B B BELFRY BULLETIN JOURNAL OF THE BRISTOL EXPLORATION CLUB Volume 10 No.103
April 1956
REPORTS. The first ‘Report’ (on Survey of Redcliffe Caves) is now available price 2/6d. If there is sufficient demand – Line Die, copies of the Survey (about 20”” x 30”) will be produced – so – write to the Hon. Sec. if you would like one. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS Annual Subscriptions are now overdue, so will those members whose subscriptions are still unpaid please remit to Hon. Sec. as soon as possible. Funds are still needed for the purchase of the Belfry Site and for a new tackle store – any donations for the above would be gratefully received. Please enclose any such sums with your annual subscriptions. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + CLANGER DEPT. The Editor has received the following letter: Dear Harry, In my last ‘Derbyshire’ article, printed in the recent B.B. I noticed a few place misprints, most likely due to my rotten writing. However, I think it would be most misleading to anyone contemplating a Derbyshire trip this year, therefore I hope you won’t mind me taking a liberty, and quoting corrections just for reference. Cheerio for now and all the best. Stan Gee. Oxlow-Marsh Hill-system should read Oxlow-Maskhill system. Cave of Win Hill should read Cone of Win Hill. Adins Mine should read Odins Mine. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Sorry Stan, I should have known better – the mistakes were due to lack of concentration when proof reading. T.H.S. + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
BB103/2 BEGINNING WHITSUN 1956 THE CLUB’S 21ST YEAR FESTIVITIES SATURDAY 21ST MAY 2.30pm - 5.00pm - HUNT THE BOOZE This will take place in Goatchurch Cave, Burrington. 5,00pm - 6.00pm - WASH & BRUSH UP 6.00pm - 11.00pm INFORMAL BUFFET & PARTY IN WELLS SUNDAY 22ND MAY SERIOUS CAVING TRIPS WILL BE UNDERTAKEN DOWN MOST MAJOR CAVE SYSTEMS. SUNDAY NIGHT - BONFIRE MONDAY 23RD MAY DAY OF REST & RECOVERY 6.00PM - 11.00PM - AT THE HUNTERS LODGE INN. IT IS UP TO YOU THE MEMBERS OF THE CLUB TO MAKE THIS A SUCCESS BY TURNING UP ON TIME AND JOINING IN CHANGE OF ADDRESS. A. Collins - ‘Alfie’ 1, Kensington Place, Clifton, Bristol. 8. Dennis Kemp. c/o Photographic Dept., Brampton Hospital, London, S.W.3. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + LABOUR is urgently needed for work on the Belfry Site and for the transport of various materials from various places – so roll up in your thousands there is (I hope) work for all!. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY The following have been added recently to the Club Library: The Geology of Bristol & its Adjoining Counties. The London Caver. The News N.S.S. Vol. 13 No. 10 October 1955 The News N.S.S. Vol. 14 No. 1 January 1956 The News N.S.S. Vol. 14 No. 2 February 1956 The News N.S.S. Vol. 14 No. 3 March 1956 Cave and Crag Club Vol. 4 No. 9 October 1955. Cave and Crag Club Vol. 4 No. 10 November 1955 Cave and Crag Club Vol. 5 No. 1 January 1956. Orpheus Caving Club Vol. 1 No. 1 November 1954.
BB103/3 The Descent of Pierre Saint-Martin. – N. Casteret. Cave Science No. 24 April 1955. C.R.G. Newsletter No. 52 November 1955 C.R.G. Newsletter No. 53-54 December 1955. C.R.G. Newsletter No. 55 January/February 1956. C.R.G. Biological Supplement December 1955. W.C.C. Journal No. 54 January 1956. B.C.C.C. Newsletter No. 11 December 1955. N.S.S. Newsletter No. 11 November 1955. N.S.S. Newsletter No. 12 December 1955. S.W.C.C. Newsletter No. 14 March 1956. W.S.G. Newsletter Vol. 2 No. 12 March 1956. Mendip Cave Group Newsletter No. 9 March 1956. Brirish Caver Vol. 26 – 1955. Devon Speleological Soc. Newsletter No. 41 November 1954. Your Librarian is still Johnny Ifold at Leigh House, Nempnett, Chew Stoke, Nr, Bristol. LIST OF MEMBERS. Once again the Editor apologises for the delay in publishing this list – pressure of work has again made it impossible this month, but don’t despair – it is in the forefront of his mind but not yet on paper. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + NOTICE. Will all Climbing Section Members especially those who instruct new members and the area as a training ground, please note the following: TYRO’S CRACK, CHURCHILL ROCKS. Whilst climbing here recently, it was noticed that the pitons which were formerly at the end of the first and second pitches had been removed. There is now no belay on this climb until the trees at the top are reached, and since this is about 140ft. in rope distance from the start of the climb, is of no use when using normal length climbing rope. Perhaps the next time the ‘Rock engineers’ visit the place, the pitons could be replaced. Jack Waddon. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHY? MORE ANSWERS BY? The reason for the continued existence of large fossils after their smaller counterparts in the surrounding matrix have been eroded away is surely due to the fact that large bodies erode or dissolve at a slower rate than smaller bodies of the same material, provided the physical and chemical conditions do not vary greatly. Imagining the fossils as spheres with an occasional very large sphere (large fossil) imbedded in them, it is easily shown that the surface area, and therefore, the rate of erosion, at the surface of a large fossil, is proportionately much smaller than the area, and erosion rate of a small fossil. Hence, the larger the fossil, the longer it will continue to exists. + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
BB103/4 IMPORTANT RESEARCH WORK AT PRIDDY By Brian M. Ellis. Several weeks ago, on a fine Sunday morning, four cavers made an expedition into the depths of darkest Priddy with the intent on making a very important scientific experiment. With this end in view, and no other was present in our minds at the time we assure you, the four of us crossed the sacred precincts of the ‘New Inn’ sometime within the legally permitted period of twelve till two in the afternoon. Because it was necessary for the success of the experiment that we had in mind, four pints of ‘rough’ are ordered and in the usual manner of speed by both name and picture we had to wait fifteen minutes for these to be placed on the table in front of us. At last there were there; three-quarters of each pint were downed and then to work. The apparatus was assembled and everything prepared, even Mr. Speed sensed the electrified atmosphere – shuffling over to the other side of the table, the better to see what strange going on within his Public House. Dead silence and the experimenter performed the first highly complex test. Then a worried look crossed his brow and he consulted his book of pictures (he cannot read) and then went into consultation with his three assistants. After a very long time it was not agreement but compromise that was reached, the answer lay somewhere between, ‘two and seven’; whatever that might mean. Undeterred by this lack of correlation the experimenter prepared to make a second and more specific test. Breathing ceased temporarily in excitement. The apparatus was again set up and the test made. Another result obtained, the book was again consulted and a conference of expedition’s members called. Meanwhile, the interested (?) spectators waited impatiently for the result which they were sure would startle the world; would the result be as high as expected? This question, I can assure you, was absent from all minds present – they were all too busy wondering who was going to pay for the next round. At long last he leaned back with a half-satisfied look on his face and the silence was only broken by the sound of four mugs being drained. The moment had arrived and he spoke, “The pH of Sylvester’s ‘rough’ is 3.5”. No one but he even knew what pH meant or did - but what did it matter, it had been a novel excuse for a drink and it might interest someone or other. Acknowledgements are recorded to the three assistants, Miss A. George, and Mr. and Mrs. T. Neil and whichever one of them it was who paid for the drinks. Thanks also go to the person, unknown, who made the experiment possible, the person who left the set of wide and narrow range ‘Indicator Papers’ lying around in the ‘Belfry’. Despite everything, the result of pH 3.5 was genuinely obtained; if that means anything to you. In case you don’t know what pH is, it is the logarithm to the base 10 of the reciprocal of the hydrogen concentration. Better? + + + + + + + + + + + + + + R.J. Bagshaw, Hon. Sec. 56, Ponsford Road, Knowle, Bristol.4. T.H. Stanbury Hon. Editor. 48 Novers Park Road, Knowle, Bristol. 4.