UBSS NEWSLETTER - JANUARY 2019

Welcome to the first monthly newsletter of centenary year! The aim is to keep members up to date with club activities through the year and if this proves successful, we can continue with this as an ongoing project. This isn't a replacement for a full newsletter, and Stu Alldred hopes to produce one of these later in the year. In this issue you'll find the details you need for the AGM and dinner, an account of the latest renovations at the hut, and lots more. If you have anything for future newsletters, please send to Lisa Smith or Linda Wilson.

CHECC

The student year started with the traditional freshers' weekend on Mendip, followed by a trip to South Wales, then the Bonfire weekend at the Hut. This was followed by one of the highlights of the student calendar, the Council of High Education Caving Clubs' weekend. Helen Frawley describes what went on ....

Haydon Saunders rigging, with Henry Morgan watching.

At the end of November, a very small UBSS contingent of three went up to Derbyshire for the annual Council of Higher Education Caving Club weekend. Much beer and gin were consumed, many laughs were had (especially at our topical fancy dress of a diver, a submarine and a certain businessman!) and we did some good caves!

Following a very late night Friday, it was decided to delay Saturday caving until Haydon was legal to drive. At about 2pm, we set off to Knotlow Cavern. This was a bit further away from the school where we were based, but as we predicted there were no other cavers there so no queuing was involved! It gave us a good chance to go through some more SRT techniques and skills with Henry, while exploring somewhere new! Having rigged the engine shaft to come back up on, we descended down the climbers' shaft. At the bottom, we found the rope down the other shaft was about 10m short and directly above a large deep pool so after a potter around at the bottom, we went back up the way we came and hauled the rope.

Saturday evening started in the Gin Palace (large blue tent), before progressing to the party in time for some gallant attempts at pot and sling, and the squeeze machine. Still feeling the effects from Friday night, UBSS turned in relatively early, ready for more caving on Sunday. The next morning, we were one of the first at breakfast, tent and kit packed away and off we went to Giant's where we did the round trip. Lulled into a false sense of security early on by Haydon, we slithered through the Giant's windpipe in freezing water to complete the loop and return to the car considerably wetter and muddier than the previous day! A great trip to end a great weekend!

HUT RENOVATIONS
 

Wanda Owen and Linda Wilson working in the Hut in summer 2018

Elaine and Cat repainting, January 2018

By January 2018, the next generation of Hut Engineers had taken over and Cat now takes up the tale ....

Married quarters sorted!

After some enthusiastic rodding, the dismantling of the chimney led to a total clearing and the wood burner there is now tried and tested and back in action, so the place gets quite toasty! All of the old manky mattresses have been removed - regrettably it was not possible to dispose of the foam rodent nest-ridden health hazards in an environmentally friendly way so they were incinerated with much gusto on a bonfire of rotten drying room shelves, and brand-new plasticised mattresses have been installed. The handy extra sleeping space will be much-needed for the upcoming ram-packed annual dinner hut party!


 Mattress disposal, UBSS-style

Progress on wood burner/drying room: preparations have been commenced for the much-discussed and procrastinated upon wood burner! All of the equipment bar the wood burner itself has arrived and is awaiting installation at the hut, and the drying room has been stripped and insulated and had an excessive amount of free radiators hung. Some very beautiful copper piping has been expertly installed by Haydon, although not quite all of them are connected to the system yet. A 140L hot water tank is installed ready to be fed by the backburner and soon provide ACTUAL HOT RUNNING WATER! Further progress on the UBSS sauna/very stinky steam room project is ongoing under the the enthusiastic guidance of Haydon Saunders...


 New mattresses in the Married Quarters.

Repainting of the sleeping area is complete, and only a small amount of the dining area remains to be repainted.  All in all, it was very successful weekend and lots of stuff got done! Make way for the UBSS palace!

CHRISTMAS DINNER

In December, the Hut played host to the now traditional student Christmas dinner, which included a rare sighting of Dickon Morris at the Hut, seen here in company with Ash. Lauren Manton describes the fun...

                              Dickon Morris, pretending to be an Xmas tree, with Ashley Gregg.

On the 7th of December, nine UBSS members made their way to the hut for the Christmas dinner.

Unfortunately, due to a car breakdown, only eight made it. Upon arriving at the hut and with the luxury of electric lighting, we tucked into our variety of Christmas dinners, drank the beer and the cider and started on the mulled wine! After finishing our meals, we proceeded to gather round the fire for the distribution of the Secret Santa gifts.

A wide variety of packages were opened, including much chocolate, cider and a book of caving songs. Being quite tipsy at this point, we decided the best way to continue the evening was to squeeze through chairs and ladders and then give table traversing a go, for which very few were successful but it was highly entertaining all the same! The evening then continued with Caving and Christmas songs, including Fairytale of New York, which kept the jolliness alive! A few more drinks and caving songs later and it was time to call it a night.

The next morning, we awoke to a rather chilly hut, with a smouldering fire and a cooked breakfast, which was well received by all. After packing our kit away and the many, many empty bottles, we travelled back towards Bristol, another successful Christmas meal completed.

NEW YEAR'S EVE DINNER

Linda Wilson reports on the club's longest-standing tradition, New Year's Eve at the Hut....
 

The centenary year started in style with the usual turkey dinner and all the trimmings at the Hut, with 16 members present to welcome in the new year in the society’s oldest tradition, which goes right back to the beginning in 1919 and has continued in unbroken succession. It is said that during the war, to keep the tradition alive, Bertie Crook (the great-grandfather of our current student treasurer, Lauren Manton) ate a turkey dinner by himself.

 
The rituals were duly performed to ensure that the sun would rise again the following morning, starting with Hish, Hash, Hosh, otherwise known as ‘sneezing’. The origins of this are obscure, to say the least. This is believed to be a medics’ ritual in origin and there are references to this in a university Nonesuch publication from the early 1920s. The names of absent friends are called out from the four points of the compass, followed by a chorus of ‘hish, hash, hosh, bacon’. If anyone knows more about this part of the rituals and its origins, please let me know! This is followed by a UBSS choir rendition of The Old Crows. Again, none of us know why this song became acquainted with the society, and if anyone knows, please tell me! When Oliver Lloyd died in 1985, we briefly lost a line from the song, but following an appeal in the newsletter, Nigel Wallace and others came forward with the words. I’m intending a longer piece on this for later in the year, but again, more information would be welcomed. The rituals end with Auld Lang Syne, which always ends with an enthusiastic scrum.

We must have performed the rituals correctly, as the sun duly rose the following morning. If you missed this year’s dinner, you’ll have another chance to come along at the end of the year!

CONGRATULATIONS!

In other news from the Christmas period, congratulations are due to Stu and Cayley Alldred on the birth of Rupert, the latest addition to the UBSS extended family, on 19^th December 2018.
 

Rupert, wearing a very fetching caving helmet!

SRT TRAINING/PRACTICE
 

Cavers dangling on ropes down the central stairwell of the Students' Union building has been familiar sight for more than 40 years. Lisa Smith explains how you can learn the ropes ...

Single-rope technique (SRT) is a set of methods used to go up and down ropes in caves. It's great fun, the training sessions are a good way to find out a bit more about caving and allows you to access lots of impressive caves in areas like Yorkshire and the Ardeche, and to go on the Cambridge University Caving Club's annual Austria expedition this summer.

Our sessions are free and held in the SU, and are open to novices and newcomers as well as those who have been before. Message Lisa Smith or Ashley Gregg if you want to get involved this term.

AGM AND DINNER, 9th MARCH 2019

As everyone should know by now, the UBSS turns 100 this year! Linda Wilson provides a run-down of the centenary celebrations that will be taking place on the weekend of 9^th March 2019...
 
We’ll be starting the main centenary celebrations on 8^th March, the Friday evening before the AGM and dinner by holding an open evening in the Stables, which houses the society’s museum and library collections. This will start at 7pm. There’ll be an opportunity to see behind the scenes in the museum store and see some of the society's treasures, such as the ironwork from Read’s Cavern, including the famous horse-hobbles now back in the collection after an extended loan to Woodspring museum, and the bronze brooch found by Ruth Briggs during the more recent excavations. There will be wine and beer, and all are welcome! We might even run to some nibbles! Do let me know if you’re interested so I can organise the drinks.
 
The AGM is being held on 9^th March in the Geography Department on University Road. Tea/coffee/biscuits will be available from 9.30am and the AGM will start at 10.30am. Afterwards, Rick Schulting will be talking about recent work on Aveline’s Hole, the cave that gave birth to the society 100 years ago. Recent work has yielded some surprising results! There’s a three-line whip on AGM attendance, so please do come along. We’ll be there to welcome people from 9.30am and will start promptly at 10.30. Parking is available for free in university car parks on Saturday so you can leave cars at 21 Woodlands Road, near the Stables, if you like, or alternatively there is metered parking on University Road. The aim is to finish the AGM and talk by 12 noon.
 
Those who have signed up for the Wild Wookey caving trip will need to be at Wookey Hole for 1.30pm. At the same time, Rick Schulting will be leading an archaeological field trip at Aveline's Hole in Burrington Combe, which will include the opportunity to see the possible Mesolithic engravings in the cave. All welcome!
 
At 2.30pm we will start afternoon tea at the Hut, where you’ll be able to see the results of the recent renovations and catch up with old friends. Tea and cake will be provided! Please let me know if you’ll be coming, so I can get an idea of numbers.
 
At 6pm we will meet in the Captain Jack’s Bar at Wookey Hole for the start of the evening’s celebrations. At 6.30pm there will be a visit to the cave which will include a drinks reception. For anyone who doesn’t fancy the walk up to the cave, the bar will be open. Those visiting the cave will be back by 7.30pm and the dinner will start at 8pm and will be followed by the usual awards ceremony, so if you have anyone you would like to nominate contact Cat and Ruth who are organising this (see below). Then Elaine Oliver will be singing with Dickon Morris playing the fiddle for us and there will be other music, if wanted, later. Last orders at the bar are at 11.20pm, and the bus to take those who will be staying at the Hut will be leaving from Wookey at midnight. Those staying at Wookey can then head over to the hotel bar.
 
If you need transport from Bristol to Mendip, please let me know and I will do what I can to put you in contact with people who might be able to help, and likewise offers to help with transport will be welcome, so contact me. Please help us out with the organisation by being prompt for all timings set out here!

ANNUAL AWARDS


Awarded to Graham and Linda for the discovery of a game of noughts and crosses in Aveline's Hole.

As Cat Henry and Ruth Briggs are about to explain, the time has come to embarrass your caving friends ...

In preparation for our centenary extravaganza, it's only right that we get to award our friends and fellow cavers for exceptional feats of ingenuity, caving prowess, partying madness or more classically, pure idiocy.
 
Traditional awards include:
 
-  Buff fresher of the year - since the classic episode of Mike Salter commenting on the unexpected buffness of freshers, it has become customary to inappropriately comment on the buffness of freshers, and offer a very awkward-looking one an award at the annual dinner.

-  Golden Compass - for the best navigational idiocy

-  Golden Boot - best/most ridiculous/pathetic injury

 Please feel free to nominate people for anything you like, by no means limited to the above,as it would be good to get a good selection of nominations from a range of ages! Ideally accompany these by an idea of an appropriate (and cheap/free to make) award.
 
Send all nominations to Cat Henry or Ruth Briggs. We look forward to hearing from you!

CENTENARY PROJECT - 100 MEMORIES

There are various projects planned to celebrate the centenary, one of the main ones is 100 Memories, which aims to capture as much as we can of the society's history through the memories of its members. We're delighted to announce that Dr Andy Flack, Lecturer in Modern and Environmental History, has joined UBSS and will be leading an ambitious oral history project, supported by generous grants from the British Cave Research Association and the Oliver Lloyd Memorial Fund. Andy talks a little about the project here ...

                                         Dr Andy Flack

The University of Bristol Speleological Society (UBSS) will celebrate its 100^th anniversary in 2019.  
 
The UBSS is the oldest society in the UK whose primary objective is the study of caves and their contents; in addition, it is the oldest student caving society in the world and the oldest University of Bristol University society with a continuous existence. As such its members are ‘archives’ in their own right. While log books, field reports and other related ‘official’ records contain certain kinds of information, the majority of stories and experiences of life underground never find their way into these kinds of historical sources. These personal histories of the society, and of caving more broadly, risk being lost if they are not captured.  

This is why the UBSS, in collaboration with University of Bristol environmental historian Dr Andy Flack, will this summer run a project that coincides with the UBSS centenary year, in order to capture informal histories of the society through a series of oral history interviews with many of the longest-standing members. The recording of these memories will create a vital resource, not only for the society and its members in years to come, but also for researchers more widely. Indeed, the research will represent a substantial contribution to historical understanding of the development of 20th century caving. 

As part of the project, two undergraduate historians will work with Dr Flack to complete a series of about 20 oral histories will be conducted, mainly across the middle months of the society’s centenary year (roughly 1^st May-31^st July 2019). In addition to this, members of the society more broadly will have the chance to contribute to the project via email questionnaires and informal interviews.

MORE MEMORIES WANTED!

The oral history project run by Andy will be supplemented by a wider programme of informal interviews by email with as many UBSS members, past and present as we can tempt/bludgeon into cooperating! The aim is to collect 100 (or more!) memories. Linda Wilson talks a bit about what is being planned.

I'm meeting Andy next week to talk about the shape of the overall project, and to map out some of the questions for the interviewees. In the meantime, I'd like to invite everyone reading this newsletter to start thinking back over your time with the society and to start committing some of this to paper. Longer memories will go in the newsletter that's being planned and shorter ones will go in the monthly newsletters throughout the year. They can be as long or as short as you like. I'll work with Stu Alldred on the division between the two newsletters, and everything will find a home, here or there. And we welcome as many memories as you'd care to write about, so don't hold back! Embarrassing stories about you and your friends? Yes please! Stories of caving trips and expeditions? Oh, yes. Tell us why you joined UBSS and why you've stayed a member. Tell us why UBSS is important to you. Talk about friends past and present. And, very importantly, remember members who are no longer with us. We have a long history - and a proud one - so let's do justice to it and record as much as we can! Please send your memories to Linda Wilson.

MEMORY - LITTLE NEATH RESCUE 1970

To start us off, our president Bob Churcher has a story to tell about an ill-fated trip to Little Neath River Cave some years ago ....


Little Neath River Cave, photo courtesy of Peter Glanvill.

Little Neath, 1970, a Saturday in February ....... and a "rescue story." It was a cold, grey winter's day, and the Little Neath river was running quite well, but we thought (after some discussion) that there wasn't too much going down the entrance.

There were five of us from the club, continuing the exploration and survey of the high-level series which we hoped might provide a way over the sumps into New World. We were up in the higher passages for some hours, but everything seemed to be choked with deep old sand deposits. Eventually it became time to end the trip, but on our return to the river it was obvious that something was very wrong - the noise from the river was deafening! We were all in (home-made) wet suits, and we attempted to get out, but at the start to the entrance series it became clear there was no point, as we weren't going to be able to get out. One problem was simply the force of water crashing down the passage, another was that the entrance, being below river level, if off to the side, was going to be sumped. Accordingly we returned to the high level series, and made a sort of nest in the sand, where we tried, somewhat ineffectually, to get some sleep. Wet wetsuits in around eight centigrade are not really conducive to sleep! In many ways our main concern was the call-out time, which we were going to be well over! 
 
Every now and again one of us went out of the chamber to inspect the river in the main passage below us, but although the water levels were steady, in that they weren't any longer rising, our hope for exit was forestalled by the arrival of two members of SWCC. (South Wales Caving Club/rescue). We went out with them, into a rather chilly dawn, to meet both the rescue, who had been trying to build a coffer dam with sandbags, the police, two fire engines bogged in Mr Lewis's field, two ambulances somewhat less firmly stuck, flood lights, generators, two fire pumps trying to lower a river in flood, and "uncle Tom Cobley and all" - not too mention many of the older members of SWCC.

They had all had a long night, and although possibly pleased to see us, were somewhat less than complimentary.  These days I am sure we would have been wrapped up and carted off to hospital, but on that occasion we were simply told to do our penance by emptying and returning the sandbags, (as they all attempted to pack up and push off) to fill in the ruts in Lewis's field, and not to do it again. Which we didn't ...

MEMORY - LOST IN LIONEL'S HOLE

Student treasurer Lauren Manton remembers a trip to Lionel's Hole when not everything went quite according to plan on Bonfire weekend at the hut....


Photo by Peter Glanvill from the Mendip Cave Registry and Archive.

After a fun evening of lamb, beer and fireworks, Henry and I thought it would be a great idea to go caving the next day! Lionel’s Hole was suggested to us, so after a bit of swotting up on the short round route, we were led to the entrance of the cave and then set off.

After entering the cave, we made it down into the entrance section and tried to squeeze through a hole which we believed would lead to the way on. That was until we ended up staring right back at the entrance of the cave, back where we started. After consulting the notes we had scribbled down, we eventually found the boulder chamber and tried again to find the short round route. Unfortunately our successes in finding the route stopped there.

After three hours of poking around in every single hole we could find in the cave, our first thought was to have a snack, our second thought being that we had been tricked into finding a non-existent cave passage. On returning to the hut, we were assured that the short round route does actually exist, and we are adamant that we will find it at some point.

Yes, you've guessed it, we're going to make a shameless attempt to part you from some of your hard-earned cash! Well, we'd be missing a trick if we didn't. Oliver Lloyd Fund Trustee Linda Wilson is going to take some of you on a trip down memory lane  back to 1985, and the sudden death of UBSS treasurer, Oliver Lloyd ...


Oversuits, helmets and lights purchased with funds received from the Oliver Lloyd Memorial Fund and the University of Bristol's Alumni Foundation.

I'd be very surprised if Oliver - or Lloyd, as he was almost universally known to members of the club - doesn't feature in quite a few memories this year. I've certainly got a few stories to tell, and if we're lucky, we can get Marco Paganuzzi to relate his experiences with Lloyd's haunted typewriter! For those who didn't know him, it's probably fair to say that Lloyd was one of the club's greatest characters and his death left a huge hole in the club, one that we had to fill with several people stepping up to take on his various jobs.

Our then president, Professor Bob Savage, mindful of how university grants were gradually being whittled away, was concerned about the long-term viability of our annual Proceedings, and he proposed setting up a trust fund in Oliver's name, with the intention of providing in-house funding for Proceedings as and when needed. A trust was duly set up, with the UBSS as its sole beneficiary. I was one of the original trustees, along with Bob, Desmond Donovan and Trevor Shaw. Bob led the campaign, which raised in the region of £15,000.

As Bob predicted, the university grant that used to go towards publications disappeared but, surprisingly, new technology meant that the cost of printing went down, and so the OCL Fund, as we usually term it, was largely spent on things to enhance the production values, such as colour photographs and technical drawings. As time went on, the aims of the fund were broadened by a deed of variation, to enable the trustees to benefit the UBSS more broadly, and the student experience in particular. A telephone campaign led by Andrew Atkinson and Helen Hodge led to the fund almost doubling in value, and in the good old days, it even used to attract a decent rate of interest and so was easily able to keep pace with spending. Both the original fundraising campaign and the telephone campaign led to various valuable annual pledges from members, ranging from one for £10 a year, to another at £200 per year that comes with the proviso that it can (for can read should!) be spent on alcohol for students to have a good time!

The fund stands aside from the UBSS main account, which is visible to the university and the students' union, and can only be used to benefit the UBSS and its members. The current trustees are myself, Clive Owen, Andrew Atkinson and Cat Henry (who recently replaced Bob Churcher as Bob will shortly be standing down as president). The fund has recently been the recipient of an extremely generous donation from Pete Standing, who was one of the club's student secretaries 50 years ago!

Our aim for the centenary year (and I'll be the first to admit it's an ambitious one, and might take us more than a year to achieve), is to raise 100 pledges to the OCL Fund in the form of standing orders to the fund. We already have several ongoing pledges to start us off, and huge kudos to Dickon Morris for being the first of the 100 pledges in our centenary year!

The aim of the fundraising is to future proof the life of the UBSS for the future. The club now receives no ongoing grants at all from either the university or the students' union. Occasional grants have been received from the University's Alumni Foundation, but recent changes to this mean there is likely to be less money available for our sort of activities going forward, and so the club now relies totally on members' subscriptions and the OCL Fund for all its tackle and equipment, as well as other such items. Recent purchases have ranged from oversuits, helmets, lights and other gear for use by students just starting caving to electronic surveying kit for use on the student re-surveying projects in Co Clare as part of the preparations for the next Irish guidebook.

The fund still supports Proceedings, as Bob Savage originally intended, and has contributed towards the cost of radiocarbon dating, as well as the drawings of the Picken's Hole flints that appeared in the last issue.
 

The UBSS relies heavily on the generosity of members and friends of the society to add value over and above membership subscriptions, and it provides a very direct way way for our older members to support the activities of the new generations of the student club , taking forward the fun and sense of adventure that we've all gained from our connection with UBSS, so I hope you'll all forgive the shameless plug for the fund, and won't mind too much if I go round rattling the metaphorical collecting tin during the year! For my generation, Lloyd did a huge amount to help student caving and the wider society, and his name lives on in the fund set up in his memory! If anyone would like more information or would like to  set up an annual pledge, make a one-off donation or remember the OCL Fund in your will, please contact Linda Wilson for further details.

2019 CALENDAR

6th - 17th February, South Wales (Re-Freshers) Weekend

2nd - 3rd March,Yorkshire Weekend

8th March, 7pm, UBSS Social in The Stables, behind 21 Woodlands Road

9th March, 10.30am, AGM; 1.30pm, Caving, including Wild Wookey & Aveline's Hole field trip; 2.30pm Afternoon Tea at the Hut; 6pm Annual Dinner starts at Captain Jack's Bar, Wookey Hole; midnight, party continues in hotel bar and at the Hut

30th - 31st March, SCHECC (South Wales)

13th July, Old Timers' Reunion at the Hut

19th - 21st July, University of Bristol reunion weekend

27th September, University of Bristol Students' Union welcome fair

9th - 10th November, UBSS Centenary Symposium

We hope you've enjoyed the first of our new monthly newsletters! If you have any comments or suggestions for future issues, please get in contact. If you don't want to continue to receive the newsletter there's an unsubscribe button at the bottom, but we very much hope you'll stay on board!