Welcome to our November monthly newsletter! It's been a hectic first term for both caving and social activities.
The centenary symposium was a huge success and you'll hear more about that below! You'll also be able to read about the UBSS Worm Team at CHECC. That's the Council of Higher Education Caving Clubs, and their weekends are always memorable, this one more so than most....
Please keep contributions to the newsletter coming! They can be as short or long as you like, so if you have anything for future newsletters, please let me know. And don't forget to send us some Memories for the 100 Memories project.
Back issues of this newsletter can be found here.
The centenary symposium was a huge success and you'll hear more about that below! You'll also be able to read about the UBSS Worm Team at CHECC. That's the Council of Higher Education Caving Clubs, and their weekends are always memorable, this one more so than most....
Please keep contributions to the newsletter coming! They can be as short or long as you like, so if you have anything for future newsletters, please let me know. And don't forget to send us some Memories for the 100 Memories project.
Back issues of this newsletter can be found here.
Linda Wilson
YORKSHIRE WEEKEND - 13th - 15th DECEMBER 2019
Ash in Alum Pot. Photo by Daniel Hines.
This year there will be a combined Yorkshire and Christmas dinner weekend. Henry Morgan has the details...
We are having a Christmas trip to Yorkshire this year on 13th-15th December! It will be a joint weekend with DUSA (Durham Uni) so plenty of opportunity to meet new people too.
We’ll head up on the Friday evening and have a massive Christmas dinner on the Saturday, with plenty of caving too.
The vast majority of Yorkshire caves are vertical so you’ll need to be up to scratch on your SRT (get yourself along to some training, alternatively there’s training at CHECC if you sign up)
If you want to come, then email me or message me! (Even if you’ve already told me in person, I will have forgotten!)
Ash in Alum Pot. Photo by Daniel Hines.
This year there will be a combined Yorkshire and Christmas dinner weekend. Henry Morgan has the details...
We are having a Christmas trip to Yorkshire this year on 13th-15th December! It will be a joint weekend with DUSA (Durham Uni) so plenty of opportunity to meet new people too.
We’ll head up on the Friday evening and have a massive Christmas dinner on the Saturday, with plenty of caving too.
The vast majority of Yorkshire caves are vertical so you’ll need to be up to scratch on your SRT (get yourself along to some training, alternatively there’s training at CHECC if you sign up)
If you want to come, then email me or message me! (Even if you’ve already told me in person, I will have forgotten!)
Yay caving!
Henry
Henry
THE UBSS AT CHECC - NOVEMBER 2019
Preparations for the customary fancy dress. As ever, no expense was spared in the design and execution stage of this traditional faff activity. And if the hut changes colour in the future, we'll know where the paint came from. Worm proof of concept drawing by Merryn, photos by Mia.
This year's CHECC meeting, held in South Wales, saw an excellent UBSS turn out, including an appearance by the UBSS Worm. The team successfully negotiated parking, human pyramids and ricocheting coconuts. Mia Jacobs takes up the tale...
This year’s CHECC commenced with an impressive amount of faff mainly carried out by Henry, whose journey took roughly 5 hours door to door. After having arrived at my flat a mere half hour before UBSS’ meeting time (due to traffic) to help with the finishing touches of the worm costumes, he and Janine performed an impressive number of detours including coffee visits and a McDonald’s dinner. It is fair to say that other car journeys were probably not as exciting, save a stale Jaffa Cake courtesy of Zac.
Janine on the climbing wall, car parking hell and Jenny and Henry demonstrating a traditional use for kitchen equipment. Photos from Janine, Mia and Hellie.
As one of the earlier unis to arrive, we warmed up the deserted dance floor to the DJ’s tunes which had been pumping since 8pm. Jenny, Merryn and I reluctantly took on a parking duty slot – little did we know this would perhaps be the most thrilling part of our weekend. Pulses rose each time a pair of headlights emerged from the darkness, the words “go left” or “go right” had never felt more powerful, and crispy M&Ms had never been tastier. I can confidently say that we gave our fellow cavers the welcome that they deserved, and we even did overtime … A high vis jacket changes you.
As the clock struck midnight, it was time for UBSS to get in worm formation. We marched with pride through the common room and dance floor in our pink cardboard boxes chanting “we are worm!”, pushing through a perplexed but awe-inspired crowd, some of whom would join our line or even borrow our worm segments to wear. Also, if anyone is looking to paint their walls pink, please get in touch!
Understandably, Sioned is not looking for a job on a coconut shy. Photo by Hellie, used here with Sioned's permission!
As for the rest of the night, Sioned learned about the dangers of exotic fruit, receiving an impressive black eye from a coconut which was thrown at a wall and unfortunately ricocheted into her face. Enthusiastic dancing took place which was interspersed with clothes swapping (I wasn’t expecting to hear “take your trousers off” that weekend, let alone oblige), and finally some wobbly human pyramids were formed, with Merryn kneeling proudly at the top.
Team games. What could possibly go wrong....? Photos by Hellie.
Saturday morning began with some tasty cooked breakfast and optional training including SRT, cave surveying, leading/lifesaving, and photography. Henry, who partook in cave surveying, has offered an insightful comment: - “Was good”. Janine also stole his kit, and a slightly catastrophic faff occurred due to a miscommunication about Zac’s car which left some people who had travelled all the way from Ireland trapped. Needless to say, it was a tough morning for some.
At long last, caving! Ash, Jenny, Kat (with Jakob), Zac and I ventured to Aggy (with a few awkward interludes reversing down hillside roads). On the trip there was a stream, a spot of crawling, many holes to avoid falling into, and breathtakingly large chambers. Not to forget there were some sparkly bits (apologies for my lack of geological knowledge) and many tiny sleeping bats. This weekend, even the walks to and from the caves presented themselves as somewhat challenging, entailing many spectacular slips on the sludgy mud and a brief moment getting lost on the way back to the car park and asking for directions from a friendly stranger. Merryn took a less relaxed trip to Darren with Sheffield which comprised of an hour-long crawling misery fest to find a large chamber and then crawl back again.
That evening we returned to the sweet, sweet taste of beer and attended an intriguing talk about the deepest cave in Georgia (and an appearance of Helios the mythical fish) as dinner cooked and our stomachs rumbled. Saturday night was even more exciting with a thrilling dance sesh and many caving games including an impressive performance of Jenny and Henry in the pan and sling challenge. As for myself, I briefly went downstairs to throw a few shapes on the dance floor to swiftly return with a thieved tube of Pringles to our room, where UBSS members popped in and out for chilled chats away from the hype.
On the Sunday, most of us headed off home after having faced the feat of actually freeing our cars. Ash, Janine (plus Hal from Sheffield), Merryn and I headed for a bimble in Draenan. We did some crawling with a moist downwards clamber and explored some large chambers before saying goodbye to South Wales and returning to our much-missed beds.
It was a successful CHECC, and we made our Worm Secretary proud.
Preparations for the customary fancy dress. As ever, no expense was spared in the design and execution stage of this traditional faff activity. And if the hut changes colour in the future, we'll know where the paint came from. Worm proof of concept drawing by Merryn, photos by Mia.
This year's CHECC meeting, held in South Wales, saw an excellent UBSS turn out, including an appearance by the UBSS Worm. The team successfully negotiated parking, human pyramids and ricocheting coconuts. Mia Jacobs takes up the tale...
This year’s CHECC commenced with an impressive amount of faff mainly carried out by Henry, whose journey took roughly 5 hours door to door. After having arrived at my flat a mere half hour before UBSS’ meeting time (due to traffic) to help with the finishing touches of the worm costumes, he and Janine performed an impressive number of detours including coffee visits and a McDonald’s dinner. It is fair to say that other car journeys were probably not as exciting, save a stale Jaffa Cake courtesy of Zac.
Janine on the climbing wall, car parking hell and Jenny and Henry demonstrating a traditional use for kitchen equipment. Photos from Janine, Mia and Hellie.
As one of the earlier unis to arrive, we warmed up the deserted dance floor to the DJ’s tunes which had been pumping since 8pm. Jenny, Merryn and I reluctantly took on a parking duty slot – little did we know this would perhaps be the most thrilling part of our weekend. Pulses rose each time a pair of headlights emerged from the darkness, the words “go left” or “go right” had never felt more powerful, and crispy M&Ms had never been tastier. I can confidently say that we gave our fellow cavers the welcome that they deserved, and we even did overtime … A high vis jacket changes you.
As the clock struck midnight, it was time for UBSS to get in worm formation. We marched with pride through the common room and dance floor in our pink cardboard boxes chanting “we are worm!”, pushing through a perplexed but awe-inspired crowd, some of whom would join our line or even borrow our worm segments to wear. Also, if anyone is looking to paint their walls pink, please get in touch!
Understandably, Sioned is not looking for a job on a coconut shy. Photo by Hellie, used here with Sioned's permission!
As for the rest of the night, Sioned learned about the dangers of exotic fruit, receiving an impressive black eye from a coconut which was thrown at a wall and unfortunately ricocheted into her face. Enthusiastic dancing took place which was interspersed with clothes swapping (I wasn’t expecting to hear “take your trousers off” that weekend, let alone oblige), and finally some wobbly human pyramids were formed, with Merryn kneeling proudly at the top.
Team games. What could possibly go wrong....? Photos by Hellie.
Saturday morning began with some tasty cooked breakfast and optional training including SRT, cave surveying, leading/lifesaving, and photography. Henry, who partook in cave surveying, has offered an insightful comment: - “Was good”. Janine also stole his kit, and a slightly catastrophic faff occurred due to a miscommunication about Zac’s car which left some people who had travelled all the way from Ireland trapped. Needless to say, it was a tough morning for some.
At long last, caving! Ash, Jenny, Kat (with Jakob), Zac and I ventured to Aggy (with a few awkward interludes reversing down hillside roads). On the trip there was a stream, a spot of crawling, many holes to avoid falling into, and breathtakingly large chambers. Not to forget there were some sparkly bits (apologies for my lack of geological knowledge) and many tiny sleeping bats. This weekend, even the walks to and from the caves presented themselves as somewhat challenging, entailing many spectacular slips on the sludgy mud and a brief moment getting lost on the way back to the car park and asking for directions from a friendly stranger. Merryn took a less relaxed trip to Darren with Sheffield which comprised of an hour-long crawling misery fest to find a large chamber and then crawl back again.
That evening we returned to the sweet, sweet taste of beer and attended an intriguing talk about the deepest cave in Georgia (and an appearance of Helios the mythical fish) as dinner cooked and our stomachs rumbled. Saturday night was even more exciting with a thrilling dance sesh and many caving games including an impressive performance of Jenny and Henry in the pan and sling challenge. As for myself, I briefly went downstairs to throw a few shapes on the dance floor to swiftly return with a thieved tube of Pringles to our room, where UBSS members popped in and out for chilled chats away from the hype.
On the Sunday, most of us headed off home after having faced the feat of actually freeing our cars. Ash, Janine (plus Hal from Sheffield), Merryn and I headed for a bimble in Draenan. We did some crawling with a moist downwards clamber and explored some large chambers before saying goodbye to South Wales and returning to our much-missed beds.
It was a successful CHECC, and we made our Worm Secretary proud.
Mia Jacobs
TRAVELS BENEATH THE EARTH - CELEBRATING THE UBSS CENTENARY
Well, we did it, folks, we pulled off a centenary symposium that did the society, past and present, proud! And we can justifiably claim 100 for the 100th!
UBSS twitter mascot Whatley Mammoth inspecting the comestibles before giving them a mammoth seal of approval.
We started the weekend in style with celebratory cake made by our esteemed president for new and older members alike in the Stables.
Attendance exceeded all our expectations and there was a great turn out from current students, alumni and others in the caving community. We were joined by the Lord Mayor of Bristol, Councillor Jos Clark, and Nigel Taylor, the Chair of Somerset County Council. Jos, herself a caver, is a long-time friend of the society, as is Nigel, a member of the BEC.
Lord Mayor Jos Clark with Whatley.
The Geography Department were amazing, and we owe them a huge thanks for hosting us so well. David Richards from Geography, also a UBSS member, was part of the organising committee that consisted of myself, Gina Mosely and Andy Farrant. Thanks are also due to Estates Assistant Matt Burt who helped to look after us so well on the day. It was so nice to see that the relationship with Geography remains so strong, as one of the things that came out of our Oral History Project led by Andy Flack was how many members have come to the club through the Geography Department, which Andy touched on in the first talk of the day.
Rick Schulting, aided by you know who, failing to gross out the audience with detail.
The lectures were all great and the keynote talk from Rick Schulting was a complete eye-opener on the subject of Bronze Age cannibalism on Mendip. The audience listened with rapt attention as Rick described the unmistakeable hallmarks of humans butchering other humans, including evidence of gnawed finger bones! Bonfire night parties at the hut will now seem positively tame by comparison. It even topped the sight some years ago of Paul Harvey picking at scraps of meat on a sheep's vertebra that had been outside in the rain going cold for several hours. Rick will have to up his game though, if he gives the talk to other cavers in the future as he didn't manage to gross anyone out, but then he's not yet had the pleasure of a hut barbecue, so he didn't know quite how low cavers' standards can be! The following day, Rick had the pleasure of a trip down the cave he's been studying so closely, and more of that later...
We were also joined for the weekend by Peter Burgess, one of the editors of Darkness Below, who's done a full write up of the day, so do hop over there and read in more detail what we got up to on the symposium weekend, and I'll add in some selected highlights below as well.
The poster entrants and the judges, from left to right, David Richards (judge), Sophie Chambi-Trowell (University of Bristol, current Tratman Scholar), Andy Farrant (judge), Tim Pearson (Royal Holloway, researching the UBSS Rhinoceros Hole collection), Jos Clark (judge, without Whatley, for once), Adele Brickling (winner), Eirini Konstantinidi (University of Cardiff, researching mortuary treatment in southwest caves), Gina Mosely (judge).
We had a room packed with poster presentations, with four from students. The winner of the best student poster prize was Adele Brickling from Cardiff University who presented her work on the UBSS collection from Backwell Bone Cave.
We had some excellent live tweeting during the day thanks to UBSS member Nathan Cubitt and Adele using #UBSS100. If you're on twitter check out what was happening and follow them and Whatley! And retweet some of the picccies. It's never too late for positive publicity!
So thank you to everyone who helped make the day such a success, from the wonderful speakers to the fully engaged audience! And thanks to Andy Farrant for a GB field trip on Sunday, Alan Gray of the Axbridge CC and Gina for the Shute Shelve trip and Graham for his immense patience while I wittered on outside Aveline's to a very polite audience before he did the bits inside the cave.
There'll never be another symposium quite like ours, and a piece of advice to any of our successors who might organise one in 100 years time.... start planning early, and I mean really, really early, it'll definitely help! So here's to the next 100 Years of Faff! And all credit to the team who wielded sparklers and took photos to such good effect at the Bonfire weekend! We owe them our new header and banner!
Well, we did it, folks, we pulled off a centenary symposium that did the society, past and present, proud! And we can justifiably claim 100 for the 100th!
UBSS twitter mascot Whatley Mammoth inspecting the comestibles before giving them a mammoth seal of approval.
We started the weekend in style with celebratory cake made by our esteemed president for new and older members alike in the Stables.
Attendance exceeded all our expectations and there was a great turn out from current students, alumni and others in the caving community. We were joined by the Lord Mayor of Bristol, Councillor Jos Clark, and Nigel Taylor, the Chair of Somerset County Council. Jos, herself a caver, is a long-time friend of the society, as is Nigel, a member of the BEC.
Lord Mayor Jos Clark with Whatley.
The Geography Department were amazing, and we owe them a huge thanks for hosting us so well. David Richards from Geography, also a UBSS member, was part of the organising committee that consisted of myself, Gina Mosely and Andy Farrant. Thanks are also due to Estates Assistant Matt Burt who helped to look after us so well on the day. It was so nice to see that the relationship with Geography remains so strong, as one of the things that came out of our Oral History Project led by Andy Flack was how many members have come to the club through the Geography Department, which Andy touched on in the first talk of the day.
Rick Schulting, aided by you know who, failing to gross out the audience with detail.
The lectures were all great and the keynote talk from Rick Schulting was a complete eye-opener on the subject of Bronze Age cannibalism on Mendip. The audience listened with rapt attention as Rick described the unmistakeable hallmarks of humans butchering other humans, including evidence of gnawed finger bones! Bonfire night parties at the hut will now seem positively tame by comparison. It even topped the sight some years ago of Paul Harvey picking at scraps of meat on a sheep's vertebra that had been outside in the rain going cold for several hours. Rick will have to up his game though, if he gives the talk to other cavers in the future as he didn't manage to gross anyone out, but then he's not yet had the pleasure of a hut barbecue, so he didn't know quite how low cavers' standards can be! The following day, Rick had the pleasure of a trip down the cave he's been studying so closely, and more of that later...
We were also joined for the weekend by Peter Burgess, one of the editors of Darkness Below, who's done a full write up of the day, so do hop over there and read in more detail what we got up to on the symposium weekend, and I'll add in some selected highlights below as well.
The poster entrants and the judges, from left to right, David Richards (judge), Sophie Chambi-Trowell (University of Bristol, current Tratman Scholar), Andy Farrant (judge), Tim Pearson (Royal Holloway, researching the UBSS Rhinoceros Hole collection), Jos Clark (judge, without Whatley, for once), Adele Brickling (winner), Eirini Konstantinidi (University of Cardiff, researching mortuary treatment in southwest caves), Gina Mosely (judge).
We had a room packed with poster presentations, with four from students. The winner of the best student poster prize was Adele Brickling from Cardiff University who presented her work on the UBSS collection from Backwell Bone Cave.
We had some excellent live tweeting during the day thanks to UBSS member Nathan Cubitt and Adele using #UBSS100. If you're on twitter check out what was happening and follow them and Whatley! And retweet some of the picccies. It's never too late for positive publicity!
So thank you to everyone who helped make the day such a success, from the wonderful speakers to the fully engaged audience! And thanks to Andy Farrant for a GB field trip on Sunday, Alan Gray of the Axbridge CC and Gina for the Shute Shelve trip and Graham for his immense patience while I wittered on outside Aveline's to a very polite audience before he did the bits inside the cave.
There'll never be another symposium quite like ours, and a piece of advice to any of our successors who might organise one in 100 years time.... start planning early, and I mean really, really early, it'll definitely help! So here's to the next 100 Years of Faff! And all credit to the team who wielded sparklers and took photos to such good effect at the Bonfire weekend! We owe them our new header and banner!
Linda Wilson
FAREWELL TO DR PETER STANDING
Peter Standing, front bottom right, at the centenary symposium/
I'm very sorry to bear the sad news that long-standing UBSS member Peter Standing has died. Peter joined the society in the mid-1960s and was a very active caver and cave diver and was also the society's librarian.
Peter, who had been ill for a while, made a huge effort to attend the centenary symposium and we were delighted that he was able to join us for the day and to hear, amongst other things, Andy Flack's talk on the oral history project, as Peter's generosity to the society was a major factor in the success of this project. He was also credited in Dick Willis' talk with being the person who single-handedly wrecked Dick's apparently promising academic career by sensibly refusing to pass him as fit to go diving, so Dick turned to caving instead. The rest, as they say, is history. When questioned by Peter after the talk about the direction said promising career might have taken, Mr Willis was unusually lost for words.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Peter for the Oral History Project and hearing his fascinating story of his caving and diving career. A full obituary will appear in the next Proceedings and we'll be reading Peter's story in his own words in future issues of the newsletter. Our sincere condolences go to Peter's family.
Peter Standing, front bottom right, at the centenary symposium/
I'm very sorry to bear the sad news that long-standing UBSS member Peter Standing has died. Peter joined the society in the mid-1960s and was a very active caver and cave diver and was also the society's librarian.
Peter, who had been ill for a while, made a huge effort to attend the centenary symposium and we were delighted that he was able to join us for the day and to hear, amongst other things, Andy Flack's talk on the oral history project, as Peter's generosity to the society was a major factor in the success of this project. He was also credited in Dick Willis' talk with being the person who single-handedly wrecked Dick's apparently promising academic career by sensibly refusing to pass him as fit to go diving, so Dick turned to caving instead. The rest, as they say, is history. When questioned by Peter after the talk about the direction said promising career might have taken, Mr Willis was unusually lost for words.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Peter for the Oral History Project and hearing his fascinating story of his caving and diving career. A full obituary will appear in the next Proceedings and we'll be reading Peter's story in his own words in future issues of the newsletter. Our sincere condolences go to Peter's family.
Linda Wilson
CAVING ODDITY (with apologies to David Bowie)
Rick approaching the squeeze in Charterhouse Warren. Look at that happy smile! Photo by Elaine.
Singing and songwriting is a tradition that goes back right to the beginning of the society in 1919, and to commemorate his trip down the cave of his dreams on the symposium weekend, Rick Schulting was moved to follow in those earlier footsteps and record his exploits in song....
UBSS Control to Oxford don
UBSS Control to Oxford don
Take your caving light and put your helmet on
UBSS Control to Oxford don
Commencing descent, anchor on
Check carabiner and may Tratman be with you
Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Lift down
This is UBSS Control to Oxford don
You’ve really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose wellies you wear
Now it’s time to twist the corkscrew, if you dare
This is Oxford don to UBSS Control
I’m stepping through the floor
And I’m falling in a most peculiar way
And the rocks look very different today
For here…
Am I stuck inside in a tight place
Far below the earth
I need to use the loo
But there’s nothing I can do
Though I’m past point 0186 miles
I’m feeling very still
And I think my body’s very stuck below
Tell my dogs I love them very much they know
UBSS Control to Oxford don
Your ass is stuck, there’s something wrong
Can you hear me, Oxford don?
Can you hear me, Oxford don?
Can you hear me, Oxford don?
Can you… Here am I stuck inside in a tight place
Far below the earth
I need to use the loo
But there’s nothing I can do
Rick approaching the squeeze in Charterhouse Warren. Look at that happy smile! Photo by Elaine.
Singing and songwriting is a tradition that goes back right to the beginning of the society in 1919, and to commemorate his trip down the cave of his dreams on the symposium weekend, Rick Schulting was moved to follow in those earlier footsteps and record his exploits in song....
UBSS Control to Oxford don
UBSS Control to Oxford don
Take your caving light and put your helmet on
UBSS Control to Oxford don
Commencing descent, anchor on
Check carabiner and may Tratman be with you
Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Lift down
This is UBSS Control to Oxford don
You’ve really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose wellies you wear
Now it’s time to twist the corkscrew, if you dare
This is Oxford don to UBSS Control
I’m stepping through the floor
And I’m falling in a most peculiar way
And the rocks look very different today
For here…
Am I stuck inside in a tight place
Far below the earth
I need to use the loo
But there’s nothing I can do
Though I’m past point 0186 miles
I’m feeling very still
And I think my body’s very stuck below
Tell my dogs I love them very much they know
UBSS Control to Oxford don
Your ass is stuck, there’s something wrong
Can you hear me, Oxford don?
Can you hear me, Oxford don?
Can you hear me, Oxford don?
Can you… Here am I stuck inside in a tight place
Far below the earth
I need to use the loo
But there’s nothing I can do
Lyrics by Rick Schulting, tune by someone with considerably less experience of dismembering people.
Henry below the squeeze, avoiding ritual
dismemberment. Ali and Elaine have very sensibly stayed well out of the
way of an archaeologist who knows 40 different ways of cutting them up
for breakfast. Photo by Elaine.GO BIG OR GO HOME
The Workshop. Photo by Elaine.
UBSS members head north (but not too far north) for some history and big pitches. Elaine recounts what went on...
Derbyshire: home of mines, lots of radon and the location of my first SRT trip with UBSS a number of years ago. As the club gears up to initiate this year’s freshers into the world of vertical caving, the Peak District felt a fitting place to refresh my own ropework, having managed to avoid needing to use this skill in a cave since August.
James Hall’s Over Engine Mine was the chosen spot, so it was off to Rowter Farm to pay our fee and say hello to a very barky dog, a friendly horse and some rather menacing sheep before playing hunt the entrance in the thick fog. To our great surprise we walked straight there, and it wasn’t long before a rope was hanging down the 50 m entrance shaft and I heard “rope free” float up from below. The brand-new 9 mm proved rather “exciting” on the descent – my stop became a go and despite my best efforts I still had to prusik up a little to clip in to the rebelay! I reached the floor in a much more sedate fashion, then we proceeded along the Cartgate to Bitch Pitch, trying not to think about the floor or touch the ceiling.
Bitch Pitch was a little awkward with a tackle bag, but offered the kind of SRT I enjoy – lots of working out the optimum angle of approach! At the bottom I was presented with a choice of routes: low and wet, or low and dry. I chose dry, which turned out to be correct because I emerged to find Haydon in a chamber called The Workshop, which is filled with the remains of lots of old mining equipment, including a 200-year-old wheelbarrow, and sits directly above our third and final pitch of the day – Leviathan.
As
the name suggests, this pitch is not particularly small – it’s 80 m
deep, to be precise. I’ve descended bigger pitches in the past, but
feeling a little rusty I found myself checking and double checking my
own equipment and the rigging before taking off. Once underway, though,
the abseil was both pleasant and impressive, and the massive natural
vein cavity provided excellent acoustics for a mid-ab chanson.
Always a fun one halfway down an 80 m pitch. Photo by Elaine.
However, pints at the Cheese were calling,
so having landed on the Boulder Piles at the bottom of Leviathan, there
was just time for a quick run around to find the ways on to various
other locations of interest before beginning the long prusik out. The
ascent began uneventfully, but Bitch Pitch with 150 m of soaking wet
rope strapped to me and doing its best to get wound up in the rope I was
trying to climb certainly lived up to its name! Note to self, bring a
minion next time...
As I passed the rebelay on the entrance shaft, Haydon suddenly announced he had lost his hand jammer, so he disappeared to look for it – presumably it had to be somewhere along the Cartgate as he had managed to get this far up the cave! This gave me plenty of time to admire the ginging around the shaft and work out how on earth I was going to lift the ridiculously heavy metal lid covering the top of it. As Haydon returned triumphant with his jammer (from almost as far back as the previous pitch head!), after several attempts I finally gained the momentum to flip the lid and we were released into the foggy night air, and thence down the hill into Castleton for a welcome pint. In fact, it was so welcome I had a second.
Elaine Oliver
FROM ROUFFY WITH LOVE....
Few people know that Mendip caves are home to a rare survivor from the Pleistocene... Photo by Cara.
As most people will know by now, the UBSS museum is personified on social media by that scene-stealing mammoth, Whatley, named after a 14,000 year old mammoth tooth from Whatley Quarry. Whatley can be followed on twitter @UBSSmuseum. What isn't so widely know, though, is that Whatley has a younger cousin, Rouffy, who travels with Cara Hulse. Rouffy has recently penned a letter to Whately about his travels, and he's even done some caving...
Dear Whatley,
I am sorry that it has been a while since I wrote to you last. I have had a very busy year hunting out some new caves to explore.
My adventure started with a trip to Mexico. Mammoths are apparently very partial to Tequila and Tortillas. It was initially not a successful start as I was obviously searching in all the wrong places. The closest I managed to achieve was this fictitious cave in Tlaltizapan. The only saving grace was my fantastic tan!
My next journey led me to Wales where surprisingly the weather was warm. Unfortunately, here my caving antics were again minimal. I blame my carer's inability to find any suitable locations. That said, I did enjoy playing in the sea and making sandcastles and at least these rocks are real.
Rouffy (top right posing with Cara (top left) and Elaine (below).
I finally made it to the Mendips, where I had the best time. The first trip down Pierre's Pot (Upper series) turned out to be a difficult fit for a mammoth to fit down the slot! I had a fabulous time and this type of caving suits me down to the ground. The slight downside was that I did get super muddy and soggy, which is not good for my fur, Ooops! It took me a whole week to eventually dry out. The day ended on a high note with a great social evening in the hut - definitely the best accommodation in the Mendips.
I am now looking forward to future adventures.
Much love Rouffy x
Editor's note: there is a random prize awaiting the first person who can tell me where Rouffy gets his name from.
Few people know that Mendip caves are home to a rare survivor from the Pleistocene... Photo by Cara.
As most people will know by now, the UBSS museum is personified on social media by that scene-stealing mammoth, Whatley, named after a 14,000 year old mammoth tooth from Whatley Quarry. Whatley can be followed on twitter @UBSSmuseum. What isn't so widely know, though, is that Whatley has a younger cousin, Rouffy, who travels with Cara Hulse. Rouffy has recently penned a letter to Whately about his travels, and he's even done some caving...
Dear Whatley,
I am sorry that it has been a while since I wrote to you last. I have had a very busy year hunting out some new caves to explore.
My adventure started with a trip to Mexico. Mammoths are apparently very partial to Tequila and Tortillas. It was initially not a successful start as I was obviously searching in all the wrong places. The closest I managed to achieve was this fictitious cave in Tlaltizapan. The only saving grace was my fantastic tan!
My next journey led me to Wales where surprisingly the weather was warm. Unfortunately, here my caving antics were again minimal. I blame my carer's inability to find any suitable locations. That said, I did enjoy playing in the sea and making sandcastles and at least these rocks are real.
Rouffy (top right posing with Cara (top left) and Elaine (below).
I finally made it to the Mendips, where I had the best time. The first trip down Pierre's Pot (Upper series) turned out to be a difficult fit for a mammoth to fit down the slot! I had a fabulous time and this type of caving suits me down to the ground. The slight downside was that I did get super muddy and soggy, which is not good for my fur, Ooops! It took me a whole week to eventually dry out. The day ended on a high note with a great social evening in the hut - definitely the best accommodation in the Mendips.
I am now looking forward to future adventures.
Much love Rouffy x
Editor's note: there is a random prize awaiting the first person who can tell me where Rouffy gets his name from.
NEW YEAR'S EVE DINNER AT THE HUT
If you think there are some odd rituals that take place at Bonfire Weekend and CHECC, then it's high time you came along to the New Year's Eve dinner at the Hut where we solemnly and not-so-solemnly perform the rituals that ensure the sun will rise on New Year's Day. Well, it continues to happen, so we must be doing something right....
We normally gather at the Hut between 7pm - 9pm and aim to eat around 9.30pm. There will be a full turkey dinner and all the trimmings, with a veggie alternative if requested. Bring whatever you want to drink and about £10 to cover the cost. If you need transport from Bristol, let me know and I'll do my best to help arrange something for you. Some people stay overnight, some head back to Bristol sometime after midnight. It's all very relaxed.
Rituals include singing and drinking and 'sneezing' to absent friends. Yep, I told you it was all a bit weird, didn't I? But the club has been doing this in one form or other since 1919 and legend has it that during the Second World War, Lauren's great-grandfather, Bertie Crook, cycled out there with a turkey (or maybe turkey sandwiches) and performed the rituals by himself so that there was no break in tradition.
If you'd like to come along, please let me know as soon as you can for catering purposes, but in practice we follow the UBSS tradition of being 'never knowingly under-catered' so we never turn away latecomers.
If you think there are some odd rituals that take place at Bonfire Weekend and CHECC, then it's high time you came along to the New Year's Eve dinner at the Hut where we solemnly and not-so-solemnly perform the rituals that ensure the sun will rise on New Year's Day. Well, it continues to happen, so we must be doing something right....
We normally gather at the Hut between 7pm - 9pm and aim to eat around 9.30pm. There will be a full turkey dinner and all the trimmings, with a veggie alternative if requested. Bring whatever you want to drink and about £10 to cover the cost. If you need transport from Bristol, let me know and I'll do my best to help arrange something for you. Some people stay overnight, some head back to Bristol sometime after midnight. It's all very relaxed.
Rituals include singing and drinking and 'sneezing' to absent friends. Yep, I told you it was all a bit weird, didn't I? But the club has been doing this in one form or other since 1919 and legend has it that during the Second World War, Lauren's great-grandfather, Bertie Crook, cycled out there with a turkey (or maybe turkey sandwiches) and performed the rituals by himself so that there was no break in tradition.
If you'd like to come along, please let me know as soon as you can for catering purposes, but in practice we follow the UBSS tradition of being 'never knowingly under-catered' so we never turn away latecomers.
Linda Wilson
PHOTO CORNER
In the last newsletter, we had a photo with a couple of unidentified faces, so there was an appeal to the UBSS hive mind. Within a matter of minutes, Mike Ballister supplied the information that the missing names were that of Tony Stockdale (left) and Cliff Ollier (right).
The full line up for the UBSS in Ballynalackan Hotel, Co Clare, circa 1953 now reads, from left to right: Tony Stockdale, Trat, Harding Jenkins, Cliff Ollier, Terry Piercy, Angus Watkins, Mike Balister. Photo by Geoff Fuller.
Mike also supplied the information that Cliff Ollier now has his own Wikipedia page!
In the last newsletter, we had a photo with a couple of unidentified faces, so there was an appeal to the UBSS hive mind. Within a matter of minutes, Mike Ballister supplied the information that the missing names were that of Tony Stockdale (left) and Cliff Ollier (right).
The full line up for the UBSS in Ballynalackan Hotel, Co Clare, circa 1953 now reads, from left to right: Tony Stockdale, Trat, Harding Jenkins, Cliff Ollier, Terry Piercy, Angus Watkins, Mike Balister. Photo by Geoff Fuller.
Mike also supplied the information that Cliff Ollier now has his own Wikipedia page!
100 MEMORIES - WETSUITS AND CONTORTIONISM
Just to prove that contortionist tendencies are nothing new, here's a shot of Steve Trudgill from 1968 outside the Little Neath River Cave in South Wales, trying - with limited success it seems - to extricate himself from the trousers he'd been wearing over his home-made wetsuit. The photo was taken by Isabel Buckingham and is used with her permission.
And here's a photo of Steve (second from left) taken at the symposium with Eve Gilmour (left), Tony Boycott (third from left) and Isabel Buckingham (right). This group were, with others, all involved in the discovery and exploration of the Little Neath River Cave.
Just to prove that contortionist tendencies are nothing new, here's a shot of Steve Trudgill from 1968 outside the Little Neath River Cave in South Wales, trying - with limited success it seems - to extricate himself from the trousers he'd been wearing over his home-made wetsuit. The photo was taken by Isabel Buckingham and is used with her permission.
And here's a photo of Steve (second from left) taken at the symposium with Eve Gilmour (left), Tony Boycott (third from left) and Isabel Buckingham (right). This group were, with others, all involved in the discovery and exploration of the Little Neath River Cave.
PENS, PENS, PENS
Pens mean friends! And there's another prize for anyone who spots where that quote comes from. First come, first served!
Tim Hill has kindly sourced refills for the clubs pens. They can be obtained here on ebay.
Pens mean friends! And there's another prize for anyone who spots where that quote comes from. First come, first served!
Tim Hill has kindly sourced refills for the clubs pens. They can be obtained here on ebay.