Welcome to the fourth of our new
monthly newsletters! The readership is growing all the time, and we now
have a circulation of 180 people, with an open rate of 64.4%, which
translates as 114 people fully opened the link. What the stats doesn't
record is now many people (like me) simply read in preview mode. We've
had 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 Centenary weekend will provide lots
of material for the future, and please do share your photos and memories
of this, too.
It's with huge sadness that we
report the death of Arthur ApSimon, UBSS President from 1996 - 2010, in a
nursing home in Bath on 21 April 2019. Linda Wilson talks about her
last visit to Arthur.
With Arthur's death, I and many others in the society have lost a very
dear friend. I've known Arthur for 40 years and others have known him
far longer. Arthur was unable to join us for the centenary celebrations
in March as he was in hospital with a chest infection but he was very
much with us in spirit.
Graham and I saw Arthur in hospital in Winchester in early April. He was
very frail, but was able to talk to us about some of his memories of
UBSS for our oral history project, and although it certainly wasn't a
conventional interview, it's great that he was able to be part of this.
My notes will be supplemented by material gathered by Arthur's son
Trevor, who kindly facilitated our visit.
Arthur certainly hadn't lost his trademark sense of humour or his
critical faculties, which emerged strongly when he explained to me why
he had a problem with Herbert 'Porthos' Taylor's recording methods at T5
round barrow near the Hut. He told us that Porthos failed to make
section drawings on site, which is useful to know in the context of our
current project to get the site published. He also told us about the
importance of this type of barrow to an understanding of Bronze Age
Society. It was a visit I'll always treasure, despite the underlying
sadness of knowing that might have been the last time we would see him.
Arthur was discharged from hospital to a nursing home in Bath where he
later died. He is survived by his children Trevor, David, Meirwen and
Gwyneth. I'll supply details of the funeral arrangements as soon as
these are known.
A full obituary will appear in the forthcoming issue of Proceedings.
We would like to gather as many stories concerning Arthur as possible as
part of our project to record the history of the society through
interviews with and information about our members, so I would be very
grateful to hear from as many of you as possible with your memories of
Arthur. These can be emailed to me, together with any photos you have of him and I will collate the material.
Linda
TALK - TUESDAY 30th APRIL - MAMMOTH AND JEWEL CAVES
Come along to the Stables for a caving talk and some socialising!
On Tuesday 30th April, Daniel Heins will be giving a talk on Mammoth and
Jewel caves in America as the second of our series of talks on caves
around the world.
Mammoth cave is currently the largest surveyed cave in the world!
It would be great to see as many of you there as possible! There will be free beer etc. provided so if you could click going on the Facebook event that would be great for numbers!
We’ll open up the Stables from 8pm for everyone with the talk starting soon after!
If you don't know where the Stables is, find 21 Woodlands Road, follow
the access round the back to the car park following signs to the Prayer
Rooms, then you'll see the covered bike shed. The Stables is the
building to the left of that.
THE TRATMAN SCHOLARSHIP
Clevosaurus hudsoni,
one of the most common species occurring in the Triassic deposits of
Cromhall Quarry, which form part of the Bristol archipelago.
Sofia Chambi-Trowell, a recent
graduate from the University of Bristol’s MSci course in Palaeontology,
has been awarded the prestigious Tratman scholarship and will be
starting her PhD at the University of Bristol this year, and continuing
her work from the final year of her masters project.
Her PhD, “The origin of modern ecosystems: dietary partitioning
among the first mammals and reptiles in the Triassic-Jurassic Bristol
archipelago”, will focus on fossil fissure fauna from Carboniferous
cave infill systems from the Bristol archipelago. The project will seek
to understand ecological and dietary partitioning amongst the
microvertebrates from this region during the Late Triassic and Early
Jurassic, through the use of modern techniques in palaeontology
including CT-scanning, which additionally allows for the reconstruction
of skulls and musculature, and finite element analysis, which can assess
the regions of greatest stress and strain in a given structure.
The Tratman scholarship is available every few years to a student
studying within the Bristol region, on a project within archaeology,
earth sciences or geography. This bequest was left by Edgar Kingsley
Tratman, a key figure in the Society for nearly 60 years. Although
Tratman (more affectionately known as Trat) was by profession an
influential and renowned dentist, he was interested in spelaeology
throughout his life, publishing around 200 papers on his findings while
caving, including papers on human teeth, cave paintings, amber and
flints, amongst other finds in the cave systems in the south-west of
England, particularly around Bristol.
TRAVELS BENEATH THE EARTH - PROJECT UPDATE
History student and UBSS member Nick Stromberg reports on the first month of our oral history project...
We’ve had an exciting month gearing up to start our oral history
project. We had an interesting and productive meeting with Linda, Graham
and Andy at the beginning of April to finalise our strategy for
tackling the project.
We discussed what we wanted to get out of our interviews and,
ultimately, what the final outputs of our project should be. How could
we most effectively engage the caving community and the wider public
with our research? Lena and I have spent the last couple of weeks
beginning to set up our first interviews with UBSS members. We have now
organised the first two, which will take place in early May. We will aim
to complete up to 20 before the end of July.
Next month, the really interesting work will start: conducting and transcribing interviews!
DISPATCHES FROM MULU
Internet access in Mulu seems be fairly dire, but in a message on Facebook, Elaine Oliver gives a quick glimpse into camp life.
Just out of a three day camp finding exciting
borehole, away for more camping tomorrow if the rain stops to let us get
there... River currently too high /dangerous!
I've also been pushing some rather mendippy passages (helmet off squeezes) in Racer Cave and Cave of the Winds..
No, this photo wasn't taken in the Hut on the centenary weekend! It's actually in Clearwater cave.
CAVING IN AUSTRIA - A TALK
What the well-dressed caver is wearing, Elaine Oliver in the Stables.
To prove that there are caves worth
doing away from Mendip, the Prezz got appropriately kitted up and
taught everyone how to play shots bingo....
Not only did the President – appropriately clad in Austrian National
Dress – give us a detailed run down on the Cambridge University (and
others, including much UBSS participation) annual expeditions to the
Totes Gebirge plateau in Austria, but she combined it with a game of
shots bingo, in which points were scored for mentions of appropriate
Austrian and caving terms.
This was slightly disrupted by serious (but failed) attempts at
cheating, mainly by Dickon, but by the end the audience had received a
comprehensive account of the work that has taken place in that part of
Austria over the last few decades, an understanding of the fact that
even fairly inexperienced cavers can walk into virgin passage and on top
of all that there was a lot of schnapps and stroh rum!
This excellent introduction to expedition caving was followed by an
enjoyable evening in which our newest committee member, Jenny Turner got
almost inextricably stuck in a library chair. Naturally that passes for
normal amongst a bunch of cavers.
TRIP REPORT - PIERRE'S POT, BURRINGTON
From left to right: Henry Morgan, Si Hadfield, Dickon Morris.
Digging or diving?
Henry Morgan looked at the alternatives in a pre-dinner trip down
Pierre's Pot in Burrington with Dickon Morris and Si Hadfield.
Post AGM, Dickon (having managed to skive the meeting), Si and
myself headed out to the coombe to get underground before we were let
loose on the vast quantities of Butcombe!
Dickon,
clearly fed up of mud, had run out of patience digging, and so had
decided to start diving as opposed to digging to bypass the Pierre’s
sump. This meant he was on the lookout for a victim to attempt to
persuade to dig, and so I agreed to go with him on a recce.
We
were underground swiftly, Si having managed to slide into his
fermenting furry, and set off for the dig. It was slightly disturbing to
find a boulder the size of a large chair had fallen from the roof in
the slot bypass, in the past month since Dickon had last been through
and, having navigated a couple of now slightly awkward boulders, we got
to the streamway.
Having
agreed with myself that the sump didn’t look inviting, I followed
Dickon up through a tiny tube to his dig. I must say that I’m not yet
convinced, popping my head out into the small passage full of concreted
dams of mud, and then following the dig along a tube half full of water.
The dig is now heading upwards into a slightly drier area, however I
think I can conclude that I’ll stick to exploring some new parts of
Mendip to me first, before I see the need to wallow like a hippo down
Pierre’s!
SNIPPETS FROM THE CENTENARY WEEKEND
8th - 10th MARCH 2019
The field trip to Aveline's Hole
after the AGM was well-attended, as was afternoon tea at the Hut. Here
are a few photos from those parts of the weekend.
David Mead outside Aveline's Hole
What the well dressed caver is wearing! Janine Alexander, Lisa Smith and
Elaine Oliver in the Hut
Hilary Jones, Hugo Pile and Tim Parrish
A PIECE FROM THE PREZZ
Elaine posing in the Orca Suit.
UBSS
President Elaine Oliver proves that accepting the Top Job hasn't
condemned her to life in a armchair, and describes a recent trip down
Swildon's Hole...
“Got any plans this weekend?”
As
it happened, I had a free Saturday afternoon for once, and Aveline’s
aside, I hadn’t been underground since becoming President of this
venerable club – so a plan to investigate some of the more aqueous
corners of Swildon’s Hole with Simon Hadfield was hatched. I located my
neoprene and headed off in search of Si, and subsequently, Priddy.
The
usual kitting up faff ensued and we assisted each other into
slightly-too-tight wetsuits before realising, somewhat breathless from
the effort, that we’d left the ladder in Si’s garden. Happily, I still
had David Savage’s generously donated ladders for the club in my van, so
we grabbed a couple of those (not being totally sure of the lengths and
not wishing to find ourselves dangling halfway down the 20) and struck
out for Swildon’s.
Progress
down the familiar Short Dry Way was swift and we reached the 20 to find
a ladder already rigged, so we left ours clipped to the bolt further
back and descended, not shying away from the waterfall this time to
allow the water time to warm up in our neoprene before full immersion in
the sumps.
“You look like a shiny whale,” said Si.
I’m sure I should have been offended, but I could see his point.
On
to Sump I (then a duck) and it was time for the dress rehearsal. We
pulled on hoods and spat in masks, then with a few firm pulls on the
line we were both through. Past the Landing – and for me if not for Si,
on to new territory. Arriving at the lead bucket by Sump II, I realised I
hadn’t a clue how much ballast I would need. I selected three hefty
lumps and threaded them onto my belt, then lay down by the rope going
through the sump, but I was still a bit floaty. Two more weights
threaded on – surely that would be enough? We decided I would go through
first and Si would follow, so with a deep breath I was off. The water
was very silty, and I was grateful for Si’s tip of strapping a torch to
my wrist so I could see the line. I was still a bit positively buoyant,
but just a few uneventful seconds later, I bumped my way under the flake
and was standing elatedly in the Great Bell, tugging the line to let Si
know he could come through.
Si surfaces in the Great Bell.
The
space between Sump II and Sump III was much bigger than I had expected.
Neck deep in St. John’s Bell, it was also a lot colder. I stuck my head
under the water to try and gauge our next move, but when I resurfaced I
could see that Si in his thinner wetsuit was now absolutely freezing.
With the next dive being both deeper and longer, and reasoning that a
hypothermia-related callout would be totally miserable and that the cave
will always be there, we made the reluctant decision to leave Sump III
for another day and exit via the shortest route.
Handy route-finding marker for the directionally challenged.
Moving
up the streamway, the Orca Suit (as my attire had been dubbed) was like
wearing a giant resistance band – each stretch for a handhold requiring
that much more effort, each foot not quite reaching as high as I’d
hoped. I felt like a salmon struggling up each climb. Despite
progressing at a fair lick, my feet were numb wooden blocks and Si
looked even colder than I felt, so I really hoped whoever owned the
ladder had remembered to chuck ours down for us and we wouldn’t have to
freeclimb out. But rounding the corner to the 20 I saw a cascade of
aluminium glinting next to the water – we needn’t have worried, and less
than a quarter of an hour saw us into the frosty, clear night, safe in
the knowledge that they hadn’t yet called time at the Hunter’s.
Elaine Oliver
FUND RAISING - 100 PLEDGES
Sample pledge slip.
Thanks to the amazing generosity of
our members and friends we are now already half way to our fund raising
target of 100 annual pledges to the Oliver Lloyd Memorial Fund, which
on the figures so far (including gift aid) will bring in the region of
£2,500 to the fund each year.
If you haven't already made a pledge, it
would be great if you could consider doing this, and please help us to
get the word out to as many people as possible. If your are interested
in doing this, please contact Linda, and she will be delighted to let you have the bank details for the Fund.
And if you have any suggestions for things that you would like to see the Fund doing, let us know!
the trustees (Linda Wilson, Clive Owen, Andrew Atkinson, Cat Hulse and -
as soon as we get the paperwork done - our president, Elaine Oliver)
will be very pleased to hear from you.
A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
One of thetraverses above the River Axe. Jan Walker in the blue boiler suit.
As part of the Centenary celebrations, UBSS member Chris Binding
kindly offered to organise a trip to some of the parts of Wookey Hole
that the visitors don't normally see. Jan Walker talks about the trip...
The Wild Wookey Adventure tour was an amazing experience. Climbing,
abseiling, scrambling through tight squeezes, it had everything. We were
hooked to safety ropes for the entire tour, so there was never any
danger of injury. Wookey provided all of the equipment required (except
the wellies), made sure everything fitted, and demonstrated how to use
the kit. Chris Binding, who ran the tour, had everything under control
at all times. Even those of us who were older and hadn't caved much felt
completely confident in his leadership.
We started with a safety show and equipment demo, changed into our
boiler suits, then headed for the cave. We scrambled up and over the
usual entrance, then worked our way into the cave. Each time we made it
through a particularly strenuous area, Chris let us rest as he told us
some great snippets of information about the cave. The things that stand
out for me are, of course, the most active bits: the abseiling (yes, we
dropped down a long way! Twice!); when we worked our way along a wall
around an underground lake, standing on metal bolted to the wall and
clinging to the ropes; crossing over a moving metal bridge that was
hanging from the roof; and the end bit, where we were able to take a
ride on a zip-line from the exit high on the cliff down to the ground. I
was a bit stiff the next day, but I fully intend to do it again!
From left to right: Ruth Briggs, Alice Whale, Julian Walford, Mike Taverne, James Rossington, Jan Walker and Carol Walford.
Did you 'marry in' or 'marry out'?
That's a question often asked in context of the club, meaning did you
marry/hook up with your partner through it or outside it. Carol Walford
'married in', and tells the story of how very restrained she was when a
young, pretty fresher called Julian arrived in Bristol...
I arrived at Bristol in 1968, and promptly joined UBSS having
established at Freshers that women were welcome. The two lads manning
the UBSS stand were very clear on that point! I never looked back, and
in fact still cave occasionally today. A handful of other freshers also
stayed the course, and for the rest of the year we caved together,
mainly on Mendip but also occasionally in the Dales.
The following year, Julian arrived. When he first appeared in the Speleo
Rooms, the second year ladies eyed up the fresh talent and agreed he
was “very pretty but a bit young”. So none of us pounced. I
carried on caving with my first year friends, and Julian got into cave
diving. My first trip with him was probably a bottle carry down to
Little Neath River Cave Sump 2.
By the end of Julian’s third year, we had progressed to light-hearted
flirting, particularly when alcohol was involved. We finally got
together, as they say, on the second Freshers weekend of 1972 – we went
to a party, spent the evening dancing together, and have been with each
other ever since.
We moved to Leicestershire in the autumn of 1972, and remained there for
a couple of years. During this time, we packed in lots of potholing in
the Dales with UBSS friends. And occasionally on our own – most notably
doing a two person trip to the bottom of Penyghent Pot on ladder with no
lifelines.
Then Julian was offered a job at Dounreay in Caithness, where he’d grown
up and where his parents still lived. We thought Thurso would be fun
place to live for a couple of years (and the nuclear job would look good
on his CV). But we didn’t think it would be fair to his parents to live
in sin under their noses, as his mother was very much a pillar of the
small local community. So we decided the only way it could work would be
for us to marry. Romantic or what …?
I was sufficiently romantic to want a proper proposal, and Julian
insisted that this could only be done at LNRC Sump 2. So off we went to
rural Wales, only to find the Neath River in spate, and Flood Entrance
almost under water. So the proposal was made and accepted in caving
gear, in the pouring rain, on the river bank opposite the entrance. We
married six weeks later (and, no, I wasn’t pregnant).
Carol Walford
THE RAVE IN THE WOODS: 8th - 9th JUNE
On the weekend of 8th and 9th June,
our student members are gathering at the Hut for a party weekend along
with members of other student clubs and societies to de-stress after
exams. There might even be some caving!
The end of exams have arrived, and you need to get away from it all!
All are welcome to join us at our hut in Burrington Combe for our (FREE)
huge hut party in the middle of the woods on the edge of the coombe.
What's more, we have just finished some huge hut refurbishments! We now
have a wood burner, and even hot running water!
INVITE FAR AND WIDE, get your friends to come along, and let's make this a huge event to become a staple in years to come.
The hut can sleep about 30, so bring your sleeping bags, and if you want
a good night's sleep you are HIGHLY recommended to bring a tent!
Our esteemed First Lady, Elliot Smith says come to the party, you know it makes sense!
It's party time again at the UBSS
Hut! The aim is to get as many members back as possible for a Great Big
Summer Party on the wekend of the 13th - 14th July . So if you missed
the Centenary weekend in March, this is your opportunity to come along
to meet old friends and make new ones. There will be food, drink,
caving, singing and generally slobbing out!
Please spread the invite to as many of your UBSS friends as you can so
that we can turn the woods into Tent City again. The aim is to barbecue a
load of food, eat cake etc etc. There will be some alcohol provided,
but please bring some more to supplement what's on offer. Sleeping space
in the Hut will be prioritised for those who don't have tents. If you
need transport from Bristol, that can probably be be arranged.
The hope is that we can use this weekend to carry out some interviews
for the Oral History Project as well. There will probably be a gathering
in the Stables on the Friday evening as well and maybe a meal out
somewhere.
If you're interested in this, please let Linda know so she can coordinate the catering and other arrangements.
UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL REUNION WEEKEND: 19th - 21st July
For anyone who fancies a double
dose of partying, or if you can't make the Big Party Weekend, the
university's annual Reunion Weekend is a great time to reconnect with
friends and with Bristol.
There's a packed programme of events
starting on the Friday evening with a drinks reception at the Holmes,
and a chance to look around the Botanic garden. The following day, you
can join Linda Wilson for a walking tour of the public at at Royal Fort
House, followed by dinner in the Great hall of the Wills Memorial
Building. It would be really great if, to celebrate our centenary, we
could get a couple of tables of cavers together for this. This will be
very special event this year, as our treasurer and editor, Graham Mullan
will be receiving the Alumni Association Medal for "long-standing
involvement in the work of the Alumni Association and assistance in
enhancing the life of the university". This is a very significant
honour, so please do join us in celebrating this award!
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.
UBSS PROCEEDINGS
Aveline’s Hole ‘Skull A’ as featured in Volume 1 and Volume 28.
As the latest edition of
Proceedings nears completion, editor Graham Mullan reflects on the past
and what the future might hold ...
These thoughts were prompted by the memory
that Trat wrote a foreword to the Jubilee issue of Proc. in 1969. A few
days ago, I emailed a link to it
(as with all our output, it is online) to our new President with the
two-word message “No pressure!” Wisely, she seems to have ignored me and
scarpered off to Mulu.
In that piece Trat noted that there had been eleven full volumes of
Proc. in the first half-century. In the second, there have been sixteen.
The volume which is going to press is 28 (1). During the century, there
have been two changes in page size, one of the colour of the cover,
several of paper type and myriad tweaks to the layout. But it is still
wholly recognisable as the same publication.
Is this a good thing? I think so; we have had numerous discussions,
especially in recent years, about the nature of a printed, peer-refereed
journal and the consensus has been – so far – that our policies are the
correct ones. Essentially there are three of these: that all
substantial contributions are peer-reviewed; that all the content is
available free of charge online one year after publication (green
standard open access) and that we do not levy charges on authors to
publish with us (treasurer’s note, all available donation and grant
income is welcomed).
In many ways, the content of the journal has changed little over the
century; we still publish papers on the archaeology, geomorphology and
geology of the caves of Mendip. Our scope has widened to include the Wye
Valley, cave sites in Wales and, especially a large number of accounts
of caves in Co. Clare and other parts of Ireland. We have included work
in other areas and reports from expeditions overseas, providing that our
members participated, and we still have some contributions on surface
archaeology on Mendip. Cave archaeology cannot happen in a landscape
vacuum. In all, however, I think that a reader of volume 1 (1) would
appreciate the contents of volume 28 (1). Especially as there is a major
contribution on Aveline’s Hole which, for us, is where it all began.
So what does the future hold? In the short term, things are looking
good, there is already the prospect of several good papers for 28 (2).
In the medium term, I guess that the publication will remain healthy. In
the long term, who knows? The death of print journals has been declared
several times over the last decade or so and yet they haven’t gone
away. I’m sure our model will change, it always does, but providing we
stick to the tenets of academic rigour, peer review and sustainable open
access, I’m sure we can continue to prosper.
Graham Mullan
2019 CALENDAR
Don't forget to get these dates in your diary!
30th April. 8pm. Daniel Heins talking on big caves in the States.
14th May. 7.30pm, in the Stables. Hellie Adams talking on Asian caves
13th July,
Huge party for everyone 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!
18th July. 7pm in the Stables. A meet up for chat and maybe cake, maybe with a meal out somewhere if people are interested.
19th - 21st July, University of Bristol Reunion Weekend and Reunion Lunch in the Wills Memorial Building
27th September, University of Bristol Students' Union Welcome Fair
8th November. 7pm in the Stables. Book launch for
Caves of Mid-West Ireland, the successor to all the society's previous
guidebooks to Clare and the surrounding areas. Booze and cake will be
provided!
9th - 10th November, UBSS Centenary Symposium in the School of Geographical Science.
LOST!
Lost: a long, dark blue party dress with flowers on belonging to Hellie Adams.
Hellie got changed out of her dress at the
after dinner party at the Hut and has not seen her dress since. It was
not at the Hut when a clean-up party went there a few days later, so
someone staying there must have packed the dress away with their own
belongings that night or the following morning, Please could everyone
recheck their bags from the weekend as Hellie would really like to be
reunited with her dress!
If anyone has any caving related adverts or anything else for a Lost and Found column please send them to me for inclusion in future newsletters. Don't forget to include a photo of the items.
If anyone has any caving related adverts or anything else for a Lost and Found column please send them to me for inclusion in future newsletters. Don't forget to include a photo of the items.
We hope you're continuing to enjoy 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
ADVERT
For sale, 2006 Peugeot 407SW (diesel) 145,000 miles
Nice car, very good workhorse for caving etc. Will take four people and
caving kit to Ireland etc no problem. Only drawback is a slightly
crumped rear bumper, which means that the parking sensors don't work.
MOT until October.
Email Graham
for further details. The deal would have to be done 3rd week in May, as
that's when we'll probably get a replacement through. £400 ono
