Ben Alterman in Fishmonger's Swallet, South Gloucestershire. Photo by Linda Wilson.
The
summer is nearly over, despite a last minute resurgence of hot weather,
and we'll soon be gearing up for more new members when the new academic
year starts at the end of September. Welcome Fair this year is and as
usual, we'll need people to help look after the stall and tempt
prospective new members with the delights of our underground world aka
engage in a desperate search for people who like the idea of getting
muddy and finding their inner worm. A calendar of events for the first
term will be out as soon as there's been a committee meeting, which will
be happening soon.
In the meantime, please note that the UBSS page on the Student's Union website is now open for business. If you put your name down as being interested in UBSS last year but never got around to joining or going caving but have been opening and reading the newsletter ever since, this one will be the last you receive unless you join. Come on, we're only the price of a couple of drinks, surely our deathless prose is worth that? OK, don't answer that question, we're sensitive souls, as we keep telling you.
There's still time to get your tickets for Hidden Earth, a weekend of talks, boozing, socialising and buying kit with cavers from all over the UK. This year it's taking place in Portishead, a mere stone's throw from Bristol. There's a camping field, as well. UBSS will be having a club stand so we can sell our publications. If you can spare an hour or so to help with this, that would be great. There might be some beer in it for you!
You can find all the back issues of the monthly newsletter online. So if you're relaxing in the sun somewhere, take a look at what the club has been up in past months and years. Very worm wishes,
In the meantime, please note that the UBSS page on the Student's Union website is now open for business. If you put your name down as being interested in UBSS last year but never got around to joining or going caving but have been opening and reading the newsletter ever since, this one will be the last you receive unless you join. Come on, we're only the price of a couple of drinks, surely our deathless prose is worth that? OK, don't answer that question, we're sensitive souls, as we keep telling you.
There's still time to get your tickets for Hidden Earth, a weekend of talks, boozing, socialising and buying kit with cavers from all over the UK. This year it's taking place in Portishead, a mere stone's throw from Bristol. There's a camping field, as well. UBSS will be having a club stand so we can sell our publications. If you can spare an hour or so to help with this, that would be great. There might be some beer in it for you!
You can find all the back issues of the monthly newsletter online. So if you're relaxing in the sun somewhere, take a look at what the club has been up in past months and years.
Linda and Alex
TALES FROM EXPO 2023 - VOLUME 2
Limestone plateau, Austria. Photo by Merryn Mattlews.
A lot when on in this year's Austria Expo, where UBSS was ably represented by Merryn Matthews, Ash Gregg and Zac Woodford. In this issue, roving reporter, Zac, tells his story of how the trip started off, and Ash fills in some extra detail from one of his trips. In the September newsletter, we'll be hearing more from Expo correspondents.
So where to begin. I think this tale would be incomplete without a recounting of the events leading up to it. To that end, the beginning:
With the weather looking up, a veritable horde of cavers descended on the Totes Gebirge plateau in Austria, me included. It was my first time there and so I was not only unfamiliar with the terrain but also had an incredibly heavy backpack loaded with both my caving and camping kit to haul up the mountain. While Mealy set a comfortable pace, the journey still took its toll. That, combined with my unfamiliarity with the terrain, meant that I struggled in places. Before we’d even got to the plateau I’d grazed my hand when the sodden path gave out underneath me.
Janis and Ely Brookes-Hefetz prospecting for caves. Photo by Ash Gregg.
We rested at the Col (the saddle point in the mountain where we left the main footpath and ventured onto the plateau) and enjoyed a jelly snake each. Phil Sargent, who happened to also be resting there at the time, came running at the shaking of the bag.
If I thought the walk so far had been bad, the plateau was worse. As its name suggests the whole thing is rock with the few islands of soil dominated by the impenetrable ‘bunda’ (a very sappy, very springy, very annoying coniferous bush). The rock isn’t like pavement either, it’s slanted, rugged, sharp and full of water-carved channels and holes. Even a small slip can warrant a trip to A&E if in the wrong spot (foreshadowing much?). Despite being half the distance from the car-park to the Col, the path across the plateau takes as much time. As it was my first time I was introduced to all the named spots: Ashes Hole, the Plateau Monster and the Manoeuvre to name the few I can remember.
Merryn cooking in Top Camp. Photo by Christian Kuhlmann.
Arriving at top camp we found it swarming with people. It was a struggle just to find a bed that wasn’t already occupied. Not long after we arrived, the rigging team for Fishface set off. The plan was we’d give them some time then follow on. This would give them a long enough head start so that by the time we got to the rigging front it’d be at the shallow lead our team was investigating. This left us several hours to recover from the walk. Time I spent exploring top camp and helping Martin Green set up his ‘Snort Shack’ (a small tent apart from the main bivy that would spare us all his snoring).
Finally the time came for my group to set off. Despite it being only roughly 700 metres away from top camp it still took half an hour (at least) to get to Fishface. As we were bashing our way through the bit of Bunda just before the cave Mealy (who was in front of Emma who was in front of me) screamed and ran. I soon saw why as a snake at least the length of my arm slithered into a hole at the side of the path. Apparently she’d almost stepped on it and in response had been the recipient of an angry ‘hiss’.
Mealy in the entrance to Fishface. Photo by Ash Gregg.
Snake aside, we reached the Fishface entrance just as it began to patter with rain. Thankfully the shower was light and we were underground quickly. I’d been warned that Austrian caves were cold, but I didn’t really appreciate how cold until I was in one. I could rattle on for hours about how cold but freezing sums it up well. I can’t remember what order we were in and it doesn't much matter as after the first pitch we bumped into the rigging team. Please bear in mind that they’d had about THREE HOURS head start and had only rigged the first pitch. Collectively it was decided that we should wait and give them some time to rig ahead so we weren’t breathing down their necks. In this time Ash and Mealy calibrated the disto while me and Emma sat around getting cold. So cold that we had to whip out the bothy bag. This level of faff set the standard for the rest of the trip. The second survey team, led by Mike Butcher, soon caught up with us. We decided to let them pass as their lead was shallower than ours. Once they’d all cleared the next pitch we set off.
Mealy led followed by me then Emma then Ash. Things went well for a bit. The next few pitches went well up to Pendulum Pitch which Mealy directed me through. However, following that is a rift. It was here that Mealy went wrong, and I made the mistake of following (because I didn’t know better). We descended too soon and wound up in a narrow crack beneath the pitch-head for Blitzen Boulevard. Fortunately, the survey team ahead of us was waiting to descend and by calling out to them we were able to correct our path. Unfortunately, they were waiting to descend, and as Emma and Ash soon caught up, we once again found ourselves sitting, rather cosily (tightly), in a bothy bag.
Eventually we all made it down Blitzen Boulevard, then came the real faff. Mike and his team found their lead easily enough but ours took a bit more time. An hour if I remember rightly. Ash did the preliminary exploration and realized that it just connected round to Mike’s lead. Nevertheless, me and Mealy surveyed it while Ash and Emma bolted a small pitch in the hope there was a going lead at the bottom. There wasn’t. However, another pitch at the bottom of that one connected to Mike’s lead meaning we were able to tie off a small loop. It was also Emma’s first time bolting and Mealy appreciated the surveying experience.
Another gorgeous plateau photo by Ash Gregg.
It was then time to leave. With both the rigging and other survey team long gone, the way out was clear. That said, it still took a while as, after the start of Blitzen Boulevard I completely ran out of energy. I don’t know if it was because I was new to the caves, or the long hike up or even the constant heating and cooling of moving and stopping in the cave but for some reason I really struggled with my SRT for the rest of the trip. The next few pitches were a slog as I had to regularly take breaks while on the rope. I even had to pass the tackle sack I was hauling over to Mealy for the last couple of pitches. The J-hang at the top of the first / last pitch though proved to be very difficult; after changing over I found myself flying over to the far wall.
Despite being in the middle of the night, it was a relief to be out. I changed quickly and stowed my kit in an emergency bivvy bag before being joined by the others. It sounded like Emma had also had a hard time on the entrance J-hang but they didn’t complain nearly as much as me. We then had the long slog up-hill to top camp in the dark. It was on this walk, at a point called Spider Man, that Emma fell. It wasn’t far but they still sustained a very nasty, quite deep cut to their hand. Once back at top camp we had to make a quick dinner without waking up an entire camp full of people. While I was successful in that department, I completely failed to realize that the curries were boil in a bag. Instead I’d opened one into my mess tin and covered it with water. It was a relief to fall into bed for what was left of the night.
Meanwhile, Ash Gregg takes up the fishy tale with his log book entry:
July 7th 2023, Fishface – Surveying Stalagtite Loop to the top of Liquid Luck
Ash, Mealy, Will Kay, Alice Kirby
Following our previous shallow trip into Fishface we set out to continue the previous combined leads from the day before. The journey across the plateau and into the cave was uneventful, aside from the other group catching up with us. Dropping down into Blitzen Boulevard we continued along the rift and dropped Mike and team's previously rigged pitch (as we had de-rigged fivemoose), getting to the pushing front.
Since the PDA had officially died, it was on to sexytopo on phone, with Mealy keen to do more on notes. Alice and Will were both (unusually) keen to survey which allowed me, as the most experienced, to take on the role of chief scooper / co-ordinator.
Mealy Oliver looking at spotty calcite in Fishface. Photo by Ash Gregg.
The rift continued, bending slightly to the right as we surveyed along, soon becoming a sandy crawl. Passing a tight deep hole (likely connecting into Liquid Luck) we reached a junction. Right quickly crapped out at a puddle below a blind aven. Left, crawling continued with stalagtites and popcorn/coral formations. In hindsight we should have taken photos. The passage became more rifty again with a few more formations.
We could hear voices seemingly ahead, which did not bode well. I scooted ahead to find the rift connected with the far side of the top of the Liquid Luck Pitch. Unfortunately, this was Jonty and team's lead for the day so they were quite annoyed, although they hadn’t started bolting their way across yet.
We finished off surveying and I went round the long way to the far side of the pitch to ensure we could close the loop. Done for the day, there was now a clusterfuck of people all trying to leave fish at the same time. One by one people left the bothy and headed up Blitzen to the surface. Back to top camp for curry.
Ash Gregg
Limestone plateau, Austria. Photo by Merryn Mattlews.
A lot when on in this year's Austria Expo, where UBSS was ably represented by Merryn Matthews, Ash Gregg and Zac Woodford. In this issue, roving reporter, Zac, tells his story of how the trip started off, and Ash fills in some extra detail from one of his trips. In the September newsletter, we'll be hearing more from Expo correspondents.
So where to begin. I think this tale would be incomplete without a recounting of the events leading up to it. To that end, the beginning:
With the weather looking up, a veritable horde of cavers descended on the Totes Gebirge plateau in Austria, me included. It was my first time there and so I was not only unfamiliar with the terrain but also had an incredibly heavy backpack loaded with both my caving and camping kit to haul up the mountain. While Mealy set a comfortable pace, the journey still took its toll. That, combined with my unfamiliarity with the terrain, meant that I struggled in places. Before we’d even got to the plateau I’d grazed my hand when the sodden path gave out underneath me.
Janis and Ely Brookes-Hefetz prospecting for caves. Photo by Ash Gregg.
We rested at the Col (the saddle point in the mountain where we left the main footpath and ventured onto the plateau) and enjoyed a jelly snake each. Phil Sargent, who happened to also be resting there at the time, came running at the shaking of the bag.
If I thought the walk so far had been bad, the plateau was worse. As its name suggests the whole thing is rock with the few islands of soil dominated by the impenetrable ‘bunda’ (a very sappy, very springy, very annoying coniferous bush). The rock isn’t like pavement either, it’s slanted, rugged, sharp and full of water-carved channels and holes. Even a small slip can warrant a trip to A&E if in the wrong spot (foreshadowing much?). Despite being half the distance from the car-park to the Col, the path across the plateau takes as much time. As it was my first time I was introduced to all the named spots: Ashes Hole, the Plateau Monster and the Manoeuvre to name the few I can remember.
Merryn cooking in Top Camp. Photo by Christian Kuhlmann.
Arriving at top camp we found it swarming with people. It was a struggle just to find a bed that wasn’t already occupied. Not long after we arrived, the rigging team for Fishface set off. The plan was we’d give them some time then follow on. This would give them a long enough head start so that by the time we got to the rigging front it’d be at the shallow lead our team was investigating. This left us several hours to recover from the walk. Time I spent exploring top camp and helping Martin Green set up his ‘Snort Shack’ (a small tent apart from the main bivy that would spare us all his snoring).
Finally the time came for my group to set off. Despite it being only roughly 700 metres away from top camp it still took half an hour (at least) to get to Fishface. As we were bashing our way through the bit of Bunda just before the cave Mealy (who was in front of Emma who was in front of me) screamed and ran. I soon saw why as a snake at least the length of my arm slithered into a hole at the side of the path. Apparently she’d almost stepped on it and in response had been the recipient of an angry ‘hiss’.
Mealy in the entrance to Fishface. Photo by Ash Gregg.
Snake aside, we reached the Fishface entrance just as it began to patter with rain. Thankfully the shower was light and we were underground quickly. I’d been warned that Austrian caves were cold, but I didn’t really appreciate how cold until I was in one. I could rattle on for hours about how cold but freezing sums it up well. I can’t remember what order we were in and it doesn't much matter as after the first pitch we bumped into the rigging team. Please bear in mind that they’d had about THREE HOURS head start and had only rigged the first pitch. Collectively it was decided that we should wait and give them some time to rig ahead so we weren’t breathing down their necks. In this time Ash and Mealy calibrated the disto while me and Emma sat around getting cold. So cold that we had to whip out the bothy bag. This level of faff set the standard for the rest of the trip. The second survey team, led by Mike Butcher, soon caught up with us. We decided to let them pass as their lead was shallower than ours. Once they’d all cleared the next pitch we set off.
Mealy led followed by me then Emma then Ash. Things went well for a bit. The next few pitches went well up to Pendulum Pitch which Mealy directed me through. However, following that is a rift. It was here that Mealy went wrong, and I made the mistake of following (because I didn’t know better). We descended too soon and wound up in a narrow crack beneath the pitch-head for Blitzen Boulevard. Fortunately, the survey team ahead of us was waiting to descend and by calling out to them we were able to correct our path. Unfortunately, they were waiting to descend, and as Emma and Ash soon caught up, we once again found ourselves sitting, rather cosily (tightly), in a bothy bag.
Eventually we all made it down Blitzen Boulevard, then came the real faff. Mike and his team found their lead easily enough but ours took a bit more time. An hour if I remember rightly. Ash did the preliminary exploration and realized that it just connected round to Mike’s lead. Nevertheless, me and Mealy surveyed it while Ash and Emma bolted a small pitch in the hope there was a going lead at the bottom. There wasn’t. However, another pitch at the bottom of that one connected to Mike’s lead meaning we were able to tie off a small loop. It was also Emma’s first time bolting and Mealy appreciated the surveying experience.
Another gorgeous plateau photo by Ash Gregg.
It was then time to leave. With both the rigging and other survey team long gone, the way out was clear. That said, it still took a while as, after the start of Blitzen Boulevard I completely ran out of energy. I don’t know if it was because I was new to the caves, or the long hike up or even the constant heating and cooling of moving and stopping in the cave but for some reason I really struggled with my SRT for the rest of the trip. The next few pitches were a slog as I had to regularly take breaks while on the rope. I even had to pass the tackle sack I was hauling over to Mealy for the last couple of pitches. The J-hang at the top of the first / last pitch though proved to be very difficult; after changing over I found myself flying over to the far wall.
Despite being in the middle of the night, it was a relief to be out. I changed quickly and stowed my kit in an emergency bivvy bag before being joined by the others. It sounded like Emma had also had a hard time on the entrance J-hang but they didn’t complain nearly as much as me. We then had the long slog up-hill to top camp in the dark. It was on this walk, at a point called Spider Man, that Emma fell. It wasn’t far but they still sustained a very nasty, quite deep cut to their hand. Once back at top camp we had to make a quick dinner without waking up an entire camp full of people. While I was successful in that department, I completely failed to realize that the curries were boil in a bag. Instead I’d opened one into my mess tin and covered it with water. It was a relief to fall into bed for what was left of the night.
Zac Woodford
Meanwhile, Ash Gregg takes up the fishy tale with his log book entry:
July 7th 2023, Fishface – Surveying Stalagtite Loop to the top of Liquid Luck
Ash, Mealy, Will Kay, Alice Kirby
Following our previous shallow trip into Fishface we set out to continue the previous combined leads from the day before. The journey across the plateau and into the cave was uneventful, aside from the other group catching up with us. Dropping down into Blitzen Boulevard we continued along the rift and dropped Mike and team's previously rigged pitch (as we had de-rigged fivemoose), getting to the pushing front.
Since the PDA had officially died, it was on to sexytopo on phone, with Mealy keen to do more on notes. Alice and Will were both (unusually) keen to survey which allowed me, as the most experienced, to take on the role of chief scooper / co-ordinator.
Mealy Oliver looking at spotty calcite in Fishface. Photo by Ash Gregg.
The rift continued, bending slightly to the right as we surveyed along, soon becoming a sandy crawl. Passing a tight deep hole (likely connecting into Liquid Luck) we reached a junction. Right quickly crapped out at a puddle below a blind aven. Left, crawling continued with stalagtites and popcorn/coral formations. In hindsight we should have taken photos. The passage became more rifty again with a few more formations.
We could hear voices seemingly ahead, which did not bode well. I scooted ahead to find the rift connected with the far side of the top of the Liquid Luck Pitch. Unfortunately, this was Jonty and team's lead for the day so they were quite annoyed, although they hadn’t started bolting their way across yet.
We finished off surveying and I went round the long way to the far side of the pitch to ensure we could close the loop. Done for the day, there was now a clusterfuck of people all trying to leave fish at the same time. One by one people left the bothy and headed up Blitzen to the surface. Back to top camp for curry.
Ash Gregg
GIANT MARROWS AND FAIRY LIGHTS
Zac looking cosy. Photo by Merryn Matthews.
The fun didn't stop at Expo! Zac and Merryn went camping in South Wales for Expo 2, with the kreche – the youthful japes of expo. This involved luxurious hammock camping and cooking over an open fire as well as caving, as Merryn reports.
Emily had prepared a host of excellent meals, chilli, daal, pancakes, for us to heat up over the weekend, along with Zac’s giant marrow.
Giant marrow, with cat for perspective. (This might also be a very small cat with a courgette). Photo by Zac Woodford.
Day One: Zac I joined a group doing the Top-Bottom through trip in OFD, in the highest water I’ve ever been in the streamway in, just enough to be splashy fun but not too much to feel unsafe. Zac brought a foam water cannon, and we wore wetsuits to be able to jump in all the pots. A highlight was becoming caver soup in a whirlpool pot. Trip members: Zac Woodford, Eva Hesketh, Oliver Harris, Harry Kettle, Charlotte Payne, Jono Lester.
How many cavers can you fit in a small pool? Photo by Harry Kettle.
Day Two: Me, Zac, Joel Stobbart and Lizzie Caisley did some route finding in Cwm Dwr to visit Tapioca – a pretty calcite wall, AKA ‘the cum wall’. It was a fun trip even though I was feeling pretty low stoke after a late night round the campfire. We brought a rat named Belay (see picture) and decided to complete a through trip, leaving via bottom entrance.
Zac and Belay at the poetically named "cum wall". (Be fair, most of us have thought this at some point in a cave!) Photo by Harry Kettle.
Day Three: Dan yr Ogof. I was SUPER STOKED to finally visit this cave and it did not disappoint; a 10/10 trip. We sped through the show cave entrance, giving a quick hello to the dinosaurs, before beginning the round trip. We only branched off quickly to visit a slightly blue stalactite – likely due to some copper ions.
Merryn and Belay in Dan yr Ogof. Photo by Harry Kettle.
Best bits are the lovely phreatic passageways, the Green Canal rubber dingy rapids, and a rare worm colony!! See picture of me greeting my worm friends.
Merryn meeting new worms. Photo by Harry Kettle.
Trip members: Zac Woodford, Harry Kettle, Buck Blake.
Zac looking cosy. Photo by Merryn Matthews.
The fun didn't stop at Expo! Zac and Merryn went camping in South Wales for Expo 2, with the kreche – the youthful japes of expo. This involved luxurious hammock camping and cooking over an open fire as well as caving, as Merryn reports.
Emily had prepared a host of excellent meals, chilli, daal, pancakes, for us to heat up over the weekend, along with Zac’s giant marrow.
Giant marrow, with cat for perspective. (This might also be a very small cat with a courgette). Photo by Zac Woodford.
Day One: Zac I joined a group doing the Top-Bottom through trip in OFD, in the highest water I’ve ever been in the streamway in, just enough to be splashy fun but not too much to feel unsafe. Zac brought a foam water cannon, and we wore wetsuits to be able to jump in all the pots. A highlight was becoming caver soup in a whirlpool pot. Trip members: Zac Woodford, Eva Hesketh, Oliver Harris, Harry Kettle, Charlotte Payne, Jono Lester.
How many cavers can you fit in a small pool? Photo by Harry Kettle.
Day Two: Me, Zac, Joel Stobbart and Lizzie Caisley did some route finding in Cwm Dwr to visit Tapioca – a pretty calcite wall, AKA ‘the cum wall’. It was a fun trip even though I was feeling pretty low stoke after a late night round the campfire. We brought a rat named Belay (see picture) and decided to complete a through trip, leaving via bottom entrance.
Zac and Belay at the poetically named "cum wall". (Be fair, most of us have thought this at some point in a cave!) Photo by Harry Kettle.
Day Three: Dan yr Ogof. I was SUPER STOKED to finally visit this cave and it did not disappoint; a 10/10 trip. We sped through the show cave entrance, giving a quick hello to the dinosaurs, before beginning the round trip. We only branched off quickly to visit a slightly blue stalactite – likely due to some copper ions.
Merryn and Belay in Dan yr Ogof. Photo by Harry Kettle.
Best bits are the lovely phreatic passageways, the Green Canal rubber dingy rapids, and a rare worm colony!! See picture of me greeting my worm friends.
Merryn meeting new worms. Photo by Harry Kettle.
Trip members: Zac Woodford, Harry Kettle, Buck Blake.
Merryn Matthews
GONE FISHING - BACK LATER
Alex Little performing acrobatics in the entrance climb and proving that we really need to get some more club oversuits. Photo by Linda Wilson.
On a sunny day in August, the next phase of work at Fishmonger's Swallet in South Gloucestershire saw a bunch of cavers, a gaggle of archaeologists and two very enthusiastic youngsters getting very muddy both above and below ground in the hunt for more answers to what was going on in and around the cave in the Iron Age. Linda Wilson reports on what went on.
A fleet of cars descended on the Manor House early on the morning of 19th August, a large team reported for work. From UBSS there was David Hardwick (also Hades CC and one of the discoverers of the cave), Adelle Bricking (henceforth known as Dr Adelle Bricking - congrats on the PhD!!), Graham Mullan and Jan Walker (surface support), Charlotte Harman (along with Emilio and Marcello), Ben Alterman (and his brand new oversuit) and Alex Little. We were joined by a crew of people put together by Adelle namely Anna-Elyse Young, Jake Smith, George Whatley, Chris Griffiths, Clara de Sousa Cunha (surface support and wet sieving, Chris Exley (surface support, setting up and carrying buckets of spoil).
The team - looking remarkably clean - before getting stuck into the job. Trigger (white lurcher) and Gwen (brindled greyhound) are a close match in size for many of the dogs from Fishmonger's. Photo by Linda Wilson.
David and I went in as part of an advance party with Adelle, Charlotte and two very excited young boys, who were going to put together a couple of minutes of film as part of a school science project. They coped really with the narrow, twisted entrance shaft, lifelined from the top by David and were soon helping Adelle and Charlotte load buckets with sticky mud from the digging areas in Bone Idle Chamber. While this was going on, David did his best to explain the system for hauling full buckets out of the cave and after formulating a plan (which naturally didn't survive first contact with the cave), we started hauling. I started out at the top of the scaffolding climb down into Bone Idle Chamber, then moved back into the small chamber at the bottom of the entrance climb and then spent the next three and a half hours there hauling full buckets up a small wooded barrow run, clipping them onto the next rope and then sending them on their merry way up and out of the shaft, occasionally shouting down such pleasantries as: "Not so bloody heavy next time!"
Emilio (left) and Marcello (right) gather information for their science video. Photo by Charlotte Harman.
With Adelle and Anna-Elyse burrowing like moles and dumping mud and rocks into buckets, David took Charlotte and the boys on a tour of the rest of the cave, with each chamber being prefaced by the doom-laden words: "The next bit is even muddier!" Undettered, our two new worms wriggled right to the end of the cave and the next time I saw them, they were covered in mud and grinning widely. We made sure that they were lifelined up the shaft, with me giving lessons in tying bowlines (whilst admitting that figure of eights confused my spatial awareness), and sending the boys on their way. They both shot up the climbs like greased rats, with Emilio reaching the top before Ben (who was following behind to help) had got up the bottom climb.
When asked for comment later, Emilio admitted: "I was a little bit scared at first but then I was mostly excited and everyone helped make me feel better and confident."
Marcello added: "Im a real explorer now and I liked finding things and washing the rocks and pottery."
Fishmonger's was Charlotte's third cave and she fitted in as well as her adventurous offsping saying: "I really wasn't expecting quite so much mud but the descent into the cave was very exciting, i can now say officially been caving where it wasn't a gentle stroll to get inside!"
Now, tell me again, was that knit one, purl one? Ben Alterman getting ready to haul in the entrance climb. Photo by Linda Wilson.
The cave's certainly not a gentle stroll, but it is a lot of fun, and at the end of the underground working day, David made another trip to the end so that Ben and Alex could see the rest of the cave. They all emerged covered from head to toe in mud, but excited to have found a lovely chunk of dog jaw, with a tooth still in place, as well as a separate dog tooth. Ben's oversuit certainly got an impressive baptism by mud.
Surface work, washing and sieving buckets on mud. Photo by Linda Wison.
We then spent another couple of hours finishing off the wet sieving on the surface, using a hose run out from the courtyard. It's hard at times to distuinguish sticks from bones, and pebbles have a nasty habit of disguising themselces as Iron Age black burnished ware, however we definitely found some Roman Samian ware, along with an impressive amount of bone. Our next job is to go through the spoil heap from our dig last year and see what else can be extracted using wet sieving.
Chunk of dog jaw with tooth still situ. Photo by Linda Wilson.
The finds are in Cardiff at the moment with Adelle, drying out after being properly washed and sorted, and the paperwork for their accession to the UBSS museum was signed a few days later, along with an access agreement between the owners and the Hades CC, which contains a clause that any future finds from the cave will come to the UBSS museum to join the rest of the collection. I'm incredibly grateful to Ian and Geraldine Potter for their generosity. We were all understandably nervous when the cave changed hands, but they've proved quite happy to have muddy cavers burrowing under their land as was the late Mrs Joan Hawkins.
Washed finds drying out and awaiting assessment. Photo by Linda Wilson.
Don't be put off by the mud! Fishmonger's is a great cave, and the digging and hauling is great fun, as is washing the mud and seeing what emerges. You never know, the next bit of bone you find might turn out to be human, probably dating to the pre-Roman Iron Age. And if you want to know more about the site, our last issue of Proceedings will tell you everything we know so far. Contact the sales manager if you don't have a copy and would like one.
Linda Wilson
Alex Little performing acrobatics in the entrance climb and proving that we really need to get some more club oversuits. Photo by Linda Wilson.
On a sunny day in August, the next phase of work at Fishmonger's Swallet in South Gloucestershire saw a bunch of cavers, a gaggle of archaeologists and two very enthusiastic youngsters getting very muddy both above and below ground in the hunt for more answers to what was going on in and around the cave in the Iron Age. Linda Wilson reports on what went on.
A fleet of cars descended on the Manor House early on the morning of 19th August, a large team reported for work. From UBSS there was David Hardwick (also Hades CC and one of the discoverers of the cave), Adelle Bricking (henceforth known as Dr Adelle Bricking - congrats on the PhD!!), Graham Mullan and Jan Walker (surface support), Charlotte Harman (along with Emilio and Marcello), Ben Alterman (and his brand new oversuit) and Alex Little. We were joined by a crew of people put together by Adelle namely Anna-Elyse Young, Jake Smith, George Whatley, Chris Griffiths, Clara de Sousa Cunha (surface support and wet sieving, Chris Exley (surface support, setting up and carrying buckets of spoil).
The team - looking remarkably clean - before getting stuck into the job. Trigger (white lurcher) and Gwen (brindled greyhound) are a close match in size for many of the dogs from Fishmonger's. Photo by Linda Wilson.
David and I went in as part of an advance party with Adelle, Charlotte and two very excited young boys, who were going to put together a couple of minutes of film as part of a school science project. They coped really with the narrow, twisted entrance shaft, lifelined from the top by David and were soon helping Adelle and Charlotte load buckets with sticky mud from the digging areas in Bone Idle Chamber. While this was going on, David did his best to explain the system for hauling full buckets out of the cave and after formulating a plan (which naturally didn't survive first contact with the cave), we started hauling. I started out at the top of the scaffolding climb down into Bone Idle Chamber, then moved back into the small chamber at the bottom of the entrance climb and then spent the next three and a half hours there hauling full buckets up a small wooded barrow run, clipping them onto the next rope and then sending them on their merry way up and out of the shaft, occasionally shouting down such pleasantries as: "Not so bloody heavy next time!"
Emilio (left) and Marcello (right) gather information for their science video. Photo by Charlotte Harman.
With Adelle and Anna-Elyse burrowing like moles and dumping mud and rocks into buckets, David took Charlotte and the boys on a tour of the rest of the cave, with each chamber being prefaced by the doom-laden words: "The next bit is even muddier!" Undettered, our two new worms wriggled right to the end of the cave and the next time I saw them, they were covered in mud and grinning widely. We made sure that they were lifelined up the shaft, with me giving lessons in tying bowlines (whilst admitting that figure of eights confused my spatial awareness), and sending the boys on their way. They both shot up the climbs like greased rats, with Emilio reaching the top before Ben (who was following behind to help) had got up the bottom climb.
When asked for comment later, Emilio admitted: "I was a little bit scared at first but then I was mostly excited and everyone helped make me feel better and confident."
Marcello added: "Im a real explorer now and I liked finding things and washing the rocks and pottery."
Fishmonger's was Charlotte's third cave and she fitted in as well as her adventurous offsping saying: "I really wasn't expecting quite so much mud but the descent into the cave was very exciting, i can now say officially been caving where it wasn't a gentle stroll to get inside!"
Now, tell me again, was that knit one, purl one? Ben Alterman getting ready to haul in the entrance climb. Photo by Linda Wilson.
The cave's certainly not a gentle stroll, but it is a lot of fun, and at the end of the underground working day, David made another trip to the end so that Ben and Alex could see the rest of the cave. They all emerged covered from head to toe in mud, but excited to have found a lovely chunk of dog jaw, with a tooth still in place, as well as a separate dog tooth. Ben's oversuit certainly got an impressive baptism by mud.
Surface work, washing and sieving buckets on mud. Photo by Linda Wison.
We then spent another couple of hours finishing off the wet sieving on the surface, using a hose run out from the courtyard. It's hard at times to distuinguish sticks from bones, and pebbles have a nasty habit of disguising themselces as Iron Age black burnished ware, however we definitely found some Roman Samian ware, along with an impressive amount of bone. Our next job is to go through the spoil heap from our dig last year and see what else can be extracted using wet sieving.
Chunk of dog jaw with tooth still situ. Photo by Linda Wilson.
The finds are in Cardiff at the moment with Adelle, drying out after being properly washed and sorted, and the paperwork for their accession to the UBSS museum was signed a few days later, along with an access agreement between the owners and the Hades CC, which contains a clause that any future finds from the cave will come to the UBSS museum to join the rest of the collection. I'm incredibly grateful to Ian and Geraldine Potter for their generosity. We were all understandably nervous when the cave changed hands, but they've proved quite happy to have muddy cavers burrowing under their land as was the late Mrs Joan Hawkins.
Washed finds drying out and awaiting assessment. Photo by Linda Wilson.
Don't be put off by the mud! Fishmonger's is a great cave, and the digging and hauling is great fun, as is washing the mud and seeing what emerges. You never know, the next bit of bone you find might turn out to be human, probably dating to the pre-Roman Iron Age. And if you want to know more about the site, our last issue of Proceedings will tell you everything we know so far. Contact the sales manager if you don't have a copy and would like one.
Linda Wilson
GET KNOTTED!
One of your editors has been wanting to use that headline for ages! Those of us who are occasionally existentially challenged by which way the rope goes in two common knots might be grateful for these diagrams. Thanks to Graham Mullan for finding these images.
Regarding the bowline, remember that you first have to make a rabbit hole, then the rabbit (or rat, or worm, if you prefer) comes up through the hole, goes round the tree then disappears down the hole again. If you've got it right, you have a knot. If you've got it wrong, it falls apart and you look a bit of an idiot. If you get it right, finish off with a couple of half hitches using the trailing end. The bowline is useful for lifelining if the person climbing isn't wearing a belay belt.
There doesn't seem to be a similar aide memoire with the figure of eight, but maybe something involving a pair of worms might be worth considering. It's also worth making sure that you can tie these knots in total darkness by feel alone.
One of your editors has been wanting to use that headline for ages! Those of us who are occasionally existentially challenged by which way the rope goes in two common knots might be grateful for these diagrams. Thanks to Graham Mullan for finding these images.
Regarding the bowline, remember that you first have to make a rabbit hole, then the rabbit (or rat, or worm, if you prefer) comes up through the hole, goes round the tree then disappears down the hole again. If you've got it right, you have a knot. If you've got it wrong, it falls apart and you look a bit of an idiot. If you get it right, finish off with a couple of half hitches using the trailing end. The bowline is useful for lifelining if the person climbing isn't wearing a belay belt.
There doesn't seem to be a similar aide memoire with the figure of eight, but maybe something involving a pair of worms might be worth considering. It's also worth making sure that you can tie these knots in total darkness by feel alone.
ONLINE CCC LTD SYSTEM NOW LIVE!
Example permit created online.
No more paper permits! Everyone who is likely to be caving in the CCC Ltd controlled caves should now head over to the CCC Lts website to get their online permit. For more details, read on...
The main caves involved here are GB, Charterhouse, Longwood and Rhino Rift. The first two are in Gruffy Field and the latter two are in Longwood Valley.
All you need to do is 1) check you have your BCA number. This (for now) will be on the green, credit card sized bit of plastic that you've probably only ever used for scraping the ice off your cars, if you have one. If you can't find the card, then email Graham and ask him, as he's got a spreadsheet of them all then 2) go to the relevant page on the CCC Ltd website and start following the instructions. It really is easy.
For anyone responsible for issuing keys to our members or others, you MUST check that ALL people in the party have a valid permit.
Once you've got your permit, then you can save it to your phone, or print out a copy yourself, if you have access to a printer. You MUST have a permit in your possession before visiting any of these caves and you MUST show it to the person who issues you a key. Not everyone will want to take their phones with them when they go caving, so if you're ever asked on the ground by a representative of the landowner (Somerset Wildlife Trust) or CCC Ltd, then the person who checked the key out will be able to confirm that everyone in the party did show valid permits. If you're then asked for a name and what club you got the key from so this can be verified, please respond politely with the information. Remember, the person asking you is only doing their job and making sure that we can keep access to the caves.
Permits run for each calendar year, as that's in step with the BCA insurance year, so you'll need to get a new permit on or after 1 January 2024.
Remember that novices must not be introduced to caving in these areas, which means they must have done at least four trips before a visit.
It would be good if all our active cavers would go online now and get your permits. If you have any queries, please contact the Company Secretary, UBSS Member Gabriel Littler, who has taken over from Graham Mullan in this role. Many thanks to Graham who has done the job for 27 years, since the company was set up to handle access and take a 150 year lease of the caves beneath Gruffy Field.
In other CCC Ltd news, a new Licence Agreement has been signed by Somerset Wildlife Trust (SWT) and CCC Ltd, for the caves beneath Longwood Valley and Velvet Bottom. And as we go into windier weather in autumn and winter, please check out the special arrangements for caving in Longwood Valley now that the old permissive footpath in the valley bottom has been closed to the public due to the dangers of ash die back. SWT and our main contact there, Chris Eyes, worked hard to maintain access for cavers, taking down many badly affected trees in the areas around the entrances to reduce risk to visiting cavers. All of this work was done at SWT's own expense and we're hugely grateful to them for their help.
Also many thanks to Dave Cooke, who has put a huge amount of effort into setting up the online system. Cookie has done all this on a volunteer basis.
Example permit created online.
No more paper permits! Everyone who is likely to be caving in the CCC Ltd controlled caves should now head over to the CCC Lts website to get their online permit. For more details, read on...
The main caves involved here are GB, Charterhouse, Longwood and Rhino Rift. The first two are in Gruffy Field and the latter two are in Longwood Valley.
All you need to do is 1) check you have your BCA number. This (for now) will be on the green, credit card sized bit of plastic that you've probably only ever used for scraping the ice off your cars, if you have one. If you can't find the card, then email Graham and ask him, as he's got a spreadsheet of them all then 2) go to the relevant page on the CCC Ltd website and start following the instructions. It really is easy.
For anyone responsible for issuing keys to our members or others, you MUST check that ALL people in the party have a valid permit.
Once you've got your permit, then you can save it to your phone, or print out a copy yourself, if you have access to a printer. You MUST have a permit in your possession before visiting any of these caves and you MUST show it to the person who issues you a key. Not everyone will want to take their phones with them when they go caving, so if you're ever asked on the ground by a representative of the landowner (Somerset Wildlife Trust) or CCC Ltd, then the person who checked the key out will be able to confirm that everyone in the party did show valid permits. If you're then asked for a name and what club you got the key from so this can be verified, please respond politely with the information. Remember, the person asking you is only doing their job and making sure that we can keep access to the caves.
Permits run for each calendar year, as that's in step with the BCA insurance year, so you'll need to get a new permit on or after 1 January 2024.
Remember that novices must not be introduced to caving in these areas, which means they must have done at least four trips before a visit.
It would be good if all our active cavers would go online now and get your permits. If you have any queries, please contact the Company Secretary, UBSS Member Gabriel Littler, who has taken over from Graham Mullan in this role. Many thanks to Graham who has done the job for 27 years, since the company was set up to handle access and take a 150 year lease of the caves beneath Gruffy Field.
In other CCC Ltd news, a new Licence Agreement has been signed by Somerset Wildlife Trust (SWT) and CCC Ltd, for the caves beneath Longwood Valley and Velvet Bottom. And as we go into windier weather in autumn and winter, please check out the special arrangements for caving in Longwood Valley now that the old permissive footpath in the valley bottom has been closed to the public due to the dangers of ash die back. SWT and our main contact there, Chris Eyes, worked hard to maintain access for cavers, taking down many badly affected trees in the areas around the entrances to reduce risk to visiting cavers. All of this work was done at SWT's own expense and we're hugely grateful to them for their help.
Also many thanks to Dave Cooke, who has put a huge amount of effort into setting up the online system. Cookie has done all this on a volunteer basis.
Linda Wilson
Conservation Officer, CCC Ltd
Conservation Officer, CCC Ltd
MEMORY LANE - BAKER'S PIT, DEVON - 1992
As part of our 100 Memories project, started in 2019, our centenary year, we're aiming to collect 100 (or more) memories of times past in UBSS, and one way we can do this is through old photos. Bill Miners recently unearthed this little gem from the 1980s. Linda Wilson did some detective work.
Bill said he wasn't sure who took the photo but thought it might have been Steve Cottle. I emailed Steve who replied to say:
"It's not my photo as I don't think I ever took photos in Devon. In fact I think I only ever caved there once.
From Left to Right.
Tim Parish, Julian Todd, WDM, GJM, AB, (Chris Bennet? Behind AB (the reason I say that is that a he was generally camera shy and b always had a spare bulb in a film cannister), LJW, ARF, Allison Garrard, unknown and Andy Cooke."
The abbreviations above are WDM = Bill Miners, GJM = Graham Mullan, AB = Tony Boycott, ARF = Andy Farrant.
So by the time I started to write up this piece, we were still short of one unknown. I then took volume 1 of my caving logs off the shelf and started flipping through. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever find the entry, then ... drum roll ...
Picture me muttering again about the importance of keeping a log and starting early! A quick look in my own list of abbreviations at the back of my log for people I cave frequently with confirms that SBC = Steve Cottle and CHB is Chris Bennett. So, by a process of Holmesian deduction, I conclude, m'lud, that our unknown is Richard Swann and that Steve Cottle, who isn't in the picture but is listed as on the trip, took the photo, despite him thinking now that he never took any photos in Devon.
The full line up is therefore (from left to right): Tim Parish, Julian Todd, Bill Miners (above), Graham Mullan, Tony Boycott, Chris Bennett (behind), Linda Wilson, Andy Farrant, Allison Garrard, Richard Swann and Andy Cooke, with Steve Cottle behind the camera.
Yes, we all look incredibly young! Most, with the exception of Julian, Chris, Andy C and Richard, are still members. I'm afraid to say that I don't remember anything at all about Richard Swann and as far as I can tell, this was the only time I caved with him.
This piece of detective work was a lot of fun to do. I'd really like to visit Baker's Pit again, so that's something to add to my ever growing list of places to return to, this time with me taking the photos.
As part of our 100 Memories project, started in 2019, our centenary year, we're aiming to collect 100 (or more) memories of times past in UBSS, and one way we can do this is through old photos. Bill Miners recently unearthed this little gem from the 1980s. Linda Wilson did some detective work.
Bill said he wasn't sure who took the photo but thought it might have been Steve Cottle. I emailed Steve who replied to say:
"It's not my photo as I don't think I ever took photos in Devon. In fact I think I only ever caved there once.
From Left to Right.
Tim Parish, Julian Todd, WDM, GJM, AB, (Chris Bennet? Behind AB (the reason I say that is that a he was generally camera shy and b always had a spare bulb in a film cannister), LJW, ARF, Allison Garrard, unknown and Andy Cooke."
The abbreviations above are WDM = Bill Miners, GJM = Graham Mullan, AB = Tony Boycott, ARF = Andy Farrant.
So by the time I started to write up this piece, we were still short of one unknown. I then took volume 1 of my caving logs off the shelf and started flipping through. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever find the entry, then ... drum roll ...
Picture me muttering again about the importance of keeping a log and starting early! A quick look in my own list of abbreviations at the back of my log for people I cave frequently with confirms that SBC = Steve Cottle and CHB is Chris Bennett. So, by a process of Holmesian deduction, I conclude, m'lud, that our unknown is Richard Swann and that Steve Cottle, who isn't in the picture but is listed as on the trip, took the photo, despite him thinking now that he never took any photos in Devon.
The full line up is therefore (from left to right): Tim Parish, Julian Todd, Bill Miners (above), Graham Mullan, Tony Boycott, Chris Bennett (behind), Linda Wilson, Andy Farrant, Allison Garrard, Richard Swann and Andy Cooke, with Steve Cottle behind the camera.
Yes, we all look incredibly young! Most, with the exception of Julian, Chris, Andy C and Richard, are still members. I'm afraid to say that I don't remember anything at all about Richard Swann and as far as I can tell, this was the only time I caved with him.
This piece of detective work was a lot of fun to do. I'd really like to visit Baker's Pit again, so that's something to add to my ever growing list of places to return to, this time with me taking the photos.
Linda Wilson
GIVING UP IS SO DAMN HARD TO DO
Dick Willis and Pam Fogg in White Fathers. Photo by Tim Fogg.
In the best UBSS tradition of growing old disgracefully, Dick Willis, one of the club's most experienced expedition cavers, tells how the road to the underworld is often paved with the best of intentions, but as we all know, no plan survives first contact with the enemy, and giving up is so damn hard to do.
Five years ago, I had a minor stroke following a period of illness that started on a trip to Mulu. The medics never found out what was wrong with me, although I suspect I had atypical migraines due to a change in medication (being an old fart, I'm on various drugs, so think of me and stay healthy, keep your booze consumption down, don't eat junk food, smoke funny cigarettes or otherwise waste your tender young lives). Anyway, the stroke was in the bit of my brain that controls balance. Although I was very lucky and I'm generally fine, when I walk, I tend to stagger a bit. I was always notorious for falling over in caves - on one China expedition, I tripped when crossing a boulder pile and was helped up by a very attractive show cave guide dressed in red uniform skirt and high heeled shoes who seemed to manage the boulders effortlessly. Oh, the ignominy. .. So, I decided that the prospect of having a caving accident and causing a rescue was too much to bear. I would have to die, if I survived the piss would be taken out of me unmercifully. which would be entirely reasonable, as I have always taken the piss out of friends who've been rescued and I'm sure they'd like to get their own back. So, I stopped caving.
But on a recent trip to Northern Ireland, my good intentions were subverted.
My hosts, Tim and Pam Fogg, insisted on taking me caving - beer consumption was not to be permitted until I'd been underground, so I had to go. One trip was to Boho caves, to look for and collect moths that had been parasitised by zombi fungi (subject of a forthcoming newsletter article, if I can persuade Tim to write some notes for me). The other was to White Fathers Cave, close to the N16 Enniskillen - Sligo road, near Black Lion.
Moth parasitised by fungus. Photo by Tim Fogg.
Reluctantly (it was drizzling) I put on my wetsuit, which seemed to have shrunk a lot, squeezed my feet into a pair of Tim's wellies and followed the two of them over a stile, alongside the river and, eventually into the entrance of the last of three small caves.
These caves take their name from the nearby prison, Loughan House, which until the '70s was occupied by the Capuchin Order of Franciscans, known locally as the White Fathers. The third is the longest and very well decorated. Because the system takes water, which can rise after heavy rain and cause a sump at the downstream end (take note), the formations are clean washed and make the place well worth a visit. Much of it involves wading along a cobbled floor, which meant I had to keep contact with the wall or lean on Tim or Pam to avoid falling in and looking like a right twat, but towards the end, the section that sumps, the water is sufficiently deep that you need to swim to reach daylight.
The caving in Fermanagh/Cavan is excellent, as is the local hospitality - it's only a short drive from the cave to Black Lion and a pint in Maguire's; if you get a chance to go, take it. There's an excellent illustrated account of White Fathers here, if you'd like to know more about the cave.
Dick Willis and Pam Fogg in White Fathers. Photo by Tim Fogg.
In the best UBSS tradition of growing old disgracefully, Dick Willis, one of the club's most experienced expedition cavers, tells how the road to the underworld is often paved with the best of intentions, but as we all know, no plan survives first contact with the enemy, and giving up is so damn hard to do.
Five years ago, I had a minor stroke following a period of illness that started on a trip to Mulu. The medics never found out what was wrong with me, although I suspect I had atypical migraines due to a change in medication (being an old fart, I'm on various drugs, so think of me and stay healthy, keep your booze consumption down, don't eat junk food, smoke funny cigarettes or otherwise waste your tender young lives). Anyway, the stroke was in the bit of my brain that controls balance. Although I was very lucky and I'm generally fine, when I walk, I tend to stagger a bit. I was always notorious for falling over in caves - on one China expedition, I tripped when crossing a boulder pile and was helped up by a very attractive show cave guide dressed in red uniform skirt and high heeled shoes who seemed to manage the boulders effortlessly. Oh, the ignominy. .. So, I decided that the prospect of having a caving accident and causing a rescue was too much to bear. I would have to die, if I survived the piss would be taken out of me unmercifully. which would be entirely reasonable, as I have always taken the piss out of friends who've been rescued and I'm sure they'd like to get their own back. So, I stopped caving.
But on a recent trip to Northern Ireland, my good intentions were subverted.
My hosts, Tim and Pam Fogg, insisted on taking me caving - beer consumption was not to be permitted until I'd been underground, so I had to go. One trip was to Boho caves, to look for and collect moths that had been parasitised by zombi fungi (subject of a forthcoming newsletter article, if I can persuade Tim to write some notes for me). The other was to White Fathers Cave, close to the N16 Enniskillen - Sligo road, near Black Lion.
Moth parasitised by fungus. Photo by Tim Fogg.
Reluctantly (it was drizzling) I put on my wetsuit, which seemed to have shrunk a lot, squeezed my feet into a pair of Tim's wellies and followed the two of them over a stile, alongside the river and, eventually into the entrance of the last of three small caves.
These caves take their name from the nearby prison, Loughan House, which until the '70s was occupied by the Capuchin Order of Franciscans, known locally as the White Fathers. The third is the longest and very well decorated. Because the system takes water, which can rise after heavy rain and cause a sump at the downstream end (take note), the formations are clean washed and make the place well worth a visit. Much of it involves wading along a cobbled floor, which meant I had to keep contact with the wall or lean on Tim or Pam to avoid falling in and looking like a right twat, but towards the end, the section that sumps, the water is sufficiently deep that you need to swim to reach daylight.
The caving in Fermanagh/Cavan is excellent, as is the local hospitality - it's only a short drive from the cave to Black Lion and a pint in Maguire's; if you get a chance to go, take it. There's an excellent illustrated account of White Fathers here, if you'd like to know more about the cave.
Dick Willis
MUSEUM AND LIBRARY NEWS
Clive lifelining a cabinet down the stairs. Of course it was healthy and safe!
Work in the Stables has continued over summer and so has our journey towards Arts Council acceditation, as museum curator Linda Wilson relates.
On the accreditation front, Charlotte been busy with the first draft of the necessary Forward Plan and we've worked together on updating our Collections Management Policy. Once these are ready, they'll go to the committee for approval. We have a meeting at Bristol City Museum shortly with the South West Museums Development Officer and our museum mentor, Kate Iles from the City Museum who has kindly agreed to work with us on this project. Lesley-Anne Kerr, who prepared our original policy is also helping, and we'll all be visiting a lot of museums in the area to look at how they've tackled their displays. If you'd like to be involved with this, please let me know. When we did this in 1991 in preparation for our first displays in the Stables, it was a lot of fun. To this end, Charlotte has also started gathering ideas for this project.
In early August, I received an email from Nick Fitzgerald, who is currently undertaking a PhD on burnt mounds in British prehistory here at Bristol. Nick said: "As part of this I will undertake organic residue analysis of pot lipids from ceramics found in burnt mounds. This will allow me to uncover the use and function of these pots as well as understanding the wider role of burnt mounds in British prehistoric societies. I am really interested in analysing the pots from the burnt mound found in Bos Swallet (reference below). Is it true that the UBSS has this collection?
We took the decision over summer to give two enormous and awkward metal cabinets and a redundant metal filing cabinet a new lease of life by passing them on to the university's Sustainability Team so that we can replace them with bookcases that will make better use of the available space. The only snag was that we needed to get them down the stairs. That was easier said than done as they'd been installed before our lovely new stairs and bannisters were installed, but undaunted, a team assembled ...
Our attempts to get them around the head of the stairs quickly failed and we had to move to Plan B. Tape slings and a rope were summoned, and a dynamic risk assessment was carried our (the short version was 'don't drop heavy objects on people's heads'). We succeeded admirably in all respects and the cabinets were manoeuvred over the top of the bannister rail and lowered carefully to those waiting below without even a slightly bruised finger to show for our Herculean efforts. They're now awaiting collection (which I hope will happen this morning).
Many thanks to the following for their help with this: Clive Owen, Si Hadfield, Zac Woodford, Nick Fitzgerald, Graham Mullan and Tony Boycott. Si was also co-opted to help continue the work of applying stain to the woodwork on the stairs. It's all starting to look really great! The next job is to apply a coat of clear varnish to that, and begin the task of getting all the bookcases back into the right positions in the library stack room. Librarian Nathan Cubitt will then need to play box tetris and reorganise everything up there, so please be on standby to help with this.
During our morning shifting cabinets, we learnt that Nick has hands on expertise in two very interesting areas: flint knapping and ancient beer-brewing techniques and he's happy to teach us how to do both, so in the event of the zombie apocalypse we'll be able to make tools and get pissed! It would be a lot of fun to do both of these things for a day at the hut, so watch this space for more details.
We're hoping to get the Stables usable as soon as possible, but with so many pressures on volunteer time and the usual people shortage over summer, we can't guarantee that the space will be ready for general use by the beginning of term, but we'll do our best achieve this within the first term, so please bear with us!
Linda Wilson
Clive lifelining a cabinet down the stairs. Of course it was healthy and safe!
Work in the Stables has continued over summer and so has our journey towards Arts Council acceditation, as museum curator Linda Wilson relates.
On the accreditation front, Charlotte been busy with the first draft of the necessary Forward Plan and we've worked together on updating our Collections Management Policy. Once these are ready, they'll go to the committee for approval. We have a meeting at Bristol City Museum shortly with the South West Museums Development Officer and our museum mentor, Kate Iles from the City Museum who has kindly agreed to work with us on this project. Lesley-Anne Kerr, who prepared our original policy is also helping, and we'll all be visiting a lot of museums in the area to look at how they've tackled their displays. If you'd like to be involved with this, please let me know. When we did this in 1991 in preparation for our first displays in the Stables, it was a lot of fun. To this end, Charlotte has also started gathering ideas for this project.
In early August, I received an email from Nick Fitzgerald, who is currently undertaking a PhD on burnt mounds in British prehistory here at Bristol. Nick said: "As part of this I will undertake organic residue analysis of pot lipids from ceramics found in burnt mounds. This will allow me to uncover the use and function of these pots as well as understanding the wider role of burnt mounds in British prehistoric societies. I am really interested in analysing the pots from the burnt mound found in Bos Swallet (reference below). Is it true that the UBSS has this collection?
"My analysis would primarily utilise Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry to both screen for and analyse pot lipids. This technique involves taking and destroying a small piece (0.5-2g) of each sampled sherd after extensive documentation. Of course, you would both have complete control in deciding which sherds I would be able to sample. This would be conducted both at the archaeological science laboratories in the Department of Anthropology and Anthropology and at the Organic Geochemistry Unit in the School of Chemistry, with the sherds kept in secure storage."
He wanted to know if it would it be possible for him to access the material and conduct analysis on a sample of pot sherds from this assemblage. I explained that we still need to excavate our way back into the museum store by relocating a ton of material back into the library stack room. Nick kindly volunteered to help. The Bos material proved relatively easy to unearth, and Nick was delighted to see how much pottery we have from the site. He'll be putting in a formal proposal soon.We took the decision over summer to give two enormous and awkward metal cabinets and a redundant metal filing cabinet a new lease of life by passing them on to the university's Sustainability Team so that we can replace them with bookcases that will make better use of the available space. The only snag was that we needed to get them down the stairs. That was easier said than done as they'd been installed before our lovely new stairs and bannisters were installed, but undaunted, a team assembled ...
Our attempts to get them around the head of the stairs quickly failed and we had to move to Plan B. Tape slings and a rope were summoned, and a dynamic risk assessment was carried our (the short version was 'don't drop heavy objects on people's heads'). We succeeded admirably in all respects and the cabinets were manoeuvred over the top of the bannister rail and lowered carefully to those waiting below without even a slightly bruised finger to show for our Herculean efforts. They're now awaiting collection (which I hope will happen this morning).
Many thanks to the following for their help with this: Clive Owen, Si Hadfield, Zac Woodford, Nick Fitzgerald, Graham Mullan and Tony Boycott. Si was also co-opted to help continue the work of applying stain to the woodwork on the stairs. It's all starting to look really great! The next job is to apply a coat of clear varnish to that, and begin the task of getting all the bookcases back into the right positions in the library stack room. Librarian Nathan Cubitt will then need to play box tetris and reorganise everything up there, so please be on standby to help with this.
During our morning shifting cabinets, we learnt that Nick has hands on expertise in two very interesting areas: flint knapping and ancient beer-brewing techniques and he's happy to teach us how to do both, so in the event of the zombie apocalypse we'll be able to make tools and get pissed! It would be a lot of fun to do both of these things for a day at the hut, so watch this space for more details.
We're hoping to get the Stables usable as soon as possible, but with so many pressures on volunteer time and the usual people shortage over summer, we can't guarantee that the space will be ready for general use by the beginning of term, but we'll do our best achieve this within the first term, so please bear with us!
Linda Wilson
SAY HELLO TO RATIFER!
Ratifer Rat comes to you courtesy of Bing Images.
With the start of term only a few weeks away, we're offering a prize of a back-up light to the first student to say hello to Ratifer Rat. He won't bite, we promise. He's a very laid back little chappie. Thanks to all our loyal readers who get in contact. It's always fun to see comments and naturally we love basking in adoration and praise so anyone pandering to our fragile egos will be loved and cherished. Unless your name is Dick Willis, in which case we reserve the right to take the piss. He'd be disappointed if we didn't.
- Finally read one of these reasonably soon after publication :) [Stu Walker]
- Lots of lovely getting-up-tos in fascinating places this month. Congrats to Mia, and welcome to Charlotte! I do hope to be able to visit the Lascaux VR before it leaves. I’m up for the Fishmonger’s if needed, and also count me in for the Library fixing-up. PS Smauglet is delightful (including the name) [Jan Walker]
- And I loved the descriptions of Lascaux. Never made it, because it was closed when I got to the entrance. The VR experience must be amazing.[Hans Friederich]
- Ah the ladder dig… I remember being persuaded by Bob Churcher, back in my youthful, enthusiastic days, to go on a solo trip to check out the results from an attempt to chemically accelerate progress. I made my way to the end where there was plenty of evidence of mud redistribution but absolutely nothing else and came out with a splitting headache. At which point I realised why I’d been asked to go in, rather than Bob making the visit himself. [Dick Willis]
- Many thanks all who contributed articles and to hard working Editors for putting together an excellent newsletter. [Bill Miners]
- Read to the end...I remember many hours digging in the dirt of Ladder dig in GB in 1966. Two main memories...the smell of the dirt and the unstable boulders getting through to the dig. [Eve Gilmore]
- Splendid worm, all round! Great range of articles and pix, and I liked the image of Madam Editor crawling around the floor, managing not to throw up and then engaging the French big-wigs in polite conversation! And hello to Charlotte and congrats on your degree. [Sharon Wheeler and the blessed FT Bear]
Ratifer Rat, nice to meet you! I did read to the end, I promise.
THE END
Ratifer Rat comes to you courtesy of Bing Images.
With the start of term only a few weeks away, we're offering a prize of a back-up light to the first student to say hello to Ratifer Rat. He won't bite, we promise. He's a very laid back little chappie. Thanks to all our loyal readers who get in contact. It's always fun to see comments and naturally we love basking in adoration and praise so anyone pandering to our fragile egos will be loved and cherished. Unless your name is Dick Willis, in which case we reserve the right to take the piss. He'd be disappointed if we didn't.
- Finally read one of these reasonably soon after publication :) [Stu Walker]
- Lots of lovely getting-up-tos in fascinating places this month. Congrats to Mia, and welcome to Charlotte! I do hope to be able to visit the Lascaux VR before it leaves. I’m up for the Fishmonger’s if needed, and also count me in for the Library fixing-up. PS Smauglet is delightful (including the name) [Jan Walker]
- And I loved the descriptions of Lascaux. Never made it, because it was closed when I got to the entrance. The VR experience must be amazing.[Hans Friederich]
- Ah the ladder dig… I remember being persuaded by Bob Churcher, back in my youthful, enthusiastic days, to go on a solo trip to check out the results from an attempt to chemically accelerate progress. I made my way to the end where there was plenty of evidence of mud redistribution but absolutely nothing else and came out with a splitting headache. At which point I realised why I’d been asked to go in, rather than Bob making the visit himself. [Dick Willis]
- Many thanks all who contributed articles and to hard working Editors for putting together an excellent newsletter. [Bill Miners]
- Read to the end...I remember many hours digging in the dirt of Ladder dig in GB in 1966. Two main memories...the smell of the dirt and the unstable boulders getting through to the dig. [Eve Gilmore]
- Splendid worm, all round! Great range of articles and pix, and I liked the image of Madam Editor crawling around the floor, managing not to throw up and then engaging the French big-wigs in polite conversation! And hello to Charlotte and congrats on your degree. [Sharon Wheeler and the blessed FT Bear]
Ratifer Rat, nice to meet you! I did read to the end, I promise.
THE END