November's
been a busy month for caving, starting with the traditional Bonfire
Weekend and ending with the now equally traditional CHECC weekend, this
time held in the snowy north. We're pleased to report that everyone made
it back safely, as you'll see from Henry's write up. the UBSS
contingent have no idea if they won any prizes or not, they had more
important things on their mind, like having fun.
However, we do have some prizes of our own to hand out! The one for this
month's student write up goes to Elliott McCall for his description of
an OFD through trip, entitling him to claim a UBSS buff! We'd love as
many trip write ups as people can throw at us, and for next month,
there's a competition open to all in two categories, student and
non-student for the best description of a cave or a caving trip in no
more than 20 words, with a further prize for whoever guesses the cave,
so no spoilers in your write up! No more than 20 words, how hard can
that be? Go for it! Entries on a postcard to us, or to avoid problems with the Xmas post, just click here to submit your entry!
Our Countdown to Caving slot will
be back in the next issue, but we rapidly went from 'Help! We need
content' to 'Erm, better hold a couple of things over to next time or no
one will get to the end!
Do keep the newsletter material coming for next time, folks!
Remember, Zac's threat to fill the newsletter with computer science
still stands!
Many thanks to Adam Henry for supplying the base image for our
header this month, and to all the people who wielded sparklers to such
excellent effect.
Back issues of the newsletter can be found here.
Zac and Linda
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CHRISTMAS DINNER AT THE ELDON!
Xmas dinner at the Eldon December 2019. The last one before the Plague started. Zac and Merryn in the Santa hats.
Yes, we know it's still November,
but we need sign ups for the Christmas dinner by no later than this
Friday, 3rd November at 5pm!
The dinner is being held at the Eldon House on Tuesday 14th December at
7.30pm. The cost for one course is likely to be around £11, with the
option of ordering and paying for a dessert separately. Drinks to be
bought at the bar. Xmas hats optional!
If you would like to come, please email student treasurer Imogen Clement no later than 5pm on Friday 3rd December. Or drop her a message on Facebook.
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NEW YEAR'S EVE DINNER AT THE UBSS HUT
No, it's not always like this at New Year, but it is very pretty like this!
The club's longest standing
unbroken tradition will be taking place as usual at the our hut on New
Year's Eve, with people gathering from 7pm for a full turkey dinner and
the usual midnight rituals.
The dinner has been held every year since 1919. It is said that during
the Second World War, Bertie Crook (current member Lauren Manton's great
grandfather) ate a turkey sandwich there by himself. And last year,
during covid restrictions, Elaine and Si, along with Graham and Linda
sat outside the hut all evening, n compliance with covid restrictions,
eating goose baps with Aunt Bessie's roast potatoes. The goose and some
trimmings were kindly provided by Clive and Wanda! We stayed out until
about 2am on New Year's Day, wrapped in blankets and singing caving
songs! Some traditions are too important to break or the sun might not
rise in the morning!
The cost is usually no more than £10 per head. Please bring your own
drinks. If you would like to be part of history and have a fun evening, let Linda know so we know how many people to cater for.
It helps to have sign ups before Xmas, but the usual UBSS maxim of
'never knowingly under-catered' applies and no one has ever been turned
away, no matter how late! If you need a veggie option, please let
Linda know. And likewise if you need help with transport. Most of us
come back to Bristol afterwards, but there's always the option to stay
overnight and cave the next day if you're feeling particularly
energetic.
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STICKERS!
Winning design, by Nell Fellows.
Hands up who would like some lovely
stickers to .... er ... stick on things? Well, what else would you do
with a sticker? Other clubs have them so we need them, too.
A recent sticker design competition was won
by new member Nell Fellows! Congratulations, Nell, you've won a back up
light for caving! Henry Morgan is arranging for Nell's design and one
with the UBSS crest on to be printed. These will be available to
purchase and we might well even be persuaded to give some away as
prizes, so we'll let you know when we have more information.
UBSS crest, digitally remastered.
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HIDE AND SEEK IN ROD'S POT
Our latest fresher, Ms Liz Truss, looking a
little white-faced at the prospect of a Rod's Pot to Bath Swallet trip
with Zac.Luckily, the club didn't have to pay her BCA insurance for
long.
Bonfire Weekend is notable for many
things (undercooked dead animal, Haydon making loud bangs, not eating
before midnight, you know - the usual stuff) but there's not often much
caving, however, on this occasion, one of your hard-working editors was
dragged underground, and Zac even lived to tell the tale, despite
incipient man-flu ...
“Right, I can take two small, non-squeamish people…” I said upon arriving at stores the morning of the 6th November.
The front seat was occupied by a faceless effigy and one of the back
seats taken up by a lamb in a bin bag. Contrary to my expectations two
people did come forward and a few minutes later our diverse band was on
the way to the hut.
To keep it brief, I emptied the firepit and got the fire started while
others collected wood. The lamb was eventually put on the fire by 1pm,
an operation slowed by an incredible amount of faff.
Roast lamb, UBSS style. Move over, Delia Smith!
Despite my protestations that I would not
be going caving due to ill health I still found myself in an oversuit
trudging to Rod's Pot for a through trip with Simon, Rosie, Dan, Gabriel
and Oliver.
I led down to the main chamber and then beyond down to the Bear Pit,
which I was also first to escape. It was while we were waiting in the
main chamber that I began to hear voices. Experienced cavers know that
this is often just a mild hallucination, particularly when near running
water; your brain tricks you into interpreting certain sounds as people
just around the corner but anyone who knows Rod's knows there’s no
running water in the main chamber. Soon the voices were loud enough for
all to hear, and they were coming from the bypass so Si decided to
investigate. He came back a protracted time later to inform us that
there was indeed a group coming the other way through the bypass and
that they were using SRT gear… on the mud pitch (Purple Pot).
Being polite we waited for them to arrive but as the time dragged on, we
realised we’d have to occupy ourselves and so decided to play a round
of hide and seek with Dan being the seeker. In the 30 or so seconds we
had; I found a small nook in a chamber just off the main passage above
the main chamber. It was here I waited for several minutes (trying not
to cough) while the others were found one by one, all except Oliver. I
was second last to be found and as I descended back to the main chamber
Oliver crawled out of his hiding spot just inside the entrance to the
Bear Pit.
This proves that hide and seek in a cave can work and is in fact quite enjoyable! You just need the time and an excuse for it.
Mia Jacobs on an entirely different trip in
Rod's showing how much fun the place is. Yes, we definitely need some
underground shots of the cave, pretty please!
It felt like a further age until the other
group arrived. One popped out first and then headed down to the Bear Pit
while we chatted. They even had time to return before the rest of their
group arrived upon which their leader promptly lectured Si on how to
cave after he simply asked them if he’d need to untie their rope from
the pitch. This thankfully brief encounter over we proceeded onwards
with me at the back.
The connection is quite crawly and muddy (particularly the Mud Pitch)
but a through trip on Mendip? I shouldn’t complain. Body belaying on the
Mud Pitch was also quite interesting (personally I can’t see how they
SRT'd up it). It was at the bottom of the ladder climb that things
slowed down. Si ascended and rigged the pitch then belayed Rosie who
took up position at the top while Si came halfway down to stop the
ladder tangling. I then clipped in each of the three freshers in turn
and got them going before free climbing the bottom half myself up to Si.
I then belay climbed the rest of the way before helping derig.
The Rod's entrance leaves much to be desired but thankfully there’s a stream just outside to wash off in.
For a trip I was reluctant to go on it went very well! As I think most
trips of that kind do). I’d never done Rod's to Bath before and
it’s certainly a very good trip! Although no connections made to the
Burrington Super System yet!
Zac Woodford
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BONFIRE NIGHT AT THE HUT
Yep, there was definitely a bonfire!
A picture is worth a thousand
words, and as we don't have a thousand words, here are some photos
instead! Thanks to Zac Woodford and Adam Henry for supplying the
piccies.
We're pleased to report that Stu Walker didn't actually dismember anyone!
Haydon had to be allowed one big one or he would have been sad panda.
And talking of one big ones... Of course it had to be done, why do you ask?
Where we like drinking after a caving trip!
Yes, there was some caving done, too! Cat and Eddie in Goatchurch.
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A VERY SALBRIOUS OFD TOP TO CWM DWR TRIP
The Judge, OFD Top. Photo by Linda Wilson.
One of the great pleasures in life is an OFD Top to Cwm Dwr trip, as Elliott McCall reports from a recent Wales weekend.
We were a group of four going on a through trip to Cwm Dwr from OFD Top.
After hiding the keys to the cave behind a fluorescent pink rock, we
entered OFD. It was a pleasant change from the Mendips being able to
fully stand as opposed to the half-crouch-crab-walk that is so
ubiquitous in Mendip caves. We went through the Brickyard and past the
Wedding Cake formation (which I must confess bears no relation to an
actual wedding cake…). Then went down through the corkscrew climb which
was quite fun; at the bottom we ran into a group of cavers, largely
children. The leader coincidentally was one of the rescuers called to
Eastwater the previous Wednesday; we had apparently disrupted his
packing for the weekend.
We took a small detour to visit the Trident and the Judge. I preferred
the Judge (see above), although the group consensus was that the Trident
was more striking (see below).
The Trident, OFD Top. Photo by Linda Wilson.
We then followed a small streamway for a
bit, at which point I got one welly wet – oh the horror!! (Not really
but melodrama is fun.) We then climbed down a rift, which was fine for
the longer legged, but was slightly more challenging albeit manageable
for the shorter limbed. We followed the wonderfully named Salubrious
Streamway, which was indeed salubrious (Meaning of salubrious in
English: salubrious: adjective: formal: A salubrious place is pleasant,
clean, and healthy to live in – Cambridge Dictionary) until we reached Maypole inlet and the most stable ladder I have been on in a cave that led down to the main streamway.
Salubrious Streamway. Photo by Linda Wilson.
This streamway was lovely to follow. A perfect 5/7 section of cave passage. This part was very serpentine and the geology was (sorry geologists I study engineering!)
pretty cool. We followed this till the marker in the wall that
signifies it’s time to climb upwards to the Great Oxbow which allows you
to circumvent the sump. This climb was somewhat interesting for the
vertically challenged so Henry deployed the time tested climbing
technique of providing his shoulder and helmet as footholds.
Re-entering the streamway and following it for a distance led to the
most stunning section of cave: the Marble Showers series. This section
had a stunning black floor with zebra stripes of white marble running
through it. Very pretty. We followed the streamway for a long way with
lots and lots and lots of pots. Impossible to stay dry but very fun.
After a while, this leads to the very Alien looking Confluence Stone, my
favourite sight from the trip. We then climbed up into Piccadilly
Circus where we got ever-so-slightly lost. We met a group from
Nottingham who were also ever-so-slightly lost; we promptly lost them
too and had a great time doing some route-finding in the Smithy. We
eventually doubled back to the Confluence Stone and climbed up directly
into the Smithy. This climb was quite exposed but relatively easy. This
allowed us to get our bearings and find our way out.
At this point we were somewhat less confident in the route-description
we were following, especially when it said turn right when calcite drops
away to your left… this never happened, though we suspect we still
found the correct turn with the calcite on the right instead??
After this it was just the crawl out. Not too bad a crawl, only 100m or
so if I recall correctly, although we were relatively tired at this
point which made it worse. Kneepads are recommended if you bruise
easily. Then it was sunshine, sheep, and a cuppa at the SWCC hut.
Elliot McCall
JUDGING THE JUDGE - THE AUDIENCE DECIDES
So, which is it to be? The Trident or the Judge?
Have your say!
The results will be announced in the next newsletter!
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HANGING AROUND IN RHINO RIFT
The second pitch in Rhino Rift. Photo copyright Mark Burkey and used with his kind permission.
Zac Woodford finally got the chance to take his shiny new SRT kit underground. Here's his account of a recent Rhino Rift trip
Since acquiring an SRT kit over the summer I’ve been eager to give it a
try and there’s no other place on Mendip like Rhino for doing just that.
So on a dark Wednesday evening Haydon, Lucy and I wandered down through
the Longwood valley, stopping to observe the hard work invested in
clearing Top Sink (I was surprised how clear the water was). Reaching
the Rhino entrance Haydon took point with Lucy following while I brought
up the rear. The small crawling entrance section is the polar opposite
of the rest of the cave which soon opens into voluminous pitches.
We made a smooth decent down to the last pitch. The trouble began when I
was waiting for Lucy while sat in my harness on the traverse. I think
this might have cut some of my circulation and the following re-belay
further diminished my energy reserves. This had the cumulative effect
that meant when I got to the deviation, I didn’t have the energy to
re-attach it above me. I then had to re-ascend to the loose rubble shelf
where I spent several minutes catching my breath while waiting for the
others to ascend. I then continued to lead out with Haydon de-rigging.
Apart from a little bit of entanglement on my part on the last rebelay
our exit was smooth, and we were soon parked outside a disappointingly
closed Plume of Feathers…
I learnt a lot from this first foray with my SRT kit and have since
practised with a different configuration. Despite the fact that I didn’t
make the bottom it was still a brilliant trip and I’m glad I’ve an
excuse to head back soon!
Zac Woodford
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HIGH WINDS, SNOW, CAR TROUBLE AND CAVING GAMES - CHECC 2021
 CHECC,
aka the Combined Higher Education Caving Clubs is a great way to get to
know other student cavers and learn new and creative uses for household
furniture and kitchen equipment. It's rumoured that there's even some
caving occasionally. Last weekend, undeterred by severe weather
warnings, the UBSS contingent ventured up to the frozen north, as
Student Prezz Henry Morgan relates ...
Five cars left Bristol late on Friday night for the drive up to
Yorkshire Dales Guides near Settle. The first car arrived and gave
warning to the rest of us about a tree down on the road to Clitheroe
… it turned out storm Arwen wasn’t quite done yet as the remaining
cars came across multiple trees down, bins flying everywhere and sheets
of corrugated iron in the middle of the road.
All that before the snow! It was decided that setting up the large tent
that night would be impossible given the 40mph winds (in the valley!!)
and so we quickly set about the business of partying and meeting other
clubs. Once everyone had arrived, it was time to show off our fancy
dress for this year. Gabriel, Omri, Elliott, Ewan, Merryn and myself all
came through the door in our fire engines, followed by a series of sad
and cold looking cavers in foil blankets.
(Left to right) Merryn, Omri, Elliott, Gabriel and Henry.
We
have no idea who won the fancy dress competition but a number of people
were impressed by our Eastwater cave rescue theme with an accurate
number of fire engines! (See the previous newsletter!) Following this
and much more stomping, most of UBSS and the rest of CHECC found a
flat(ish) spot on the floor, or a table, and passed out for the night.
The next morning we awoke to the aftermath of the previous night's
storm; Multiple tents that had been erected before the wind got really
bad had been squashed, and one was even hanging in a tree at the
opposite end of the field (apparently it later fell down and got washed
away by the river Ribble!). After the longest queue since social
distancing was a thing, we grabbed breakfast and set about plotting the
days caving. Sam and Lucy took a group to Sunset Hole for some more
horizontal caving (but unfortunately were unable to locate the entrance
in the snow!), Ash and Jakob took a group for some SRT to Sell Gill, and
myself and Merryn took a group up to Gaping Ghyll for some classic
Yorkshire caving.
To prove that some caving did go on!
Getting
to the caves was not as trivial as we had hoped, given the amount of
snow and ice on the roads, but we did still get two trips underground.
(More than could be said for a lot of clubs apparently!). Of the
remaining cavers Sorcha, Gabriel and Ewan did training sessions and
after that Megan, Omri and Ewan went on a hike in the now more agreeable
(but still just as snowy) weather. By 9pm, all the groups had returned
from their various activities for the day and we set about the important
business of caving games for the evening.
There was an impressive display of suspended sock wrestling, with pretty
much the whole of CHECC as an audience! Gabriel from UBSS produced a
splendid display to defeat his opposition as the sole UBSS
representative in this event. Ewan and I had a good effort at Pan and
Sling, but unfortunately, we failed on the last round as it turned out
that we were just too large at the hips, even when employing the
handstand manoeuvre!
A great evening was had by all, including a gorgeous set of glitter
tattoos for Sam and Imogen. Most of UBSS retired by 1am as the cold
inside the barn was even making partying seem less appealing than the
bunk room filled with sweaty bodies (there were six beds in here, and I
am informed that no less than 17 people claim to have slept in this
room!).
The alternative to the bunk room.
In
the morning we set about the mandatory faff before trying to work out
series of caving trips so we could get some more people underground who
has unfortunately been unable to the day before. Unfortunately, Ash’s
car had other ideas. We jump started it but it kept cutting out, leading
to a call to the RAC. Meanwhile, Imogen’s car and Lucy’s car managed to
escape back to Bristol as snow once again started falling in the Dales.
It turned out Ash had a broken alternator, so me and Michael had to
cram our cars full of people for the drive back, leaving Ash behind
stuck with his broken motor to be towed back to Bristol (fear not, he
got home shortly after 11pm).
Those of us not dealing with the RAC set about the CHECC clean up
(cleaning up the left over breakfast food as well as the floors), and
before too long headed off Bristol bound. Unfortunately, this meant no
caving happened on Sunday (though by the state of the roads, getting to
any caves was going to prove very tricky!). My car, with Gabriel,
Merryn, Ewan and Omri, decided to go for a little walk in Ingleton
before the long drive south, with Merryn leading the way on a little
tree climbing before Gabriel took it upon himself to try
(unsuccessfully) to be a sheepdog. Shortly after this, we hit the M6 and
got back to stores around 8:30pm. It turns out that cleaning caving kit
is much easier if you didn’t go caving at all, why don’t we always do
that! We abandoned any plan of going to the pub as it was getting late
and all headed back home for a well earned sleep.
Let’s hope that next time we go to time we go to Yorkshire that we are
blessed with more favourable weather conditions and more compliant cars.
Despite the lack of caving, everyone had a great weekend full of
partying and snow, here is hoping the future is full of some more
underground adventures!!
Henry Morgan
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BATS IN CAVES
Lesser Horseshoe Bat in flight in Great
Swallet. Photo taken by Lewis Hillier and Daniel Whitby under the
necessary Licence, and used with their kind permission.
Most people who cave for any length
of time will come across bats in caves, so it's a good idea to keep
some simple pointers in mind. Linda Wilson has put together some
information, accompanied by fantastic photos used with permission of
Lewis Hillier and Daniel Whitby, who are both ecologists working with
bats. The photos were taken under the necessary licences to permit
photography of bats near their roosts, as Linda explains ...
As part of my role as conservation officer for the Charterhouse Caving
Company Ltd (the access body responsible for GB, Charterhouse, Longwood
and Rhino, of which UBSS is a part), I recently met Lewis Hillier, an
ecologist working wth Somerset Wildlife Tust, the landowner for these
areas. Lewis is monitoring bats in Gruffy Field, the area overlying GB
and Charterhouse, and he mentioned he had some good photos of bats in
flight coming out ofTyning's Great Swallet, the depression in Gruffy
Field. He sent the photos to me and has very kindly agreed to them being
used here.
Lesser Horseshoe Bat in flight in Great
Swallet. Photo taken by Lewis Hillier and Daniel Whitby under the
necessary Licence, and used with their kind permission.
The main things to bear in mind aboutbats are very simple:
- Don't disturb them.
- Don't shine your lights at them.
- Don't take photographs of them.
- Don't touch them.
- Do treat them with care and respect by leaving them alone.
- Do stay as far away from them as possible if you encounter them underground.
- Do take special care from October to May as that is when they are likely to be hibernating.
Fun facts:
- You're most likely to see Lesser Horseshoe bats.
- Greater Horseshoes are (surprise, surprise) like Lessers but about twice the size.
- Bat Passage in GB is called that because a bat skeleton was
found there. As Bat Passage was dug into, the bat must have got in there
by a different, now blocked route.
- I once came back from the end of Great Oone's Cave in Cheddar
Gorge and said: "I've just seen this weird bat with really long ears. I
wonder what it was?" Everyone else: "How about a Long-Eared Bat?" Me:
"Smart-arses."
- Bats won't get in your hair when they're flying around. That's a
myth, despite Chris Shirt thinking they would down a trip to Box Mines
many years ago, He didn't even have very long hair at the time!
Lesser Horseshoe Bat in flight in Great
Swallet. Photo taken by Lewis Hillier and Daniel Whitby under the
necessary Licence, and used with their kind permission.
The Legal Bit:
- Bats species are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and there are ginormous fines for contravening this.
- There's a simple statement of the law here and a link to use to report any crimes against bats.
Linda Wilson
Conservation Officer, CCC Ltd
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ON PULL THROUGHS
A handful of caves allow us to
enter one entrance and descend passageways and pitches one at a time,
pulling our ropes after us as we go, to emerge blinking in the sunlight
at a completely different location. Priddy Green Sink is a classic
Mendip example, featuring such constricted and leechy delights as
Blasted Bastard, Shit Sump, and the legendary El Crapitan. But during
the Alpine training week in preparation for the club’s recent Berger
trip, talk soon turned to a different cave beginning with B: the Scialet
du Brudour. Elaine Oliver tells the tale (and all the photos in this
write up were taken by her) ...
Reportedly, you could crawl into a little hole at the top of a ski run
(the Trou des Anciens), descend 327m into the earth down pitches, climbs
and cascades with naught but a small personal bag apiece, and pop out
into a wildflower meadow further down the valley. The most appealing bit
was that unlike Priddy Green Sink, there was no constant stream of shit
from a barn floor to make you fear for any uncovered cuts or scrapes.
Which is how I found myself playing three-person conkers clipped to a
couple of bolts quite a long way above the floor. It was
thrilling.
Oi, where are the conkers?
The thing with pull throughs is they’re
very committing, allowing no retreat (whatever MU5 might suggest about
the free-climbability of El Crapitan). Preparation is key. To this end,
the day before the trip, we split into two groups: one to go in through
the out door to check they could find the way and pre-rig a few pitches;
the other to try and locate the top entrance to save time the following
day. We then readjusted groups to share our expertise, and set our
alarms bright and early.
The vanguard consisted of Brian, Elaine and Jon, with Haydon, Jakob and
Merryn following an hour later to avoid bottlenecks. We all took turns
at rigging - there was plenty of it! - with the more experienced members
checking the newer recruits’ knots before committing. But it wasn’t all
pitches: we crossed hanging traverses, squeezed through constrictions
and scrambled over boulders the size of cars. Down and down we went,
admiring the spires of rock carved by the passage of water, the
shockingly blue pools and the unusual white mud (which was much more
slippery than it let on).
A picture is worth a thousand words ...
“It’s super awkward to bridge this pool,” said Jon at one point.
“I don’t think it’s that deep,” I replied.
The next thing I know, Jon is in up to his neck and cursing me vigorously. Oops.
All too soon, we were abseiling next to the waterfall Jon’s group had
reached the previous day, which meant the home straight. The cave had
plenty more treats in store for us yet, though, with prolific stal
forming every imaginable shape, several bats, and a flood gauge for
interest.
“Not too much more crawling to go!” Jon kept saying cheerfully, then
“Oh, I forgot about this one… well, not too much more after this!”
before the next barely-larger-than-body-sized tube would emerge before
us.
Still no conkers. The Trades Descriptions Act is about to be invoked.
At last, though, we could smell the
surface, and after around eight hours, we popped out the pre-rigged
Scialet du Brudour with a car conveniently parked just a couple of
hundred yards away to whisk us back to cassoulet and vin rouge. Très
bien, would cave again!
Elaine Oliver
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DOMME WITH DOGGIES
The Perigord region of the Dordogne is famous for many things
including truffles, medieval villages, show caves and wild caves. Jan
Walker describes the cave of Domme, entered through a building in the
middle of the town square.
On a sunny day in October, on holiday with Linda and Graham in the
Dordogne, we took a nice leisurely trip to the hilltop town of Domme,
high above the river, intending the visit the show cave there. Linda,
Anthea, and I purchased our tickets while Graham stayed at the lookout
with the the lurcher and the greyhound. About five minutes before the
tour started, Linda discovered that dogs are allowed in the cave (on
leads, of course!). I took off at a run to ask Graham if he'd like to
come (he would), and Linda got his vaccination passport from him and
snagged a ticket at the last second.
The cave was discovered in 1912, and first embellished for visitors in
1954. In 2021, they added some new LED lighting and improved the paths.
The cave is absolutely lovely. It's chock-full of stal. Crystals,
calcite, stalagmites and stalactites, curtains and columns abound.
According to Graham and Linda, it’s been improved by a factor of about a
1,000 from 30 years ago, when they first visited, when the formations
were covered with thick green algae from too much light for too long.
The path is solid, and the lighting is now in perfect places to light up
the various areas. The tour started with about 40 steps down, then
through a locked door and into the cave. The guide was super, giving
just enough time for us to take in all of the beauty of the various
areas, but not hurrying either. There were a number of places where the
stal had been broken during settling of the ground, and then started to
"heal" with very thin strands of stal joining the top and bottom of the
break.
A few places had dozens of curtains, some of which had joined at the bottom to make almost a cradle.
At one point, the guide turned off all of the lights and we stood in
complete darkness for a few seconds (and the dogs were fine with it!),
then various sections around us would light up for a moment in turn.
Beautiful.
View from the cafe window.
We came out on the side of the cliff, and
took a glass-sided lift up to ground level, giving us a fantastic view
of the valley on the way up. We then stopped for a coffee/beer/drink in
the café at the exit, and basked in the fantastic view out of the huge
floor to ceiling window.
All in all, this was a very worthwhile trip. And Trigger and Gwen are now considered to be experienced showcavers!
All visits are guided and cost 9 euros (7.50 for students). There are visits both morning and afternoon throughout the year.
Jan Walker
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COME ON IN, THE WATER'S BRR ... BRR ... BRILLIANT!
La Grande Moucherolle, above Villard de Lans, Vercors , France. Photo by Brian Goodman.
Wild swimming, or swimming as it is
also known, has seen a surge in popularity since Covid hit and
staycations became the in thing, but for those of us in the know, a
quick strip and dip has long offered just the tonic to shake off the
cobwebs after a long week. UBSS Prezz Elaine Oliver extolls the virtues
of some character-building cold water. We even have a UBSS wild swimming
chat on Facebook, so if you'd like to be added, let us know!
I was introduced to the concept one New Year’s Day at Bullpot Farm.
You’re all fans of a good caver party, so I’m sure you can picture the
hangover - but a quick crunch over the icy fell, a mass splash in Cow
Dubs, and I was a convert. All trace of the previous night’s libation
was gone, and I decided there and then that my New Year’s resolution
would be to swim somewhere new every month. I had three rules. I wasn’t
allowed to have swum in the same body of water previously; it had to be
freshwater, and I considered wetsuits cheating. Somehow, I stuck to it:
from Mendip to Malta, exploring plenty of rivers, loughs and even the
Thames in between. This year, in the depths of lockdown, I decided to do
it all again. Travel bans made things difficult - February’s swim in a
“washpool” with a “stream” was essentially a glorified puddle - but in
July I took part in a race in Windermere (and wasn’t last!), while
September saw me “enjoy” an exclusive paddle through the pseudo-siphon
of the Gouffre Berger.
The Prezz enjoying a dip in the pseudo-siphon in the Gouffre Berger.
A question I get a lot with cold-water
swimming is “why?”. I don’t like cold water. I don’t like the cold full
stop. But a little birdie told me that cold water swimming helps teach
your body to control its temperature and improves your ability to deal
with cold, and even stimulates white blood cell production to boost the
immune system. Like caving, it shakes up your exercise regime: the act
of outdoor swimming puts you in an environment you’re unfamiliar with,
which adds an element of fun and exploration that encourages you to keep
coming back. It’s good for your mind, too: it decreases stress hormones
like cortisol, and gives you a little time to yourself to clear your
head. And the best part is that it doesn’t take long at all to feel
alive after a quick dip - no slogging necessary! (But if you do want to
extend your swim, I highly recommend a wetsuit - I managed half an hour
in 6c water with snow falling this weekend just past).
Elaine swimming in Crummock Water in the Lake District. Photo by Brian Goodman.
Top tips:
- Make sure you’re warmed up before you get in - run on the spot for a few minutes to get the blood flowing.
- Don’t jump straight in - cold water shock is real, but the initial effects will pass in around a minute.
- If it’s really cold, you can repeat a mantra to help hold your
focus. I sometimes repeat my address and phone number!
- It is the ultimate luxury to have a towel and a flask of hot
chocolate ready for when you get out. You can even bring an extra flask
of hot water and a hot water bottle!
- Just like caving, never swim alone!
- There's an interesting and useful blog post about cold water swimming here.
I know the snow this weekend probably means we can’t deny it’s winter
any longer, but all that means is you’ve a high chance of finding beauty
spots all to yourself - and if there’s anything I’ve learned from
hanging around cavers, it’s that following the crowd tends to be the
last thing we like to do (“you did WHAT at the weekend?!”) So take the
streamway less travelled, and see which pools you find at the end of it.
And if you know of any secret spots you wouldn’t mind recommending for
my December swim, I’d love to hear them!
Elaine Oliver
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UBSS MUSEUM AND LIBRARY - WET ROT AND ACROW PROPS!
This was what was revealed when the ceiling was removed. Photo by Jan Walker.
As we reported in July, there's
more drama in the museum, as the ceiling in the museum display area
seemed to have dropped by a few inches, naturally just after the curator
had gone on holiday! A team consisting of student museum curator,
Nathan Cubitt and librarian Tony Boycott, ably assisted by seasoned
collection movers Helen and Jan got stuck in and evacuated all the
exhibits from the cabinets so that Estates could arrange an
investigation. Matters have progressed from there, as museum curator
Linda Wilson reports.
Yep, it was bad news! The joists on the outside wall on the left of the
building (as you face it from the front) are all badly affected by wet
rot. These are the original joists, so are probably 100 - 150 years old,
so they've not had a bad innings. As soon as the extent of the problem
was known, the floor of the room above was promptly supported on a line
of acrow props to prevent further collapse. This enabled us to work
safely up there in limited numbers to move everything. I met Estates
down there and the good news is that they are going to get the work done
to get us back in there. The plan is that they will jack the floor back
up into the correct position, cut off the affected parts of the beams,
and bolt new ones in place. This should all be able to be done from
below and they think they can work around the big museum display
cabinets in there.
A team consisting of myself, Tony, Helen, Jan and Nathan, assisted by
Henry and Zac moved as much as we could into the museum stack room
(Estates were confident that those beams were up to the job as they were
only put there in 1990, but for belt and braces there are now three
acrow props in the library room to support the extra weight). In all,
that was a day's hard labour. More work has been done by Tony and Jan to
get rid of some surplus stocks of old publications.
Nathan and Zac working, Helen and Tony supervising. Photo by Jan Walker.
Tony, Helen, Jan and myself went back on
30th November and moved all the empty Ikea 'Billy' bookcases downstairs.
There were 15 in total and we got pretty good at it by the end! It was
bloody hard work as they are heavy, and awkward, but no damage was done
to either people or property! There is still one metal rack that needs
dismantling and more Proceedings stock to be brought downstairs and put
onto the bookcases that have been relocated to the library/committee
room. By creative stacking of the fragile stuff from the cabinets
(protected under tables) with drawers piled on top, we got everything
in, playing a gigantic game of drawer tetris.
There's a lot of stuff under that plastic sheet! Photo by Jan Walker.
Work can't start until sometime in the New
Year due to the double whammy of Brexshit and Covid causing a massive
labour shortage in the University contractors. Estates have been
brilliant and I can't praise Gary Spillane too highly for all his help!
Obviously, the Stables is now totally off-limits and the entire
collection is inaccessible for the immediate future. All researchers
waiting for visits have been notified.
When we are back in there, we will have a massive job of redecoration,
moving and resorting on our hands, and may as well take this opportunity
to re-do all the cabinet displays from scratch as well as getting on
with other work on both the museum and library collection. Lots of help
will be needed then!
Linda Wilson
Museum Curator
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BOOTLE BEARKINS READ TO THE END, DID YOU?
Meet Bootle Bearkins, adopted from Ailwee Cave in Co Clare many
years ago. He has a twin, in the possession of Steve Cottle, and if
we're lucky, he might send in a photo, if he's reading this! But we
digress ....
We're delighted to inform you all that .... *drum roll* .... the winner
of last month's Read to the End Competition was .... *more drum rolls*
.... the very lovely Dr Andy Farrant, who - yet again - was
procrastinating before starting work for the day! We'll dig out
something nice as a reward for him. And from the students, the winners
were Ewan Aitchison-Hough and Mahmood Ali, who win wonderful UBSS
keyring torches and pens! These can be delivered in the pub or at the
Xmas meal if you'll be there!
So, yet again, there's all to play for! If you've read this far, there's
only a bit further to go before you really do read The End, just after
all the lovely emails that make your busy editors very happy bunnies, so
please do keep them coming!
- Awesome read and an excellent way to start the day! [Andy Farrant]
- Great newsletter, and welcome to all the freshers this year! The
Grottes de Douyme were delightful caves, and I didn’t even injure
myself to get out of being the model! [Jan Walker]
- Yes. I read it to the end and am very impressed with what the
younger cavers are up to. (both in caves and on the surface!) [Eve
Gilmore]
- You've stolen my dog! [Si Hadfield] [Editors' note: nope, we
only borrowed him, honest! But maybe he wants to stay with us now...]
- I loved seeing the first picture with so many at the hut -
really heart-warming. And Manor Farm Swallet too, Mike Norton seemed to
live there much of the time - and the flattering photo of Dick Willis.
[Steve Trudgill]
- I’d have been faster, but Dick’s piece slowed me down because I
enjoyed it so much I read it twice. Good on you, Wick Dillis. [Chris
Howes]
- Really enjoyed doing my first few caves, and looking forward to plenty more! [Ewan Aitchison-Hough]
- I actually did read to the end yesterday when I should have been listening to my lecture. [Mahmoud Ahmed]
- I read it first thing in the morning and sent it to all my
family members!! Haha, I am glad my piglet rolling got me there - I
wouldn't be a vet student without slipping in a little animal comment in
there. [Klaudia Kaluza]
- Well I read to the end, as usual, but at least 24 hours too late. Another brilliant read! [Carol Walford]
- Another cracker of a newsletter. Great photos and fun stories. UBSS is alive and kicking! [Hans Friederich]
I did it, I got to the end, go me!
THE END
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