Belfry Bulletin Number 297

77

Vol XXVI No.7

B 72 B

CONTENTS

July 1972 No. 297

BRISTOL EXPLORATION CLUB

List of Club Officers

Page 77

Caving Meet (Notice)

Page 77

Editorial

Page 78

THE PICOS DE EUROPA

Page 79

Survey sketch of the Cueva de Liordes Page 81 Exhibition and film (Notice)

Page 82

Member’s Addresses

Page 82

GRADING MUST GO!

Page 83

Insurance for Rescuers

Page 86

At the Belfry

Page 87

Monthly Crossword No.23

Page 88

Any views expressed by any contributor to the Belfry Bulletin, including those of officers of the club, do not necessarily coincide with those of the editor or the committee of the Bristol Exploration Club, unless stated as being the view of the committee or editor.

MENDIP RESCUE ORGANISATION In case of emergency telephone WELLS 73481.

CLUB HEADQUARTERS ‘The Belfry’, Wells Rd., Priddy, Wells, Somerset.

Tele: WELLS 72126 CLUB COMMITTEE Chairman: S.J. Collins Minutes Sec: D. Turner Members: R. Bagshaw; W. Cooper; D.J. Irwin; N. Jago; T.E. Large; A.R. Thomas; R. Orr; R. Hobbs.

OFFICERS OF THE CLUB Hon. Secretary: A.R. Thomas, Allen’s House, Nine Barrows Lane, Priddy, Wells, Somerset. Tel: PRIDDY 269.

Hon. Treasurer: R.J. Bagshaw, 699 Wells Road, Knowle, Bristol 4.

Tel: WHITCHURCH. 5626.

Caving Sec: T.E. Large, 39 Seymour Ave, Bishopston, Bristol.

Climbing Sec: N. Jago, 42 Mount Pleasant Terrace, Bedminster, Bristol 3.

Hut Warden: R. Orr. ‘The Belfry’, as above.

Hut Engineer: R. Hobbs, Rose Cottage, West End, Nailsea, Bristol. Tele BRISTOL 77368 Tacklemaster: W. Cooper, 259 Wick Rd, Bristol BS4 4HE. Tel: BRISTOL 77368.

B.B. Editor: S.J. Collins, Lavender Cottage, Bishop Sutton, Nr. Bristol.

Librarian: D.J. Irwin, Townsend Cottage, Priddy, Wells, Somerset.

Publications: D.J. Irwin. Address as above B.B. Post: Mrs. K. Mansfield, Tiny Kott, Little London, Oakhill, Bath, Somerset.

CAVING

MEET

Don't forget the YORKSHIRE MEET to be held from AUGUST 25th to AUGUST 28th!!!

CAVING will include GAPING GILL (STREAM PASSAGE, DISAPPOINTMENT, FLOOD ENTRANCE) ROWTEN, YORDAS, BULL POT and KINGSDALE MASTER CAVE. Camping will be at CRUMMACK FARM, CRUMMACKDALE. TRANSPORT and TENTAGE are being arranged. EVERYONE will be MOST WELCOME to attend this meet.

Get in touch as soon as possible with TIM LARGE (See address at front of this B.B.) or BOB CROSS.

78

EDITORIAL COMING EVENTS It will not be very long before we start all the usual preliminaries to the A.G.M. The first of these, as most members know, is to ask for nominations for the 1973 committee. This will happen in the next B.B., but in the meantime, there is no harm in beginning to think about the matter.

One aspect of our presentation of candidates which has come up for some criticism from time to time has been the fact that older members have no idea of what might be behind any names which are strange to them.

Under Dave Irwin’s editorship, a brief description of each of the candidates was included in the B.B. some time before the actual election. This was thought by many members to be good idea, but I must confess to not being brave enough to take on the job of doing a 'write-up' on prospective candidates myself.

What I am therefore suggesting is that every candidate for forthcoming committee election - whether he be a 'new boy' or an old hand - should be asked to provide a short summary OF NOT MORE THAN FIFTY WORDS dealing with anything he feels may be relevant. For example, what he would like to undertake in the way of club offices if he got the chance - or possibly what he has done in the past. If I get enough takers on this one, I will present them in the September B.B. in time for reader's to see them before they vote.

ANNIVERSARY This month marks the second anniversary of what has been one of the least publicised innovations to the B.B. of late years - the monthly Crossword.

What started this off was a remark made by a club member to the effect that it only took him five minutes to read the B.B. Some method of spinning this out to ten or even fifteen minutes seemed to be called for without making the B.B. twice or three times as big - hence the monthly crossword.

It is known that a few people do the thing - it is also known that many others find it incomprehensible. If any members have any views on it, they will be ·welcome. In the meantime it can at least be said that the B.B. is the only caving publication we know to carry a regular puzzle of this type.

THE DINNER Last year's dinner was generally admitted to have been one of the worst - if not the worst - that we have ever had. As a result, the committee have been at some pains to make sure that we do not have a repetition of last year’s dinner this coming October. The management of the Cave Man Restaurant have assured us that the quality and quantity of the meal itself will be adequate - we even offered to pay more~ but were told that it was not necessary! There will be some entertainment for those who want it. There will be a quantity of free beer. Many members may have been put off by last year’s dinner - especially those unfortunate members whose first dinner it was. We ask members to give it another go this year, and to help support the club's main social function of the year.

BARGAIN TIME There are a lot of things on sale at the Belfry nowadays. Lamp spares; carbide; club badges and ties, publications; etc., many of them at prices lower than can be obtained elsewhere. Why not enquire next time you are at the Belfry?

“Alfie” _______________________________________________________________________________________ Illustrations Now that the B.B. is being produced by the offset litho process, it is possible to include with ease any types of sketch or drawing illustrating an article. Photographs are too expensive, but please feel free to indulge in any form of black and white illustration - please supply such matter FULL SIZE (i.e. the size it will actually appear)

79

The Picos De Europa

An account by MARTIN HAUAN of the expedition to the Picos in 1971.

Last summer, I was fortunate enough to take part in an expedition to the Picos de Europa. Those on the trip included Don Thompson, Jim Hanwell, Fred Davies, Tim Reynolds, Brian and Janet Woodward and myself. We were a small party but what we lacked in size we made up for in enthusiasm.

The are we were to be visiting was the high Picos - an area of barren limestone peaks about 7,000 feet high. Base camp was at the base of a huge amphitheatre, some 3,000 feet high near a village called Espiamma. From the base camp, we had a climb of a further 3,000 feet up a zigzag path to a col at 6,500 feet. From this col one could see the Vega de Liourdes. It was a huge grass-sloped bowl, flanked by the high peaks which were continually in cloud. There, in the bottom of the grassy depression, was a stream meandering across the fertile pastures to enter a black, questioning hole. This was the Vega Swallet at an altitude of about 6,500 feet, and was what we were here for. What followed now would be all virgin exploration.

On Thursday, 18th August, seven of us carried up to the Vega. In addition to tackle, we took up overnight camping kit for four. On arrival at the Vega, after a two hour haul up the path, most of us collapsed. However, there across the Vega was the luring entrance of the Vega Swallet. Tiredness overcome, we obeyed the beckoning of the entrance and set off on a death-or-glory attempt. Wild cries of delight. The entrance was not chocked with debris. Out came our helmets and there all seven of us stood in the damp entrance, listening to the sound of water booming away. Brian entered the lower passage, which soon turned out to be a low canal. The higher passage was visited by Don, who explored it to the head of a pitch - a wet one and about twenty feet deep. On the surface there was a hive of activity. As it turned out, Tim and myself were the only ones with our wet suits up there, so, begrudgingly, we let the honour of first descent fall on us, together with a much agitated Fred, who insisted on coming. With stinkies burning, and the two ropes flying in front of us, we descended at such a pace that we were moving faster than the stream!

The head the first pitch was reached quickly and a rope slung down, followed by three bodies who tried to display the art of abseiling. At the bottom, the passage doubled back on itself with a height of about three feet. This stooping passage brought us to the head of the second pitch, again wet and again about twenty feet deep. At the bottom, there were two ways on~ a wet one and a dry one. The dry one was (naturally? - Ed.) chosen and turned out to be bare tube, descending steeply to the head of the third pitch. Up the shaft could be heard the sound of water. Tim quickly descended to find out what lay ahead. In a few minutes, he returned and reported another pitch which was wet and also about twenty feet deep.

On the next day, Friday the 19th August, Tim descended as far as the first pitch to put in a rawlbolt and to rig a ladder on it. An hour later, Brian and myself doned wet suits and also descended, carrying about 200 feet of ladder. We quickly passed the two wet pitches, and the dry third pitch was soon reached. It was found to be about ninety feet deep. At the bottom, we crawled through a blasting draught, which threatened to put out your flame. Once through the hole, we found ourselves up to our armpits in water at the top of the fourth pitch. The water, which we had lost at the top of the third pitch, entered here via a passage in the roof, from which it fell and landed a large pool at the head of the fourth pitch. A ladder was placed on the left of the water and the two of us descended to find ourselves in a gently sloping passage which descended in a series of pots to the head of the fifth pitch. We lowered down some ladder and reckoned the pitch to be about thirty five feet deep and wet. No possible belay point could be found to ladder it relatively dry, but we came out with high spirits.

Day three in our exploration was Saturday the 20th of August. Fred arrived early and proceeded to gloat over us eating our very salty porridge. After a while, the bolder ones amongst us began to change into our wet wetsuits. Brian went ahead to place a rawlbolt in at the head of the fifth pitch. By the time we arrived at the head of the pitch, the rawlbolt was in and the pitch was rigged. The four of us then descended - we being Tim, Fred Brain and myself, to a large ledge which led to another about six feet below it. From this second ledge one an awe-inspiring view of the next pitch, which was a tube of massive bore disappearing into spray.

This pitch was a big one and also a wet one. An anxious discussion took place as to what we should now

80 follow. It was during this that we found out how cold and draughty it was at the bottom of the fifth pitch.

The lack of sound of water hitting the bottom of the big pitch only confirmed our fears that it really was big.

Within a short time all available ladder was on the pitch. It was then decided to come out of the swallet and get warmed up before having a go at the big pitch. On the surface, the sun made it first appearance for days.

After an hour or so, the sun disappeared again, and it seemed a good moment to go back underground.

Abseiling most of the pitches, the big pitch was soon reached. A lifeline was sorted out, and a ‘jumar’ fixed in such a way that it would act as a selfliner. The end of the rope was eagerly handed to the prospective ladder-climber – Brian. Finishing his tying on, Brian began to descend the pitch. From the lifeline stance, it looked pretty good - a large bore tube~ twisting slight about halfway down. A while later, a single whistle blast echoed up the shaft. There followed a lapse of ten minutes or so while the intrepid explorer disappeared down passages measureless to Wig' as the poet so nearly has it. Returning, Brian reported-a square section passage in yellow limestone, descending in a series of pots, some of them ten to fifteen feet deep. A very eventful day.

On Sunday, 21st August the same four of us awoke to a clear blue sky for once. We festered for a while, and then descended the hole, ready for the bottoming. The big pitch - about a hundred and fifty feet - was a beautifully aqueous pitch, at the bottom of which was a small boudoir with no draughts. Spirits rose as we descended the large section passage; scrambling down on the yellow limestone was delightful. Then, just like that, the passage diminished in size, and the floor became slippery black shale. Spirits sank. The passage appeared to sump. At the end, at water level, there was a canal which struck off to the right, at the end of which was a dry by-pass to the stream. After this, we found ourselves at the head of a small pitch, about ten feet deep. At the bottom of this there was a tight dry passage which Fred and I pushed. It proved to get tighter, but an interesting thing was the draught which blew out of it. Getting back to the ninth pitch a ladder was placed and the four of us descended. The pitch was very wet. It was immediately followed by another pitch of about thirty feet. At the bottom of this pitch, we found ourselves in a large chamber, which was seemingly chocked. However, a way on was found and again the black shale was encountered. The passage was low and narrow and followed the line of black shale. At the end of e passage, two alternatives presented themselves - a wet or a dry pitch. Ladder was removed from the tenth pitch and placed down the dry pitch. At the bottom of the pitch found ourselves in a large chamber with the water coming in at one end and leaving at the other along a rift which had insufficient headroom for us to pursue the stream. This was the end. Admittedly, the passage would go, and with fantastic results no doubt. The Vega Swallet is a competitor for the world’s depth title, having a potential of around 4,000 feet plus. Now followed the long hard job of getting the tackle out. A brief stop at the Boudoir for food and photos, and then up the big pitch.

All tackle used in the lower part of the pot was brought out as far as the bottom of the dry ninety-footer.

On Tuesday, 22nd of August, our final trip into the Vega took place. This was to finish the survey and to bring out the remainder of the tackle. While waiting for the survey party - consisting of Don, Jim and Tim Fred, Brian and myself decided to have a look at the course of the water which left us at the top of the dry ninety. We reached the head of a wet unknown pitch which Fred descended and disappeared. Meanwhile, the survey was completed and Fred was able to report a dry passage leading off which had a pitch at its end.

Tackle was lowered and the pitch descended, only to find a pool of water with a very low duck in it. It was my misfortune to be the one to explore it. Immersing myself, I stuck my nose in the little airspace and felt my way in. About ten feet in, the cold water struck - turning me into a shivering wretch who reversed a good deal faster than he had gone in. This passage Fred had found was obviously an overflow passage for the spring melt water which must fill the whole cave. The cave itself is very cold and there is a total lack of any type of formations. Indeed, the cave is unique as far a we know, and any further exploration will be very serious and very hard work.

Summary of the pitches 1st Pitch 2nd Pitch 3rd Pitch 4th Pitch 5th Pitch 6th Pitch 7th Pitch 8th Pitch 9th Pitch

20 feet 20 feet 90 feet 20 feet 30 feet 150 feet 10 feet 10 feet 20 feet

Ladder Rope Rope Ladder Ladder Ladder Ladder Ladder Ladder

Wet Wet Dry Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet

10th Pitch 11th Pitch

30 feet 40 feet

81 Ladder Ladder

Editor’s Note: A sketch from Jim Hanwell’s survey of this cave will be found below.

Dry Dry

82

Exhibition And Film

MIKE PALMER, who has been organising the caving exhibition for the club, sends in this reminder.

The Caving Exhibition at Bristol Museum is now open. In conjunction with this, a film is being prepared, and when it is ready for public showing, I will advise members of the place, date and time. I suggest that it might be a good idea for an independent review of the exhibition to appear in the B.B. for the benefit of those who cannot get to Bristol to see it. Perhaps one of the committee members might care to volunteer?

It is hoped to get a copy of the film to be shown on the evening of the dinner, after the ‘festivities.’ _______________________________________________________________________________________ Members Addresses.

Changes.

Tim Hodgson, Urb Montesol. Rincon Dela Victoria, Malaga, Spain.

M. Clarke, 41 Mawney Rd,Romford, Essex.

CJ. Priddle, 40 Ralph Rd, Horfield, Bristol 7.

New Member.

D. Foxwell, 870 Kebourne Rd., Brentry, Bristol, BS10 6QW. _______________________________________________________________________________________

More information about what can be found in the club library by DAVE IRWIN - our Hon. Librarian.

M.N.R.C. Newsletter No. 65 Mainly reports of club meets and digs, though I cannot agree with the remark that Shatter Cave is 'the nearest thing an average club caver will see to virgin cave.' At the present rate of damage in that cave, I doubt whether it will last he next five years!

Axbridge Caving Group (June).

Main item of interest is the "Spar Pot Story" (Pt 2) together with the Grade 4 survey. Spar Pot is the new Burrington Cave at the lower end of the East Twinbrook valley.

W.S.G. Bulletin Vol 7 Nos 8 and 9 Here are two really interesting publications. There's too much to isolate but surveys included are Holloch (Switzerland); Pant Mawr area, etc. A must for reading!

The exchange list is being increased but at the moment we are receiving, amongst others, B.S.A. Bulletins; Chelsea S.S. Newsletter; W.S.G. Bulletin; W.C.C. Journal; W.C.C. Occasional Publications; British Caver; S.W.E.T.C.C.C. Journal; Axbridge Publications; M.C.G. Publications; C.R.G. Publications;

83 Die Hohle; Sottoterra (Bologna S.S.); M.N.R.C.; Irish S.S.; University of Bristol Proceedings; Gloucester S.S.; S.M.C.C. A library list is being published shortly.

GRADING MUST GO!

It is not often - thank God - that the editor writes an article. We must hope that it will be some long time before he does it again.

There are - I hope - two good reasons for presenting this article at this time.

We are currently running a course on cave surveying at the Belfry, at which I Some thoughts for cave gave a rather poor version of what follows (poor, because I was trying to it too general and ended up by making it damn nigh disappear altogether). So I feel surveyors. that I owe it to those who were kind enough to listen without actually throwing things at me to present them with what I ought to have said. The other reason is that, shortly, the C.R.G. are once again going into print on surveying - and perhaps now is the time to present rather a different view of the subject from that which I suspect they will be taking.

I have been flogging the message which follows with varying success for some time now. I use the word varying because, on the one hands I got an almost unanimous agreement from the Leicester audience in favour of the cave maps I was advocating but on the other hand, nobody except Dave Irwin has actually taken up any of the ideas put forward there and elsewhere. I have come to the conclusion that perhaps I have been too indefinite - hence the title of this article, which is intended to be definite and uncompromising.

A LITTLE POTTED HISTORY In 1950, A.L. Butcher wrote a paper called 'Cave Survey' which was published by the C.R.G. as Publication No 3 and which laid down the system which has been followed by the C.R.G ever since. In 1953, this was incorporated in 'British Caving' - the textbook on caving sponsored by the C.R.G. In 1963, Dennis Warburton published his work 'On the Accuracy of Cave Surveys' in the Wessex Journal (Volo7, No 89, April ’63) but in spite of this, and additional doubts cast on the existing system by other workers on Mendip, Butcher's scheme was later re-published more or less as it originally stood.

Now, some 23 years after Butcher’s paper was first written, one hears that the latest recommendations are to be - once again - substantially the mixture as before. It is my contention that this insistence on the continuing status of Butcher's system in defiance of later facts is presenting cave surveyors from getting down to many of the real problems and generally hampering the state of the art. The sooner, in my opinion, that cave surveyors politely but firmly turn their backs on this system, the better.

GRADING SYSTEM IN BRIEF I am not suggesting for a moment that the system propounded in 1950 was in any way ill thought out or badly conceived given the state of the art as it then existed. Butcher's work represented a great step forward at the time, for which all credit should go to its author. What I am concerned about is the hanging on to this system long after it has been shown to have passed its useful and natural lifetime.

In brief, Butcher envisaged a state in which surveyors might have a variety of tools; time; opportunity, skill etc. at their disposals and suggested how they might regard their results in the light of these factors.

Obviously, a sketch actually done in the cave was liable to be a bit more accurate than one drawn from memory afterwards in the pub. The use of a knotted string and a cheap compass should be a little better still; and a further improvement might well be expcted if the string were replaced by a proper measuring tape and the cheap compass by a prismatic one - and so ono.

This system gave a total of seven gradings, and the idea was that a surveyor - by stating his grading could give by this simple means a good indication of the accuracy he had probably achieved. The scheme seems both sensible and very practical - as indeed it was. In fact, the main criticism levelled at this system in its early years; that it did not take the surveyor’s skill into account, was later shown not to be valid. It is fair to say that the reasons which finally appeared for its abandonment could not possibly have emerged until a large number of surveys had been done it became possible to analyse them.

84

WARBURTON 'S WORK This brief description of Warburton’s work must only be an outline~ since his paper itself was longer than this one. Any surveyors who are interested, or inclined to doubt the conclusions I have drawn from it, are earnestly advised to read the article for themselves in the Wessex Journal. What Dermis did was to take all the instruments mentioned in the C.R.G. grades and to derive reading limits for each of them. He then constructed graphs showing how the overall percentage error for the various grades would appear as a function of leg length, and went on to plot the accuracy for each grade when the average leg length and total length of traverse were known. He then compared these graphs with 28 actual traverses taken by a number of different surveyors in a number of different caves whose grading was stated and known to have been correctly arrived at. Some of his conclusions are quite startling: 1. The accuracy is independent of the difficulty of the passage from the caving point of view.

2. The accuracy is almost independent of the surveyor.

3. A reproduction of the average survey on a quarto page is such that there is hardly any difference possible to measure between a grade 4 and a grade 7 survey.

4. Other factors not considered, such as technique, could easily make a grade 4 survey as accurate as a grade.7.

Dennis's argument would appear - at first sight to state that a surveyor, providing he knows what he is doing, will produce a survey which is likely to be as good as anyone else's whoever he is, whatever cave he is surveying and whatever instruments he uses. The only other possible alternative to this is a survey of a lower standard which is done without using instruments at all.

At this stage, one can imagine the cave surveyor wondering whether it is all worth while. “If Dennis’s work is true”, one can imagine him saying to himself, “and a survey already exists of a hole I was thinking of surveying, then - unless the previous surveyor was incompetent - his survey, whatever grade he claimed for it, is likely to be good enough for all practical purposes. In that case, I am wasting my time repeating this work. Since all Mendip caves have been surveyed by someone or other in the past, there is really nothing left for me to do!”

Possibly at this stage, the tempter appears and whispers in our surveyor’s ear "Dennis was wrong! Ignore this work! Stick to the old, well-tried system! Then you can find some existing survey which is only to grade 5 or so and re-survey it to grade 7. That way, you will have some useful work to do and everyone will be able to see that you've done it. Your use of the higher magic number will convince even the hardest hearted.’

This type of argument is, happily, both wrong and unnecessary. Far from being a played-out subject, there is probably more to do to-day than there has ever been. The reason for the title of this article is not because the grades have been shown to be largely illusory. If that was all, it would hardly matter whether grading stayed or went. The reason why it must be firmly rejected by cave surveyors is that it is preventing surveyors from looking at areas in which the real problems of today are to be found.

TECHNIQUE In 1950, most surveyors imagined that increases of basic accuracy would be dictated by the instruments used and that future improvements would come about by refining those instruments. In fact, all the increases have come about by better techniques. Two examples will show what I mean. The 'Leapfrog' method of surveying has the enormous advantage of removing the error due to having to reposition every survey station. This station error was ignored by early surveyors and yet came be shown to swamp instrument errors in many cases. Before leapfrogging was invented, all survey stations we’re points effectively in mid

85 air. Now, they can be accurately positioned points on the cave wall.

The second example is the realisation that all errors must be consistent., When Don Coase started the first Cuthbert’s survey, we started at what was the sump and, under the impression that we would increase our accuracy, went all the way to the top of the Great Gour in a single measurement. Had we known it, we could have got a better answer by breaking up this long leg into smaller ones. There are other ways of improving technique other than the two I have mentioned, but I will not take up space by describing them.

The point is that there is still plenty of room for further improvements, and this is a field which might well attract the surveyor of the future.

But to what end? Hasn't Dennis already shown that surveys are mostly good enough as they stand?

Aren't we merely splitting hairs?

MOTIVATION Before this can be answered, we must distinguish between surveying for its own sake and surveying aimed primarily at some user. Until now, surveyors have always worked on the basis that they are doing a useful job for other cavers, but how true is this in some instances? If a surveyor produces a slightly more accurate survey of, say, Swildons, does this really constitute a major breakthrough? How many other cavers does this improvement really affect?

It should be admitted that there is nothing wrong or shameful in the idea of making improvements for their own sake, even if they have no immediate usefulness. To the mathematically minded caver, such improvements could well be interesting in their own right. Any theoretical work is bound to have practical applications sooner or later and, in the meantime, if it is published, it is ready for use when the time comes.

On the other hand, the surveyor who is more concerned with the usefulness of his work rather than with the work itself may well have to move away from the traditional surveying field and enter new and, I think, equally rewarding regions where he concentrates on presentation methods, information display and the like.

There is, of course, no reason why any individual should not take part in both types of work, but it would do no harm if the surveyor always made sure in his own mind what his real aims were. Is his survey an exercise in better tools for the future, or better maps the present?

SURVEY WORK IN THE FUTURE Now that we have all the cards on the table, let us see what could well be the profitable lines for future cave surveying work to take. It might be as wells before doing so, to list the major points raised so far: 1. Grading numbers mean damn-all. As Dennis says, " We need an answer in feet, or degrees, or percentages - not in vague generalities," if we wish to specify the accuracy of a cave survey.

2. Surveys tend to be of high or low accuracy only. The surveyor who sets out to do a reasonable survey usually gets there. Nobody really takes all the trouble to use knotted strings, cheap compasses and home made clinos when they could use better methods in less time. The only real alternative to the use of sensible instruments and methods is to use none at all and to call the result a sketch.

3. Techniques are at least as important as instruments. The implications of this are self evident.

4. Most surveys are as accurate as they need to be. Remember that, unless a user actually takes a scale to a survey, he is in no position to quibble about the exact degree of accuracy achieved.

5. Surveying can be carried out as an end in itself or as a means to an end. An one would thus expect the work of some surveyors to affect only other surveyors.

From these points, a list of useful work for the future can be drawn up. What follows is merely my own.

List, but no doubt it can be expanded considerably. At any rate, I think that it shows considerable scope for the surveyors of the future, even if' there is nothing added to it.

86 A) Somebody wants to sort out and publish sensible methods so that, by using them, any surveyor can specify his accuracy, given the apparatus and the techniques used. Then, surveys can be rated in terms of actual estimated errors rather than in gradings.

B) Somebody wants to work out how much more accurate a survey could be, using all the latest methods, and then decide whether this represents a sufficient improvement over some existing surveys to warrant a re-survey to stated and increased accuracy.

C) Somebody wants to look into the technique of the low accuracy sketch (since this is the only other meaningful survey method) and to work out methods which would be of use to surveyors who are forced to use this method owing to the need for speed. (Foreign caves, where time is very limited; new caves where some sort of sketch is wanted at once, etc.) These techniques could be proved by making such a sketch of a Mendip cave and comparing it with a survey. Times could also be compared. There could be quite a subject here.

D) Somebody wants to do a lot more work on techniques aimed not only at higher accuracy but at greater surveying speed; more complete coverage of the cave shape: etc. It might be possible to combine this with new instrument ideas (light projection on to target stations, etc.)

E) Within the scope of conventional surveys, somebody wants to decide whether re-surveying some caves might not be a good idea for other reasons beside accuracy. Better methods of layout etc., might wake a new survey more easy to follow.

F) Outside the scope of conventional surveys, somebody wants to produce maps aimed at telling the caver as much as possible about the cave. When I travel abroad, I spend some time poring over the Cartes Michelin; which not only tell me how far it is and which direction to aim in, but also where there are obstacles to be avoided or overcome; where I might see interesting scenery; what sort of road I can expect, and a host of other details - all in an easy-to-read form.

To conclude, whether surveying gradually dies or blossoms out into exciting new channels depends very much attitude of cave surveyors since the caving public will probably accept, with varying degrees of reluctance, what, they are given in the way of surveys and maps. It seems to me that the continuance of systems which are now long outdated by subsequent facts is hardly the best way to ensure the continuance of interest in cave surveying. _______________________________________________________________________________________ INSURANCE FOR CAVE RESCUERS

We extract the following from the recent report of the Hon. Sec and Treasurer of the M.R.O.

July 1971 the Horne Office recommended to the police authorities that they should insure those who, at the request of the police or by arrangement with them, take part in search or rescue operations. In August, I wrote to the Chief Constable of Somerset about this and as a result of correspondence, the following arrangement shave emerged: Through the County Treasurer, the police have taken out an insurance policy for personal accident insurance whereby benefits are payable for injury or death up to a maximum of ÂŁ10,000. The cover is for rescue personnel either above or below ground during the rescue. There is NO cover for (a) mileage expenses, (b) having a car smash going to the rescue, (c) third party damages and (d) loss of earnings or (e) Cave rescue practices. Car accidents should be covered by ordinary insurance policies. Regarding (c) I made the point that we were very keen for third party cover to be included as damages can be very expensive even though there is little likelihood of a claim being successfully pressed. But the Chief Constable on the advice of the County Treasurer said that they could not go beyond the Horne Office recommendation.

IT FOLLOWS FROM THIS THAT THE POLICE MUST BE NOTIFIED IN ALL CASES WHERE CAVE RESCUE OPERATIONS ARE UNDERTAKEN, EVEN THE MOST TRIVIAL, AS OTHERWISE THERE IS NO INSURANCE COVER FORT THE RESCUERS. I have circulated details to all the other cave rescue organisations.

87

At the Belfry

A review of what goes on at the Belfry by our Hut Warden, JOCK ORR.

Did you know that Luke Devenish's daughter Colleen did her first caving trip at the age of eighteen days in a rucksack down Swildons nineteen years ago? Neither did I until Sybil Bowden-Lyle mentioned it whilst entertaining a spellbound audience in the sun outside the Belfry. Surely she must be about the youngest caver ever (Not Sybil; Colleen!)

Which reminds me that Sybil is putting on a slide show at the Belfry on Saturday August 5th after the Hunters. It is all about Uganda, Ethiopia and Eritrea (where there is a war going on). She also has slides of the island of (Sorry, I can’t read the next word Jok! - Editor) where nobody is permitted to photograph a woman on pain of instant execution.

You may already know about it by the time you read this, but it is worth noting that Roger Stenner's second lecture on cave chemistry takes place at the Belfry on the 30th of July (and will, unfortunately have taken place by the time this B.B, is out - Editor.) His first lecture was attended to capacity, as was reported in a previous issue of the B.B. This time, Roger hopes to pulverise rocks on the Belfry table and analyse the results in test tubes.

R.A. Setterington (‘Sett’ to most club members) will be lecturing on ‘Maps and their uses’ on Saturday 12th of August at 7.30 pm. When you think about it, there’s more to maps than just finding your way around, and although I may not know what the R.A. stands for, I do know that ‘Sett’ will be giving an informative talk on what you can use maps for.

Highlight of the Barbecue:- Alan Thomas sat on a new club member - the lad who was carrying him across the bonfire.

The survey course finished on the 23rd of July with the trainee surveyors down Rod’s Pot. I am sure that all the people who regularly attended the course will agree with me in expressing a vote of thanks to Dave Irwin for a most instructive and interesting series of lectures.

Tony Tucker, recently arrived new member and squatter's rights on Prattle Pot, has signed another five year stint in the army.

Six Swiss Beruer Hoblenforscher with two wives and two children stayed for a couple of nights at the Belfry. The B.H. badge is a black bear with bat is wings - trademark a club which has a continental reputation for having a professional approach to caving. Their equipment is immaculate by our standards, and they cave as a team. B.E.C. Caving Secretary Tim Large took them down to Sump I in Swildons on a three and a half hour trip. Although it was in the middle of the week, and nobody else was in the cave, it took ten matches to get a cigarette to glow on account of the mobile carbide furnaces carried by the B.H. having burned up all the available oxygen.

Martin Bishop and his diving companions have commenced a clearing operation in Mineries Pool. They report a mass deposit of silt and assorted rubbish and have so far reaped about four hundredweight of weeds!

I don’t want to appear to be continuously on about WORK, will only mention that repairs to the carbide store are now completed and that re-puttying of the Belfry windows is under way. The interior of the Belfry has been paint and some fuel has been laid in for the winter.

Thank you - all concerned. _______________________________________________________________________________________ DON’T FORGET THE DATE OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND DINNER!

88 OCTOBER 7TH

MAKE A NOTE OF THE DATE!

MONTHLY CROSSWORD – Number 24.

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1. By-product of 2 down often seen, alas, as writing on the wall! (9) 6. Alternate spelling of last word of Mendip cave.

(4) 7. Cavers go this caves. (4) 8. Hall in Hilliers. (3) 10. Last word in illuminant description?. (3) 11. Low water level? (3) 12. Last syllable of local caving county. (3) 14. Accessory necessary for Nife or Oldham lamp. (4) 15. Cave pearls, for example, (4) 16. Egg is tool; for student of rocks. (9) Down: 2. Produces 1 across. (9) 3. If lifelines do this, one is heading for a fall. (4) 4. Alternative to 6 across. (4) 5. Scrub the ‘T’ for this well-known hole. (9)

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9. Awkward moments underground may seem to take this.

(3) 12. Might be followed by act or A.G.M.? (4) 13. Short cave dweller? (4)

Solution To Last Month’s Crossword S

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