Let's play spot the cave entrance ... Longwood blockhouse surrounded by ash trees felled over the past 12 months to safeguard access to the cave.
Welcome
to a double issue of the newsletter, with February and March together.
The unexpected hospitalisation of part of the editorial team (Linda) at
the end of January put rather a crimp in our usual impeccable timing,
with the January issue arriving in late February. After that little
hiccup, it seemed sensible just to run February and March together to
give you all a bumper issue to procrastinate with after Easter if you
haven't got any caves to venture down instead.
We will get back to a regular schedule soon, we promise!
The AGM in March heralded the usual changes to the committee and new committee appointments, with Alex Blencowe taking over the editorial pen from Zac Woodford. Many thanks to Zac for all his hard work over the past year, but he'll no doubt be disappointed to know that he hasn't been let off any writing duties!
Articles or trip write ups can be sent to either of us so please soremember, we're only a click away! Could we make it any easier? Nope, we don't think so. Go on, we don't bite ... We even hand out prizes if we're in a good mood!
You can find all the back issues of the monthly newsletter online. So if you're sitting in a dull lecture, take a look at what the club has been up in past months and years.
Worm wishes, Alex and Linda
We will get back to a regular schedule soon, we promise!
The AGM in March heralded the usual changes to the committee and new committee appointments, with Alex Blencowe taking over the editorial pen from Zac Woodford. Many thanks to Zac for all his hard work over the past year, but he'll no doubt be disappointed to know that he hasn't been let off any writing duties!
Articles or trip write ups can be sent to either of us so please soremember, we're only a click away! Could we make it any easier? Nope, we don't think so. Go on, we don't bite ... We even hand out prizes if we're in a good mood!
You can find all the back issues of the monthly newsletter online. So if you're sitting in a dull lecture, take a look at what the club has been up in past months and years.
Worm wishes, Alex and Linda
AGM AND DINNER
We all forgot to take photos at the AGM, so have this one from the dinner instead. Left to right: the Most Low and Worshipful Worm herself, Mia Jacobs, Megan Malpas, Katy Fisher and Gabriel Littler, all proving that glamour and caving can crawl hand in hand.
The UBSS AGM and Annual Dinner held on 12th March in the Geography Dept (thanks to David Richards for organising the room and providing tea, coffee and biscuits!) started with a few words from Student Prezz Mia Jacobs, reproduced here for those who never read AGM minutes, even though (with unaccustomed efficiency) these have already been circulated ...
Good morning, everyone! Thank you all for taking the time to come into uni on a Saturday morning – I know, it might be painful, it might feel wrong, but it will be worth it, I promise. It’s lovely to be here in person, as you may remember last year I was elected as Student President via a video campaign filmed by Elaine and Imogen who visited me while I was on placement in Tenerife. This year, Elaine is the one who is unable to attend and she will give her Honorary President’s address via video, as she and I remain star-crossed lovers in cyberspace.
This has been another great year for UBSS. We seem to be facing a new challenge, which is, we are now too popular. The committee took the welcome fair in September by storm at our stall next to a very committed and slightly unhinged Brunel impersonator and we saw an unprecedented turnout at the welcome talk chilli night. By unprecedented, I mean people were spilling out of Sam and Megan’s living room into their hallway and garden. As a result, both our Mendip and South Wales fresher weekends had full signups and impressive waiting lists.
Tuesday pub meets have been running as usual at the Eldon House though occasionally interrupted by their new live music schedule. However, we have taken this in our stride, performing caving songs at their open mic night with the full setup including a guitar and a tambourine. Thanks to our social secs, Michael and Ben, we’ve also enjoyed a variety of socials including bowling, sober laser tag and, (a common favourite) a live funk night with a 9-piece brass band.
As Zac will report in more detail, UBSS has hosted many trips near and far in the last year, all with great turnout. I’d like to offer a special thank you on behalf of the whole Society to those who helped make these trips possible, including but not limited to Haydon Saunders, Ashley Gregg, Zac Woodford and Merryn Matthews. Leading caving weekends takes an admirable amount of patience and commitment, and can make you want to tear your hair out at times.
We even tried running caving tasters at the joint Yorkshire weekend with the Mountaineering Club and Expeditions Society last month. These were more popular than anticipated, so we turned the dictation of the All-Powerful Whiteboard. While this was successful in the end, whether we will choose to do this again is undecided.
In other news, work has just Started on the stables, so we’re one step closer to returning to our headquarters. Archaeological work, publications and other research have also been ongoing alongside well-attended caving weekends, SRT training, and the occasional midweek trip, so it’s safe to say that both the sporting and academic sides of speleology have been thriving here at UBSS.
Thank you for listening and let’s get started!
We all forgot to take photos at the AGM, so have this one from the dinner instead. Left to right: the Most Low and Worshipful Worm herself, Mia Jacobs, Megan Malpas, Katy Fisher and Gabriel Littler, all proving that glamour and caving can crawl hand in hand.
The UBSS AGM and Annual Dinner held on 12th March in the Geography Dept (thanks to David Richards for organising the room and providing tea, coffee and biscuits!) started with a few words from Student Prezz Mia Jacobs, reproduced here for those who never read AGM minutes, even though (with unaccustomed efficiency) these have already been circulated ...
Good morning, everyone! Thank you all for taking the time to come into uni on a Saturday morning – I know, it might be painful, it might feel wrong, but it will be worth it, I promise. It’s lovely to be here in person, as you may remember last year I was elected as Student President via a video campaign filmed by Elaine and Imogen who visited me while I was on placement in Tenerife. This year, Elaine is the one who is unable to attend and she will give her Honorary President’s address via video, as she and I remain star-crossed lovers in cyberspace.
This has been another great year for UBSS. We seem to be facing a new challenge, which is, we are now too popular. The committee took the welcome fair in September by storm at our stall next to a very committed and slightly unhinged Brunel impersonator and we saw an unprecedented turnout at the welcome talk chilli night. By unprecedented, I mean people were spilling out of Sam and Megan’s living room into their hallway and garden. As a result, both our Mendip and South Wales fresher weekends had full signups and impressive waiting lists.
Tuesday pub meets have been running as usual at the Eldon House though occasionally interrupted by their new live music schedule. However, we have taken this in our stride, performing caving songs at their open mic night with the full setup including a guitar and a tambourine. Thanks to our social secs, Michael and Ben, we’ve also enjoyed a variety of socials including bowling, sober laser tag and, (a common favourite) a live funk night with a 9-piece brass band.
As Zac will report in more detail, UBSS has hosted many trips near and far in the last year, all with great turnout. I’d like to offer a special thank you on behalf of the whole Society to those who helped make these trips possible, including but not limited to Haydon Saunders, Ashley Gregg, Zac Woodford and Merryn Matthews. Leading caving weekends takes an admirable amount of patience and commitment, and can make you want to tear your hair out at times.
We even tried running caving tasters at the joint Yorkshire weekend with the Mountaineering Club and Expeditions Society last month. These were more popular than anticipated, so we turned the dictation of the All-Powerful Whiteboard. While this was successful in the end, whether we will choose to do this again is undecided.
In other news, work has just Started on the stables, so we’re one step closer to returning to our headquarters. Archaeological work, publications and other research have also been ongoing alongside well-attended caving weekends, SRT training, and the occasional midweek trip, so it’s safe to say that both the sporting and academic sides of speleology have been thriving here at UBSS.
Thank you for listening and let’s get started!
Mia Jacobs, Student President
The AGM proceeded with brisk efficiency with Mia at the helm. This year's committee now consists of:
Screenshot from the Lamb Leer Film showing members getting ready to go caving.
One thing suggested under Any Other Business was trialing a club Zoom pub night once a month (not as a replacement for the usual Tuesday pub nights) but something to allow members from outside Bristol to connect with each other, based on the successful Grampian Speleological Group monthly pub nights that several UBSS/GSG Members often join. For those who still haven't seen them, we could maybe reshow the films.
Everyone scattered after the AGM to reform in the evening at Brown and Bye down on the waterfront where all present gorged themselves on the cheese and cold meet platters followed by pizza.
This wasn't the usual sit down dinner, but more of a large party where everyone present could circulate and chat with more people than just those on either side of a table. Lavish awards were dished out by Mia to raucous acclaim.
Felix (centre) proudly displaying his award for Sock Wrestling, flankhed by Dan Hill (left, who should win an award for #VeryNiceHair) and Dan Runcan (right, looking on indulgently).
The party spilled outside, despite the rain, and in a lull in the showers we even managed a mass shot of #WomenWhoCave for International Women's Day.
Left to right, front row: Helen Rossington, Wanda Owen, Megan Malpas, Ananya Mehta, Sarah Ha; middle row, Kat Osei-Mensah, Jan Walker, Katy Fisher, Imogen Clement, Kirsten Hopkins, Linda Wilson, back row, Charmaine Sew Mia Jacobs, Jess Brock, Merryn Matthews.
The tradional After Party was held at Chez Megan, who is apparently still on speaking terms with her flatmates, so all's well there.
Many thanks to Mia for all her hard work!
- Hon. President: Elaine Oliver.
- Student President: Mia Jacobs.
- Hon. Vice Presidents: Andrew Atkinson, Cat Henry, Clive Owen, Linda Wilson.
- Secretary: Stanley Lewis.
- Student Treasurer: Ryan White.
- Hon. Treasurer: Graham Mullan.
- Equalities Officer: Jake Reich.
- Ordinary Committee Members: Jessica Brock, Ben Alterman, Felix Arnautovic. Michael Farmer, Alex Blencowe.
Screenshot from the Lamb Leer Film showing members getting ready to go caving.
One thing suggested under Any Other Business was trialing a club Zoom pub night once a month (not as a replacement for the usual Tuesday pub nights) but something to allow members from outside Bristol to connect with each other, based on the successful Grampian Speleological Group monthly pub nights that several UBSS/GSG Members often join. For those who still haven't seen them, we could maybe reshow the films.
Everyone scattered after the AGM to reform in the evening at Brown and Bye down on the waterfront where all present gorged themselves on the cheese and cold meet platters followed by pizza.
This wasn't the usual sit down dinner, but more of a large party where everyone present could circulate and chat with more people than just those on either side of a table. Lavish awards were dished out by Mia to raucous acclaim.
Felix (centre) proudly displaying his award for Sock Wrestling, flankhed by Dan Hill (left, who should win an award for #VeryNiceHair) and Dan Runcan (right, looking on indulgently).
The party spilled outside, despite the rain, and in a lull in the showers we even managed a mass shot of #WomenWhoCave for International Women's Day.
Left to right, front row: Helen Rossington, Wanda Owen, Megan Malpas, Ananya Mehta, Sarah Ha; middle row, Kat Osei-Mensah, Jan Walker, Katy Fisher, Imogen Clement, Kirsten Hopkins, Linda Wilson, back row, Charmaine Sew Mia Jacobs, Jess Brock, Merryn Matthews.
The tradional After Party was held at Chez Megan, who is apparently still on speaking terms with her flatmates, so all's well there.
Many thanks to Mia for all her hard work!
OLD DOUK
Tolkien fans will possibly remember that not all who wander are lost, but cavers don't necessarily come into the same category. They don't carry pretty swords, either.
Tolkien fans will possibly remember that not all who wander are lost, but cavers don't necessarily come into the same category. They don't carry pretty swords, either.
A VENT ABOUT RIGGING STRUGGLES
The walk to Juniper Gulf. Photo by Ash Gregg.
Courtesy of Merryn Matthews, get ready for a tale of rigging woes from the epic Yorkshire Weekend of three societies.
We stayed at Yorkshire Dales Guides centre with UBES and UBMC, with the intention of introducing caving to some climbers, and vice versa. In practice, this usually means taking lots of novice horizontal trips, so Ash Gregg, Sam Kelly and I drove up on Thursday evening to get some SRT in before the weekend.
After lots of cave browsing, we decided on Juniper Gulf, possibly influenced by its mention in the last newsletter. We started off with an hour-long walk-in from Horton, careful to use GPS and not make the mistake of getting lost like those before us. With around 260 m of rope, it was already quite a tiring start but thankfully we had some lovely walking weather.
I wanted to rig the cave as I was in need of some practice, which was clear from the struggle I had crafting the initial large y-hang. This first pitch reaches the cascades, which can be impassable in high water, but we were pleased to find them easygoing and much shorter than expected. From here, the 'knee-wrecking' traverses begin, and so did my struggle of carrying a heavy tackle sack whilst crawling over a shear drop, whilst trying to horizontally abseil on fat dry rope. I haven't got much practice at spaced-out bolts on traverses, so was apologetically slow and a bit scared in places.
Between these sexy traverses are some fun pitches, until eventually we reached the final and impressive 50 m pitch. The sound of cascading water echoed up the bevelled walls, beckoning for a descent.
I set off down in awe, keeping an eye on the large loop of rope hanging out my tackle sack to make sure it wasn't tangled. Until I hit a knot. And the end of the rope. Poop. Must have forgotten to change onto the final rope and it had been deceivingly hanging out of the bag, making me think that I was already on it. I prussiked back up to explain to ash and re-rigged - won't be making that mistake again.
Descent number two was quite fun, until after around thirty meters; I recognized a crack in the wall from descent one, marveled that I had managed to get so far down before, and then noticed a knot. And the end of a rope. Double poop.
I decided shouting an angry 'FUCK' would best communicate that I would, again, need to prussik thirty meters up the pitch. It turns out I had managed to pull the final rope from the bottom of the tackle sack on the previous traverse and this 'final rope' I was on was only 35m. At this point, I was quite hangry, and aware that the others were getting cold with my slow rigging, so I grumpily ate a flapjack whilst Ash rerigged the entire section (no we shall not knot pass). Eventually, on descent three we reached the bottom, and low water levels allowed us to run down to the sump and contemplate how quickly we would drown if it rained.
Exiting: Ash instructed me and Sam to head out and wait at the end of a 70 m rope we used in a traverse. We waited at the wrong end - sorry Ash. After about half an hour of my questionable singing in the darkness, he caught up and passed one of his monster tackle sacks to crawl out of the cave with and emerge at the surface to a beautiful, freezing cold, clear night sky. We had been 8 hours underground with all the faff, and now the walk back was a lot more gruelling. RIP Sam's feet that got blisters the day before he ran the three peaks.
All in all, a good adventure, and lessons learnt.
The walk to Juniper Gulf. Photo by Ash Gregg.
Courtesy of Merryn Matthews, get ready for a tale of rigging woes from the epic Yorkshire Weekend of three societies.
We stayed at Yorkshire Dales Guides centre with UBES and UBMC, with the intention of introducing caving to some climbers, and vice versa. In practice, this usually means taking lots of novice horizontal trips, so Ash Gregg, Sam Kelly and I drove up on Thursday evening to get some SRT in before the weekend.
After lots of cave browsing, we decided on Juniper Gulf, possibly influenced by its mention in the last newsletter. We started off with an hour-long walk-in from Horton, careful to use GPS and not make the mistake of getting lost like those before us. With around 260 m of rope, it was already quite a tiring start but thankfully we had some lovely walking weather.
I wanted to rig the cave as I was in need of some practice, which was clear from the struggle I had crafting the initial large y-hang. This first pitch reaches the cascades, which can be impassable in high water, but we were pleased to find them easygoing and much shorter than expected. From here, the 'knee-wrecking' traverses begin, and so did my struggle of carrying a heavy tackle sack whilst crawling over a shear drop, whilst trying to horizontally abseil on fat dry rope. I haven't got much practice at spaced-out bolts on traverses, so was apologetically slow and a bit scared in places.
Between these sexy traverses are some fun pitches, until eventually we reached the final and impressive 50 m pitch. The sound of cascading water echoed up the bevelled walls, beckoning for a descent.
I set off down in awe, keeping an eye on the large loop of rope hanging out my tackle sack to make sure it wasn't tangled. Until I hit a knot. And the end of the rope. Poop. Must have forgotten to change onto the final rope and it had been deceivingly hanging out of the bag, making me think that I was already on it. I prussiked back up to explain to ash and re-rigged - won't be making that mistake again.
Descent number two was quite fun, until after around thirty meters; I recognized a crack in the wall from descent one, marveled that I had managed to get so far down before, and then noticed a knot. And the end of a rope. Double poop.
I decided shouting an angry 'FUCK' would best communicate that I would, again, need to prussik thirty meters up the pitch. It turns out I had managed to pull the final rope from the bottom of the tackle sack on the previous traverse and this 'final rope' I was on was only 35m. At this point, I was quite hangry, and aware that the others were getting cold with my slow rigging, so I grumpily ate a flapjack whilst Ash rerigged the entire section (no we shall not knot pass). Eventually, on descent three we reached the bottom, and low water levels allowed us to run down to the sump and contemplate how quickly we would drown if it rained.
Exiting: Ash instructed me and Sam to head out and wait at the end of a 70 m rope we used in a traverse. We waited at the wrong end - sorry Ash. After about half an hour of my questionable singing in the darkness, he caught up and passed one of his monster tackle sacks to crawl out of the cave with and emerge at the surface to a beautiful, freezing cold, clear night sky. We had been 8 hours underground with all the faff, and now the walk back was a lot more gruelling. RIP Sam's feet that got blisters the day before he ran the three peaks.
All in all, a good adventure, and lessons learnt.
Merryn Matthews
TYPE TWO FUN IN BURRINGTON
This is what happens when you ask Midjourney AI to produce an image based on the prompt: two cartoon cavers, one male, one female, in a very muddy cave.
Mud, mud, glorious mud! Well, maybe not all mud is glorious as Zac and Merryn found on a visit to one of Burrington’s lesser known attractions.
Having already done a trip to the Hanging Gardens in Pierre’s Pot earlier in the day, my masochism streak wasn’t quite satisfied. To be fair, the description for Bos Swallet also didn’t quite highlight how grim it is; I was expecting something bigger and cleaner. I dragged Merryn along for good measure.
The entrance was horrifically muddy. Not nice cave mud but disgusting, gritty, stick laden and insect infested mud. The narrow and steep profile of the entrance tube made it a mud flume. We made it to the first chamber quick enough.
Without ladders we were only expecting to get this far, but after further exploration, we found that someone had left a ladder on the first pitch. Taking this down into the next chamber, we continued on to the small natural bridge passage where we found a bat that had made itself at home on a bit of digging wire. An awkward negotiation over some boulders brought us to the second ladder pitch, which was also rigged.
The ladder dropped into a small chamber that led into a small passage which connected through to the terminal rift. We explored the dig at the bottom of this which continues into a parallel rift which is far too tight to enter. However, going up the rift we entered a chamber which had some brilliant fossils. The rock around them has been eroded away leaving the shells sticking out of the wall. I asked Merryn if this had been worth the muddy entrance to reach this, to which the definitive answer was NO.
Leaving the cave was even worse than entering. Not only did we have to cave around some very poorly positioned bats but the entrance, which was a slide on the way in, became a grease slope on the way out. It was a sweet relief then to finally see daylight, albeit one tempered by the fact that my helmet got caught on some barbed wire stuck in the entrance.
On the surface it became apparent that no part of us had been spared the onslaught of mud. We considered going to wash in West Twin Brook but ultimately resolved to just wash in the hut shower, that’s what it’s there for right? Cue a scene from a hazardous materials clean-up site where I stood in the shower, fully kitted, while Merryn scrubbed me down with a broom. She took the minorly more sensible approach of taking her oversuit off before washing it, although I reckon my own suit hasn’t been cleaner in a long while.
Looking back on it I would definitely classify Bos Swallet as type two fun, but don’t let that put you off.
Quote of the trip: “I’m glad I’m half-drunk for this!”
This is what happens when you ask Midjourney AI to produce an image based on the prompt: two cartoon cavers, one male, one female, in a very muddy cave.
Mud, mud, glorious mud! Well, maybe not all mud is glorious as Zac and Merryn found on a visit to one of Burrington’s lesser known attractions.
Having already done a trip to the Hanging Gardens in Pierre’s Pot earlier in the day, my masochism streak wasn’t quite satisfied. To be fair, the description for Bos Swallet also didn’t quite highlight how grim it is; I was expecting something bigger and cleaner. I dragged Merryn along for good measure.
The entrance was horrifically muddy. Not nice cave mud but disgusting, gritty, stick laden and insect infested mud. The narrow and steep profile of the entrance tube made it a mud flume. We made it to the first chamber quick enough.
Without ladders we were only expecting to get this far, but after further exploration, we found that someone had left a ladder on the first pitch. Taking this down into the next chamber, we continued on to the small natural bridge passage where we found a bat that had made itself at home on a bit of digging wire. An awkward negotiation over some boulders brought us to the second ladder pitch, which was also rigged.
The ladder dropped into a small chamber that led into a small passage which connected through to the terminal rift. We explored the dig at the bottom of this which continues into a parallel rift which is far too tight to enter. However, going up the rift we entered a chamber which had some brilliant fossils. The rock around them has been eroded away leaving the shells sticking out of the wall. I asked Merryn if this had been worth the muddy entrance to reach this, to which the definitive answer was NO.
Leaving the cave was even worse than entering. Not only did we have to cave around some very poorly positioned bats but the entrance, which was a slide on the way in, became a grease slope on the way out. It was a sweet relief then to finally see daylight, albeit one tempered by the fact that my helmet got caught on some barbed wire stuck in the entrance.
On the surface it became apparent that no part of us had been spared the onslaught of mud. We considered going to wash in West Twin Brook but ultimately resolved to just wash in the hut shower, that’s what it’s there for right? Cue a scene from a hazardous materials clean-up site where I stood in the shower, fully kitted, while Merryn scrubbed me down with a broom. She took the minorly more sensible approach of taking her oversuit off before washing it, although I reckon my own suit hasn’t been cleaner in a long while.
Looking back on it I would definitely classify Bos Swallet as type two fun, but don’t let that put you off.
Quote of the trip: “I’m glad I’m half-drunk for this!”
Zac Woodford
URBAN CAVING
Feeling the itch to cave but not having access to a car may actually be a blessing in disguise. Rather than travelling to the Mendips for another Swildon’s trip, Ben Alterman has been forced to feed his underground obsession with local Bristol caves. If he’s been feeling particularly adventurous after uni, he’s been popping down to the Avon gorge in an effort to locate another new and elusive urban cave.
OBSERVATORY HILL CAVE, CLIFTON
Located at the back of the playground downhill from the Clifton Observatory, this cave was sealed up but broken open by an infamous urban exploration duo in the early 2000s. I only know them as “duo.irrational”, as is the name of their website. These urban explorers embarked on a quest to enter every underground space in Bristol, even going so far as to break into the children’s hospital to access their underground tunnels, and taking sledgehammers to the gates of Redcliffe caves (yikes!). Their website http://duo.irational.org/tunneling/ documents their explorations for anyone curious, although I specifically discourage anyone from breaking and entering.
Observatory Hill Cave begins with a squeeze between large bricks, immediately opening into a small chamber just large enough to stand. I was fortunate enough to see a bat during my journey here! If you visit, please be careful not to disturb any resident bats.
Rating: 3/10. Too small!!
Left: the squeeze to enter Observatory Hill Cave. Right: the chamber.
LOWER CAVE, AVON GORGE
Located in a fenced-off area of the gorge almost directly under the suspension bridge, this cave provides about 10 m of stooping passage before opening up to a small chamber decorated with flowstone. When I visited, there was a recently extinguished fire and blanket in the flowstone chamber, suggesting some night time inhabitants of the human variety.
Rating: 6/10 for the cool flowstone.
Some of the cool flowstone.
MOUSEHOLE CAVE, AVON GORGE
An elusive cave to find, located at the bottom of the main climbing wall in the gorge. We stumbled across this one on the way to Mercavity Cave, which turned out to be completely sealed! Mousehole Cave consists of a tight squeeze entering a downward sloping passage at crawling height that continues for about 10 m. At the bottom of this passage was another sleeping bag, alongside some instant noodles and a kettle. I’m starting to feel like I’m intruding on people’s homes at this point!
Rating: 6/10 for the noodles.
Topless Fin squeezing into the entrance of Mousehole Cave
ST VINCENT’S SPRING, AVON GORGE
This is the cave that started my urban caving journey, as I helped Professor David Richards with his research project in this cave. More of a tunnel than an actual cave, St. Vincent’s Spring consists of a 3 m drop leading to a man made tunnel, ending at a well. At the bottom of this well is St. Vincent’s Spring, one of the few natural hot springs in the UK! It’s speculated that this geothermal water is connected to that in Bath. David is currently recording temperature and water level fluctuations, and how these relate to rainfall and tides.
Rating: 9/10 for the hot springs!
David lowering a temperature probe into the well, St. Vincent’s Spring.
POOL CAVE, AVON GORGE
Pool Cave consists of two entrances, one small and one big. The larger entrance would require a very brave soul to free-climb up half the gorge to access it, so we used the smaller, lower entrance. Aptly named, there is a small pool at the back of the cave filled with pigeon droppings. After a 2 m drop, the cave opens up into a large chamber about 8 m high, with the ceiling quickly dropping down towards the back of the cave. A too-tight rift leads further on and seems to open up again, but only a very slender person could access this (not me!). This cave was absolutely filled with pigeons who were nesting high on the walls. As soon as I entered the cave, every pigeon took flight towards me, causing me a real panic on the 2 m climb. I fell and dropped my torch right into pigeon dung.
Rating: 5/10. I have a love-hate relationship with pigeons.
Nick tries to squeeze through the too-tight rift- to no avail.
JACK’S HOLE, AVON GORGE
Jack’s Hole was one of the most elusive caves to find. From the observatory, you have to walk north to the viewpoint looking down the gorge, then cut off into the woods and go off trail, trying to avoid any hidden cliffs and drops! An extremely steep path leads to the impressive entrance. Three very dirty mattresses, numerous beer bottles, and a fire pit again indicates some night-time shenanigans here. The large entrance quickly drops down to a flat-out craw, full of broken glass and rusted metal. I didn’t particularly fancy getting tetanus, so we went no further than the entrance. According to Somerset Underground Vol. 1, the crawl continues for a few metres, leading to a tight squeeze that opens out to a moderately sized chamber decorated with stalagmites. This one could be worth returning to if someone wanted to clear the glass out of the crawl!
Rating: 3/10. Too much glass!
Jamie at the well-decorated (with burnt mattresses) entrance to Jack’s Hole
DUNDRY DOWN CAVE, DUNDRY
This one is located to the south of Bristol in the small village of Dundry, only about 50 m away from the highest point in the county of Bristol! It seems as if a limestone quarry on top of Dundry hill opened this small cave which extends for about 15 m of narrow walking passage. When we arrived, we were horrified to find multiple rabbit carcases in the entrance with their guts spewed out on the floor. Our first thought was a satanic ritual taking place in the cave, although it makes much more sense that a fox was using the cave as its den. Past the entrance, the cave quickly hits a T junction, with both paths becoming too tight after about 8 m. Right down the hill, I found about five ammonites in 10 minutes of searching!! Come here for a fossil hunt, just not to cave.
Rating: 4/10. Actual walking passage but the rabbit guts put me off a bit.
Toby and the entrance to Dundry Down Cave.
KINGS WESTON QUARRY CAVES, KINGSWESTON
An interesting cluster of three caves is located in King’s Weston Estate, next to Blaise Castle. These are accessed by crawling under a fence surrounding a quarry and very carefully (emphasis on carefully) descending into the bottom of the quarry. The quarry consists of two sections, one upper and one lower, separated by a two metre wall of limestone and dirt. In the upper section, there is King’s Weston Quarry Cave, which consists of a 4 m pitch, with a short scramble at the bottom leading to a small chamber. Interestingly, the entrance pitch was aided by a rusty iron fence turned on its side and chucked into the cave, which could be used almost as a ladder. From here, the way on was choked with rubbish and rusty mining equipment. It seems as if the old quarrymen were using this cave as their tip for broken equipment. Although we decided not to remove the rubbish and continue, Somerset Underground Vol. 1 suggests a crawl to another 4 m drop into a large chamber, Spar Chamber. From the chamber, another two passages lead off, becoming too tight. The total length of this cave is 30 m! Definitely worth exploring and trying to access Spar Chamber if anyone is in the area and fancies removing rubbish from a squeeze.
Rating 3/10, Interesting entrance pitch but too choked with rubbish to reach the chamber!
The lower section of King’s Weston Quarry holds two caves, Greater Ochre and Lesser Ochre. While Lesser Ochre is more of a rock shelter than a cave, Greater Ochre Cave consists of a small chamber leading to an extremely tight flat-out crawl, supposedly extending 40 metres to a small terminal chamber. Although my enthusiasm was high, once I looked upon the extreme tightness of the crawl and roughness of the fist-sized rocks littering the ground, I immediately turned around. I didn’t fancy ripping my skin open on the sharp rocks, or getting to a point where I was stuck and couldn’t turn around. Surprisingly, one of my friends is even more obsessed with urban caves than me (and a lot skinnier), so he decided to take on the crawl. Wearing nothing but shorts and a t-shirt, he ventured about 15 m until the passage became too tight even for him. I watched him struggle to turn himself around and back out of the crawl, taking a solid 15 minutes of heaving and panicking. While I pulled on his head, he pushed with his feet and eventually got out unscathed.
Rating: 2/10. It would be 1/10 for the horrible long crawl, except for the amazing face paint that the cave gave Fin.
Left: Fin navigating the horrible crawl. Right: Fin’s new cave face mask!
BURWALLS CAVE, AVON GORGE
Located on the western side of the Avon, this is certainly the most impressive cave in the gorge. Accessed by climbing over the wall at the end of the western edge of the suspension bridge, Burwalls Cave consists of a large, walk-in passage leading to a roomy chamber with an open roof 7 m high. Two passages lead off, both (in my experience) populated with bats and spiders. Both passages close down and become too tight after about 10 m. Interestingly enough, someone has set up a permanent residence in the main chamber of this cave. They’ve built a shelter almost neolithic in appearance, consisting of mud and stick walls, tarps covering the ceiling, and a separate kitchen area complete with a window! The whole cave house looks rather cosy! Sadly, I only took a very blurry photo of the setup. According to Somerset Underground, this cave used to be a show cave, as handrails are present near the entrance.
Rating: 8/10. Impressive main chamber and even more impressive shelter!
A somewhat blurry image of the main chamber, complete with the windowed kitchen.
RAVEN'S WELL, TOTTERDOWN
Certainly saving the best for last. There’s loads of history surrounding this cave (or conduit if we’re being technical), but I’ll keep it brief. Raven’s Well is located opposite the River Avon from Temple Meads, under Totterdown. The passage was dug around the 14th century by friars belonging to the Temple Gate Friary (after which Temple Meads was named) to bring fresh water to the Knights Templar in Bristol. Interestingly enough, a study in the 1980s found the water in Raven’s Well to be purer than Bristol tapwater!
There are two entrances, but the most accessible one is on the banks of the River Avon. Follow a pedestrian footpath (located on the left just past the bridge near Temple Meads) and pick a tree to climb down to access the banks. Head upstream, and after a few minutes of walking you’ll come across stonework, with a flat-out crawl under it leading to Raven’s Well.
The passage quickly opens up to walking height, with numerous branches off to the left extending the cave for over 400 m. There could be anywhere from ankle-deep to waist-deep water, so go prepared with a change of clothes. Some passages are decorated with small amounts of flowstone, stalactites, and calcite pools with crystals in them. This really surprised me, as I assumed calcite formations took thousands of years to form, not a few hundred. The straightforward passage eventually makes a hard right turn and ends in a sump. Taking one of the side passages leads to hand-carved steps, with water cascading down them, and another walking-sized tunnel extending for a few hundred meters. There seem to have been numerous roof collapses in this section, so do exercise caution. The passage ends at the actual spring, with a geocache hidden behind the rocks next to the spring, bring a pen to sign it! Pickaxe marks and shelves to hold candles can be seen in the walls of the tunnel from the original builders over 600 years ago, absolutely amazing to see.
Rating: 10/10, A beautiful piece of local history and an exciting exploration. My favourite underground space in Bristol!
Merlin coming out of the tight entrance crawl
Calcite formations
A mushroom growing from the walls of the passage
Pickaxe Marks from the original carving of the passage!
Navigating through the maze of passages
Left: Shoeless Fin photographing calcite. Middle and right:small gour pools
Feeling the itch to cave but not having access to a car may actually be a blessing in disguise. Rather than travelling to the Mendips for another Swildon’s trip, Ben Alterman has been forced to feed his underground obsession with local Bristol caves. If he’s been feeling particularly adventurous after uni, he’s been popping down to the Avon gorge in an effort to locate another new and elusive urban cave.
OBSERVATORY HILL CAVE, CLIFTON
Located at the back of the playground downhill from the Clifton Observatory, this cave was sealed up but broken open by an infamous urban exploration duo in the early 2000s. I only know them as “duo.irrational”, as is the name of their website. These urban explorers embarked on a quest to enter every underground space in Bristol, even going so far as to break into the children’s hospital to access their underground tunnels, and taking sledgehammers to the gates of Redcliffe caves (yikes!). Their website http://duo.irational.org/tunneling/ documents their explorations for anyone curious, although I specifically discourage anyone from breaking and entering.
Observatory Hill Cave begins with a squeeze between large bricks, immediately opening into a small chamber just large enough to stand. I was fortunate enough to see a bat during my journey here! If you visit, please be careful not to disturb any resident bats.
Rating: 3/10. Too small!!
Left: the squeeze to enter Observatory Hill Cave. Right: the chamber.
LOWER CAVE, AVON GORGE
Located in a fenced-off area of the gorge almost directly under the suspension bridge, this cave provides about 10 m of stooping passage before opening up to a small chamber decorated with flowstone. When I visited, there was a recently extinguished fire and blanket in the flowstone chamber, suggesting some night time inhabitants of the human variety.
Rating: 6/10 for the cool flowstone.
Some of the cool flowstone.
MOUSEHOLE CAVE, AVON GORGE
An elusive cave to find, located at the bottom of the main climbing wall in the gorge. We stumbled across this one on the way to Mercavity Cave, which turned out to be completely sealed! Mousehole Cave consists of a tight squeeze entering a downward sloping passage at crawling height that continues for about 10 m. At the bottom of this passage was another sleeping bag, alongside some instant noodles and a kettle. I’m starting to feel like I’m intruding on people’s homes at this point!
Rating: 6/10 for the noodles.
Topless Fin squeezing into the entrance of Mousehole Cave
ST VINCENT’S SPRING, AVON GORGE
This is the cave that started my urban caving journey, as I helped Professor David Richards with his research project in this cave. More of a tunnel than an actual cave, St. Vincent’s Spring consists of a 3 m drop leading to a man made tunnel, ending at a well. At the bottom of this well is St. Vincent’s Spring, one of the few natural hot springs in the UK! It’s speculated that this geothermal water is connected to that in Bath. David is currently recording temperature and water level fluctuations, and how these relate to rainfall and tides.
Rating: 9/10 for the hot springs!
David lowering a temperature probe into the well, St. Vincent’s Spring.
POOL CAVE, AVON GORGE
Pool Cave consists of two entrances, one small and one big. The larger entrance would require a very brave soul to free-climb up half the gorge to access it, so we used the smaller, lower entrance. Aptly named, there is a small pool at the back of the cave filled with pigeon droppings. After a 2 m drop, the cave opens up into a large chamber about 8 m high, with the ceiling quickly dropping down towards the back of the cave. A too-tight rift leads further on and seems to open up again, but only a very slender person could access this (not me!). This cave was absolutely filled with pigeons who were nesting high on the walls. As soon as I entered the cave, every pigeon took flight towards me, causing me a real panic on the 2 m climb. I fell and dropped my torch right into pigeon dung.
Rating: 5/10. I have a love-hate relationship with pigeons.
Nick tries to squeeze through the too-tight rift- to no avail.
JACK’S HOLE, AVON GORGE
Jack’s Hole was one of the most elusive caves to find. From the observatory, you have to walk north to the viewpoint looking down the gorge, then cut off into the woods and go off trail, trying to avoid any hidden cliffs and drops! An extremely steep path leads to the impressive entrance. Three very dirty mattresses, numerous beer bottles, and a fire pit again indicates some night-time shenanigans here. The large entrance quickly drops down to a flat-out craw, full of broken glass and rusted metal. I didn’t particularly fancy getting tetanus, so we went no further than the entrance. According to Somerset Underground Vol. 1, the crawl continues for a few metres, leading to a tight squeeze that opens out to a moderately sized chamber decorated with stalagmites. This one could be worth returning to if someone wanted to clear the glass out of the crawl!
Rating: 3/10. Too much glass!
Jamie at the well-decorated (with burnt mattresses) entrance to Jack’s Hole
DUNDRY DOWN CAVE, DUNDRY
This one is located to the south of Bristol in the small village of Dundry, only about 50 m away from the highest point in the county of Bristol! It seems as if a limestone quarry on top of Dundry hill opened this small cave which extends for about 15 m of narrow walking passage. When we arrived, we were horrified to find multiple rabbit carcases in the entrance with their guts spewed out on the floor. Our first thought was a satanic ritual taking place in the cave, although it makes much more sense that a fox was using the cave as its den. Past the entrance, the cave quickly hits a T junction, with both paths becoming too tight after about 8 m. Right down the hill, I found about five ammonites in 10 minutes of searching!! Come here for a fossil hunt, just not to cave.
Rating: 4/10. Actual walking passage but the rabbit guts put me off a bit.
Toby and the entrance to Dundry Down Cave.
KINGS WESTON QUARRY CAVES, KINGSWESTON
An interesting cluster of three caves is located in King’s Weston Estate, next to Blaise Castle. These are accessed by crawling under a fence surrounding a quarry and very carefully (emphasis on carefully) descending into the bottom of the quarry. The quarry consists of two sections, one upper and one lower, separated by a two metre wall of limestone and dirt. In the upper section, there is King’s Weston Quarry Cave, which consists of a 4 m pitch, with a short scramble at the bottom leading to a small chamber. Interestingly, the entrance pitch was aided by a rusty iron fence turned on its side and chucked into the cave, which could be used almost as a ladder. From here, the way on was choked with rubbish and rusty mining equipment. It seems as if the old quarrymen were using this cave as their tip for broken equipment. Although we decided not to remove the rubbish and continue, Somerset Underground Vol. 1 suggests a crawl to another 4 m drop into a large chamber, Spar Chamber. From the chamber, another two passages lead off, becoming too tight. The total length of this cave is 30 m! Definitely worth exploring and trying to access Spar Chamber if anyone is in the area and fancies removing rubbish from a squeeze.
Rating 3/10, Interesting entrance pitch but too choked with rubbish to reach the chamber!
The lower section of King’s Weston Quarry holds two caves, Greater Ochre and Lesser Ochre. While Lesser Ochre is more of a rock shelter than a cave, Greater Ochre Cave consists of a small chamber leading to an extremely tight flat-out crawl, supposedly extending 40 metres to a small terminal chamber. Although my enthusiasm was high, once I looked upon the extreme tightness of the crawl and roughness of the fist-sized rocks littering the ground, I immediately turned around. I didn’t fancy ripping my skin open on the sharp rocks, or getting to a point where I was stuck and couldn’t turn around. Surprisingly, one of my friends is even more obsessed with urban caves than me (and a lot skinnier), so he decided to take on the crawl. Wearing nothing but shorts and a t-shirt, he ventured about 15 m until the passage became too tight even for him. I watched him struggle to turn himself around and back out of the crawl, taking a solid 15 minutes of heaving and panicking. While I pulled on his head, he pushed with his feet and eventually got out unscathed.
Rating: 2/10. It would be 1/10 for the horrible long crawl, except for the amazing face paint that the cave gave Fin.
Left: Fin navigating the horrible crawl. Right: Fin’s new cave face mask!
BURWALLS CAVE, AVON GORGE
Located on the western side of the Avon, this is certainly the most impressive cave in the gorge. Accessed by climbing over the wall at the end of the western edge of the suspension bridge, Burwalls Cave consists of a large, walk-in passage leading to a roomy chamber with an open roof 7 m high. Two passages lead off, both (in my experience) populated with bats and spiders. Both passages close down and become too tight after about 10 m. Interestingly enough, someone has set up a permanent residence in the main chamber of this cave. They’ve built a shelter almost neolithic in appearance, consisting of mud and stick walls, tarps covering the ceiling, and a separate kitchen area complete with a window! The whole cave house looks rather cosy! Sadly, I only took a very blurry photo of the setup. According to Somerset Underground, this cave used to be a show cave, as handrails are present near the entrance.
Rating: 8/10. Impressive main chamber and even more impressive shelter!
A somewhat blurry image of the main chamber, complete with the windowed kitchen.
RAVEN'S WELL, TOTTERDOWN
Certainly saving the best for last. There’s loads of history surrounding this cave (or conduit if we’re being technical), but I’ll keep it brief. Raven’s Well is located opposite the River Avon from Temple Meads, under Totterdown. The passage was dug around the 14th century by friars belonging to the Temple Gate Friary (after which Temple Meads was named) to bring fresh water to the Knights Templar in Bristol. Interestingly enough, a study in the 1980s found the water in Raven’s Well to be purer than Bristol tapwater!
There are two entrances, but the most accessible one is on the banks of the River Avon. Follow a pedestrian footpath (located on the left just past the bridge near Temple Meads) and pick a tree to climb down to access the banks. Head upstream, and after a few minutes of walking you’ll come across stonework, with a flat-out crawl under it leading to Raven’s Well.
The passage quickly opens up to walking height, with numerous branches off to the left extending the cave for over 400 m. There could be anywhere from ankle-deep to waist-deep water, so go prepared with a change of clothes. Some passages are decorated with small amounts of flowstone, stalactites, and calcite pools with crystals in them. This really surprised me, as I assumed calcite formations took thousands of years to form, not a few hundred. The straightforward passage eventually makes a hard right turn and ends in a sump. Taking one of the side passages leads to hand-carved steps, with water cascading down them, and another walking-sized tunnel extending for a few hundred meters. There seem to have been numerous roof collapses in this section, so do exercise caution. The passage ends at the actual spring, with a geocache hidden behind the rocks next to the spring, bring a pen to sign it! Pickaxe marks and shelves to hold candles can be seen in the walls of the tunnel from the original builders over 600 years ago, absolutely amazing to see.
Rating: 10/10, A beautiful piece of local history and an exciting exploration. My favourite underground space in Bristol!
Merlin coming out of the tight entrance crawl
Calcite formations
A mushroom growing from the walls of the passage
Pickaxe Marks from the original carving of the passage!
Navigating through the maze of passages
Left: Shoeless Fin photographing calcite. Middle and right:small gour pools
Ben Alterman
Ben's mention in his Urban Caves article of water testing in Raven's Well sparked off a trip down memory lane (or should that be memory mine?) for Graham, Linda and Tony. All three consulted their log books for the period and Linda takes up the story as part of our 100 Memories Project.
1986, otherwise known as 36 years ago. Longer than most of our new members have been alive. How many of us have accurate memories of what we did on any given day that long ago? Frankly, I can barely remember what I did yesterday! However, for most of my time caving, I've kept a log book. This now runs to two volumes.
Looking back, I think it was Tony Boycott who introduced me to the idea of writing a brief note on each of my trips. Although I started caving properly when I came to Bristol in 1979 (before that consisted of some Famous Five-style exploits in various northern caves and mines), I seem to have started log-keeping properly some time in 1982. Early records came from from a combination of club log books, my memory and Tony's logs and by early 1982, I was entering all my trips. The details rarely go beyond date, place, who and where, but at least I can look back and mutter, "Bloody hell, did I really do that with them?!"
Why this digression on log keeping? It's all Ben's fault, as mentioned above, because it was his mention of the water sampling in Raven's Well that made Graham chime up with, "Tony did that work!" and set us wondering exactly when the samples were taken. A quick scrabble around in my first log book produced the following entry:
Out of interest, I asked Tony to look out his log for the period, which he quickly did. This revealed that there were two trips that spring, the first one, mentioned above, which was Tony's second trip (the first was several years earlier):
A few weeks later, Tony and Graham went back to take the samples, and the same day, Tony also made a trip out to the hut to take some water samples there, as well as having a wander down Aveline's Hole.
However, although Tony clearly remembers the results being, as Somerset Underground mentions, cleaner than Bristol tap water, he doesn't seem to have recorded this in his log, although he's still checking through his extensive filing system! Probably fortunately, neither history nor Tony recorded the results for quality of the water at the hut.
One thing I did notice, though, was that Tony and I have different dates for the first trip in our logs, in that I have it down as 9.2.86 and his says 10.2.86. So I checked Graham's log:
This has the same date as mine, which doesn't actually prove anything, as his might well have been copied from mine (or vice versa), but as 9.2.86 was a Sunday, I'm inclined to that as the correct date, as I think we accessed the mine via a small amount of railway trespass, and would have chosen Sunday as the day we were least likely to have been squashed by a train or arrested for rule breaking.
For the sake of completeness, I looked up Graham's log for the sampling trip and found that his must have been either written up or added to after the event, as he briefly notes the result of the tests:
In the absence of the test results, it seems that Graham's log entry is the closest thing we have to a near contemporaneous record of what the analysis by the Public Health labs revealed!
So this is what happens when you fill an old exercise book, or something more substantial, with details of your caving trips. It also gives you something to attach your UBSS stickers to. Or you could keep a note on your computer but somehow that seems to lack the whole Samuel Peyps vibe of pulling a book off a shelf while muttering: "Let me just check when I did that ..."
Linda Wilson
HELLFIRE BUT NO DAMNATION
Chalk carvings in the Hellfire Caves.
West Wycombe Hill in Buckinghamshire is the home of the massive Dashwood Mausoleum, St Lawrence's Church and the infamous Hellfire Caves - an underground den of iniquity where in the late 1700s the Hellfire Club met to have liaisons and parties far from prying eyes. So in some respects an ancestor of the Stables but probably with even more structural engineering work going on. Nathan Cubitt visited recently.
The website for the caves directs visitors to a car park about a five minute walk away. There, helpful signs along the way let you know that the hilltop is in an upward direction and the caves are to the right. The approach to the caves is an impressive flint building, designed to look like a Gothic Church when viewed from the large West Wycombe House, home to Sir Francis Dashwood who founded the Hellfire Club. There's a little gift shop and tea room where you pay to enter, and get given a token to use for the turnstile. It certainly felt unique entering a cave through one of those!
Entrance building.
Immediately you are in a white-washed brick corridor leads into the hill, with an audio production introducing the history of the site. The caves are actually the remains of a chalk mine constructed to provide raw materials for a local road, and then later turned into a then fashionable type of underground folly.
As you continue downwards, the passageway turns to chalk, bestrewn with graffiti and a significant number of carved faces that may be a relatively modern feature. Throughout the 260 m long and 90 m deep mine system there are a lot of modern structural elements and what looks like rendering. In a couple of places, expanding foam on the side of the walls has been painted white, yet is damaged enough to be clearly see for what it is. That kind of damage probably emphasises why it is there in the first place. However, there is a lot of natural rock to be seen, with a fair amount displaying vermiculation - most likely caused 'by algae/muck … probably caught in the crevices of the rock (new pit chalk) making it look like it's etched' (thanks Graham Mullan & Andrew Farrant for that).
Vermiculations.
The whole system has lighting and the occasional waxwork with audio recordings playing, but there are still places that are darker and quieter. There is a noticeable temperature drop as you go deeper, and the walls and signs become almost soaking wet. There are several chambers, but of particular note are the Banqueting Hall, River Styx and the Inner Chamber.
The Banqueting Hall is about 40 m in diameter, and could be the largest man made chalk chamber. It has statues in recesses at the cardinal points and a quote from Benjamin Franklin who visited the caves in the Hellfire Club days. The structural work here is impressive, but as with most of the work done here, not that sympathetic. In the 1950s another Sir Francis Dashwood worked to reopen the mines to the public. It was a significant undertaking, with many rock falls. New passageways had to be dug, and eventually the Banqueting Hall was stabilised by drilling from the top of the hill and using wire ropes to raise a steel canopy to hold the ceiling in place.
Impressive fakery.
Going further down, the River Styx is a partially flooded chamber that was once crossed by boat, then by stepping stones, and now has a permanent crossing over it. Here there are amazing stalactites and stalagmites under dramatic lighting. It is very beautiful but like a lot of this site, it is all smoke and mirrors. They are artificial, added by the recent Sir Francis to imitate those he had seen at Campanella and Hams in Majorca.
Entrance to the Inner Temple.
Crossing the river, you arrive at the final chamber, the Inner Temple, the cave where it is believed most of the Hellfire Club’s naughtiest activity took place. The chamber still has a hook in the ceiling from which a chandelier or lantern could be hung, first recorded in a 1796 diary. Currently the chamber has an appropriate statue in place for the kinds of activities that are imagined to have taken place there.
Waxworks.
It is a strange site to visit. In many respects it is a re-imagining of what the Hellfire Caves may have been like. All the statues have been placed since the 1950s, and feel somewhat fitting. The waxworks and sound recordings feel more like you're in some museum from the past, and whilst the structural work may be pretty unsympathetic to the original mines, without the work of the recent Sir Francis none of this would be here. In many ways you are entering his world, which is quite fitting. His ancestor, the original Sir Francis, caused these mines to exist and created the Hellfire Club which creates the site’s legacy. It's now how his descendent imagines it could have been, and in the dark, quiet passages, I believe he succeeded.
Chalk carvings in the Hellfire Caves.
West Wycombe Hill in Buckinghamshire is the home of the massive Dashwood Mausoleum, St Lawrence's Church and the infamous Hellfire Caves - an underground den of iniquity where in the late 1700s the Hellfire Club met to have liaisons and parties far from prying eyes. So in some respects an ancestor of the Stables but probably with even more structural engineering work going on. Nathan Cubitt visited recently.
The website for the caves directs visitors to a car park about a five minute walk away. There, helpful signs along the way let you know that the hilltop is in an upward direction and the caves are to the right. The approach to the caves is an impressive flint building, designed to look like a Gothic Church when viewed from the large West Wycombe House, home to Sir Francis Dashwood who founded the Hellfire Club. There's a little gift shop and tea room where you pay to enter, and get given a token to use for the turnstile. It certainly felt unique entering a cave through one of those!
Entrance building.
Immediately you are in a white-washed brick corridor leads into the hill, with an audio production introducing the history of the site. The caves are actually the remains of a chalk mine constructed to provide raw materials for a local road, and then later turned into a then fashionable type of underground folly.
As you continue downwards, the passageway turns to chalk, bestrewn with graffiti and a significant number of carved faces that may be a relatively modern feature. Throughout the 260 m long and 90 m deep mine system there are a lot of modern structural elements and what looks like rendering. In a couple of places, expanding foam on the side of the walls has been painted white, yet is damaged enough to be clearly see for what it is. That kind of damage probably emphasises why it is there in the first place. However, there is a lot of natural rock to be seen, with a fair amount displaying vermiculation - most likely caused 'by algae/muck … probably caught in the crevices of the rock (new pit chalk) making it look like it's etched' (thanks Graham Mullan & Andrew Farrant for that).
Vermiculations.
The whole system has lighting and the occasional waxwork with audio recordings playing, but there are still places that are darker and quieter. There is a noticeable temperature drop as you go deeper, and the walls and signs become almost soaking wet. There are several chambers, but of particular note are the Banqueting Hall, River Styx and the Inner Chamber.
The Banqueting Hall is about 40 m in diameter, and could be the largest man made chalk chamber. It has statues in recesses at the cardinal points and a quote from Benjamin Franklin who visited the caves in the Hellfire Club days. The structural work here is impressive, but as with most of the work done here, not that sympathetic. In the 1950s another Sir Francis Dashwood worked to reopen the mines to the public. It was a significant undertaking, with many rock falls. New passageways had to be dug, and eventually the Banqueting Hall was stabilised by drilling from the top of the hill and using wire ropes to raise a steel canopy to hold the ceiling in place.
Impressive fakery.
Going further down, the River Styx is a partially flooded chamber that was once crossed by boat, then by stepping stones, and now has a permanent crossing over it. Here there are amazing stalactites and stalagmites under dramatic lighting. It is very beautiful but like a lot of this site, it is all smoke and mirrors. They are artificial, added by the recent Sir Francis to imitate those he had seen at Campanella and Hams in Majorca.
Entrance to the Inner Temple.
Crossing the river, you arrive at the final chamber, the Inner Temple, the cave where it is believed most of the Hellfire Club’s naughtiest activity took place. The chamber still has a hook in the ceiling from which a chandelier or lantern could be hung, first recorded in a 1796 diary. Currently the chamber has an appropriate statue in place for the kinds of activities that are imagined to have taken place there.
Waxworks.
It is a strange site to visit. In many respects it is a re-imagining of what the Hellfire Caves may have been like. All the statues have been placed since the 1950s, and feel somewhat fitting. The waxworks and sound recordings feel more like you're in some museum from the past, and whilst the structural work may be pretty unsympathetic to the original mines, without the work of the recent Sir Francis none of this would be here. In many ways you are entering his world, which is quite fitting. His ancestor, the original Sir Francis, caused these mines to exist and created the Hellfire Club which creates the site’s legacy. It's now how his descendent imagines it could have been, and in the dark, quiet passages, I believe he succeeded.
Nathan Cubitt
THE STABLES - WORK HAS STARTED!
Upstairs floor. Left shows the wet rot in the joists under the old chimney breast. Right shouws the joists after the rotten sections have been cut out and replaced. Photos by Gary Spillane, Uni Estates.
The UBSS Museum and Library in the building known as The Stables has been closed for nearly 18 months due to structural problems with the ceiling beams in the library stack room. Finally, the night before the AGM, museum curator Linda Wilson received the good news that remedial works were finally underway.
After a year and a half navigating the laqbyrinthine ways of university finance and procurement, we've finally got to the stage of works being underway. The rotten section of the ceiling joists have been cut out and new sections bolted into place, with the veing now jacked back up into place. The problem appears to have been caused by damp coming in from a badly blocked up chimney in the library starck room. This probably dates back at least 50 years. The good news is that this is now being sorted and that wall will be tanked and redecorated as part of teh works.
The two windows at the back of the building have been replaced and one of the front doors (the one into the library room) has also been replaced.
There's a lot of making good still to be done, and we'll have some redecoration to do that isn't covered by the building contract, but I hope that by the end of April or early May, we'll be able to start moving everything back to where it should be. That'll take a lot of willing volunteers, so if you can help, please let me know.
I'm also delighted to announce that Charmaine Sew has agreed to take on the role of student museum curator.
Upstairs floor. Left shows the wet rot in the joists under the old chimney breast. Right shouws the joists after the rotten sections have been cut out and replaced. Photos by Gary Spillane, Uni Estates.
The UBSS Museum and Library in the building known as The Stables has been closed for nearly 18 months due to structural problems with the ceiling beams in the library stack room. Finally, the night before the AGM, museum curator Linda Wilson received the good news that remedial works were finally underway.
After a year and a half navigating the laqbyrinthine ways of university finance and procurement, we've finally got to the stage of works being underway. The rotten section of the ceiling joists have been cut out and new sections bolted into place, with the veing now jacked back up into place. The problem appears to have been caused by damp coming in from a badly blocked up chimney in the library starck room. This probably dates back at least 50 years. The good news is that this is now being sorted and that wall will be tanked and redecorated as part of teh works.
The two windows at the back of the building have been replaced and one of the front doors (the one into the library room) has also been replaced.
There's a lot of making good still to be done, and we'll have some redecoration to do that isn't covered by the building contract, but I hope that by the end of April or early May, we'll be able to start moving everything back to where it should be. That'll take a lot of willing volunteers, so if you can help, please let me know.
I'm also delighted to announce that Charmaine Sew has agreed to take on the role of student museum curator.
Linda Wilson
VOLUNTEER NEEDED
GB blockhouse, March 2023.
As many of you will know, GB Cavern, Charterhouse Cave, Longwood Swallet and Rhino Rift are on land owned by the Somerset Wildlife Trust (SWT), but with access administered by the Charterhouse Caving Company Ltd (CCC Ltd) under agreements set up when SWT bought the land from Bristol Water Plc back in the 1990s.
CCC Ltd is owned by a group of Mendip caving clubs, which includes UBSS. The Society has been closely involved with the discovery and exploration of all the major caves on this land and has always played its part in the work of the company, maintaining fixed aids and gates, administering keys, etc.
I have been Company Secretary since the company was started, but will be standing down down at the next AGM, this April. The Company will therefore need a new secretary, so will volunteers please form an orderly queue outside my door …
More seriously, this is not an onerous role, but it is an important one. Good landowner relations, efficient provision of keys and permits, and maintaining the information flow to both member clubs and other cavers is important.
The job does require someone who is based reasonably close to Mendip and who is prepared to commit to it in the medium term – not the length of time that I’ve been doing it, but certainly more than just one year. Anyone who’s been involved in these kind of roles will know that it can take that long just to change the bank mandate! Have I ever told you how much I hate banks? If you aren't keen on meetings, don't worry, there is only one a year and that is now held by Zoom.
If anyone from the Society thinks that they may be interested in this and are in a position to take it on, please drop me a line, or give me a bell on 07887 637064 and we can have a chat about it. All member clubs have been asked to advertise this vacancy.
GB blockhouse, March 2023.
As many of you will know, GB Cavern, Charterhouse Cave, Longwood Swallet and Rhino Rift are on land owned by the Somerset Wildlife Trust (SWT), but with access administered by the Charterhouse Caving Company Ltd (CCC Ltd) under agreements set up when SWT bought the land from Bristol Water Plc back in the 1990s.
CCC Ltd is owned by a group of Mendip caving clubs, which includes UBSS. The Society has been closely involved with the discovery and exploration of all the major caves on this land and has always played its part in the work of the company, maintaining fixed aids and gates, administering keys, etc.
I have been Company Secretary since the company was started, but will be standing down down at the next AGM, this April. The Company will therefore need a new secretary, so will volunteers please form an orderly queue outside my door …
More seriously, this is not an onerous role, but it is an important one. Good landowner relations, efficient provision of keys and permits, and maintaining the information flow to both member clubs and other cavers is important.
The job does require someone who is based reasonably close to Mendip and who is prepared to commit to it in the medium term – not the length of time that I’ve been doing it, but certainly more than just one year. Anyone who’s been involved in these kind of roles will know that it can take that long just to change the bank mandate! Have I ever told you how much I hate banks? If you aren't keen on meetings, don't worry, there is only one a year and that is now held by Zoom.
If anyone from the Society thinks that they may be interested in this and are in a position to take it on, please drop me a line, or give me a bell on 07887 637064 and we can have a chat about it. All member clubs have been asked to advertise this vacancy.
Graham Mullan
HERCULE HOUND FOLLOWED HIS NOSE TO THE END, DID YOU?
Art generated by Midjourney AI from the prompt cartoon greyhound wearing glasses in a cave. Why yes, dear reader, we do easily get lost down the rabbit hole of procrastination!
You did read to the end, didn't you darlings? After all, who could resist the charms of Hercule Hound? If you got this far, drop us a line, and if Alex is feeling kind, he'll award someone a prize for the most inventive piece of feedback we receive! Alternatively, you can just say the first thing that comes into your head when you press the feedback button and Hercule might send you a slightly chewed dog biscuit (if he doesn't finish it first).
And, without further ado, here's the January Hall of Fame ....
- First. 😊 [Graham Mullan] [Editors: You did press the button to send this one out ...] [Graham: I still read it and got to the end first] [Editors: You might have had something of an unfair advantage as you proof read it as well] [Graham: Now you're just splitting hairs ...]
- Shatter will always be one of my favourite caves – not the most strenuous, but absolutely beautiful! Super newsletter, and you deserve a BAFTA for best drama llama performance under extremely awful pressure, Linda! So glad you’re on the mend! [Jan Walker]
- Well, congrats for another fine newsletter. And for getting better (the alternative is never good news). [Chris Howes]
- Lovely newsletter, Alphonse! I’m glad to hear both editors are in good spirits. I thought I’d done Eastwater to death when I was living in Bristol but I can’t remember if Primrose Pot was part of my explorations. I certainly enjoyed caving with minimal kit, so it sounds unlikely that I made it that far! [Paul Savage]
- Thanks for getting this done, despite circumstance conspiring against your best efforts! [Zac Woodford]
- I saw the note by Dan Hill about the lack of photos of Bat Passage. I must have a look in my slides (remember those?) to see if I have any pictures of the end of GB cave. [Hans Friederich]
- Glad to have the newsletter back – perfectly timed read with the rush to complete some assignments before heading to Yorkshire tomorrow !! [Mia Jacobs]
- Glad to hear you survived !!! [David Hardwick]
- Have just finished reading about chilly winter caving after a chilly day walking in the Cairngorms. I’m currently sitting in front of a nice fire but still in my duvet jacket. I do NOT have fond memories of changing after winter caving in the Dales - no shelter beside the car, frozen wetsuit zip, bootlaces, hair and eyelashes. The thing that used to save me from hypothermia was a tatty but capacious charity shop musquash fur coat which I carried on using for post-caving attire until it finally disintegrated. Roll on summer … [Carol Walford]
- I did, I did, even if it was 2315 after a day of herding cats and dealing with blithering idiots (I think the wind has changed and kept the fixed 'I'm humouring you' smile on my face!) And dearest drama llama editor, please get well soon so that there won't be any more WTAF phonecalls prefaced with: "It is I, LeClerc, and I'm in Southmead with a dicky ticker!" So thoroughly spiffing work all round on getting a very splendid newsletter out. Your loyal dynamic duo... [Sharon Wheeler and the blessed FT Bear]
- Yup, l read to the end as per the instructions to find out what was wrong with you only to find that your hospitalisation had clearly affected your memory and so I also had to read the January issue not the December issue as your email had suggested (very sneaky way of getting me to read two newsletters in one sitting). Too much armchair caving for me (although I did enjoy reading about Nick’s wander around the moors above Juniper). It also confirmed my decision many years ago not to listen to the younger Owen who kept insisting that Primrose Pot was a good trip. Definitely need a long lie down in a dark room now. [Steve Hobbs]
- I think Alphonse will have to make space for Paddington Bear so you can enjoy your marmy sarnies together. [Pat Hill]
- Primrose Pot: totally fascinating to read the account and makes me really jealous as I always wished to descend it but have wide shoulders. Juniper Gulf: Having wandered across the area SW of Ingleborough last July but in bright sunshine, I can well understand the problems that the group faced. [Tim Hill]
Hercule, I followed your nose, too, and here I am!
THE END
Art generated by Midjourney AI from the prompt cartoon greyhound wearing glasses in a cave. Why yes, dear reader, we do easily get lost down the rabbit hole of procrastination!
You did read to the end, didn't you darlings? After all, who could resist the charms of Hercule Hound? If you got this far, drop us a line, and if Alex is feeling kind, he'll award someone a prize for the most inventive piece of feedback we receive! Alternatively, you can just say the first thing that comes into your head when you press the feedback button and Hercule might send you a slightly chewed dog biscuit (if he doesn't finish it first).
And, without further ado, here's the January Hall of Fame ....
- First. 😊 [Graham Mullan] [Editors: You did press the button to send this one out ...] [Graham: I still read it and got to the end first] [Editors: You might have had something of an unfair advantage as you proof read it as well] [Graham: Now you're just splitting hairs ...]
- Shatter will always be one of my favourite caves – not the most strenuous, but absolutely beautiful! Super newsletter, and you deserve a BAFTA for best drama llama performance under extremely awful pressure, Linda! So glad you’re on the mend! [Jan Walker]
- Well, congrats for another fine newsletter. And for getting better (the alternative is never good news). [Chris Howes]
- Lovely newsletter, Alphonse! I’m glad to hear both editors are in good spirits. I thought I’d done Eastwater to death when I was living in Bristol but I can’t remember if Primrose Pot was part of my explorations. I certainly enjoyed caving with minimal kit, so it sounds unlikely that I made it that far! [Paul Savage]
- Thanks for getting this done, despite circumstance conspiring against your best efforts! [Zac Woodford]
- I saw the note by Dan Hill about the lack of photos of Bat Passage. I must have a look in my slides (remember those?) to see if I have any pictures of the end of GB cave. [Hans Friederich]
- Glad to have the newsletter back – perfectly timed read with the rush to complete some assignments before heading to Yorkshire tomorrow !! [Mia Jacobs]
- Glad to hear you survived !!! [David Hardwick]
- Have just finished reading about chilly winter caving after a chilly day walking in the Cairngorms. I’m currently sitting in front of a nice fire but still in my duvet jacket. I do NOT have fond memories of changing after winter caving in the Dales - no shelter beside the car, frozen wetsuit zip, bootlaces, hair and eyelashes. The thing that used to save me from hypothermia was a tatty but capacious charity shop musquash fur coat which I carried on using for post-caving attire until it finally disintegrated. Roll on summer … [Carol Walford]
- I did, I did, even if it was 2315 after a day of herding cats and dealing with blithering idiots (I think the wind has changed and kept the fixed 'I'm humouring you' smile on my face!) And dearest drama llama editor, please get well soon so that there won't be any more WTAF phonecalls prefaced with: "It is I, LeClerc, and I'm in Southmead with a dicky ticker!" So thoroughly spiffing work all round on getting a very splendid newsletter out. Your loyal dynamic duo... [Sharon Wheeler and the blessed FT Bear]
- Yup, l read to the end as per the instructions to find out what was wrong with you only to find that your hospitalisation had clearly affected your memory and so I also had to read the January issue not the December issue as your email had suggested (very sneaky way of getting me to read two newsletters in one sitting). Too much armchair caving for me (although I did enjoy reading about Nick’s wander around the moors above Juniper). It also confirmed my decision many years ago not to listen to the younger Owen who kept insisting that Primrose Pot was a good trip. Definitely need a long lie down in a dark room now. [Steve Hobbs]
- I think Alphonse will have to make space for Paddington Bear so you can enjoy your marmy sarnies together. [Pat Hill]
- Primrose Pot: totally fascinating to read the account and makes me really jealous as I always wished to descend it but have wide shoulders. Juniper Gulf: Having wandered across the area SW of Ingleborough last July but in bright sunshine, I can well understand the problems that the group faced. [Tim Hill]
Hercule, I followed your nose, too, and here I am!
THE END