are indeed gratified with response, and are pleased that such co-operation has been proved possible and has led to such happy results.

The exhibition is proving of great interest to the public, and my committee are delighted that such a representative collection has been made possible by the goodwill and collaboration of all concerned. Will you please thank your Societies on our behalf. I feel that our especial thanks are due to those members who undertook not only to attend the Committee meetings in connection with this exhibition, but also did such a great deal of the actual, arrangements. Will you please express my thanks to those concerned.

Yours sincerely, (signed ) F.S. Wallis, Director.

As mentioned in the Belfry Bulletin earlier in the year, we have absorbed the Clifton Caving Club. These lads have been doing some fine work recently and are now experimenting with photography.

A London Section of B.E.C. has been formed and this will be discussed later in the evening.

Belfry Bulletin. A change in format during the year has been acclaimed as a great improvement. The Bulletin has been produced more regularly this year than last, but there are very few sending in articles etc, for publication. Please make every endeavour to make our Bulletin a real news sheet. This is another reason why we wart reports of trips.

The Hon. Sec. has obtained a blasting license and will be only too pleased to bang any and every hole that the digging members want enlarging.

Library. During the year a number of books have been purchased, and every opportunity has been taken to increase the amount of caving literature available to members. A number of obsolete travel books have been withdrawn and sold, the proceeds going towards new books. There are still a number of books missing, and I ask you once again to hunt them out return them.

I should like to hand a special bouquet to Jim Weekes for the way he took over the secretarial work during my illness at the beginning of the year.

A social sub-committee has been formed to handle and arrange such things as dances etc.

In conclusion, this year has been the most successful in the history of the Club. I say this every year, and I expect to it gets quite monotonous to hear me say it year after year. From the club point of view however, it speaks well for the future of the B.E.C. when for a large number of years running, we can say that for each year saw a step forward on the year previous. The coming year depends upon each member, and the amount of work and effort that he or she puts into the clubs affairs. Our percentage of active members is I believe, as high, if not higher than any other club in the area, and we must try to make it higher next year.

Arising from the above. R. Wallace asked what instruments had been purchased. A list was read by D. A. Coase and included the following: - 2 compasses; 1 clinometer; 2 tripods; and a simple theodolite.

3. London Section.

D.A. Coase explained the idea behind the, formation of the London Section. As a fair number of members are resident in the London area, the Section was formed both for ‘Armchair’ caving and fieldwork.

The section would be self supporting for all work in that area.

J. M. Tompsett proposed that a London Section be formed officially; this was seconded by R. A. Setterington and carried.

BB18/3 4. Financial Reports.

The year’s financial sheet is separate and every member will find it attached to this BB. Arising from 4. R. Wallace proposed that the A.G.M. Be held after the end of the financial year and that a financial statement be sent to members with the A.G.M. Agenda. This was sec. by B. Woodbridge and carried.

R.M. Wallis proposed by letter that the ‘Graded Subs’ for the Belfry Sleepers be dropped. This was seconded by D.A. Coase and carried.

D.A. Coase proposed that the Hut Subs be increased from 1/- to 1/6 and l/- for Junior members, per head until such time as the debt on the hut be paid off. This was sec. by J.C. Weekes. When put to the vote the motion was defeated only 8 members being in favour.

R.A. Setterington proposed that the £2 ‘Season Ticket’ for the Belfry be pressed in the BB. This was seconded by Mrs. Tompsett and carried.

The subs for Life Members were discussed and J.A. Dwyer proposed that the matter be left to the committee. This was sec. by Mrs. Tompsett and carried.

At this stage Mr. Setterington announced that P. Daymond had joined the regular R.A.F. and that F. Shorland was in Africa. The Hon. Sec. explained that all members of the regular Forces paid a subs, whilst in England, but when they were posted overseas the club continued their membership until they returned.

5. Results of Committee Election.

T.H. Stanbury 44; D.H. Hasell 37; R.A. Setterington 30; J.C Weekes 22; A.M Innes 21; Miss P. Richards 20; G.T. Lucy 15; S.C.W. Herman 13; R. Woodbridge 12; J.M. Thompsett 11; S.A.J. Bosworth 4.

The committee for 1949 therefore being:- Stanbury, Hasell, Setterington, Weekes, and Innes.

T.H. Stanbury proposed that D.A. Coase be co-opted to represent the London Section. This was sec. by G.T. Lucy and carried.

T.H .Stanbury told the meeting that an Assistant Sec. was very necessary owing to the very limited time at his disposal. Mrs. Tompsett proposed that Miss P. Richards be appointed. This was sec. by G. Ridyard and carried.

It was proposed by R.A. Setterington and sec. by G.T. Lucy that T.H. Stanbury be appointed Hon. Sec and Treasurer. This was carried.

It was proposed by D.A. Coase and sec. by G.T. Lucy that R.A. Setterington be appointed Hut Warden and Tackle Officer.

It was proposed by J.A. Dwyer and sec. by Mrs. Tompsett that G.T. Lucy be appointed Hut Warden and Tackle Officer.

A vote was taken and R.A. Setterington was appointed to the post the voting being:- Setterington 13, Lucy 7.

6. Hut Wardens Report.

D.A. Coase reported very briefly that the foundations for the new hut were well under way, but that there was a considerable amount of work still to be done. The state of the existing Belfry is bad, and the new hut will have to be kept far cleaner than the old one.

A ladder is being re-roped and a lot of new equipment has been added to the club assets. This consists mainly of digging and surveying gear.

Nothing further has been heard of the tent etc, that was missing and 2 caving helmets are also missing.

The Hon. Sec. asked why in view of the missing articles, why the lock on the main door had not been repaired. It was agreed that the new hut must be more burglar proof.

R. Wallace proposed that a sub-committee be appointed to push forward the erection of the new hut. This was sec. by Mrs. Thompsett and carried.

A. Johnson proposed that the whole question of internal arrangements to be left to the General and Belfry Committee. This was seconded by R. Brain and carried.

7. The state of the Library Books was commented on by the Hon. Sec. and also the fact that few reports of trips were being sent in.

8. Plans for 1949.

The following activities of the Club in broad outline were discussed and the following, tabulated for Committee discussion. a. A complete survey of Stoke Lane b. Photography of Stoke Lane c. Trips other than caving. (Climbing etc.) d. Cross Swallet e. Paes Dig f. A foreign Trip

BB18/4 9. Any other Business It was sated that those wishing to work on the Belfry transport to and from the Belfry to Hillgrove would be guaranteed.

It was proposed that the Library fine system be overhauled. This was proposed by R .Wallace and sec. by D.A. Coase. The matter was deferred to the committee.

A vote of thanks was given to Mrs. Weekes for her kindness in loaning a room for the meeting, The meeting closed at 9.30, there being 30 present at the meeting. ********************************* Members will be sorry to hear that our good ‘clubite’ R.A. Setterington met with an accident at Priddy recently. He was taken to Wells Hospital with facial injuries. However I have just had a message from him that he has returned home and he wished to thank everyone who either visited him or enquired for him.

Good show Sett! Glad you’re in circulation again. ********************************* To bring our list of Members for 1948 up to date, we are pleased to welcome the following new members:O.F. Hendell. 19. The Drive, Henleaze, Bristol.

Miss S. Bowden-Lyle, 31. Highworth Road, St. Annes Park, Bristol. ********************************* From the Hon. Sec's Postbag:From our old friend and member Andre C. Anastasiou of Salt Lake City, now in Belfast: - -------I saw in the Daily Mirror of a woman who left her clothes outside a cave on Mendip,-------- Sounds as though as though the old B.E.C. must have been on the hunt. ----------- The only hole round here is a small hole with a total depth of about 10ft.

(Members who don’t know Andre will be interested to know that he is the bod responsible for the books of cartoons signed Andre that are so popular in club circles, and caused such hilarity at the recent Exhibition.)

From Fred Shorland who has been exported to Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia as a Human being and not

by H.M. Forces: This country honeycombed with caves in various places, but the distances are so great that one doesn’t get mush chance of looking at any of them.

Black’s Bulletin for Christmas 1948 has arrived and has the usual interesting features. ********************************* We print the following without comment: Song of a Speleo-Biologist I like to see a centipede and to hear its martial tread, And the sight of spiders fighting, it makes me reel in dread.

Bugs and beetles, lice full fettle, Big worms, small fleas, if they’re kittle.

Snails and leeches they bite my breeches!

It’s these that make me go!

With a clanking of collecting case, and chewing bubble gum!

With the nightly catch stowed safely in medicated rum!!

A Helmet’s on my head and rotgut’s in my tum!!!

As I speleo-biologising go.

Terry Reed I beg to submit the above atrocity for publication on the BB. Terry Off the Amazon, 1/12/48. ***************************** Apologies to all for the almost month's delay in this issue. Pressure of Work, Xmas and the general aftermath of the A.G.M. have all contrived to make it impossible to turn it out sooner. *****************************

BY THE WAY. Do YOU realize that you can get a Belfry Season ticket enabling you to stay (if you wish) permanently at the Belfry for as little as £2!!!. A season ticket is a great asset to the ‘regular Belfry User’ enabling him to save pounds during the year. Applications will be dealt with in strict rotation. ******************************