UBSS Monthly Newsletter

Welcome to the third of our new monthly newsletters! We've had more great reactions to this as an idea, with lots of encouragement to keep this going, so if you have any content for future newsletters, please let me know. There's no need to write reams. Short pieces (complete with photos if possible) are great. Longer articles can go in a full newsletter later in the year. And don't forget to send us some Memories for the 100 Memories project. The brilliant Centenary celebrations sparked off loads of mini-reunions throughout the weekend, so please do send us your recollections of caving with your UBSS friends or just lazing around at the Hut.

AUSTRIA TALK - 2nd APRIL 2019

UBSS President, Elaine Oliver, will be talking about caving in Austria. All welcome!

The talk will start at 7,30pm in The Stables, behind 21 Woodland Road (next to the bike shed). Food and booze wtll be provided. There is a lot of cider left to drink!

CENTENARY WEEKEND 8th - 10th MARCH 2019

Drinks Reception in Wookey Hole Chamber 3. Photo by Linda Wilson.

Thanks to the efforts of a vast number of people, particularly Cat Henry, Hellie Adams and Graham Mullan, the UBSS centenary weekend turned into the biggest party weekend that the club has ever hosted, with everyone meeting friends old and new. Linda Wilson gives a quick run down of the weekend festivities, which will no doubt provide a lot of material for future issues and for the main newsletter later in the year.

The weekend got underway with a wine and nibbles reception in the Stables on Friday night which was very well attended by members old and new. For 'nibbles' read 'industrial quantities of cake and savouries courtesy of Andrew Atkinson and Wanda and Clive Owen, who certainly lived up to the club motto of 'never knowingly under-catered'.

AGM. Front row (left to right), Rick Schultng, Graham Mullan, Bob Churcher.

This was followed bright and early the following morning at 9.30am with tea and more cake in the Geography department before the AGM. Many thanks to David Richards and the Department of Geographical Science for looking after us so well!

The AGM was followed by an excellent talk by Professor Rick Schulting on the recent developments in the long-running story of Aveline's Hole, the cave where it all started for UBSS (and its predecessor body, the Bristol Spelaeological Research Socety). Recent DNA results have through up a surprising twist in tale by revealing the existence of Neolithic crania from the site, in addition to eh Mesolithic material. You'll hear all about this in the forthcoming issue of Proceedings.

After the AGM, everyone headed off to Mendip for the rest of the weekend. the afternoon started with a field trip to Aveline's Hole in company with Rick. Lots of members went down the cave and were able to see the engraving beyond the gate. After heir visits to Aveline's and various other caves in Burrington, members made their way p to the Hut for afternoon tea and huge amounts of cake kindly provided by Andrew, Wanda and Clive.

After caving. Left to right: Henry Murgan, Janine Alexander, Cara Turner, Lauren Manton, Helen Frawley, Lisa Smith, Ashley Gregg, Rosie Daniels. David Mead looking on.

The newly-refurnished interior and drying room were much admired, as well as the wood-burning stove and shower. The latter was christened by Si Hadfield, who very happily posed for photos whilst washing off after his trip to Pierre's Pot with Dickon and Henry.

Si posing.

Please note that the shower is for washing people, not kit! The new hot water system works very well when the wood burning stove is in operation. Many thanks to Haydon Sauders for all his hard work getting the Hut ready for this weekend.

Thanks to Cat Henry's organisational prowess, a coach and a minibus picked up all the people staying at the Hut and deposited them at Wookey Hole in time for drinks in the bar before everyone went up the hill for Prosecco in Chamber 3 and a wander around the cave. We had 134 people booked in for the dinner, and the majority of these went up to the reception in the cave. We were joined for the evening by our guests Sir David and Lady Paula Wills, along with Denis Burn the High Sheriff of Somerset and his wife Hilary, Rick Schulting and Professor Mike Benton and his wife Dr Mary Benton. Mike has for many years acted as teh point of contact for the Traman Fund. Whatley Mammoth, the club's twitter mascot was also in attendance.

Whatley Mammoth, with our new First Lady, Elliott Smith, in the background.

The dinner was a great occasion. Many thanks to Wookey Hole for the excellent service and catering. Ruth Briggs did an amazing job putting together party bags for everyone, and if you got separated from yours at the end of the evening, let me know, as I picked up as many as I could just before the tables were cleared. Details of the various awards that were handed out will appear in later newsletters.

At midnight, the coaches arrived to pick up everyone staying at the hut before they turned into pumpkins, and I'm unreliably informed that the after dinner party at the Hut went on well into the following morning. Not to be outdone, those staying in the hotel at Wookey also carried on the party in the hotel bar. The prize for the lasting standing goes to Rach and Trev Mosedale, who were thoroughly led astray by young James Rossington!

Huge thanks to everyone who put so much time and effort into making sure everything came together in the usual UBSS way, where no one was really in charge but everything came together perfectly. It really was a great weekend. We would love to have other people's memories of the weekend as part of our 100 Memories project, so please get writing and send these to me, together with any photos from the weekend!

FUND RAISING - 100 PLEDGES

Student treasurer Lisa Smith leads the way with an extremely generous annual pledge of £10 million pounds a year!

The centenary fund raising campaign got off to a brilliant start thanks to the generosity of loads of people on the evening of the dinner. Linda Wilson, one of the trustees of the Oliver Lloyd Memorial Fund reports.

As we set out in the last newsletter, we are aiming to raise 100 annual pledges to the Oliver Lloyd Memorial Fund to provide a steady income that will benefit the club in a huge number of ways. On the evening of the dinner, everyone received a pledge slip in their part bags, as well as a special centenary pen printed with the words 'UBSS - the next 100 years' to write with.

Naturally, one of the first things our esteemed treasurer did the following morning was to empty the Pledge Post Box and start counting! I am delighted to announced that we are now already exactly half way to our target of 100 pledges! Pledges range in amount from £10 to £265 a year, and with gift aid, these will produce a regular income to the Fund of just over £2,000 a year.

We now have the rest of the year to make our target of 100, so if you haven't yet pledged, please get in touch with me and I'll let you have the bank details for the Fund. If you have pledged bu haven't yet had an email from me to thank you and provide these details, there's a chance that your pledge hasn't reached me. Some tables were a bit chaotic at the end, so if I haven't been in touch with you, please let me know. Come on, folks, we can do it! Get pledging, and encourage all your friends to follow suit. If we can all recruit one additional person, we'll certainly make our target. And a huge thank you to everyone who has already set up a pledge!

NEW UBSS COMMITTEE

Elaine in the entrance to Aveline's Hole, having just brought a recalcitrant padlock to heel with a hard presidential stare.

The UBSS started the centenary in style by appointing the first female president in the society's history. So hello and welcome to Elaine and the rest of the committee. As you'll see, in addition to the committee there are also a huge number of other people who help keep the wheels on the bus turning...

Committee 2019 - 2020

President: Elaine Oliver
Vice Presidents: Clive Owen, Linda Wilson, Andrew Atkinson, Cat Henry
Secretaries: Henry Morgan, Klaudia Pyc
Treasurer: Graham Mullan
Student Treasurer: Lisa Smith
Committee: Lauren Manton, Helen Frawley, Rosie Daniels, Simon Hadfield, Hellie Adams

Other Appointments:

Museum Curator: Linda Wilson

Proceedings Editor: Graham Mullan

Safety Officer: Andrew Atkinson

Hut Warden: Liz Green

Librarian: Tony Boycott

Council of Southern Caving Club rep: Linda/Graham

Charterhouse Caving Company rep: Graham Mullan

Newsletter editor: Stuart Alldred

Pwll Du Cave Management Group rep: Clive Owen

British Caving Association: rep to be appointed when needed
Cambrian Caving Council: rep to be appointed when needed

Mendip Cave Rrescue rep: Elaine Oliver

Social Sec: Henry Morgan

Training Officer: Rosie Daniels

Tackle Warden: Lauren Manton

Midweek Caving Officer: Si Hadfield

SOUTH WALES REFRESHERS WEEKEND

Agen Allwedd, photo by Dan Heins

Ashley Gregg talks about a weekend caving in Wales on the 16th - 17th February, aimed at getting new student members underground.

A group of nine UBSS students travelled to South Wales for a fun weekend of caving, staying at the WSG’s cottage. A group of us went on an OFD 1 round trip on the Saturday, splashing merrily along the streamway, with no-one falling in any of the pots. A few acrobatics were involved climbing out, then it was off to roundabout chamber and some delightful formations, before roly-polying onwards.

The freshers were impressed with the grand passages that followed (although they were more impressed when we took them to the Hall of the Mountain King in Ogof Craig a Ffynnon the day after). Then followed the exposed bolt traverse on which there were no issues, before a lovely wet crawl and some more Mendippy caving to complete the loop. Another group went and did a more ambitious trip in Agen Allwedd on the Saturday.

Those Present: Ashley Gregg, Lisa Smith, Jim Blackford, Dan Heins, Rosie Daniels, Janine Alexander, Ed Natush, Elliott Smith and Elaine Oliver.

CAVE RESCUE TRAINING

Cave rescue training in action. Photo by Andrew Atkinson

Safety Officer Andrew Atkinson talks about a new rescue facility being developed.

At the start of the year the Gloucester Cave Rescue Grouo started rescue rope training at the rope facility they are developing. That along with the Severn Bridge toll finally coming off, Elaine and I decided to attended both along with a bunch from Mendip Cave Rescue.

The training split into 3 groups from beginners to stretcher hauling. The main aim was to learn and share ideas. To this end, we tried a different way to get a stretcher across a slope as well as limited space hauling techniques. It's always good to practice to see how others from diverse background do things. A good time was had and there were many things to be contemplated further and practised more. I will be attending again, I hope others will come along, too, it does not matter how much you have done practising is always useful!

FISHMONGER'S SWALLET FINDS DONATED TO UBSS MUSEUM

Mrs Joan Hawkins with the skull and human femur, some of the human remains from Fishmonger's Swallet.

Fans of Time Team might well remember an episode about a cave dig in South Gloucestershire which had revealed human remains as well as a large quantity of animal bone. Linda Wilson tells the story of how the material came to UBSS.

Fishmonger's Swallet, named after the original digger, is a muddy cave with one roomy chamber and some nice formations. It was first opened by members of the Hades Caving Club in around 1994 and six years later, it attracted the attention of the popular TV series, Time Team. The resulting programme can be watched on YouTube.

Remains from at least seven human skeletons were found there and radiocarbon dating placed them on at the time of the late Iron Age, just on the cusp of the early Roman period. At least one individual had been murdered, with her skull showing evidence of a hard blow. Much to Time Team's excitement, the femur from a female had been split open lengthways in a way characteristic of the extraction of bone marrow, which was taken as evidence for possible ritual cannibalism. Bones of dog, bear and cattle were also discovered, with an unusual number of dog skeletons.

As a result of the dating evidence, Professor Mark Horton from Bristol University believes that the dogs and the human remains date from the same event, either victims of a violent conflict between the native tribe and the invading Romans, or possibly a ritual sacrifice in an attempt to bring success to the defenders. TV companies do like to get a mention of cannibalism wherever possible, so this is an angle that has proved enduringly popular in the press.

After the filming was over, the bones were dispersed for further research, with the human bones going to specialist Margaret Cox and the faunal remains to UBSS member Dr Andy Currant at the Natural History Museum. There matters rested for several years until a chance encounter with Mark Horton revealed that the landowner, Mrs Joan Hawkins had recently indicated that she wanted the bones from the site to come to UBSS. David Hardwick from Hades CC arranged for me to meet Mrs Hawkins and I undertook some detective work to track down the material.

The human remains were found to have been transferred to the Oxford Archaeology Unit, and I arranged collection from them. Andy Currant arranged for the animal bones to be sent to the NHM's outpost at Tring, and I went there to pick them up, and spent time with Andy while he identified various species from a large box of specimens that hadn't been bagged and tagged. Andy worked at high speed calling out pig, sheep, piglet, sheeplet etc as Tony Boycott and Pippa Churcher frantically tried to keep up with writing on bags and entering specimens on a spreadsheet.

Just before Christmas, I was contacted by Blink Productions, a film company who wanted me to take the skull and the split femur to be filmed as part of a new documentary they were working on. Mark Horton was working with them, and he had fun doing a demonstration of how to split a long bone (deer, not human!) to enable the marrow to be extracted. While the filming was going on, Mrs Hawkins kindly signed the paperwork to confirm the donation of the material from the cave to the UBSS collection and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank her for her kindness in this regard. One of my next projects in the museum will be to get the site fully written up for Proceedings.

SRT TRAINING/PRACTICE

Cavers dangling on ropes down the central stairwell of the Students' Union Building has been familiar sight for over 40 years. Rosie Daniels, our new training officer, explains how you can learn the ropes...

For the uninitiated single rope technique, SRT, is the method we use to descend and ascend ropes while underground so if you are planning on joining us on any of the more advanced trips or expeditions, including the Cambridge University Caving Club's annual trip to Austria, then this is a must. Alternatively, if you just want to spend an evening hanging about in the union stairwell (pun intended) that is also allowed.

Our sessions are free and held in the SU, and open to novices and newcomers as well as those who have been before, message Rosie Daniels if you want to get involved this term.

100 MEMORIES - A POEM - POULNAGOLLUM MAIN JUNCTION

Poulnagollum Main Streamway Photo by Steve Cottle.

Poulnalgollum in Co Clare is a familiar cave to several generations of UBSS members. In 1967, Steve Trudgill committed his memories to paper in the form of poem, which is reproduced here as part of our 100 Memories Centenary project.

Quiet dark talk in the ripple over stones
eerie glow, listen to the talk of the waters.

Huge caverns beneath the earth
Vast with festoon needles
surging water against my legs
rush and crash, blunder and deafen
force back, slip down in pool, roar
and water all over and force.

Now quiet and warm, sit and eat and listen
companions with and water talk
over stones ripple broad brown waters
spread, white fleck.
Beneath the earth, reflect and ponder.
Listen, drip and splash and drip and drip in pool.
Quiet, dark, ripple over stones,
glow, and listen to the talk of the waters
and ever drip to pass the time.
Sharp drop note as caverns build
little by little, caverns build.
Time is from long, long ago
and time is for ever long
and time is for ever
and time is never
for time is now.

UBSS Proceedings

100 years of Proceedings. Photo by Peter Standing.

Proceedings Editor Graham Mullan is in the final stages of putting this year's Proceedings to bed. He tells us a little of what is in store...

Current expectations are that this will be far thicker than usual and resplendent with much colour. There is a major paper on Aveline’s Hole concerning the new dating and DNA work which Rick Schulting described at the AGM, along with much other material. As well as the now certain deposition of crania during the Neolithic, there is a hint from craniometric analysis that there may have been one burial here during the Late Upper Palaeolithic period.

Three papers, all co-authored by Pete Smart, round off the studies of Picken’s Hole that were produced last year. One, a study of the morphology of the whole group of caves on Crook Peak demonstrates their hypogene origin.

There is one paper from the Society’s happy hunting ground in Co Clare, describing the hydrogeomorphology of the Carran closed depression by Dave Drew and Colin Bunce. This work has greatly informed the science chapters of the forthcoming new edition of our Irish book, provisionally titled “Caves of the Mid-West of Ireland.”

To round off there are three shorter pieces on archaeological finds from Mendip; two are on fairly recent discoveries in caves and are authored by Vince Simmonds of the Mendip Cave Registry, the third is by Kostas Trimmis and is the first published paper on the finds from the barrow T5, the one nearest the Hut. With this paper we will now have no wholly unpublished sites lurking in the closet, though there is much new work still being done on our collections.

2019 CALENDAR

Don't forget to get these dates in your diary!

2nd April. 7.30pm. Elaine Oliver talking on the caves of Austria - We will have (a lot of) cider!

30th April. 8pm. Daniel Heins talking on Mammoth and Jewel caves in America

14th May. 7.30pm. Hellie Adams taking on Asian caves

13th July, Huge party at the Hut. We're hoping to get as many members as possible to the Hut for a weekend party consisting of lots of food, singing and even caving!

19th - 21st July, University of Bristol Reunion Weekend

27th September, University of Bristol Students' Union Welcome Fair

9th - 10th November, UBSS Centenary Symposium

ADVERT

Sadly, due to baby incompatibility, Cat and Adam Henry are having to sell their beloved campervan. Naturally, they'd like this to go to a good home.

So, if anyone is interested in a 3 seater fully insulated transit campervan, all fittings and mattresses fully waterproofed for caver compatibility and ideal for caving expeditions and general outdoors fun email contact Cat for further details. The full advert can be viewed on eBay.

The price £3600 but Cat says but all offers will be considered especially if she's going to a good home for lots more adventures! Please note it's the van being sold, not baby Eddie!

If anyone has any more caving related adverts, please send them to me for inclusion in future newsletters. Don't forget to include a photo of the items.

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!

Linda Wilson