No. 123
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EDITORIAL The Mendip Cave Registry For some time now, a group of cavers drawn from nearly all the clubs concerned with caving in the Mendip area have been engaged in compiling a Register of information on all Mendip caves. Members of the B.E.C. are helping with this work, which has now reached the stage at which the officers of the Registry feel that its existence and aims should be brought to the notice of many Mendip cavers as possible. We feel we can assist by publishing the whole of a recent circular written by the Chairman of the Registry. This follows below: “The desirability of having a central source of information on Mendip caves has become increasingly apparent over the last few years. It is probably true to say that as much information is being lost to the caving world as is being gained by new exploration. Some pioneer cavers of the early days of the century have left us, taking with them much useful knowledge and who knows how much information is locked up in the personal diaries of eminent cavers of yesterday? Several individuals have thought of, or even tried to produce, a complete record of Mendip cave information; but it was not until 1956 that representatives of most of the Mendip caving clubs met to consider setting up a registry. The result of this first meeting was the Mendip Cave Registry. Since 1956, its officers have met on 17 occasions and have, after a considerable spate of debate and experiment evolved a system which it is hoped dill serve the needs of the Registry for many years to com. . It was recognised at an early stage that the Register must be easily accessible to the caving public and arrangements have been made for it to be permanently available at the Wells County Library and at the Central reference Library, Bristol. It will take the form of a twin lock binder and will no doubt in time, develop into more than one volume. The Register is based on the 2½ Ordnance Survey maps, and each map will be divided into four quarters; each quarter sheet will form a division of the register, and the information appertaining to each map section will follow the map. The work of preparing the register will never be complete while cave exploration continues and publications are produced. It is also inevitable the registrars will miss some references and information may be incomplete in other ways, but the object of preserving information that might otherwise be lost, and of making available to cavers a more complete record of information that at present exists, will certainly be achieved. The volume of initial work is tremendous and it is bound to be some time before the Registers are placed in the Libraries. There is already a very keen and hard working team, but the more help forthcoming, the quicker will be the Registry’s progress. If any reader is willing to offer help whether financial, clerical, or in active research, he or she should write to the Chairman: Mr. Howard Kenny, Tudor Cottage, Beryl Lane, Wells, Somerset.” If any club members want to know more about the Registry, the club has two members on its Governing Body, M. Hannam and A. Collins. “Alfie” _______________________________________________________________________________________
Personal At 14.30hrs on Saturday, 29th March, Miss Daphne Anne Collistep Clague was married to Roger Stenner. The Bride, who wore a traditional white wedding dress of sort of lacy stuff, looked well and quite composed. The bridegroom has cleaned his shoes for the occasion and was dissuaded from wearing a striking M.R.A. uniform hat by his determined parents. The wedding guests were numerous and of three types; relations, college friends and the B.E.C. At the extremely amiable reception, after innumerable toasts, college friends and the B.E.C. found much in common, more particularly as the college friends were well flavoured and very feminine young women! The evening ended at approximately 2030hrs as Daphne ands Roger left. R.S. King
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NOTICES Club Library The following books and publications are now in the club Library: The Caves of Mendip by N. Barrington Sandstone Climbs in South West England. The River Scenery of the House of the Vale of Neath C.R.G. Occasional Publications No.1. The International Expedition to Gouffre Berger. Axbridge Caving Club Journal, Volume 1. No. 3 One Thousand Metres Down by Jean Cadoux March Committee Meeting The March Committee Meeting was attended by the whole of the committee. Amongst matters dealt with were the new club duplicator, the provision of mains water and the new Belfry, the club Lantern and Slides, certificates for Honorary Life Members, the state of the club tackle, improvements to the Belfry kitchen, suggestions for a suitable memorial to Don Coase and the appointment of a new M.R.O. representative. R.S. King was co-opted on to the committee as Climbing Secretary. _______________________________________________________________________________________
CAVING LOG FOR MARCH 1958 March 1st:
March 2nd: March 8th:
March 9th: March 16th: March 23rd:
March 30th:
Swildon’s. Leader Marriott G.B. Leader Alfie (Photographic) Cuthbert’s. Leader Prew (Trip to sump) Eastwater. Leader Roger Burky (Beecham Series) Eastwater. Leader Mike Wheadon (Ifold Series) Goatchurch. Leader Roger Burky Sidcot. Leader Roger Burky Lamb Leer. Leader Roger Burky Cuthbert’s. Leader Kangy (Maypole Series survey) Swildon’s. Leader Prew (Top Series) Swildon’s. Leader Mike Wheadon (To Sump 1) Cuthbert’s. Leader Kangy (Maypole Series survey) Great Oone’s Hole. Leader Prew Goatchurch. Leader Norman Petty (Photographic) Cuckoo Cleeves. Leader Roger Burky August Hole. Leader Ken Dawes (S.M.C.C.)
As will be seen from the above, it has been decided to print a list of trips as entered in the caving log in the B.B. each month. This will be followed by special articles on any of the trips, as in the past; or extracts from the log where the trips are of unusual interest. In cases where the leader of a trip is not mentioned, the person who wrote the trip up in the log will be taken to have led the trip. Editor This month, all the trips were routine type trips, the only unusual occurrence being the remark made by Norman Petty after leading the Goatchurch trip on the 23rd. He was heard to state that in his opinion, Goatchurch was more dangerous than Cuthbert’s. _______________________________________________________________________________________
No. 123
IN SEARCH OF SNOW
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It is sad to note that, although some parts of the country had some of the heaviest falls of snow since 1947, none of it fell where it would be most appreciated. In the first two months of this year, the climbing section made three trips to North Wales in search of snow conditions and drew a blank every time. The first trip was made on January 18th, in a luxurious hired vehicle and a motorcycle. The Saturday was so very wet that shopping at Arvon’s in Bethesda seemed the only worthwhile thing to do. That particular weekend, England was playing Wales at rugby so the next call was at Llangollen where we bought a pint and asked to watch the match on telewele. No telewele. It was the same at the Brittannia (authentic spelling) The Victoria and the George. So with no telewele to watch, but with four pints of excuse apiece inside us, we headed back to the hills and a wireless set. That evening we met in the Bryn Tyrch. Sunday dawned more reasonably. Overcast still but snow had fallen; enough to make things look pretty and ruin the roads for driving. After a brisk walk round, we left early to get clear of the snow bound roads by nightfall. Even so, the motorcycle took 3½ hours to reach Shrewsbury, normally a two hour run. The next trip was planned for mid February, when we could most expect snow. Meanwhile we had heard that snow had fallen in the right place on January 23rd. Some of this lasted until Saturday, but the only good snow was found in Cwm Glaswyn, making gullies on the north face of Yr Wyddfa possible. By Sunday, the thaw removed even this. On the 14th February, two new Ford Consuls, with a compliment of twelve, headed for the Promised Land. Some promise! The only reason why anyone at all went above a thousand feet on Sunday was because Roy and Joan Bennett left early to walk on the Glyders. Despite protests, Johnny Attwood insisted on dragging us through very heavy rain on an alternative route to the Glyders because ‘The two B’s were out in it.’ The two B’s (an apt appellation this time!) were not ‘out in it’ but by this time had returned without our knowing and were warmly reading in the car. Our alternative route to the Glyders led us into Cwm Idwal, where we photographed remarkable line squalls blown across Llyn Idwal by eighty to a hundred mile an hour gusts of wind. Then into the Nameless Cwm where we found one gully with the remains of a fine cornice at its head. A ceremonial line of steps was kicked up this, and we headed splish-splash for Isaf, Mrs. Griffiths ands the Bryn Tyrch. Sunday started with a remarkable sunrise and continued with unremarkable trips round Snowdon. Acting on a hunch (and with ulterior motives) Mossman and King packed crampons, axes, many changes of jerseys, trousers and anoraks and mentally prepared for the unforeseen hazards, drove to North Wales on the 1st March. Again, snow had fallen during the week and what remained, though only enough to outline the crests of the mountains and cwms, enhanced our appreciation of familiar scenery. Saturday was bright and dry, with a strong wind which moved loose low cloud formations through the valleys and around the peaks. No snow, but who cared? We went to Snowdon and followed the Pyg Track to the foot of Crib Goch where we veered right and followed an interesting path rounding the Red Ridge into Cwm Glas to the foot of the Crib Goch buttress. Reade’s route was dry. This route contains a step across, rather like Knight’s Climb at Cheddar, with the added attraction of a rather steep wall with a variety of small holds on it. At one point it was discovered that one can employ a hold previously un-encountered, this was provisionally named a ‘Right Buttock Hold.’ After this climb, we made a circular tour of our route by climbing Crip-y-Ddsgl and walking back down the Pyg Track. Evening – Bryn Tyrch for beer and friends. No one really believed Sunday. A high bright blue sky with a slight breeze of sufficient strength just to move little wisps of cotton wool cloud along the slopes. We breakfasted hurriedly. Fragile feelings were dispelled with aspirin and we set out for a perfect days climbing in glorious weather. After King and Ulterior Motive had reached the summit of Craig Yr Isfa by climbing the nine hundred feet of Amphitheatre Buttress, low cloud form the sea could be seen pouring over Pen Yr Olwen and Daffyd to disperse in shreds over Ogwen. A mist form in the Amphitheatre and suddenly a Broken Spectre with its attendant circular rainbow appeared. A slow walk back via Afon Llugwy gave us marvellous views of the beautiful cloudscapes and made us quite forget that once again we had not taken our snow and ice equipment from the car. Kangy
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A Cave at Newton Abbot The cave is located six feet above the ground level in the of a disused quarry off the Totnes road about one mile from Newton Abbott. It seems to have been start of a fair sized chamber broken into by quarrying, running in level for about twenty four feet before beginning to rise at thirty degrees or so in a due south direction. At about sixty feet in, at section ‘f’ a smaller passage runs off downwards at the side of the main passage. From this, narrow passages drop down on the right following the bedding plane which is at about sixty degrees in a south east direction. The most likely looking is at 'fa 3' which can be seen to drop about fifteen feet, and almost certainly continues beyond this. Unfortunately its position, angle and smoothness made it a more than one man job to investigate at the time. At section ‘c’, a passage runs off to the left, but seems likely to connect back to the quarry lace. It seems unlikely that the choke at ‘h’ would be worth following up, as it must be getting fairly close to the surface. I have found one or two other possible holes while I have been down here, but the people I’ve nattered to don’t seem to want to get on close terms with ‘orrid ‘oles. Ken Dobbs Editor’s Note. Most of our readers will remember Ken Dobbs, but for our newer member’s benefit, Ken played a very active part in B.E.C. affairs before he went to live and work in Devon. Amongst other jobs, new cave which we reproduce below.
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No. 123
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Life in Canada Being extracts from letters written by Tony Rich to Roger Stenner. Tony Rich asked me to get a B.B. article from his letters to me, and as last month’s B.B. suggested some letters from foreign parts might be of interest, here goes! Arriving in Vancouver in August, three B.E.C. members, Rich, Lamb and Jenkins, found work out of the question and crossed the Rockies to Calgary – a 29 hour coach journey. With only 25 to 30 dollars left, things looked grim, but Tony Rich was able to enquire about guitars. Meeting a man from Kingswood in charge of the only garage in Calgary (a huge place) Tony got a job as a motorcycle mechanic, but was soon promoted to Deputy Sales Manage – they didn’t trust him with the Harley-Davidsons! The family were they had their digs took them to Banff National Park in the Rockies – a fabulous place where one can walk up to bear and buffalo etc., if one so desires; swim in the hot pools at 80 to 88 degrees F in the open air and small the sulphur – sorry, sulphur. Tony was then offered promotion to Sales Manage if he would stay on permanently, but refusing to do this, he was put out of work again. With things again very black, he bought three long playing records and mailed them to me to keep for him. Money has very loose connections with Mr. Rich! Soon work came from the Frontier Geophysical Limited, an oil prospecting firm. In this kind of work, any, including Tony Rich, are expected to do a bit of all kinds of things such as truck driving, surveying, manual work of various kinds, and work in connection with life in the backwoods. Tony was almost at once shifted 120 miles north at 24 hours notice (with an extra five dollars a day for inconvenience) for a rush job working twelve hours a day seven days a week. Tony had to drive a truck all the way, although he had no licence. Hard working usually breeds hard living, and Tony can tell many humorous stories as a result. Rival crews, for instance, lined up in the main street of Ponoka for a real set to, with a very cut gentleman about seven feet tall emerging to make peace, all because of a dance hall incident. Everything is closed on Sundays, but at a minute past midnight everything opens again! The weather is fantastic at times. At one stage, the temperature varied between 14 degrees of frost, with snow at 8 am and 80OF at midday. This was in September. By January, the temperature was fairly steady at about 30 degrees below zero. Drilling 300 feet deep holes, 4½ inches diameter needs plenty of water for lubrication and drivers are supposed to drive as fast as possible between the hole and the nearest lake. Turning on narrow roads is done simply by reversing fast into the ditches bordering the roads. Drivers not driving as fast as the rest of the crew (who take hair raising risks) are invited to leave. In February, the party Tony works with was moved right into the bush from Drayton Valley – and there were moose and caribou in Drayton Valley – further into the foothills of the Rockies, with lynx added to the fauna. The advance party, with Tony, arrived at midnight with the temperature thirty below and with no fuel. His mattress froze to the bed, and in the morning he spent an hour under the truck with a propane lamp before gearbox could be operated. The party was hit by bad luck. Thirty thousand dollars worth of drilling rig burnt out, the centre cog of the crew, the operator, was gassed by carbon monoxide. Tony crashed a truck, the seismograph failed to work, the cook left and accidents with a drill lost a fifteen thousand dollar contract. Life in the bush means that the money piles up, and Tony has bought himself a complete set of photographic gear as a result. Although many things do not appeal to Tony in Canada – he gets tired of being above ground, he likes the life, and claims it has made him very fit. R. Stenner
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Ten Years Ago (or nearly so!) Having a bit of spare space in the B.B., we thought it would be a good idea to print a short extract from the B.B. of April 1948 – ten years ago, but we found that in fact, no B.B. was published for that month. Here is an extract from the B.B. for March 1949, by Pongo, who thought that the description of the Natterer’s bat in ‘British Bats’ by Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald was quite applicable to the inhabitants of the Belfry. “The Natterer has much hair on its face. It goes into caves for hibernation at the end of September and does not resume activities until the end of March. There is no segregation of the sexes during hibernation. The Natterer is very gregarious and sociable, living in large colonies. It is little affected by the weather, though it dislikes a cold east wind. The time of its evening flight is very variable. There is much squeaking before emergence.” _______________________________________________________________________________________
CLIMBING NOTES The loose rock on the pinnacle of Knight’s climb in Cheddar Gorge has become even more unstable since the winter through frost action. Climbers are recommended to climb the pinnacle from the cleft, taking the inside wall or the pinnacle instead of it’s shattered outside edge. This will help to keep bits of Cheddar from dropping onto the weegies. In North Wales, Mr. Williams of Gwern-y-gof-Isar has banned the Wallasey shower from his farm. The bunkhouse at Gwern-y-gof-Isar needs to be booked well in advance and is 2/- per person per night. Barns and camping are 1/-. The bunkhouse at Mrs. Jones, Blaen-y-Nant, is available again and seems to be easily booked. Climbing Secretary. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Climbing Books These climbing books were missed out of the January B.B. in error. Our apologies to the climbing fraternity, who will find them below. They were sent to us by the Caving Secretary. “Selected climbs in the range of Mont Blanc.” By E.A. Wrangham. George Allen and Unwin, 216 pages (18/-). Contains descriptions with diagrams over a hundred routes. This is the first Alpine Guide to be published in English since 1910 and if it sells well, others will be forthcoming. “Mountain Rescue Handbook.” Is a must for mountaineers and can be obtained from the Secretary of the Mountain Rescue Council, Hill House, Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Cheshire. Price 1/- post free or at a reduced price for larger orders. “Mountaineering.” The price of the B.M.C. magazine is now 2/- and can be obtained from Mr. A. Coates, Greystead, Milespit Hill, London, NW7. Copies of this are in the club library. _______________________________________________________________________________________ The Belfry Bulletin. Editor: S.J. Collins, 1 Kensington Place, Clifton, Bristol 8 Secretary: R.J. Bagshaw, 56 Ponsford Road, Knowle, Bristol 4