Otter Hole, near Chepstow. Photo by Stuart Alldred.
Here we are again at the start of a new academic year! The summer saw UBSS members caving both at home and abroad, with another successful trip to Ireland, this time organised by Dan Runcan and supported by the Oliver Lloyd Memorial Fun and the university's Tratman Fund assisting with travel costs. We'll be bringing you some highlights of the trip over the next few issues. Jess Brock did some excellent caving in France and Billy spent the summer in the Yorkshire Dales working at Ingleborough showcave and caving in the Dales.
UBSS was well-represented at the Welcome Fair on the Downs where a humongous number of prospective new members signed up to receive information from us, and everyone whose handwriting we could read has been added to the newsletter circulation. If you decide you don't want to hear from us any more (which will make us very sad), you can unsubscribe at any time by following the link at the end of the newsletter. And speaking of links, any clickable link will come up in blue in the text.
If you haven't got as far as joining the club yet, you can do this on the Student's union website. Before you go on any caving trips, you will need to join up (only £10!) as your membership of UBSS also includes membership of the British Caving Associaton (BCA), which has insurance as one of its member benefits. Sign-ups for the first weekend of the year have already gone up and places have been allocated, but this doesn't mean you'll miss out on caving as there will be an opportunity to go caving during the week and at weekends (subject to the availability of drivers).
So hello and welcome to all our new members! Our main WhatsApp Group now has 200 members and you can join here if you haven't already done so. We also have a new WhatsApp group for Women and Gender Diverse Cavers. Click the link to send a membership request. If you have any queries, just ask!
For all our new members who are bound to gallop through the newsletter at speed, you'll see there's a prize to be claimed by the first person to drop us a link using the blue clickable link to be in with a chance of winning a highly sought-after UBSS buff. There might even be some consolation prizes to be had ...
If you'd like to check out previous issues of our monthly newsletter, you can find them all online here, together with a scanned archive of all our paper issues from 1919 to 2017.
Linda and Billy
MEET THE NEW COMMITTEE!
With huge thanks to Jess Brock for creating these introductory posters for our UBSStagram! You can follow us on there by clicking this link!
With huge thanks to Jess Brock for creating these introductory posters for our UBSStagram! You can follow us on there by clicking this link!
USEFUL INFO AND DIARY DATES!
With more huge thanks to Jess Brock for creating this for our new members!
Jess has also updated our main handbook for new members, which you can download. This contains a wealth of useful and detailed information for new cavers, for instance what you need to bring along on our first club weekend of the new term. Please read this before you come caving with us!
With more huge thanks to Jess Brock for creating this for our new members!
Jess has also updated our main handbook for new members, which you can download. This contains a wealth of useful and detailed information for new cavers, for instance what you need to bring along on our first club weekend of the new term. Please read this before you come caving with us!
A WARM WELCOME!
The term started off with our Welcome stall on the Downs where student secretary Dan Rose heroically chatted to prospective new members all day, assisted by student president James Hallihan, together with Billy Evans and Ben Pett.
The Welcome stall team: left to right: Benn Pett, Billy Evans, Dan Rose, James Hallihan.
Billy's chilli with lots of chopping help from others.
This was followed by another very successful chilli night in The Stables, which houses our museum and library. There were no unexpected visits from Security this year, probably because collective memory kicked in, and we remembered to let them know there was an authorised social in our rooms.
This is normal, honest!
When copious amounts of food and drink finally ran out, those who remained repaired to the Highbury Vaults, where Billy demonstated the age old caving pastime squeezing through the furniture.
The term started off with our Welcome stall on the Downs where student secretary Dan Rose heroically chatted to prospective new members all day, assisted by student president James Hallihan, together with Billy Evans and Ben Pett.
The Welcome stall team: left to right: Benn Pett, Billy Evans, Dan Rose, James Hallihan.
Billy's chilli with lots of chopping help from others.
This was followed by another very successful chilli night in The Stables, which houses our museum and library. There were no unexpected visits from Security this year, probably because collective memory kicked in, and we remembered to let them know there was an authorised social in our rooms.
This is normal, honest!
When copious amounts of food and drink finally ran out, those who remained repaired to the Highbury Vaults, where Billy demonstated the age old caving pastime squeezing through the furniture.
SHINY NEW WEBSITE!
On the 1st October, the updated website finally went ‘live’ after a vast amount of work behind the scenes by Graham Mullan and website designer Simon Marsh to deliver this project.
The new site is at the same url as the previous site, https://ubss.org.uk but the style and the content have been vastly updated, taking into account the changes in web design and engineering that have happened since the previous version was built by Si Lee many years ago.
One of the drivers of this has been the need to properly showcase the contents of Proceedings including an improved search facility, once this content is shifted to online publication.
It’s not quite finished yet; there are a couple of features that will be added in the coming weeks, but please take a look and tell us what you think. Feedback please to [email protected]
On the 1st October, the updated website finally went ‘live’ after a vast amount of work behind the scenes by Graham Mullan and website designer Simon Marsh to deliver this project.
The new site is at the same url as the previous site, https://ubss.org.uk but the style and the content have been vastly updated, taking into account the changes in web design and engineering that have happened since the previous version was built by Si Lee many years ago.
One of the drivers of this has been the need to properly showcase the contents of Proceedings including an improved search facility, once this content is shifted to online publication.
It’s not quite finished yet; there are a couple of features that will be added in the coming weeks, but please take a look and tell us what you think. Feedback please to [email protected]
Graham Mullan
HANGING AROUND A BIG HOLE (OR TWO)
Entance to Poulnagollum aka the very large and reasonably obvious hole.
The first feature from the UBSS summer expedition to County Clare in Ireland icomes from Megan Mapas, who recounts the story of a through-trip from Poulnagollum to Pouleva Pot that didn't entirely go according to plan, with photos by Jess Brock.
As a treat for conducting a non-zero amount of surveying, a group of us on the Ireland trip took a day off to explore the Poulnagollum-Poulelva system, in Co. Clare. We were attempting an exchange trip, with one team entering via the 35m open air pitch at Poulelva, and the other team starting their trip via Poulnagollum a couple of kilometres away. I was in the second group, alongside Dan Rose, Felix Arnautovic, and Jess Brock.
Our first navigational challenge of the trip was finding the cave entrance. This was overcome using the tried and tested method of shuffling around some fields. We eventually happened across a very large and reasonably obvious hole mere metres from the car, and scrambled our way down, aware that faff had already ticked the clock closer to our estimated call out.
Our second navigational challenge appeared ten minutes into the cave, where the small streamway we were following ended in an uncomfortably wide rift above and a 4m smooth drop below. Despite the route description warning us of a 4m drop before getting into the main streamway, we convinced ourselves that this was too sketchy to be the way on, and spent a while glaring at the route description and backtracking the ten minutes of caving we had done so far. However, we soon realised that there was no other way but onwards, and Dan put in a rope for the climb down.
A climb dastardly enough to make you doubt the route description.
When it came to my turn and I stood on the precipice, staring down at the smooth rock, I felt a wave of panic take over and my vision started blurring. I would like to thank Jess for stepping in, helping me slow my breathing, and talking me through the climb down, where I eventually got down far enough for Dan and Felix to help me from the bottom.
Once we got into the main streamway, spirits picked up as we happily splashed our way through, passing the famous Poulnagollum graffiti wall, plenty of impressive stalactites, and a jacuzzi pool I had the pleasure of pissing in. After a while, the ceiling over the streamway started lowering, and the passage started branching, and we crouched together over the route description nervously, aware that we weren't too far off the halfway point on our call-out. After a couple of false turns, and some fretting over whether we had any idea where we were, the idea of going back the way we came was floated. If our calculations were correct, and we were where we thought we were, it was highly suspicious that we hadn t run into the other group yet. Either they were lost, or we were.
I had visited this cave four years prior as a little fresher, wide eyed and new to the sport. As a result, I had blocked out anything remotely useful from my memories in a haze of fear. Any memory-based attempts at navigation was reduced to vague feelings of déjà vu.
"I'm getting a familiar vibe." I said, unhelpfully, for the fifteenth time.
Gazing upon the graffiti wall.
Desperate for a sign that we were on the right track, we sent Dan to run along ahead and report back. His report seemed to match the section of cave on the map nearest the Poulelva exit, and we decided to give us half an hour longer before we absolutely had to turn around and speed cave to meet our call out.
After a series of squiggles, junctions, and backtracks, and after making liberal use of Dan as a route-finding runner, the cooling embers of our hopes were once more ignited as Felix spotted something.
"It says out! It says out this way!" he cried.
Resolve renewed, we scrambled and clawed our way onwards. Now that we knew we were near the exit, with every fresh turn I was expecting some aperture of light, some breath of fresh air, some sign of the other group. Hardly daring to hope now that we were so close, we reached a T-junction, and I felt my heart drop as Dan scrambled off both ways and came back without the expected reports of the outside world. Had it all gone wrong? Were we really nowhere near where we expected? Would we have to speed cave like our lives depended on it back the way we came to reach call out?
As we sat fretfully in the T-junction, inspection of the opposite wall revealed that this was no T-junction after all. Instead, there existed a secret third option that, due to it spiralling upwards, had previously just looked like a bumpy bit of wall. We sent Dan on to investigate, following soon after as my déjà vu spidey senses started tingling, and after a while of spiralling and crawling we heard a shriek of elation from Dan. He had found the other group, still clustered around the Poulelva entrance, and we were saved.
After much elated hugging and waterfall frolicking, we each took it in turns to prusik up the pitch, and back to civilization.
Felix, Jess, and Dan revelling in victory.
A shout out to the other group who had stuck around to wait for us at Poulelva: Stanley Lewis, Dan Hill, and in particular a shout out to Ben Morgan for spending hours at the bottom of a hole helping us all get out of it.
The bothy.
Not all heroes wear capes; sometimes a bothy will do.
Entance to Poulnagollum aka the very large and reasonably obvious hole.
The first feature from the UBSS summer expedition to County Clare in Ireland icomes from Megan Mapas, who recounts the story of a through-trip from Poulnagollum to Pouleva Pot that didn't entirely go according to plan, with photos by Jess Brock.
As a treat for conducting a non-zero amount of surveying, a group of us on the Ireland trip took a day off to explore the Poulnagollum-Poulelva system, in Co. Clare. We were attempting an exchange trip, with one team entering via the 35m open air pitch at Poulelva, and the other team starting their trip via Poulnagollum a couple of kilometres away. I was in the second group, alongside Dan Rose, Felix Arnautovic, and Jess Brock.
Our first navigational challenge of the trip was finding the cave entrance. This was overcome using the tried and tested method of shuffling around some fields. We eventually happened across a very large and reasonably obvious hole mere metres from the car, and scrambled our way down, aware that faff had already ticked the clock closer to our estimated call out.
Our second navigational challenge appeared ten minutes into the cave, where the small streamway we were following ended in an uncomfortably wide rift above and a 4m smooth drop below. Despite the route description warning us of a 4m drop before getting into the main streamway, we convinced ourselves that this was too sketchy to be the way on, and spent a while glaring at the route description and backtracking the ten minutes of caving we had done so far. However, we soon realised that there was no other way but onwards, and Dan put in a rope for the climb down.
A climb dastardly enough to make you doubt the route description.
When it came to my turn and I stood on the precipice, staring down at the smooth rock, I felt a wave of panic take over and my vision started blurring. I would like to thank Jess for stepping in, helping me slow my breathing, and talking me through the climb down, where I eventually got down far enough for Dan and Felix to help me from the bottom.
Once we got into the main streamway, spirits picked up as we happily splashed our way through, passing the famous Poulnagollum graffiti wall, plenty of impressive stalactites, and a jacuzzi pool I had the pleasure of pissing in. After a while, the ceiling over the streamway started lowering, and the passage started branching, and we crouched together over the route description nervously, aware that we weren't too far off the halfway point on our call-out. After a couple of false turns, and some fretting over whether we had any idea where we were, the idea of going back the way we came was floated. If our calculations were correct, and we were where we thought we were, it was highly suspicious that we hadn t run into the other group yet. Either they were lost, or we were.
I had visited this cave four years prior as a little fresher, wide eyed and new to the sport. As a result, I had blocked out anything remotely useful from my memories in a haze of fear. Any memory-based attempts at navigation was reduced to vague feelings of déjà vu.
"I'm getting a familiar vibe." I said, unhelpfully, for the fifteenth time.
Gazing upon the graffiti wall.
Desperate for a sign that we were on the right track, we sent Dan to run along ahead and report back. His report seemed to match the section of cave on the map nearest the Poulelva exit, and we decided to give us half an hour longer before we absolutely had to turn around and speed cave to meet our call out.
After a series of squiggles, junctions, and backtracks, and after making liberal use of Dan as a route-finding runner, the cooling embers of our hopes were once more ignited as Felix spotted something.
"It says out! It says out this way!" he cried.
Resolve renewed, we scrambled and clawed our way onwards. Now that we knew we were near the exit, with every fresh turn I was expecting some aperture of light, some breath of fresh air, some sign of the other group. Hardly daring to hope now that we were so close, we reached a T-junction, and I felt my heart drop as Dan scrambled off both ways and came back without the expected reports of the outside world. Had it all gone wrong? Were we really nowhere near where we expected? Would we have to speed cave like our lives depended on it back the way we came to reach call out?
As we sat fretfully in the T-junction, inspection of the opposite wall revealed that this was no T-junction after all. Instead, there existed a secret third option that, due to it spiralling upwards, had previously just looked like a bumpy bit of wall. We sent Dan on to investigate, following soon after as my déjà vu spidey senses started tingling, and after a while of spiralling and crawling we heard a shriek of elation from Dan. He had found the other group, still clustered around the Poulelva entrance, and we were saved.
After much elated hugging and waterfall frolicking, we each took it in turns to prusik up the pitch, and back to civilization.
Felix, Jess, and Dan revelling in victory.
A shout out to the other group who had stuck around to wait for us at Poulelva: Stanley Lewis, Dan Hill, and in particular a shout out to Ben Morgan for spending hours at the bottom of a hole helping us all get out of it.
The bothy.
Not all heroes wear capes; sometimes a bothy will do.
Megan Malpas
A REFRESHING VISIT TO HUNTER'S HOLE
Meet the team: Imogen (left), Jess (right).
Vertical caves aren't only found in Derbyshire and the Yorkshire Dales. There are local ones, too, so Imogen Clement and Jess Brock recently headed to Hunter's Hole on Mendip for some enjoyable ropework. Imogen describes their trip, with photos by Jess ...
I have been a member of UBSS for five years now. In spite of this, I have never really ‘caved’. Sure - I’ve done most of the fresher trips on Mendip, some of them more times than is truly healthy (I’m looking at you, Swildon’s upper series.) And in the last two years at least, I can count the number of times underground on one hand.
However, after a very successful bout of caving in Ireland, I made the decision, to the shock and amazement of some members (at one point I did consider selling my warmbac oversuit), to learn how to ‘go caving’. With the help of Merryn, I made a list of some ‘proper trips’ I wanted to do, and decided to brush up on some long forgotten cave skills.
Imogen getting in some practice for the cowstail pub crawl.
Jess was only too happy to help me refresh my SRT knowledge. As it had been a ‘little while’ since I’d been on a rope, we did a little refresher of some of the basics in the carpark. The gist - two points of attachment!
Imogen going down.
Jess rigged and I was glad to notice she had more than enough krabs and two ropes the perfect length (which can’t always be said). I followed her close behind and watched as some skilled rigging took place, asking questions, so that I too can become a ‘real caver’. We talked about how important it is to think about the people in your group and rig so everyone can reach traverse lines etc. we also discussed the importance of rigging for your derigger - always making sure they can be safe as they take out the knots below them. At this point, I realised that on the drive over, I had indeed offered to derig. Oh well, just had to focus on getting down there first.
An intermission on rigging from Jess:
On the last pitch I had fun trying to rig the pitch head in a way I’d be able to get back up. It’s a long way for the petite caver. I rigged an extra sling to help pull myself up and give me some peace of mind - and it was actually really helpful to pull myself over to the ledge so I could move onto the next rope.
Imogen hanging around.
Back to Imogen:
We zipped to the bottom. On the lowest deviation Jess had extended it with a folded sling (making sure that there was no rope rub, of course!) and this made it much easier to pass. It’s a bit like riding a bike really! Jess was an excellent teacher, and it all came flooding back. I felt really comfortable clipping in on each rope, remembering two points of attachment. And the best thing about caving with Jess - a little photoshoot at the bottom!
Group hug! Imogen (left), Jess (right).
For the very first time EVER I derigged! Moving up the rope, I felt happy as Larry, up and up I went. But then, a minor disaster struck: I had a little issue at the top of one of the pitches. Unbeknownst to me, yapping away as I contemplated moving over to the next rope, my jammers had both decided to have a little kiss with the knot at the top of the pitch. Thanks to Jess’s clear guidance, and some core strength on my part, I managed to down-prussick a little bit. I successfully got myself out of the sticky situation (a key skill in SRT), and moved over to the next rope. And here came the derigging! Thanks to Jess’s mini lesson, I successfully got all the rope in the bag, and brought it up and out with me, leaving no krab unclipped.
Imogen, very definitely a 'real caver' on the way out.
A lack of cash meant a sad lack of Hunter’s (the pub, not the cave) for tea, so we zipped over to the union to clean our rope, and went back home to our shared abode for beans on toast. Thank you Jess for a lovely welcome back to the Mendips.
Meet the team: Imogen (left), Jess (right).
Vertical caves aren't only found in Derbyshire and the Yorkshire Dales. There are local ones, too, so Imogen Clement and Jess Brock recently headed to Hunter's Hole on Mendip for some enjoyable ropework. Imogen describes their trip, with photos by Jess ...
I have been a member of UBSS for five years now. In spite of this, I have never really ‘caved’. Sure - I’ve done most of the fresher trips on Mendip, some of them more times than is truly healthy (I’m looking at you, Swildon’s upper series.) And in the last two years at least, I can count the number of times underground on one hand.
However, after a very successful bout of caving in Ireland, I made the decision, to the shock and amazement of some members (at one point I did consider selling my warmbac oversuit), to learn how to ‘go caving’. With the help of Merryn, I made a list of some ‘proper trips’ I wanted to do, and decided to brush up on some long forgotten cave skills.
Imogen getting in some practice for the cowstail pub crawl.
Jess was only too happy to help me refresh my SRT knowledge. As it had been a ‘little while’ since I’d been on a rope, we did a little refresher of some of the basics in the carpark. The gist - two points of attachment!
Imogen going down.
Jess rigged and I was glad to notice she had more than enough krabs and two ropes the perfect length (which can’t always be said). I followed her close behind and watched as some skilled rigging took place, asking questions, so that I too can become a ‘real caver’. We talked about how important it is to think about the people in your group and rig so everyone can reach traverse lines etc. we also discussed the importance of rigging for your derigger - always making sure they can be safe as they take out the knots below them. At this point, I realised that on the drive over, I had indeed offered to derig. Oh well, just had to focus on getting down there first.
An intermission on rigging from Jess:
On the last pitch I had fun trying to rig the pitch head in a way I’d be able to get back up. It’s a long way for the petite caver. I rigged an extra sling to help pull myself up and give me some peace of mind - and it was actually really helpful to pull myself over to the ledge so I could move onto the next rope.
Imogen hanging around.
Back to Imogen:
We zipped to the bottom. On the lowest deviation Jess had extended it with a folded sling (making sure that there was no rope rub, of course!) and this made it much easier to pass. It’s a bit like riding a bike really! Jess was an excellent teacher, and it all came flooding back. I felt really comfortable clipping in on each rope, remembering two points of attachment. And the best thing about caving with Jess - a little photoshoot at the bottom!
Group hug! Imogen (left), Jess (right).
For the very first time EVER I derigged! Moving up the rope, I felt happy as Larry, up and up I went. But then, a minor disaster struck: I had a little issue at the top of one of the pitches. Unbeknownst to me, yapping away as I contemplated moving over to the next rope, my jammers had both decided to have a little kiss with the knot at the top of the pitch. Thanks to Jess’s clear guidance, and some core strength on my part, I managed to down-prussick a little bit. I successfully got myself out of the sticky situation (a key skill in SRT), and moved over to the next rope. And here came the derigging! Thanks to Jess’s mini lesson, I successfully got all the rope in the bag, and brought it up and out with me, leaving no krab unclipped.
Imogen, very definitely a 'real caver' on the way out.
A lack of cash meant a sad lack of Hunter’s (the pub, not the cave) for tea, so we zipped over to the union to clean our rope, and went back home to our shared abode for beans on toast. Thank you Jess for a lovely welcome back to the Mendips.
Imogen Clement with Jess Brock
VALLEY ENTRANCE, SHEEP AND SARNIES
On a recent excursion to Yorkshire for some birthday celebrations, James Hallihan and Zac Woodford organised a trip to Valley Entrance with Ben Edwards from Brum followed by a trip to the newly reopened Bernie's cafe in Ingleton. James tells the story ...
We had a very relaxed start to the day and brought along with us a 20m rope and a 30m rope (anyone who knows Valley Entrance will now be laughing at our stupidity).
After arriving at a layby in Yorkshire, we were assured that the entrance would be easy to find unless we were complete morons. Yes, we’re complete morons. We decided that the gate where Google maps said the cave is 10m away couldn’t be right and spent 20 minutes looking in the wrong field before eventually realising our stupidity.
Once we were in the cave it didn’t take long before we realised our mistake with the ropes. We arrived at the top of the pitch into the streamway. Not only did we discover that the pitch was 8m deep with a 2m traverse to it (requiring a single 12m rope), but there were also already two in-situ ropes, however, Ben still wanted rigging practice so we rigged a third route down and dropped into the streamway. From here we followed the stream from sump to sump and explored almost all of the side passages we could find while avoiding the smell of ex-sheep.
Eventually, all the side passages were explored and it was time to turn around and head downstream. There were several points where we attempted to slide but unfortunately the water was too low. On the way out, I decided to clip into one of the in-situ ropes while Zach was climbing ours. I stood on my tip toes, clipped my chest jammer in, jumped and pulled through the rope and ended up with a wet arse - they had rigged with dynamic rope (for those who may not be familiar, we do SRT on static rope as it doesn’t stretch and absorb too much energy when we climb out).
After a fairly uneventful exit, besides a me-shaped sheep sitting in front of the door preventing Ben from leaving, we loaded into the car and headed to Ingleton. Here we paid a quick visit to the infamous Inglesport and headed next door to the recently re-opened Bernie’s Café for a sandwich. If anyone does end up in Ingleton, Yorkshire, I’d highly recommend a visit. We bumped into a group of friends who had been through Black Shiver and White Scar caves sitting with the manger of Bernie’s, Kristian Brook, sharing tales of adventure and delving into the depths of the archives and discovering the one and only (until now) write up of Fenwick Pot. Kristian’s hospitality was so great that he even joined us over many pints back in the Dump (the informal name for Bradford Pothole Club’s cottage. Hopefully many more sarnies can be enjoyed at Bernie’s by UBSS while faffing about caving in the near future.
On a recent excursion to Yorkshire for some birthday celebrations, James Hallihan and Zac Woodford organised a trip to Valley Entrance with Ben Edwards from Brum followed by a trip to the newly reopened Bernie's cafe in Ingleton. James tells the story ...
We had a very relaxed start to the day and brought along with us a 20m rope and a 30m rope (anyone who knows Valley Entrance will now be laughing at our stupidity).
After arriving at a layby in Yorkshire, we were assured that the entrance would be easy to find unless we were complete morons. Yes, we’re complete morons. We decided that the gate where Google maps said the cave is 10m away couldn’t be right and spent 20 minutes looking in the wrong field before eventually realising our stupidity.
Once we were in the cave it didn’t take long before we realised our mistake with the ropes. We arrived at the top of the pitch into the streamway. Not only did we discover that the pitch was 8m deep with a 2m traverse to it (requiring a single 12m rope), but there were also already two in-situ ropes, however, Ben still wanted rigging practice so we rigged a third route down and dropped into the streamway. From here we followed the stream from sump to sump and explored almost all of the side passages we could find while avoiding the smell of ex-sheep.
Eventually, all the side passages were explored and it was time to turn around and head downstream. There were several points where we attempted to slide but unfortunately the water was too low. On the way out, I decided to clip into one of the in-situ ropes while Zach was climbing ours. I stood on my tip toes, clipped my chest jammer in, jumped and pulled through the rope and ended up with a wet arse - they had rigged with dynamic rope (for those who may not be familiar, we do SRT on static rope as it doesn’t stretch and absorb too much energy when we climb out).
After a fairly uneventful exit, besides a me-shaped sheep sitting in front of the door preventing Ben from leaving, we loaded into the car and headed to Ingleton. Here we paid a quick visit to the infamous Inglesport and headed next door to the recently re-opened Bernie’s Café for a sandwich. If anyone does end up in Ingleton, Yorkshire, I’d highly recommend a visit. We bumped into a group of friends who had been through Black Shiver and White Scar caves sitting with the manger of Bernie’s, Kristian Brook, sharing tales of adventure and delving into the depths of the archives and discovering the one and only (until now) write up of Fenwick Pot. Kristian’s hospitality was so great that he even joined us over many pints back in the Dump (the informal name for Bradford Pothole Club’s cottage. Hopefully many more sarnies can be enjoyed at Bernie’s by UBSS while faffing about caving in the near future.
James Hallihan
A DARING RESCUE!
Left to right: Stanley Lewis, Dan Rose, Felix Arnautovic, Fergus the Fulmar. Photo by Dan Runcan.
It's not unknown to have to rescue critters from caves, the cave rescue teams do this all the times, as sheep, dogs, cows and a variety of other creatures often find themselves in unintended and inconvenient places, but on this summer's trio to Co Clare in Ireland, Critter Rescue took a rather surreal turn on a surveying trip to the bedding cave in Coolagh River on 3rd September by Dan Runcan, Dan Rose, Felix Arnautovic and Stanley Lewis. To give you the full flavour of the heroics, here's the log entry for the day, written up by Felix.
The rescue team, from left to right: Dan Rose, Felix Arnautovic (with Fergus the Fulmar), Stanley Lewis.
Fergus wasn't in the field on the next trip, so we can presume that he flew off to get some grub. Everyone loves a happy ending!
Left to right: Stanley Lewis, Dan Rose, Felix Arnautovic, Fergus the Fulmar. Photo by Dan Runcan.
It's not unknown to have to rescue critters from caves, the cave rescue teams do this all the times, as sheep, dogs, cows and a variety of other creatures often find themselves in unintended and inconvenient places, but on this summer's trio to Co Clare in Ireland, Critter Rescue took a rather surreal turn on a surveying trip to the bedding cave in Coolagh River on 3rd September by Dan Runcan, Dan Rose, Felix Arnautovic and Stanley Lewis. To give you the full flavour of the heroics, here's the log entry for the day, written up by Felix.
The rescue team, from left to right: Dan Rose, Felix Arnautovic (with Fergus the Fulmar), Stanley Lewis.
Fergus wasn't in the field on the next trip, so we can presume that he flew off to get some grub. Everyone loves a happy ending!
Log entry by Felix Arnautovic.
FERGUS FULMAR READ TO THE END, DID YOU?
If you've got this far, you'll have read about the heroic rescue of Fergus the Fulmar, and in honour of the occasion, Fergus has asked us to award a stylish new UBSS buff to the first new member to read to the end and drop Fergus a line claiming their prize! To be in with a chance, you need to click the link below! You can choose a red, green or blue buff.
Your hard-working and needy editors love hearing from you all, so don't be shy!
Many thanks to all the lovely people below who made our day with your comments. And thanks to Paul for the suggestion of a banana slug for a cave critter. We'll added it to the list (once we find out what the hell they are!).
- I really enjoyed both of [Linda and Graham's] articles, really entertaining. [Bob Churcher]
- Thanks. It was interesting reading Dan’s account of his trip into Daren. Tony White and I surveyed the King’s Road back in the mists of time but, other than the entrance crawl, I’d forgotten almost all of it. Very depressing, I must be getting old… However, I was cheered up by this comment from Billy, “satisfaction washed over me as the usually cold, blue light of the Fenix was replaced by a heavenly glow of deep yellowy orange”. Oh yes, expedition carbides were always the best light, a broad area of illumination saving you from constantly looking down at your feet, a gorgeous warm light and a lovely warming generator if it gets cold. A shame about having to cart a pig full of carbide on underground camping trips, though. [Dick Willis]
- I’m late to the party this month, but enjoyed the read when I got there. [Chris Howes]
- One typo in the latest NL. Billy says he had borrowed his Dad’s old Carbide. Surely this can’t be the case Rob always begged borrowed or stole his kit so I’m sure it wasn’t actually his in the first place !!!!! (like father like son comes to mind.) [David Hardwick] [Editors' note: Billy's dad is welcome to claim the right to reply!]
- Thank you for the instructions on kit maintenance. can't recall ever having done any of that ever over the last 45 plus years. Alternative suggestion, stick it in the garage in a big plastic bag and shake off before using. [Ann On]
- Oh, my, the AI does have difficulty with letters! The W made me think I was seeing double - as did the number of eyes on the otter. The stories were superb, and the Youtube video for Kents Cavern was very well done. [Jan Walker]
- Bonjour! Another wonderful newsletter, thank you! :) [Kat Osei-Mensah]
- I read to the end! Very good trip reports might actually tempt me underground? I just told Merryn I might learn how to cave this year! [Imogen Clement]
- Another great read! How about a banana slug for the next edition? [Paul Savage]
I read to the end, Fergus, you fantastic fulmar!
THE END
If you've got this far, you'll have read about the heroic rescue of Fergus the Fulmar, and in honour of the occasion, Fergus has asked us to award a stylish new UBSS buff to the first new member to read to the end and drop Fergus a line claiming their prize! To be in with a chance, you need to click the link below! You can choose a red, green or blue buff.
Your hard-working and needy editors love hearing from you all, so don't be shy!
Many thanks to all the lovely people below who made our day with your comments. And thanks to Paul for the suggestion of a banana slug for a cave critter. We'll added it to the list (once we find out what the hell they are!).
- I really enjoyed both of [Linda and Graham's] articles, really entertaining. [Bob Churcher]
- Thanks. It was interesting reading Dan’s account of his trip into Daren. Tony White and I surveyed the King’s Road back in the mists of time but, other than the entrance crawl, I’d forgotten almost all of it. Very depressing, I must be getting old… However, I was cheered up by this comment from Billy, “satisfaction washed over me as the usually cold, blue light of the Fenix was replaced by a heavenly glow of deep yellowy orange”. Oh yes, expedition carbides were always the best light, a broad area of illumination saving you from constantly looking down at your feet, a gorgeous warm light and a lovely warming generator if it gets cold. A shame about having to cart a pig full of carbide on underground camping trips, though. [Dick Willis]
- I’m late to the party this month, but enjoyed the read when I got there. [Chris Howes]
- One typo in the latest NL. Billy says he had borrowed his Dad’s old Carbide. Surely this can’t be the case Rob always begged borrowed or stole his kit so I’m sure it wasn’t actually his in the first place !!!!! (like father like son comes to mind.) [David Hardwick] [Editors' note: Billy's dad is welcome to claim the right to reply!]
- Thank you for the instructions on kit maintenance. can't recall ever having done any of that ever over the last 45 plus years. Alternative suggestion, stick it in the garage in a big plastic bag and shake off before using. [Ann On]
- Oh, my, the AI does have difficulty with letters! The W made me think I was seeing double - as did the number of eyes on the otter. The stories were superb, and the Youtube video for Kents Cavern was very well done. [Jan Walker]
- Bonjour! Another wonderful newsletter, thank you! :) [Kat Osei-Mensah]
- I read to the end! Very good trip reports might actually tempt me underground? I just told Merryn I might learn how to cave this year! [Imogen Clement]
- Another great read! How about a banana slug for the next edition? [Paul Savage]
I read to the end, Fergus, you fantastic fulmar!
THE END