Belfry Bulletin Number 320

57

Vol XXVIII No.6

B 74 B

June 1974

No. 320

QUODCUMQUE FACIENDUM : NIMIS FACIEMUS -CONTENTSEditorial Notices Cave grading for Severity Tackle 1974 Letters Annual Dinner Round and About Up the Creek Crossword No. 47

BRISTOL EXPLORATION CLUB 57 58 59 61 62 63 64 65 66

The Belfry, Wells Rd, Priddy, Wells, Somerset.

Telephone WELLS 72126 - CLUB COMMITTEE Chairman Minutes Sec Members

S.J. Collins G. Wilton-Jones M. Bishop, D.J. Irwin, B. Wilton, G. Oaten, N. Taylor, A.R. Thomas,

OFFICERS OF THE CLUB Honorary Secretary Honorary Treasurer Caving Secretary Climbing Secretary Hut Warden Belfry Engineer Tacklemaster B.B. Editor Honorary Librarian Publications Editor B.B. Postal

A.R THOMAS, Allen’s House, Nine Barrows Lane, Priddy, Wells Somerset.

Tel: PRIDDY 269 B. WILTON, 27 Venus Lane, Clutton, Nr. Bristol.

A. NICHOLLS, (Acting) G. OATEN, Address to follow N. TAYLOR, Whiddons, Chilcote, Somerset. Tele : WELLS 72338 M. BISHOP, Address to follow. Tele : PRIDDY 370 G. WILTON-JONES, 17 Monkham’s Drive, Watton, Thetford, Norfolk S.J. COLLINS, Lavender Cottage, Bishops Sutton, Nr. Bristol.

Tel : CHEW MAGNA 2915 D.J IRWIN, Townsend Cottage, Townsend, Priddy, Wells Som. Tel : PRIDDY 369 D.J IRWIN As above BRENDA WILTON Address as for Barry

Editorial NO PRIZES Back in March, when material for the B.B. was so short that a massive dose of re-printing from Volume 1 of the B. B. was the only way by which the number of pages could be filled, a prize of £1 was offered for the best practical suggestion for improving the B.B. The closing date was given as the end of May. Since the B.B. is currently running a month late (due mainly to the chronic shortage of material which the scheme was designed to overcome) your patient editor has waited until the end of June before announcing the results of this suggestion scheme.

Now I know that, in these days of inflation, the sum of £1 does not represent wealth beyond the dreams of avarice although judging by the reaction of members to the increase of the annual subscription, it presumably has not yet fallen into the category of peanuts - but even so, your editor foolishly imagined that it would provide at least, some incentive for the more ingenious club members to come forward with practical schemes for ensuring more material (or other improvements) for the B.B. Alas! Apart from Tim's resurrection of the monthly versus bi-monthly B.B. which, whatever its merits, can hardly taken up without the general agreement of the club in A.G.M., there was only ONE other suggestion. This was to publish an annual subject and author index - and the idea was given a suitably

58 practical twist by the suggested submitting a completely cross-referenced index for last year’s B.B. Unfortunately, some years ago, the A.G.M. advised the editor that the inclusion of such an index while useful to a few members would be regarded as a waste of paper by the majority of the club and so I do not feel entitled to go against such advice by adopting the present suggestion.

Thus, before anybody starts to sharpen their pencil and write down resolutions for the next A.G.M., let it be placed on record that, in response to a general appeal to club members for practical ideas for getting more material and otherwise improving the B.B. and in spite of the incentive offered (which would have been paid out by the editor and not from club funds) NOT ONE SINGLE SUGGESTION WHICH COULD BE USED WAS FORTHCOMING. our editor will therefore soldier on, under the assumption that although he may not be perfect, neither are his readers!

GRATEFUL THANKS On the brighter side, for the editor at least, have been the letters and personal messages of encouragement which, it must be admitted, came just when he needed some form of morale-boosting. Thanks, in particular, to Janet Setterington who, before motherhood intervened, was a professional journalist and whose kind words for the B.B. are therefore based on personal experience on a much higher level than that of the B.B. editor. It is pleasant to think that the work of producing the B.B. is appreciated in some quarters at least.

2,595 CAVERS One of the small points which came out of the last meeting of the Southern Council was the calculation by one of the delegates that the combined membership of Southern caving clubs is 2,595 and that this is greater than the caving membership of any other region. We had better step up our rate of discovery of new caves!

“Alfie” _______________________________________________________________________________________ NOTICES The Hut Warden would like to appeal for any FIRST AID KIT for Belfry use. This is separate from M.R.O. kit, and is to cover minor injuries at the Belfry. Also donations of OLD CARPETS would be appreciated. Contact Nigel Taylor.

The Belfry Engineer would like any suggestions for the decoration of the living room. Please contact Martin Bishop with any ideas on this subject.

The Treasurer would like to remind members that they can pay their annual sub, if they so wish, by Bankers' Order. This saves you having to remember every year! However, if you do this LET BARRY KNOW, as he gets no record of who is doing this, and will charge you again! The best way is to get a Banker’s Order form from your bank, sign it and enter the amount of your annual sub AND GIVE IT TO BARRY. He will then make a record of your Banker’s Order and send it on to the bank for you.

The Caving Secretary would like to remind members to enter up all trips in the log. Apart from it being one of the club rules, it provides an interesting and sometimes useful record for the future.

The Climbing Secretary would like to remind members that there is climbing every Thursday in the Gorge. Meet at the gorge at 7.00 p.m. and afterwards at the Seven Stars.

The I.D.M.F. Committee would like to remind all younger members that assistance from this fund may be possible for trips abroad this summer. Contact either the caving or climbing secretaries, the treasurer, Mike Palmer or 'Sett'.

Lockers will shortly be constructed at the Belfry. Some of these will be for long term hire and others kept for weekend hire. Anybody who wants to be considered for the long term hire of a locker should give his or her name to Nigel Taylor.

59

Cave Grading For Severity

This article, by Mike Cowlishaw, first came out in 'Omnibuss' the Journal of the Birmingham University S.S. It discusses the grading of caves from the point of view of severity.

The present methods of cave grading consist of very broad categories - either descriptions such as 'Super Severe' or numerical grades as used in Northern Caves Vol 1. These systems, although generally agreed to be adequate as far as they go, are basically subjective and in many cases convey little information to the user.

In addition, complex caves are not usually of consistent standard, and attempts to classify separate series under general headings can be very misleading when complicated trips including several sections of a cave are made.

Many of these disadvantages can be overcome by using a 'piece by piece' system of grading whereby a numerical figure is attached to each major section of a cave in such a way that some simple mathematical operation can be used to combine these to give a meaningful result for a given trip.

A further necessary refinement is to ensure that an objective, or mainly objective method is used to grade each section of cave (i.e., that several people grading the same section of cave under similar conditions will arrive at the same score within, say, five percent.) There are, of course, many practical difficulties in achieving this, and these I shall discuss in due course. The main problem, perhaps, is allowing for high and low water conditions.

The comments above mainly concern the sporting side of caving. A truly objective system of severity grading such as had been outlined would be by nature informative, and hence would be useful in many more general and scientific fields. Besides, people love to play around with figures, and the system would allow direct comparison of caving trips. On the other hand, it is unlikely that a system simple enough to be used by the 'average' caver would have much application in that other important field - rescue - except perhaps where a cave is unknown to the rescue team; and this is rarely the case in this country.

A generally accepted detailed grading scheme would be of especial use if printed on surveys. Surveys at present give little indication of the general severity of a passage except where they show major obstacles. A suitably orientated system of scores associated directly with each section of the cave on the survey would almost completely obviate the need to refer to a separate write up. Only short notes on access would then be required and these could well he referred to on the survey.

There are, of course, difficulties to the proposed system other than the practical difficulties of implementation. A major one is that anything such as has been described (even if it eventually boils down to a couple of numbers associated with a given cave) is a further and possibly detrimental increase in what might be called the technological aspects of caving. An added complication can often be harmful in that the figures can be misunderstood or even misprinted with undesirable results. Furthermore, there is the problem of a basic standard method - a controversial subject. Presumably, for a start, obstacles could be related to time. For example, descending a given fifteen foot pitch might be equated to a quarter of an hour of sitting around doing nothing.

Probably the best method of achieving an objective grading of a given cave/trip/series/passage is to use a set questionnaire which, although not restricting the grader to 'yes/no' answers, puts fairly rigid restraints on the scores that cane be given for a specific obstacle. This is, of course, necessary in order to maintain the desired level of objectivity. Everyone has experienced the way in which some trips seem much easier in retrospect, when, perhaps, early difficult or strenuous sections have been partly forgotten.

Leaving aside the tricky question of relative values of different types of obstacle or passage, there are some fundamental problems; in particular, how to allow for the effects of things that might vary from trip to trip. These include Water conditions (i.e. normal fluctuations of water in the cave) Transient Hazards (flash floods; loose boulders; rotten props in mines etc.) Size and equipment of different parties and the relative ability of the party with particular reference to novices.

60 After a great deal of thought and experimentation, it was found that a single grading score could not be manipulated to allow for all these different aspects. An analysis shows that three or four scores are required for an approximately ideal representation. This is too complicated for the applications discussed above, and a compromise solution of two scores was investigated. This was found to be a great improvement on reliance on a single score. The two figures would represent:(a) General obstacles and the effect of time. (b) Water and transient hazards. A sort of 'exposure risk' figure.

It became clear that variations in the size of parties could be catered for by carrying out some standard type of adjustment to score (a). Similarly, the effect of wearing dry kit in a wet cave could be allowed for by manipulating score (b). The effect of novices in the party could be calculated by adjusting both scores.

It should thus be possible to start off with a pair scores based on a party of four, wearing wetsuits, and then adjust these scores to provide one with a revised figure, if, for instance, the party was about to descend a wet cave in dry kit. The complications to this basic idea are, of course, endless and should be kept to a minimum. Even if this sort of exercise is not indulged in, the basic scores would enable direct comparison to be made over widely differing sections of cave.

As a side issue, and extremely graphical method of displaying the two scores is to plot one against the other on a sheet of graph paper. In cases where I have tried it is for various trips, it was found to be very informative and showed at a glance the relative importance of the two scores. The distance from the origin was found to be analogous to the conventional idea of cave grading.

The above has pointed out the main features of the grading system I have devised - I hope with sufficient justification for each of its features. I shall now summarise the above and make some comments on practical details.

A questionnaire would be devised for scoring. It should be equally applicable to short lengths of passage and to complete caves or trips. In particular, scoring the constituent parts and adding up the individual totals should give nearly identical results to scoring the trip as a whole.

The questionnaire would be divided into two parts. The first - general, technical and other difficulties.

The second - water and transient hazards. The scores from these two parts would be the final basic scores for general use.

The first part (obstacles) would be scored fairly rigorously. For example, 3 points for each 100' of flat out crawl; 1 point for each quarter hour underground etc. The problems here include definitions of severities of climbs etc. and the assumptions one has to make such as the use of lifelines etc. Single rope techniques would not be adequately catered for - one would probably have to assume that prussiking up a pitch would score the same as using a ladder. The movement of tackle would be allowed for in the scoring for a pitch.

The actual form of each question in the questionnaire, and the relative scoring of each type of obstacle would be matters heeding a fair amount of discussion. I have arrived at a form of questionnaire which gives reasonable results (with some surprises!) but which has got vast potential for improvement.

The second part would be more difficult to prepare a questionnaire for. Water obstacles such as ducks or sumps and the time one is wet can be scored in the same way as dry obstacles, but transient effects are more difficult and usually require better knowledge of a cave than can be picked up in one trip. Every effort would have to be made to try to make the scoring objective despite the problems. It might be possible to estimate flood risk by taking into the probable number of flash floods in a year and also allowing for the danger of such floods. For example, Little Neath River Cave II is fairly safe, whereas many northern caves can be extremely dangerous.

Other points which would be taken into account are loose boulders and complexity of the cave where this could cause a hazard due to a mistake in route finding.

1 hope the above is reasonably clear. To round off and give the feel of a bi-polar grading system, here are some scores that I have calculated using my rather primitive questionnaire:-

61 Stoke Lane Slocker Penyghent Pot P8 Rhino Rift Dan-yr-Ogof to Green Canal

44 57 14 5 32

30 99 28 49 35

Notes: The first column relates to obstacles and the second to water and transient hazards. One of the above was scored from a guidebook description (R.R.). A couple of the others were scored by friends, with nearly identical results. _______________________________________________________________________________________

Tackle - 1974

A review of the tackle situation as in April 1974 by the tacklemaster, Graham Wilton-Jones.

These first six months of my position as Tacklemaster have mainly been spent in organising all the tackle and collecting it on to Mendip and rebuilding much worn out ladder.

At present, as a temporary measure, Alan Thomas very kindly looks after all the ultra-lightweight ladder and certain tethers, lifelines etc. These are collectively known as Reserve Tackle and are not for general use on Mendip, being usually loaned out for trips to foreign parts like Yorkshire or the Pyrenees. Frequent use of this tackle by many cavers would soon damage it. I see no reason, however, for it not being used in, say, Primrose Pot or Rhino Rift.

Even if only for the sake of courtesy, give Alan a ring at least a week before you want any reserve tackle.

You will also ensure in this way that it actually available.

Hopefully, this situation will not last for long. I want to convert the old Tackle store in the stone Belfry into the new Reserve Store. Keys for this will be available from various sources on Mendip.

Nigel has extended the M.R.O. store at the other end of the building. The remaining space will be used as the normal Tackle Store, containing all other equipment. Many thanks to people who are helping with this conversion. The bars across the windows, by the way, are NOT a new test for thin cavers - Bucket please note!

So far, two hundred and ten feet of ladder has been repaired - thanks again to those who helped. Ken James has offered to get ferrules crimped on the ladder eyes. Some hundred and fifty feet remains to be repaired and I'll be doing this during the weekend of the working party.

We could do with many more tethers. These are dead easy to make up, but I'll need a lot more 'c' links. If anyone can get some or make some, I'd be grateful. If anyone has access to a set of dies for stamping the code tags, please let me know. The lifeline situation is bad, and we are seriously short. This is being rectified now, so don't fret.

I have no intentions of buying any abseiling or prussicking equipment, which includes rope, for club use.

I, for one, would have no confidence at all in using S.R.T. (Single Rope Techniques) on tackle used by anybody and everybody. If anyone has really strong views on this, then perhaps they would write to the B.B. about them.

Finally, please remember to sign tackle in and out. If it does nothing else, it gives me an idea how much any item is being used. If you find any faults, please note them in the tackle log, even if it is only a missing tag. _______________________________________________________________________________________ There is always room in the B.B. for small contributions to fill up spaces like this one!

Comments, advertisements – anything within reason.

There is always a B.B. box in the Belfry.

62

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TO THE EDITOR

4 Galmington Lane Taunton Somerset

Dear Alfie, Although I am not a member of the Bristol Exploration Club, I felt I must write in opposition to the critics of the Belfry Bulletin.

Caving and its allied pursuits are not top of my list of priorities, but I do enjoy reading your publication.

Speaking professionally, I feel it is well edited, well laid out and informative. More to the point, it is not too highbrow for ignoramuses such as myself, who are not versed in technicalities.

The magazine would seem to suffer from only one problem - the eternal lack of contributors. Perhaps, if the bar-room critics put down their pints and picked up their pens, the B.B. might be even more lively and successful; but that is probably asking too much of people - writing does, after all, require mental and physical effort!

Thank you, Alfie, for the interest and enjoyment you bring to my house on "B.B. mornings" - you will always find yourself propping up our marmalade jar.

Yours, Janet Setterington. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Withey House, Withey Close West, Bristol 9.

Dear Alfie, It's always nice to see the Belfry Bulletin and I don't really know what people are grumbling at (No 319).

You don't need to worry about being quoted or not, as long as due acknowledgement is made. It has occurred to me that you might try selling it outside the club. Perhaps you already do so. I should have thought it would have gone quite well at 10p post free. Wig's notes are particularly the kind of thing to interest non club members.

Incidentally, I thought Wig's comment on the Wookey 9 tunnel faintly and unfairly damning. The Kilmersdon miners have driven a magnificent tunnel from the outside to 3 by way of 9 and 7. In their calculations - aided by Stanton's survey - they were only two metres out. The tunnel is just over two metres in diameter and beautifully made. I've only seen the far end of it, but the other day I went there and made my quickest trip to 9 ever. There is a hole leading into 7 with water about twenty feet below while the hole into 9 at about the same height leads down into the mud bank immediately opposite the 9:2 pool. Unfortunately, 9 is getting a bit messed up, but not irreversibly. They have put iron ladders over the 9:1 pool, giving access to the high level extensions which lead back to 5. These are lashed in place with a line belonging to one of our members, which is a pity as we can't now return it to him! They have run into a spot of trouble by entering the far end of the Charon's Chamber rift. This leaves them with an unstable boulder ruckle poised above their heads. They are still busy making this part of the tunnel safe.

The people who made this tunnel will call it the Kilmersdon Tunnel - and I hope the name sticks. It is a fitting tribute to the best of our Somerset colliers.

Ever Yours, Oliver Lloyd.

63 Whiddons Farm, Chilcote, Somerset.

Dear Alfie, I thought I'd fully endorse Tim’s comment on the quality of the B.B., but I leaped out of my seat at his idea of a bi-monthly B.B. Any caver who subscribes to Bruce Bedford's excellent little magazine 'Descent' will know just what a 'little period of two months' is like to wait for a mag.

How many times have we heard the same old story "We haven't had our B.B., so we didn't know it was on!? Tim himself, in his letter, says, "Having just received my B.B. for March, together with the April issue, I HAVE ONLY JUST SEEN YOUR REQUEST TO WRITE ... " Nough said ?

Nigel Taylor. _______________________________________________________________________________________

Make a Note of

THE ANNUAL DINNER SATURDAY OCTOBER 5th

NEW location in WELLS!

REAL FOOD by outside caterers

Entertainment in the B.E.C. Manner!

DRINKS supplied by ROGER DORS and his incredible mobile Hunters!

FURTHER INFORMATION SOON! And

Why not come to the A.G.M. as well – at the Belfry on the same day?

64

A Monthly Miscellany By 'Wig'

80. Charterhouse Permits. In paragraph 69 (March '74) the second sentence reads, 'No permits are issued to members' It should, of course, read 'No period permits are issued permits to non-members and no permits can be issued to married minors.'

81. O.F.D. Entry via the top entrance is being restricted somewhat. A written request to the Hon. Sec. of the South Wales C.C. must first be made, who will then send a letter giving permission. This letter must be shown to the Duty Warden at the cottage before he will issue a key. The S.W.C.C. is concerned about the amount of damage in the system, and so are attempting to keep records of all parties entering the cave.

82. Stoke Lane Slocker. The cave has now been gated. The key is available from the farmer (returnable deposit £1.00) 5p per head is charged for the descent. Access to the cave is via the top road.

83. Sandford Levvy and Mangle Hole. Neither cave is blocked. The landowner is still a little sore over the attitude of cavers, and would really like to seal both caves. However, provided that the caves are approached from the east (over the hill) and that cavers do not change in front of the residents, then all should be well.

84. Manor Farm. The farmer has decided to charge 10p per head for descent of the cave.

85. Carbide Lamp Spares. The following lamp spares are now available at the Belfry. Complete carbide lamps £2.80; Jets 8p; Prickers 15p; Sealing ring 6p; Flint assembly 25p; Felt pad 8p; Flints 12p; 2⅝" diameter reflector 26p; 4" diameter reflector 36p; other lamps and spares can be supplied. Details from Tim Large c/o The Belfry. Spare parts for various electric cells are underway. Tim also has some battery operated lifejacket lights which can be used as emergency lights.

86. 21st Anniversary of the Discovery of St. Cuthbert’s. This is Wednesday, 4th September 1974. On this date in 1953, Roy Bennett and Viv Brown made the first descent of the Entrance Rift and explored to the head, of Arête Pitch. The next trip was on the 20th of September, when the entrance rift was opened enough to allow all but two of those concerned with the dig to descend.

Kangy King is arranging the programme, and is inviting as many of the original explorers to attend a club meet that will celebrate the coming of age of the cave. The party will descend the cave via the old route wet & waterfall pitches; water shute; by-pass; Stal Pitch & on to the end of Gour Rift. Members of the celebration party will be by invitation only. The party will be made up of individuals who have contributed to the exploration of the cave in some way. Champagne will be served at the Great Gour.

Cavers interested in joining in the celebrations are invited to contact Kangy, who will form a second party to enter the cave after the celebration party.

87. Additions to the Library. Several items have been added to the library, including items from S.M.C.C., A.C.G., Grampian. Climbing magazines have been donated by Tim Large and Chris Howell.

Also items from Egons, Sottoterra etc. have been received.

88. Fairy Cave Quarry. B.E.C. leaders are Nigel Taylor Mike Palmer. Requests for trips to the various caves in the quarry should be arranged through Nig or Mike.

89. Caving Reports. A small but important change will take place in the future. All reports issued, from No 1 to No 17 have been single subject material. Number 18, which makes its appearance later in the year, will consist of several topics of interest to cavers. Its contents will include Flower Pot, Hollowfield; Ludwell Cave - details of a new underwater passage and a complete survey of the cave, and the sea caves of Saunton Sands and Baggy Point.

65 Whilst on the subject of caving reports, Nos 16 and 17 (Vanishing Grottoes and the Burrington Atlas) are now almost out of print. Members not having either of these publications, but who wish to purchase them are advised to do so soon. They, and the others, are available from Chris Howell, 131 Sandon Road, Edgbaston Birmingham. Chris also stocks back numbers of the Belfry Bulletin. These are available at prices from 5p to 20p each. Write your wants to Chris.

90. Additions to the Library. Grampian S.G. Bulletin Vol 5/4 and 5/5. Index to Bulletins Vols 1 to 5.

Wessex Journals numbers 151,152,153. Miscellaneous publications; Computers in Water Resources Management, I.B.M. publication. Regionalisation and hydro-geological parameters for use in mathematical models of groundwater flow, Spelaeo Rahl Newsletter, Aug. Sep. Nov 1973. Egons Journal numbers 15,16, 17, 19, 20. B.C.R.A. Bulletins numbers 1 to 4 (1974) Transactions Volume 1 number 1. M.C.G. Newsletter number 106. Microclimatology of caves (Lawrence) and Advances in Spelaeometeorology (Lawrence) both donated by N. Taylor. Omnibuss 5. Devon S.S. newsletter number 114 Bibliography on Lava tube caves Pelobates - Croydon C.C. number 24. Cerberus newsletter 19, 20, 21, 22, 34, 35, 36 thanks to Nick Chipchase. BACI 1eadership qualifications. N.C.A .Caving Code. C.S.S. newsletter Vol 16 No 6.

Plymouth Newsletter Numbers 54, 55, 56 and Red Rose C.P.C. Newsletter Vol 11 No 1. _______________________________________________________________________________________

UP the CREEK

Many club members take part in activities on, in or underwater. This forms the flimsy excuse for this write up by the editor. It also illustrates the fact that members can write on holiday activities in the B.B.!

In June, two units of the Mendip Navy took part in summer manoeuvres on the Salcombe Estuary. They were captained by Steve Causer and Alfie.

Alfie arrived first, and was promptly conned into paying not only his Harbour Dues, but a vast sum for the use of the car and boat park at Batson. Steve craftily launches his boat from the roof of his car. We hasten to add that he first puts it to the ground, although we would not be at all surprised to learn that he has attempted a direct catapult launch straight from the car roof into the water. Anyway, by this means, he manages to avoid parting with much cash, thus saving it for drinking.

The first part of the manoeuvres consisted of the boats making their independent way to Southpool, at the end of the creek of that name, where Alfie was assured by Steve that there was a pub and where Steve was assured by Alfie that there would be sufficient water in the creek to coincide with opening hours.

Accordingly, at the appoint time, Alfie's boat made its way steadily up the creek in shallower and shallower water. A local inhabitant, hailed from the boat, assured the worried crew that they would get no further up the creek that day, and expressed surprise and concern at the distance from the sea they already were, the opinion of the Local Inhabitant, the sooner the boat was turned round, the better for all concerned. This was done, and punting gave way to rowing and rowing to running with the engine lowered.

By a brilliant piece of navigation, Steve was located on a beach near the mouth of the estuary, where he and his family were basking in the sun. It turned out that in true Mendip fashion, he had had to abandon the trip up the creek owing to engine trouble, and had rowed over to this beach instead. The return trip was made in line astern with no trouble.

It was agreed that two things had been learned. One being that the tides in this estuary do not conform to any of the charts, but are a secret shared by the Harbourmaster at Salcombe and the Almighty. The other lesson was that, for some inexplicable reason, opening hours of waterside pubs are not adjusted to suit the tide - a piece of sloppy organisation that caused us much worry and careful planning in subsequent voyages.

A day or so later, Steve left the moorings in about two inches of water (owing, as explained to the need to match opening hours with the tide) and I left a little later in about three inches of water to pick up my passengers at the town pontoon with the object of returning to the beach and basking in the sunshine.

Having just left the town behind, we were surprised to see frantic waving from a point on the shore, towards which we altered course. It turned out that Steve's unerring instinct had led him to a waterside pub.

Unfortunately, the steps were used by the ferries, which came zooming in with complete disregard for any

66 other boats and only just gave you time to land passengers. The only place in which Steve could tie me up meant that I had to clamber from boat to boat on my way ashore, to the intense interest of the next load of ferry passengers, who waited with baited breath for me to fall into the water. I considered obliging them, but eventually decided against it.

We tried an interesting variant on our way back from the beach that day, in which I towed Steve's boat.

Since the only point of attachment was one of my rowlocks, both boats progressed with a curious zig-zag motion which may have been interesting to watch but was uncomfortable to be in. On the way back, you go through a line of standing waves. I happened, of course, to be looking aft when we hit them which all added to the general fun.

The summer manoeuvres were voted a success - which meant that neither of us actually sank or rammed the harbourmaster’s launch! _______________________________________________________________________________________ MONTHLY CROSSWORD – Number 47.

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1. All stew locates most Mendip caves. (7) 6. Receiver of proof of aural connection in cave? (3) 7. Holy man plus packets of paper gives some features of caves. (7) 9. Loosen. (4) 10. Can be mud; sand; stal &c, in a cave. (4) 12. Older caving types had an accident? (7) 14. Sticky stuff, commonly. (3) 15. Boots to this to cave floor, and well may have it as well. (5,2)

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2. Cuthbert’s pitch. (3) 3. Sail backwards to the rock? (4) 4. Making sure of tackle. (7) 5. Progressed through low cave. (7) 7. Type of machine found underground on Mendip. (7) 8. Drops to a Mendip cave. (4,3) 11. Beware of this hole, educated men! (4) 13. Returning time in brief. (1,1,1)