Bonfire at the Hut, photo by Jess Brock.
Another packed first term is now almost over! There's been a ton of caving, only held back at times by a shortage of drivers, so if you're able to help with this, that would be much appreciated, and it would also mean a caving trip for you, so it's win-win all round.
As usual with the newsletter we've gone from 'oh blimey, it's that time already, where's all the material? to 'wow, you're all amazing and we now have stuff for the next issue already!' but don't let that stop you from sending in even more trip write-ups, photos, ramblings about life, the universe and caves!
We'll end the year as we always do, with the longest continuous tradition in the society, the New Year's Dinner at the Hut, so if you're in Bristol that evening and would like the company of other cavers, do get in touch so we know numbers in advance!
If you want check out previous issues, you can find them all here, including the scanned archive of all our paper issues.
As usual with the newsletter we've gone from 'oh blimey, it's that time already, where's all the material? to 'wow, you're all amazing and we now have stuff for the next issue already!' but don't let that stop you from sending in even more trip write-ups, photos, ramblings about life, the universe and caves!
We'll end the year as we always do, with the longest continuous tradition in the society, the New Year's Dinner at the Hut, so if you're in Bristol that evening and would like the company of other cavers, do get in touch so we know numbers in advance!
If you want check out previous issues, you can find them all here, including the scanned archive of all our paper issues.
Linda and Billy
FIRE AND WATER
A bonfire night feast. Photo by Alysia Ellis.
As exam season rolls ever closer, it gets harder for our faithful correspondents to write up trips in detail so Kenneth McIver has put together some short notes on all the caving activities he recalls from the past month.
Bonfire Weekend
A little less caving and rather more shenanigans went on this weekend - an awful lot of plans were made, but we didn't realise there wasn't enough gear for these to occur simultaneously until quite late on. Due to a lack of more modern headlamps, I headed underground with, in the wise words of Teddy, a fire on my head and a small bomb at my side. Many, many thanks are due to Billy for lending me the carbide lamp - so much fun.
A traditional use of furniture. Photo by Jess Brock.
Sidcot Swallet: One I'd somehow escaped from doing on the freshers’ weekend,. The ducks added to the strange vibes of this one. Felt I could've sat in the Lobster Pot an awful long time
Pierre's Pot: As tight and squeezy as promised. Lots of fun, though at one point we had to leave some of our party to recuperate before picking them up on the way out. Dan got a bit damp courtesy of a badly placed bucket and a particularly ferocious kick as Teddy propelled herself out of the opening.
GB. The team at the Bridge. Photo by Jess Brock.
GB: Two days later, myself, Jess Brock, Isaac Neale, Grace Smith and Dylan Tooley headed down GB for a photoshoot. We ran down to the Sump, only to be disappointed (as we'd been told we'd be). It really is just a pile of mud. Much unlike the rest of GB, which is gorgeous, and Jess's photography skill brought it all out in a series of photos that are making great profile photos for us all.
CHECC
Yes, that's wet! Photo by Billy Evans.
What a weekend. Wet.
Survey Training: Having been rained out that morning we took our Distos inside and mapped out a definitely ferrous kitchen. A very interesting introduction.
OFD: Restless having sat indoors most the day, I headed down OFD with some of the other budding surveyors, though I must say I think we showed greater promise in surveying than survey reading - beautiful things are to be found down OFD, if you can find them. We found most of our intended destinations eventually, with a lot of backtracking and many comments of 'I think I recognise this bit' only to be proved wrong. CHECCnical issues made for an anxious drive back as we couldn't reach our callout, but the missed calls eventually got through to them and we made it through the increasingly flooded road in time for some chilli.
SRT training: A good refresher and reprise from the playpark SRT, on Sunday we actually made it to a wall in a cave this time (Powell’s Cave, on the road up to OFD) and were instructed on moving in all directions.
Kenneth McIver
A bonfire night feast. Photo by Alysia Ellis.
As exam season rolls ever closer, it gets harder for our faithful correspondents to write up trips in detail so Kenneth McIver has put together some short notes on all the caving activities he recalls from the past month.
Bonfire Weekend
A little less caving and rather more shenanigans went on this weekend - an awful lot of plans were made, but we didn't realise there wasn't enough gear for these to occur simultaneously until quite late on. Due to a lack of more modern headlamps, I headed underground with, in the wise words of Teddy, a fire on my head and a small bomb at my side. Many, many thanks are due to Billy for lending me the carbide lamp - so much fun.
A traditional use of furniture. Photo by Jess Brock.
Sidcot Swallet: One I'd somehow escaped from doing on the freshers’ weekend,. The ducks added to the strange vibes of this one. Felt I could've sat in the Lobster Pot an awful long time
Pierre's Pot: As tight and squeezy as promised. Lots of fun, though at one point we had to leave some of our party to recuperate before picking them up on the way out. Dan got a bit damp courtesy of a badly placed bucket and a particularly ferocious kick as Teddy propelled herself out of the opening.
GB. The team at the Bridge. Photo by Jess Brock.
GB: Two days later, myself, Jess Brock, Isaac Neale, Grace Smith and Dylan Tooley headed down GB for a photoshoot. We ran down to the Sump, only to be disappointed (as we'd been told we'd be). It really is just a pile of mud. Much unlike the rest of GB, which is gorgeous, and Jess's photography skill brought it all out in a series of photos that are making great profile photos for us all.
CHECC
Yes, that's wet! Photo by Billy Evans.What a weekend. Wet.
Survey Training: Having been rained out that morning we took our Distos inside and mapped out a definitely ferrous kitchen. A very interesting introduction.
OFD: Restless having sat indoors most the day, I headed down OFD with some of the other budding surveyors, though I must say I think we showed greater promise in surveying than survey reading - beautiful things are to be found down OFD, if you can find them. We found most of our intended destinations eventually, with a lot of backtracking and many comments of 'I think I recognise this bit' only to be proved wrong. CHECCnical issues made for an anxious drive back as we couldn't reach our callout, but the missed calls eventually got through to them and we made it through the increasingly flooded road in time for some chilli.
SRT training: A good refresher and reprise from the playpark SRT, on Sunday we actually made it to a wall in a cave this time (Powell’s Cave, on the road up to OFD) and were instructed on moving in all directions.
Kenneth McIver
MESSY, IRREGULAR AND UNPREDICTABLE
Ben Morgan plays possum while (left to right) Megan, Felix, Jess, Billy and others prepare to transfer him to the stretcher. Photo by Dan.
On the last weekend of September, nine UBSS members completed a level three outdoor first aid course funded by the Oliver Lloyd Memorial Fund (although what the particpants didn't know was that Oliver was once famously referred to as a 'dead man's doctor' due to his pathology work!) Dan Rose provides an overview.
The course is a requirement for employment in any kind of outdoor instructing and provides useful and potentially life-saving skills both under and over ground. UBSS members began with the basics: bleeding was halted, heart rhythms restarted, and recovery positions practiced. From this foundation, we were taught to haul stretchers through squeezes, warm up hypothermic cavers, and save the lives of injured walkers under the time pressure of impending doom.
Joining us were the University of Bristol Mountaineering Club, the climbers who take ground falls more regularly than cats drop out of trees and, inexplicably, seem to have the same number of lives. Although occupying a different field in outdoor pursuits, bleeding out overground is just as deadly is it is underneath it, and with the collective knowledge of outdoor first aid, the efforts of UBMC to continue their delicate dance around death may prove freshly renewed. Now, when Ben Morgan gives himself a catastrophic haemorrhage falling off a femur-splitting E5 6A, or Billy Evans passes out in hypothermic shock after diving into the Daren Cilau terminal sump in pursuit of a glowstick, Bristol cave-climbers will be mentally and epistemologically equipped to save the day.
The various drills were the highlights of the weekend. To practice manoeuvring an injured casualty through a cave, Ben lay down, limp and unresponsive, as we hauled him onto a stretcher, and proceeded to squeeze him through the tightest hole in the back of a chair that we could find. As in caving, teamwork was paramount, and, being the tight-knit committee we are, communication flowed like water from a tap. The exercise was characterised by cold, collected, but deathly efficient ease. Not to mention numerous jokes about the lifeless expression on Ben’s drooping, ghastly face as he channelled his inner method actor. To Ben, injury was art, and the stretcher his canvas.
Auditioning for the remake of Reservoir Dogs. Left to right: Megan, Felix, Stanley, Billy, Dan.
Entertainment came in the form of anecdotes from our instructors: a lifelong first aid ambulance responder, and a cave rescue specialist. Mesmerising stories of their professions filled the minutes between lifesaving drills. Stories from the Iraq War, of knife attacks from confused patients, and heart attacks that happened to occur just as first aiders arrived. They reminded us that first aid is not an abstract idea that is worth learning merely for the sake of a mental exercise; but is something that is done on actual people, in the messy, irregular and unpredictable space of the real world. The reactions of the injured, of those around them, and of yourself to the sensory overload of chaos, are unknown variables that must be considered. These stories helped convey this.
Congratulations to the proud team: (left to right) Stanley Lewis, Megan Malpas, Ben Morgan, Dan Rose, Felix Arnautovic, Billy Evans, Elliott McCall, Jess Brock, Jake Reich.
Thank you very much to the grant from the Oliver Lloyd Memorial Fund that allowed us to attend the course Although we hope the fruits from the learning never have to be displayed, if somebody does fall down a pitch/get hit by a rock/pass out in cold shock, and UBSS first aiders are around, their odds are much better now than they were before. As the value of a life is immeasurably huge, if this course at some point in the next 50 years plays even a minute role in the saving of somebody, it will have paid for itself one hundred times over.
A worthwhile weekend!!!
Ben Morgan plays possum while (left to right) Megan, Felix, Jess, Billy and others prepare to transfer him to the stretcher. Photo by Dan.
On the last weekend of September, nine UBSS members completed a level three outdoor first aid course funded by the Oliver Lloyd Memorial Fund (although what the particpants didn't know was that Oliver was once famously referred to as a 'dead man's doctor' due to his pathology work!) Dan Rose provides an overview.
The course is a requirement for employment in any kind of outdoor instructing and provides useful and potentially life-saving skills both under and over ground. UBSS members began with the basics: bleeding was halted, heart rhythms restarted, and recovery positions practiced. From this foundation, we were taught to haul stretchers through squeezes, warm up hypothermic cavers, and save the lives of injured walkers under the time pressure of impending doom.
Joining us were the University of Bristol Mountaineering Club, the climbers who take ground falls more regularly than cats drop out of trees and, inexplicably, seem to have the same number of lives. Although occupying a different field in outdoor pursuits, bleeding out overground is just as deadly is it is underneath it, and with the collective knowledge of outdoor first aid, the efforts of UBMC to continue their delicate dance around death may prove freshly renewed. Now, when Ben Morgan gives himself a catastrophic haemorrhage falling off a femur-splitting E5 6A, or Billy Evans passes out in hypothermic shock after diving into the Daren Cilau terminal sump in pursuit of a glowstick, Bristol cave-climbers will be mentally and epistemologically equipped to save the day.
The various drills were the highlights of the weekend. To practice manoeuvring an injured casualty through a cave, Ben lay down, limp and unresponsive, as we hauled him onto a stretcher, and proceeded to squeeze him through the tightest hole in the back of a chair that we could find. As in caving, teamwork was paramount, and, being the tight-knit committee we are, communication flowed like water from a tap. The exercise was characterised by cold, collected, but deathly efficient ease. Not to mention numerous jokes about the lifeless expression on Ben’s drooping, ghastly face as he channelled his inner method actor. To Ben, injury was art, and the stretcher his canvas.
Auditioning for the remake of Reservoir Dogs. Left to right: Megan, Felix, Stanley, Billy, Dan.
Entertainment came in the form of anecdotes from our instructors: a lifelong first aid ambulance responder, and a cave rescue specialist. Mesmerising stories of their professions filled the minutes between lifesaving drills. Stories from the Iraq War, of knife attacks from confused patients, and heart attacks that happened to occur just as first aiders arrived. They reminded us that first aid is not an abstract idea that is worth learning merely for the sake of a mental exercise; but is something that is done on actual people, in the messy, irregular and unpredictable space of the real world. The reactions of the injured, of those around them, and of yourself to the sensory overload of chaos, are unknown variables that must be considered. These stories helped convey this.
Congratulations to the proud team: (left to right) Stanley Lewis, Megan Malpas, Ben Morgan, Dan Rose, Felix Arnautovic, Billy Evans, Elliott McCall, Jess Brock, Jake Reich.Thank you very much to the grant from the Oliver Lloyd Memorial Fund that allowed us to attend the course Although we hope the fruits from the learning never have to be displayed, if somebody does fall down a pitch/get hit by a rock/pass out in cold shock, and UBSS first aiders are around, their odds are much better now than they were before. As the value of a life is immeasurably huge, if this course at some point in the next 50 years plays even a minute role in the saving of somebody, it will have paid for itself one hundred times over.
A worthwhile weekend!!!
Dan Rose
WEBSITE NEWS
Screenshot from the website, so don't be surprised that the links above don't work. The ones below do work!
Proceedings
The September Newsletter revealed that after a long gestation the new website is up and running. Keeper of the Web, Graham Mullan, has some more news ...
The entire Proceedings back catalogue is now on our website. This is a job which I started at least 15 years ago and it is now complete. As a result, the Society's entire published output is now online, with the exception of the Irish cave guides (which are still for sale, with special rates for members contact the treasurer or give me a call. Non-members can use the shop. I'm particularly proud of our policy on Open Access which means that, books aside, all this material is available at no cost to the user and without even the need to register.
The search function will find most things amongst this collection, but is not good at picking up text from old scanned newsletters. However, we do have a complete index to these which was put together by Rosie Daniels and can be downloaded. Between these two tools, it should be possible for all readers to find what they are looking for.
Obviously there are tremendous numbers of files and links involved in putting this resource together and glitches are inevitable, so If anybody finds any broken or incorrect links, please contact me and I will endeavour to put things right as quickly as I can.
Weather
Screenshot from the website, so don't be surprised that the links above don't work. The ones below do work!
The very latest addition to the site is a page of links to Met Office forecasts for caving areas. I’ve been searching out the most appropriate links so that you don’t have to. If your favourite caving area isn’t shown, let me know and I will find the nearest one and add to the links.
Screenshot from the website, so don't be surprised that the links above don't work. The ones below do work!
Proceedings
The September Newsletter revealed that after a long gestation the new website is up and running. Keeper of the Web, Graham Mullan, has some more news ...
The entire Proceedings back catalogue is now on our website. This is a job which I started at least 15 years ago and it is now complete. As a result, the Society's entire published output is now online, with the exception of the Irish cave guides (which are still for sale, with special rates for members contact the treasurer or give me a call. Non-members can use the shop. I'm particularly proud of our policy on Open Access which means that, books aside, all this material is available at no cost to the user and without even the need to register.
The search function will find most things amongst this collection, but is not good at picking up text from old scanned newsletters. However, we do have a complete index to these which was put together by Rosie Daniels and can be downloaded. Between these two tools, it should be possible for all readers to find what they are looking for.
Obviously there are tremendous numbers of files and links involved in putting this resource together and glitches are inevitable, so If anybody finds any broken or incorrect links, please contact me and I will endeavour to put things right as quickly as I can.
Weather
Screenshot from the website, so don't be surprised that the links above don't work. The ones below do work!
The very latest addition to the site is a page of links to Met Office forecasts for caving areas. I’ve been searching out the most appropriate links so that you don’t have to. If your favourite caving area isn’t shown, let me know and I will find the nearest one and add to the links.
Graham Mullan
PARKING AT GB GRUFFY FIELD
Somerset Wildlife Trust (SWT) the landowners for Gruffy Field, the nature reserve that contains the entrances to GB and Charterhouse Cave have recently encountered several instances of inconsiderate parking by cavers in the small area of land outside the field gate.
Cars have blocked access to the gate, preventing the graziers getting into the field with stock, and as they had come up with the animals from Exmoor, that was incredibly problematic. The photo shows one instance of such parking. These were all believed to be cavers’ vehicles, not dog walkers.
Please, please be considerate when parking and do not obstruct vehicular access to the field. This is in regular use for stock in the field.
There is alternative parking available at the side of the road only a short distance away in the direction of Tynings Farm/Shipham. Please make use of that if there is already a car in the area outside the gate.
Linda Wilson
Conservation Officer
CCC Ltd
Somerset Wildlife Trust (SWT) the landowners for Gruffy Field, the nature reserve that contains the entrances to GB and Charterhouse Cave have recently encountered several instances of inconsiderate parking by cavers in the small area of land outside the field gate.
Cars have blocked access to the gate, preventing the graziers getting into the field with stock, and as they had come up with the animals from Exmoor, that was incredibly problematic. The photo shows one instance of such parking. These were all believed to be cavers’ vehicles, not dog walkers.
Please, please be considerate when parking and do not obstruct vehicular access to the field. This is in regular use for stock in the field.
There is alternative parking available at the side of the road only a short distance away in the direction of Tynings Farm/Shipham. Please make use of that if there is already a car in the area outside the gate.
Linda Wilson
Conservation Officer
CCC Ltd
TOUCHING THE VOID
Left to right: Dan Rose on rope, James McMillan Kline at the top. Photo by Ben Morgan.
Craving the vertical, Billy Evans, Krisz Kormas, James McMillan Clyne, Ben Morgan and Dan Rose recently decided to trade the muddy crawls, scathing squeezes, and ‘fascinating’ mud formations typical of Mendip, for the Yorkshire-esque glamor of Rhino Rift. Ben Morgan lived to tell the tale.
Ben Morgan parked his new Honda Civic on the pin that the Charterhouse Cave Company recommended, and we then spent time reassuring him that he would not fall victim to the car thieves ‘notorious’ for breaking into unsuspecting caver’s cars around Longwood Valley. With slight trepidation he gave me his keys; to be placed in my Peli case, begging for me to not drop them down a pitch into the painfully untouchable void.
The entrance led to a place where the floors were obscured. Taken by darkness, a traverse over the abyss forks into two routes. One set of bolts veers to the left, and one to the right. The plan was to do a contrived kind of exchange trip. I would rig the main, left hand route, followed by Billy and Krisz, while Ben would rig the more complex and confusing right hand route, to be followed by James. We would then swap routes at the bottom, and ascend each other’s rigging.
Ben (top), Dan (bottom), photo by Billy.
This meant that, for the first pitch, Ben and I were rigging side by side. Intense procrastination followed. Yapping about topics I remember little about kept us to a leisurely pace. As we both descended to a pair of neighbouring ledges, we found ourselves in a perfect position for a photo. Rarely an issue, I realised that the Peli case attached to my harness contained the only camera we had. Desperate to not let such a picturesque opportunity go to waste, and to great protest of those above, I prussiked up, handed Billy my camera and lights, and nicely asked him to take a picture of us both. Cue momentary frustration of our companions for a timeless recreation of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam. Worth it.
Michelangelo, eat your heart out! Dan (left), Ben (right), photo by Billy.
Put off by the silly, and sometimes loose bolts of the right-hand route, Ben retreated and followed me down the main way. We proceeded to descend the first two pitches with pleasant intent. The rifty shape of the pitches, with their narrow but deep descents, make the cave feel like an exercise in crevasse rescue. Like Joe Simpson’s Touching the Void, but much better equipped – and warmer. The cave feels more authentic than much of Mendip SRT. Where Hunter’s Hole feels almost artificially like a training ground, Rhino feels like more of a natural, flowing formation. The pitches tend to be narrow at the top, and widen towards the bottom, preventing much illumination from the head. This makes them feel more dramatic than they would otherwise be, and the rock is geologically unusual, with lots of smooth limestone blobs protruding from the walls. This, combined with enough damp for a slight gooey coating to be felt on some of the surfaces, makes the cave feel almost biological, like a descent into the digestive tract of a kraken. Not a particularly intimidating kraken, but one that is certainly alive.
Heading home. James (left), Dan (on rope).
We reached the bottom of the first pitch, and continued onto the next. Billy, keen to practice his rigging, took lead at the second pitch, and zoomed down with exemplary haste. After that, we decided to call it a day, leaving the somewhat looser delights of the third pitch for another day.
Heading back up and exiting the cave we walked back amid a fine Mendip afternoon, ruminating on a fun trip and the intoxication of nature’s tranquillity.
Left to right: Dan Rose on rope, James McMillan Kline at the top. Photo by Ben Morgan.
Craving the vertical, Billy Evans, Krisz Kormas, James McMillan Clyne, Ben Morgan and Dan Rose recently decided to trade the muddy crawls, scathing squeezes, and ‘fascinating’ mud formations typical of Mendip, for the Yorkshire-esque glamor of Rhino Rift. Ben Morgan lived to tell the tale.
Ben Morgan parked his new Honda Civic on the pin that the Charterhouse Cave Company recommended, and we then spent time reassuring him that he would not fall victim to the car thieves ‘notorious’ for breaking into unsuspecting caver’s cars around Longwood Valley. With slight trepidation he gave me his keys; to be placed in my Peli case, begging for me to not drop them down a pitch into the painfully untouchable void.
The entrance led to a place where the floors were obscured. Taken by darkness, a traverse over the abyss forks into two routes. One set of bolts veers to the left, and one to the right. The plan was to do a contrived kind of exchange trip. I would rig the main, left hand route, followed by Billy and Krisz, while Ben would rig the more complex and confusing right hand route, to be followed by James. We would then swap routes at the bottom, and ascend each other’s rigging.
Ben (top), Dan (bottom), photo by Billy.
This meant that, for the first pitch, Ben and I were rigging side by side. Intense procrastination followed. Yapping about topics I remember little about kept us to a leisurely pace. As we both descended to a pair of neighbouring ledges, we found ourselves in a perfect position for a photo. Rarely an issue, I realised that the Peli case attached to my harness contained the only camera we had. Desperate to not let such a picturesque opportunity go to waste, and to great protest of those above, I prussiked up, handed Billy my camera and lights, and nicely asked him to take a picture of us both. Cue momentary frustration of our companions for a timeless recreation of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam. Worth it.
Michelangelo, eat your heart out! Dan (left), Ben (right), photo by Billy.
Put off by the silly, and sometimes loose bolts of the right-hand route, Ben retreated and followed me down the main way. We proceeded to descend the first two pitches with pleasant intent. The rifty shape of the pitches, with their narrow but deep descents, make the cave feel like an exercise in crevasse rescue. Like Joe Simpson’s Touching the Void, but much better equipped – and warmer. The cave feels more authentic than much of Mendip SRT. Where Hunter’s Hole feels almost artificially like a training ground, Rhino feels like more of a natural, flowing formation. The pitches tend to be narrow at the top, and widen towards the bottom, preventing much illumination from the head. This makes them feel more dramatic than they would otherwise be, and the rock is geologically unusual, with lots of smooth limestone blobs protruding from the walls. This, combined with enough damp for a slight gooey coating to be felt on some of the surfaces, makes the cave feel almost biological, like a descent into the digestive tract of a kraken. Not a particularly intimidating kraken, but one that is certainly alive.
Heading home. James (left), Dan (on rope).
We reached the bottom of the first pitch, and continued onto the next. Billy, keen to practice his rigging, took lead at the second pitch, and zoomed down with exemplary haste. After that, we decided to call it a day, leaving the somewhat looser delights of the third pitch for another day.
Heading back up and exiting the cave we walked back amid a fine Mendip afternoon, ruminating on a fun trip and the intoxication of nature’s tranquillity.
Dan Rose
HUNTERS' HOLE
Grace preparing to descend then going down! Photos by Jess Brock.
Grace Smith recently got the opportunity to put her newly acquired SRT skills into practice on a visit to Hunters' Hole with Jess Brock, Billy Evans, Dan Rose and Kenneth McIver. Grace gives her first impressions of an SRT trip.
On Friday evening we took a trip to Hunter's Hole! My first time (and Kenneth’s) testing out the SRT skills we learned at CHECC the previous weekend. During the car journey there I felt my nerves, the first nerves I'd had during these past three months of my caving journey. I started going through the techniques in my head methodically and mustering the courage to reassure myself that all was going to be okay. However, when we arrived at the cave and set up our harnesses and gear, the lure of being out of the city and in the dark, foggy air brought me comfort and excitement once again.
Into the abyss! Photos by Jess Brock.
The initial descent was rewarding, with Jess behind me, hyping me up and showing me the support I needed. From there we were soon tackling rebelays and deviations, taking breaks, as Billy rigged up the rope, to spot bats and stalactites hanging and growing alongside each other.
Following the interplay of headlamps against the walls and ropes, descending into the depths of Hunters was not just a technical challenge but also allowed for another incredible sensory experience, surrounded by brisk air and the echoing water drops that travelled down the cavern with us.
Top left, Billy, top right, Dan. Bottom, left to right: Jess, Kenneth, Grace. Photo by Jess Brock.
After reaching the bottom, we began the return ascent, which was a whole different kind of challenge. It was here that the advice from Jess, Dan, and Billy really made a difference. Their patience, encouragement, and tips made the process not only manageable but genuinely enjoyable. By the time we started to feel the damp dusty air start to lift and the rope came to an end, I felt a newfound confidence and deep appreciation for the techniques we had learned.
As we sat in the Hunters' Lodge Inn, with a pint and some homely foods, after a beautiful evening in the cave, I felt nothing but gratitude for the exhilarating, grounding and rewarding experience of my trip. Something that would not have been possible to do alone.
Grace preparing to descend then going down! Photos by Jess Brock.
Grace Smith recently got the opportunity to put her newly acquired SRT skills into practice on a visit to Hunters' Hole with Jess Brock, Billy Evans, Dan Rose and Kenneth McIver. Grace gives her first impressions of an SRT trip.
On Friday evening we took a trip to Hunter's Hole! My first time (and Kenneth’s) testing out the SRT skills we learned at CHECC the previous weekend. During the car journey there I felt my nerves, the first nerves I'd had during these past three months of my caving journey. I started going through the techniques in my head methodically and mustering the courage to reassure myself that all was going to be okay. However, when we arrived at the cave and set up our harnesses and gear, the lure of being out of the city and in the dark, foggy air brought me comfort and excitement once again.
Into the abyss! Photos by Jess Brock.
The initial descent was rewarding, with Jess behind me, hyping me up and showing me the support I needed. From there we were soon tackling rebelays and deviations, taking breaks, as Billy rigged up the rope, to spot bats and stalactites hanging and growing alongside each other.
Following the interplay of headlamps against the walls and ropes, descending into the depths of Hunters was not just a technical challenge but also allowed for another incredible sensory experience, surrounded by brisk air and the echoing water drops that travelled down the cavern with us.
Top left, Billy, top right, Dan. Bottom, left to right: Jess, Kenneth, Grace. Photo by Jess Brock.
After reaching the bottom, we began the return ascent, which was a whole different kind of challenge. It was here that the advice from Jess, Dan, and Billy really made a difference. Their patience, encouragement, and tips made the process not only manageable but genuinely enjoyable. By the time we started to feel the damp dusty air start to lift and the rope came to an end, I felt a newfound confidence and deep appreciation for the techniques we had learned.
As we sat in the Hunters' Lodge Inn, with a pint and some homely foods, after a beautiful evening in the cave, I felt nothing but gratitude for the exhilarating, grounding and rewarding experience of my trip. Something that would not have been possible to do alone.
Grace Smith
FUN SLIDES AND CAVE RAVES
Eastwater. Photo by Stuart Alldred.
After ignoring Linda's plea for some photos from Cuckoo Cleeves, Stuart Alldred headed off with Rosie Daniels, James Hallihan, Moon, Ash and Harvey to Rosie’s favourite cave… Eastwater!
So on a Thursday evening after work I picked up the three freshers, somehow spent half an hour at the tackle store picking up kit, then joined the others at the Wessex to get changed.
We planned to do the upper series round trip, but part way round, myself and Rosie came to the conclusion that neither of us had done it before, as we had always headed towards the 13 Pots and back. This was confirmed in our minds when we were trying to find the way on to the lower traverse, only to find some very tight passage to crawl through. Unsure if this was the way, or if we had missed a junction, we opted to turn around and come out the way we came in.
Yes, a lot of Eastwater really is on a slant! Photo by Stu Alldred.
Everyone seemed to have fun on the trip, including Moon who decided the rift should be a slide! By the time we got out of the cave the cars had frozen over, so I was very glad James had a key to the Wessex rather than changing by the side of the road. Sadly, we had taken too long/Hunters had closed early, so we had to make our way home without a hot pasta dinner!
Confirmation that Rosie really does love Eastwater. Photo by Stu Alldred.
Sad, but I would have another opportunity to go on Tuesday…
Unable to stay away from Swildon's for long, Stu teamed up with another UBSS member from his generation… Anya Keatley (and some other friends from the BEC). Whilst only ⅓ UBSS,has still provided a few highlights:
The Swildon's 20" pitch. Photo by Stu Alldred.
Anya rocking the latest cave fashion. Photo by Stu Alldred.
The six of us went to Sump 1 and back (with a couple of us going through for the fun of it - despite the large amount of foam collected there), then got to Hunters in plenty of time to warm up with a delicious veg pasta meal! Yay!
Eastwater. Photo by Stuart Alldred.
After ignoring Linda's plea for some photos from Cuckoo Cleeves, Stuart Alldred headed off with Rosie Daniels, James Hallihan, Moon, Ash and Harvey to Rosie’s favourite cave… Eastwater!
So on a Thursday evening after work I picked up the three freshers, somehow spent half an hour at the tackle store picking up kit, then joined the others at the Wessex to get changed.
We planned to do the upper series round trip, but part way round, myself and Rosie came to the conclusion that neither of us had done it before, as we had always headed towards the 13 Pots and back. This was confirmed in our minds when we were trying to find the way on to the lower traverse, only to find some very tight passage to crawl through. Unsure if this was the way, or if we had missed a junction, we opted to turn around and come out the way we came in.
Yes, a lot of Eastwater really is on a slant! Photo by Stu Alldred.
Everyone seemed to have fun on the trip, including Moon who decided the rift should be a slide! By the time we got out of the cave the cars had frozen over, so I was very glad James had a key to the Wessex rather than changing by the side of the road. Sadly, we had taken too long/Hunters had closed early, so we had to make our way home without a hot pasta dinner!
Confirmation that Rosie really does love Eastwater. Photo by Stu Alldred.
Sad, but I would have another opportunity to go on Tuesday…
Unable to stay away from Swildon's for long, Stu teamed up with another UBSS member from his generation… Anya Keatley (and some other friends from the BEC). Whilst only ⅓ UBSS,has still provided a few highlights:
The Swildon's 20" pitch. Photo by Stu Alldred.- A lack of faff! (Despite a little traffic on the way out of Bristol)
- Anya rocking the latest in caving fashion…goggles to protect contact lenses in waterfalls
- Lots of foam higher up than I expected to find it after the stormy weather over the weekend
- Brief visit to a new part of Swildons that has been dug out since I was last active!
- Gin & Tonics and a chocolate orange
- CAVE RAVE!
Anya rocking the latest cave fashion. Photo by Stu Alldred.
The six of us went to Sump 1 and back (with a couple of us going through for the fun of it - despite the large amount of foam collected there), then got to Hunters in plenty of time to warm up with a delicious veg pasta meal! Yay!
Stuart Alldred
TECHNICAL (tick), MASTERPIECE (tick), EGGS (wtf??)
Left: Dan Rose looking cheerful. Right: Maybe slightly less cheerful. Photos by Jess Brock.
Eggciting? Egghilerating? The temptation to indulge in egg jokes is irrestible. If you can think of any more after reading Dan Rose's account of three jolly good eggs and their attempt to conquer Mendip's underground Eiger, do let us know!
Tired and bedraggled, Ben Morgan, Jess Brock and I slumped into a half-broken Honda Civic at 17:30 to brave the dark, foggy, and borderline freezing conditions of Mendip roads. We aimed to complete a challenge that nobody in their right minds would even attempt: getting an egg to the bottom of the Technical Masterpiece in Eastwater Cavern.
We approached Eastwater Lane around 18:30, and procrastinated when faced with the grim task ahead. It was the coldest weather of the year, and I let out a sad sigh at the notion of stripping on the road to replace my cozy cotton with a wet, mouldy undersuit and hole-punctured wet socks. As my hands went increasingly numb, I sprinted up and down the road a few times, psychotically grinning and gritting my teeth in desperately futile attempts to warm up. After accepting that the cold was going nowhere, we peeled our kit onto our bodies, and approached Eastwater Cavern.
After filming an intro for our CHECC short film competition – in which I looked positively insane, we dropped down the entrance boulder choke and embraced the warmth of the underground. Draughtless, dry passage, ten degrees warmer than the outside. My blood gradually started to re-enter my extremities and I felt the threat of hypothermia waning with each boulder drop. By the time we had reached the upper traverse, the cold had become a thing of the past.
This warm ecstasy of relief was soon cut short, as I felt an oval object wallop into the back of my neck. Cold egg white and yolk ran down the back of my oversuit, as Ben laughed like an antisocial child. Giving him a bemused look, I forced him to clean up every speck of egg to ensure abidance by conservation standards. Foolish man.
At this point, dear reader, Dan might have ben re-evaluating his lifestyle choices. Photos by Jess Brock.
Regardless, we approached the narrow rift of 380ft Way, and, after a short scaffolded climb down, approached the beginning of the Technical Masterpiece: a 45 degree rift that has a reputation far scarier than the passage itself. This part of cave is some of the most revered on Mendip. Stuff of nightmares, where cavers go to die, stuck in Nutty-Putty-esque horror, where rescue is impossible and body recovery unlikely. A hellscape of indescribable hideousness, in which only the most masochistic (and smallest built), may ever set foot.
This is the description that the Masterpiece’s mythology will have you believe. In truth, it’s not that bad. Not once did any of us feel truly threatened by anything, and most of it, if approached methodically, is hardly tight at all. As a man with an unfairly protruding chest, I had mentally prepared to break a few ribs to get through. I had accepted this as a fact of life and had done extensive research to ensure that I would be able to cave out with a flailing chest. As it happens, however, even with ribs like mine, there is nothing in the Technical Masterpiece tight enough to even remotely damage them.
Anyway, we proceeded into the dreaded passage. Initially treading with fear induced alertness, this soon faded as we realised how overblown the rift’s reputation is. With slow, careful movement, we negotiated the sideways thrutches with one hand pushing against the wall, and the other cradling the egg; like a small pet chicken, shielded from the horror of the world. At a tight Z-bend, an awkward bending manoeuvre was performed, with Jess filming with cinematic prowess, and Ben following suit soon after, now carrying nothing, as the five eggs he had taken in had all been lost to squeezes, or thrown at me. The egg I held had to be the sole survivor, or our efforts would have gone to waste.
Dear readers, you are now about to get to the point of the egg jokes ... Photos by Jess Brock.
After a short while further, we approached the Gates of Hell. By far the most awkward part of the passage, this was the only section that felt truly tight. An uncooperative vertical squeeze around a sharp bend that requires morphing into a very particular bodily position to be passed. I tried, and tried, and tried again to go feet first. With each attempt the squeeze narrowed out around my chest, while an evil rock spike dug deep into my groin. This was not working. The idea of coming this far with an egg and falling at the last hurdle was too traumatic to contemplate, as I decided I would be willing to do anything to pass. Off came my oversuilt. I tried again with this modification and still, it was too tight. Looking at the squeeze, I wondered if descending it head first might be the only way – this method would evade the dreaded groin spike that wedged me in painful, virility-busting suspension. A slightly scary move - images of being stuck upside down in a squeeze too tight for my body, suspended off the ground, with blood rushing to my head and no way to get out - crossed my mind. With a deep breath, I held the egg in my mouth, and dived down to hell. After some thrutching and adjusting, I plopped through like poo exiting the anus. A short bit of descent further, and we reached the bottom.
The fate of the egg is now revealed! Photos by Jess Brock.
There we rejoiced, and, to prove that we had not been carrying a hard-boiled egg, Jess filmed me slurping up its raw contents. An unorthodox but weirdly tasty cave snack. After some rest, we retraced our steps back up the Technical Masterpiece, which was much more tiring on the way up. What was most terrifying about this trip was not the caving itself, but the uncanny time dilation we experienced. All three of us agreed that we had spent around an hour in total underground. This turned out to be three hours short of our total time of four hours. It was as though the Technical Masterpiece had been so engaging that we had effectively blacked out in concentration, allowing the hours to turn into minutes.
Dan Rose at the end of an eggellent adventure. Photo by Ben Morgan.
If there’s one thing to learn from this journey, then, it’s that The Technical Masterpiece is a fun negotiation of interesting passage and well worth doing, but if you do go for it, leave plenty of time for your callout!
Left: Dan Rose looking cheerful. Right: Maybe slightly less cheerful. Photos by Jess Brock.
Eggciting? Egghilerating? The temptation to indulge in egg jokes is irrestible. If you can think of any more after reading Dan Rose's account of three jolly good eggs and their attempt to conquer Mendip's underground Eiger, do let us know!
Tired and bedraggled, Ben Morgan, Jess Brock and I slumped into a half-broken Honda Civic at 17:30 to brave the dark, foggy, and borderline freezing conditions of Mendip roads. We aimed to complete a challenge that nobody in their right minds would even attempt: getting an egg to the bottom of the Technical Masterpiece in Eastwater Cavern.
We approached Eastwater Lane around 18:30, and procrastinated when faced with the grim task ahead. It was the coldest weather of the year, and I let out a sad sigh at the notion of stripping on the road to replace my cozy cotton with a wet, mouldy undersuit and hole-punctured wet socks. As my hands went increasingly numb, I sprinted up and down the road a few times, psychotically grinning and gritting my teeth in desperately futile attempts to warm up. After accepting that the cold was going nowhere, we peeled our kit onto our bodies, and approached Eastwater Cavern.
After filming an intro for our CHECC short film competition – in which I looked positively insane, we dropped down the entrance boulder choke and embraced the warmth of the underground. Draughtless, dry passage, ten degrees warmer than the outside. My blood gradually started to re-enter my extremities and I felt the threat of hypothermia waning with each boulder drop. By the time we had reached the upper traverse, the cold had become a thing of the past.
This warm ecstasy of relief was soon cut short, as I felt an oval object wallop into the back of my neck. Cold egg white and yolk ran down the back of my oversuit, as Ben laughed like an antisocial child. Giving him a bemused look, I forced him to clean up every speck of egg to ensure abidance by conservation standards. Foolish man.
At this point, dear reader, Dan might have ben re-evaluating his lifestyle choices. Photos by Jess Brock.
Regardless, we approached the narrow rift of 380ft Way, and, after a short scaffolded climb down, approached the beginning of the Technical Masterpiece: a 45 degree rift that has a reputation far scarier than the passage itself. This part of cave is some of the most revered on Mendip. Stuff of nightmares, where cavers go to die, stuck in Nutty-Putty-esque horror, where rescue is impossible and body recovery unlikely. A hellscape of indescribable hideousness, in which only the most masochistic (and smallest built), may ever set foot.
This is the description that the Masterpiece’s mythology will have you believe. In truth, it’s not that bad. Not once did any of us feel truly threatened by anything, and most of it, if approached methodically, is hardly tight at all. As a man with an unfairly protruding chest, I had mentally prepared to break a few ribs to get through. I had accepted this as a fact of life and had done extensive research to ensure that I would be able to cave out with a flailing chest. As it happens, however, even with ribs like mine, there is nothing in the Technical Masterpiece tight enough to even remotely damage them.
Anyway, we proceeded into the dreaded passage. Initially treading with fear induced alertness, this soon faded as we realised how overblown the rift’s reputation is. With slow, careful movement, we negotiated the sideways thrutches with one hand pushing against the wall, and the other cradling the egg; like a small pet chicken, shielded from the horror of the world. At a tight Z-bend, an awkward bending manoeuvre was performed, with Jess filming with cinematic prowess, and Ben following suit soon after, now carrying nothing, as the five eggs he had taken in had all been lost to squeezes, or thrown at me. The egg I held had to be the sole survivor, or our efforts would have gone to waste.
Dear readers, you are now about to get to the point of the egg jokes ... Photos by Jess Brock.
After a short while further, we approached the Gates of Hell. By far the most awkward part of the passage, this was the only section that felt truly tight. An uncooperative vertical squeeze around a sharp bend that requires morphing into a very particular bodily position to be passed. I tried, and tried, and tried again to go feet first. With each attempt the squeeze narrowed out around my chest, while an evil rock spike dug deep into my groin. This was not working. The idea of coming this far with an egg and falling at the last hurdle was too traumatic to contemplate, as I decided I would be willing to do anything to pass. Off came my oversuilt. I tried again with this modification and still, it was too tight. Looking at the squeeze, I wondered if descending it head first might be the only way – this method would evade the dreaded groin spike that wedged me in painful, virility-busting suspension. A slightly scary move - images of being stuck upside down in a squeeze too tight for my body, suspended off the ground, with blood rushing to my head and no way to get out - crossed my mind. With a deep breath, I held the egg in my mouth, and dived down to hell. After some thrutching and adjusting, I plopped through like poo exiting the anus. A short bit of descent further, and we reached the bottom.
The fate of the egg is now revealed! Photos by Jess Brock.
There we rejoiced, and, to prove that we had not been carrying a hard-boiled egg, Jess filmed me slurping up its raw contents. An unorthodox but weirdly tasty cave snack. After some rest, we retraced our steps back up the Technical Masterpiece, which was much more tiring on the way up. What was most terrifying about this trip was not the caving itself, but the uncanny time dilation we experienced. All three of us agreed that we had spent around an hour in total underground. This turned out to be three hours short of our total time of four hours. It was as though the Technical Masterpiece had been so engaging that we had effectively blacked out in concentration, allowing the hours to turn into minutes.
Dan Rose at the end of an eggellent adventure. Photo by Ben Morgan.
If there’s one thing to learn from this journey, then, it’s that The Technical Masterpiece is a fun negotiation of interesting passage and well worth doing, but if you do go for it, leave plenty of time for your callout!
Dan Rose
HIPPOS AND WOODLICE IN A MALTESE CAVE
Entrance passage Ghar Dalam, Malta. Photo by Hans Friederich.
Hans Freiderich provides an account of a recent visit to Ghar Dalam, one of the few natural caves of note in Malta
Surprisingly for an island that consists of limestone, there appear to be no proper caves of any size on the island. There are a good number of sea caves, but they are often short tubes, and appear to be due to wave action, rather than fluvial karst processes.
The cave of Ghar Dalam is particularly famous for the prehistoric findings. It is a single dry, phreatic passage with a vadose trench in the bottom, that ends in mud after 144 metres. The first 50 metres are open to the public.
Stratigraphy of the cave. Photo by Hans Friederich.
As a geological feature, Ghar Dalam is insignificant, but a series of archaeological excavations during the latter half of the 19th century describe six main layers of deposit in the cave. Whereas no traces of any animal species were found in the lowest layer which consisted of clay, an extensive amount of hippopotamus and other bones were discovered in the ‘Hippopotamus Layer’ which have been dated to the Pleistocene era, around 500,000 years ago. Pebbles and sparse animal bones belonging to species from the earlier layer were identified in the next one, while remains dating from 25,000 to 18,000 years ago were recovered from the ‘Deer Layer’. A sterile layer covers the deer layer and the top layer holds the earliest evidence of human presence in Malta, some 7,400 years ago.
Yes, that's a lot of bone! Photo by Hans Friederich.
Most of the excavated bones are displayed in a museum that was built on site in 1935 by the then-Curator of Natural History, Joseph Baldacchino. The museum has been upgraded, and is managed by Heritage Malta.
The showcases around the walls of the Għar Dalam museum house the skeletal remains found in the cave, organised by species and type. The showcases in the centre of the room contain complete skeletons of modern examples of deer, elephant and other species for comparison.
He'd look cute with a Santa hat! Photo by Hans Friederich.
The area around Għar Dalam is also renowned for its ecological value. The access to the cave is planted with indigenous plants and trees, and the site forms part of the Natura 2000 network of protected sites. This conservation status is due to a small population of endemic cave woodlouse, Armadillidium ghardalamensis, and a roosting site for the Lesser Horse-shoe Bat, Rhinolophus hipposideros.
References:
https://heritagemalta.mt/explore/ghar-dalam/
https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/111545/1/Integrated_geophysical_and_geomatic_studies_at_Ghar_Dalam_Cave_Maltas_oldest_prehistoric_site.pdf
https://timesofmalta.com/article/ghar-dalam-window-malta-past.1041668
Entrance passage Ghar Dalam, Malta. Photo by Hans Friederich.
Hans Freiderich provides an account of a recent visit to Ghar Dalam, one of the few natural caves of note in Malta
Surprisingly for an island that consists of limestone, there appear to be no proper caves of any size on the island. There are a good number of sea caves, but they are often short tubes, and appear to be due to wave action, rather than fluvial karst processes.
The cave of Ghar Dalam is particularly famous for the prehistoric findings. It is a single dry, phreatic passage with a vadose trench in the bottom, that ends in mud after 144 metres. The first 50 metres are open to the public.
Stratigraphy of the cave. Photo by Hans Friederich.
As a geological feature, Ghar Dalam is insignificant, but a series of archaeological excavations during the latter half of the 19th century describe six main layers of deposit in the cave. Whereas no traces of any animal species were found in the lowest layer which consisted of clay, an extensive amount of hippopotamus and other bones were discovered in the ‘Hippopotamus Layer’ which have been dated to the Pleistocene era, around 500,000 years ago. Pebbles and sparse animal bones belonging to species from the earlier layer were identified in the next one, while remains dating from 25,000 to 18,000 years ago were recovered from the ‘Deer Layer’. A sterile layer covers the deer layer and the top layer holds the earliest evidence of human presence in Malta, some 7,400 years ago.
Yes, that's a lot of bone! Photo by Hans Friederich.
Most of the excavated bones are displayed in a museum that was built on site in 1935 by the then-Curator of Natural History, Joseph Baldacchino. The museum has been upgraded, and is managed by Heritage Malta.
The showcases around the walls of the Għar Dalam museum house the skeletal remains found in the cave, organised by species and type. The showcases in the centre of the room contain complete skeletons of modern examples of deer, elephant and other species for comparison.
He'd look cute with a Santa hat! Photo by Hans Friederich.
The area around Għar Dalam is also renowned for its ecological value. The access to the cave is planted with indigenous plants and trees, and the site forms part of the Natura 2000 network of protected sites. This conservation status is due to a small population of endemic cave woodlouse, Armadillidium ghardalamensis, and a roosting site for the Lesser Horse-shoe Bat, Rhinolophus hipposideros.
Hans Friederich, Malta
References:
https://heritagemalta.mt/explore/ghar-dalam/
https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/111545/1/Integrated_geophysical_and_geomatic_studies_at_Ghar_Dalam_Cave_Maltas_oldest_prehistoric_site.pdf
https://timesofmalta.com/article/ghar-dalam-window-malta-past.1041668
MUSEUM NEWS
William Marsh examining samples of cave breccia from Goughs Cave complete with bone. Photo by Linda Wilson.
Thanks to the work done upstairs in the Stables by UBSS Librarian Nathan Cubitt Linda Wilson was finally able to host research visits again in the Museum. Our first researcher was Dr William Marsh, based at the Natural History Museum. Linda explains what he came to see.
William's current work focuses on the Late Glacial deposit at Gough’s Cave, Cheddar Gorge, where he is using ancient DNA techniques to better understand the deposits there, and more specifically the complex funerary behaviour of cannibalism that has been interpreted from the human remains at the site.
His trip to our museum was to locate additional Late Glacial material from the site and the wider area. This was a great success! Not only did we manage to locate material from Gough’s Cave, but we also identified additional human and faunal remains from several other Late Glacial sites in the South West. These specimens are fantastic candidates for incorporation into a wider project focused on Late Glacial Britain, and William has plans to submit a formal sampling application for DNA analysis in the coming months.
Close up of the breccia and in situ bone. Photo by Linda Wilson.
In other news, work on our aim of getting the collections accredited under the Arts Council scheme and building on the work done with former student curator Charlotte Harman, I'm hoping to be in a position to submit a completed Eligibility Questionaire in the early part of the new year. This will involve drafting some constitutional changes to the AGM in March to bring some wording in line with Arts Council requirements. Kate Eyles from Bristol City Museum is an incredibly supportive and motivarional mentor and I always come away from any meeting with her feeling incredibly positive and motivated.
We are also working alongside those responsible for the University archaeological and geological collections who are pursuing the same aim.
Linda Wilson
William Marsh examining samples of cave breccia from Goughs Cave complete with bone. Photo by Linda Wilson.
Thanks to the work done upstairs in the Stables by UBSS Librarian Nathan Cubitt Linda Wilson was finally able to host research visits again in the Museum. Our first researcher was Dr William Marsh, based at the Natural History Museum. Linda explains what he came to see.
William's current work focuses on the Late Glacial deposit at Gough’s Cave, Cheddar Gorge, where he is using ancient DNA techniques to better understand the deposits there, and more specifically the complex funerary behaviour of cannibalism that has been interpreted from the human remains at the site.
His trip to our museum was to locate additional Late Glacial material from the site and the wider area. This was a great success! Not only did we manage to locate material from Gough’s Cave, but we also identified additional human and faunal remains from several other Late Glacial sites in the South West. These specimens are fantastic candidates for incorporation into a wider project focused on Late Glacial Britain, and William has plans to submit a formal sampling application for DNA analysis in the coming months.
Close up of the breccia and in situ bone. Photo by Linda Wilson.
In other news, work on our aim of getting the collections accredited under the Arts Council scheme and building on the work done with former student curator Charlotte Harman, I'm hoping to be in a position to submit a completed Eligibility Questionaire in the early part of the new year. This will involve drafting some constitutional changes to the AGM in March to bring some wording in line with Arts Council requirements. Kate Eyles from Bristol City Museum is an incredibly supportive and motivarional mentor and I always come away from any meeting with her feeling incredibly positive and motivated.
We are also working alongside those responsible for the University archaeological and geological collections who are pursuing the same aim.
Linda Wilson
WILLOW WEASEL WRIGGLED TO THE END!
Willow Weasel appears courtesy of Jake Reich.
Here we are at the end of another packed newsletter, and this time you're greeted by a wonderful weasel! Our first student to cross the finishing line last time was Kenneth McIver who wins a small but useful back-up light as a prize, so don't forget to drop us a line by using the blue-linked text at the end when you've finished reading. It's great to hear from you all. And sincere appologies to Jonah last time for mistyping his name as Johan.
- Another excellent read. Shout out to Dan Runcan on his good work organising the Ireland trip! [Ash Gregg]
- Anything with the word ‘trepidacious’ in the title, let alone ‘dyspraxic’ in the text, demands to be read. [Chris Howes]
- Yay Swildons! [Stuart Alldred]
- Successfully coordinated an expedition to the end of this lovely newsletter! [Dan Runcan]
- Half eight on the morning after Halloween? I was the most deeply asleep I've been for a while... {Kenneth McIver]
- Ah, King Pot – a proper epic Yorkshire pothole – great description of how it is a really tiring trip on the way out. That T-shaped passage has claimed many a tacklesack/skinny undergrad. {Paul Savage]
- Unputdownable! Reading to the end was inevitable once I had opened the email. [Pat Hill]
- Excellent as usual (grovel). I note the report on the hut toilet. Anyone (women especially) tempted to “head out into the wild” should remember that the woods are full of deer and, consequently, ticks. The nasty little buggers can get into the most indelicate places. [Dick Willis]
- Lovely stuff 😊 Ubss survey trip to redhouse?? [Merryn Matthews]
From one weasel to another, hello!
THE END
Willow Weasel appears courtesy of Jake Reich.
Here we are at the end of another packed newsletter, and this time you're greeted by a wonderful weasel! Our first student to cross the finishing line last time was Kenneth McIver who wins a small but useful back-up light as a prize, so don't forget to drop us a line by using the blue-linked text at the end when you've finished reading. It's great to hear from you all. And sincere appologies to Jonah last time for mistyping his name as Johan.
- Another excellent read. Shout out to Dan Runcan on his good work organising the Ireland trip! [Ash Gregg]
- Anything with the word ‘trepidacious’ in the title, let alone ‘dyspraxic’ in the text, demands to be read. [Chris Howes]
- Yay Swildons! [Stuart Alldred]
- Successfully coordinated an expedition to the end of this lovely newsletter! [Dan Runcan]
- Half eight on the morning after Halloween? I was the most deeply asleep I've been for a while... {Kenneth McIver]
- Ah, King Pot – a proper epic Yorkshire pothole – great description of how it is a really tiring trip on the way out. That T-shaped passage has claimed many a tacklesack/skinny undergrad. {Paul Savage]
- Unputdownable! Reading to the end was inevitable once I had opened the email. [Pat Hill]
- Excellent as usual (grovel). I note the report on the hut toilet. Anyone (women especially) tempted to “head out into the wild” should remember that the woods are full of deer and, consequently, ticks. The nasty little buggers can get into the most indelicate places. [Dick Willis]
- Lovely stuff 😊 Ubss survey trip to redhouse?? [Merryn Matthews]
From one weasel to another, hello!
THE END