Belfry Bulletin Number 134

No. 134

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EDITORIAL Firstly, an apology for the lateness of this B.B. This is due entirely to slackness and mismanagement on the part of the Editor.

We mentioned, in January that during the course of this year, we would be experimenting with various changes in the B.B. The reason we mention this again is that we are now in a state where we can put forward a definite suggestion to all members on this subject. Some of you will have seen the new shape we are thinking of making the B.B. into. Those that haven't may like to know that it is half foolscap (8" x 6½") and that we are going to have a “fancy” cover to go with it - starting next year. All the members who have seen the specimen so far are in favour of it, but please, if anyone has any objections, write in and let us know.

The new shape has a lot of advantages, one of which is that we shall be able to print it on paper like this issue of the B.B. Compare this number with previous month's B.B's and you will notice that - like some of the detergents - we have extra whiteness (as well as extra opacity).

We don’t intend to bore readers by mentioning this subject again, unless we receive any complaints. We realise that those members who have a nice thick file of B.B.'s will find the new shape spoils their arrangements, but hope that they will put up with a change which we are certain will result in a B.B. next year which will compare favourably with the journals of most other caving clubs.

“Alfie” _______________________________________________________________________________________ All club folk will have been shocked to hear of the death of Dr Eric Houghton in a climbing accident in North Wales on 21st February, and will wish to offer our sincere condolences to his family in their tragic loss.

A man of such personal charm and talent will be missed wherever he was known, and to us who enjoyed his company during the last four years, he will always be remembered as a lively, humorous and. sympathetic friend, who cannot be replaced.

The above tribute was sent to us by Johnny Attwood. Eric was well known to B.E.C. climbers, and frequented the "Waggon" on most club nights. A fund to assist his dependants is being organised by his fellow doctors, and a set of forms was sent to us for inclusion in the B.B. We decided, however, not to include them, as most members would prefer to send any gifts to the club, who could then make our contribution. Should any member wish to send separately, the address is: - Lloyds Bank, Regent Street, Clifton, and cheques made payable to the “Houghton memorial Trust.” Other donations may be sent to the club secretary, the Editor, or any member of the B.B. Board. _______________________________________________________________________________________

NOTICES Annual Subscriptions.

The Hon. Treasurer wishes to remind members who have not yet paid their 1959 subs, that these SHOULD HAVE BEEN PAID BY NOW. Full members 12/6; Junior and associate members 7/6. Why not become a life member? Five guineas is a bit of a drain but you might live to be a hundred! In that case you will, on the average, receive 900 copies of the B.B. during the rest of your life. By that time, the annual sub will be about a fiver anyway! Besides, think of the shock to our Hon. Treas.!

The British Caver.

Volume: 30 of this publication will be out by about September, price 7/9 Post Paid. To book a copy, write to:- G. Platten, "Rotherfield", Fernhill Lane, New Milton, Hants.

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No. 134

Assorted Clangers.

The S.M.C.C. Coach party to Yorkshire, which was given in the B.B. as being held at Easter, is in fact being held at WHITSUN. Sorry for this, but it gives you more time to arrange to go.

Roger and Daphne’s address was given as Clevedon. The rest of the address is all right, but it should be PORTISHEAD. G.B. Dates.

March 21/22, B.E.C.; Easter, Wessex; April 4/5, Westminster; April 18/19, Axbridge; April 25/26, B.E.C.; May 9/10, Wessex; May 16/18, S.W.C.C.; May 30/31, Westminster; June 6/7, Axbridge: June 13/14, B.E.C.; July 4/5, Wessex; July 11/12, Westminster; July 18/19, Axbridge; July 25/26, B.B.C. More Gen about the trip to Yorkshire at WHITSUN. The coach will leave Friday evening. It may be possible to return on Monday evening, if a majority agree.

Picking up points will probably be Wells and Bristol. There will be a winch down G.G. arranged by the Bradford Pothole Club which anyone can use for a small fee. Ken Dawe's address is:- 7 Widcombe Crescent, Bath, Somerset. He can also be contacted at Beechbarrow (The Shepton Hut) when on Mendip. _______________________________________________________________________________________

CAVING LOG 4th Jan. 10th Jan. 11th Jan.

17th Jan. 18th Jan.

31st Jan. 7th Feb.

15th Feb.

21st Feb.

28th Feb.

Cuthbert's. Photography in main route. Shots of Arête Pitch, Gour Hall and passage. Entrance Pitch very wet. 5 hours. Kangy.

Cuthbert’s. BOULDER REMOVED FROM CUTHBERT’S ENTRANCE RIFT. Party: - B. Price, Ken Dawe and Prew Cuthbert’s. Photographic trip to Maypole Series. One hour's work resulted in one multiple flash shot of the first half of the Maypole Series taken from Upper Traverse Chamber (We hope!)

Party: J. Etough, Anne Jenkins and Kangy.

Swildon’s. C.R.G. Diving Operation. An account of this trip appeared in last month's B.B. Tankard Hole. Survey and photographic trip by R. Stenner, P. Miller and D. Dolan. The survey was completed and a meal cooked. A slow exit, partly due to photography, was taken.

Difficulty was experienced in getting the large packs out of the cave. We came out two hours after the estimated time out and we are sorry for inconveniencing to two members who stood by until the party returned.

Alfie's Hole. Trip down to inspect results of the recent heavy rain. Shoring etc. mainly O.K. Way through boulders still visible at bottom. Party, Alfie and Jill.

Goatchurch. dreaded, the. Alfie and Jill on photographic trip to test new camera. Time taken two hours including tea at the Mendip Gate Cafe.

Swildon's. Descended cave at 10 p.m. in order to lifeline the sherpa party up the 20' pot. Task completed by 1.30 a.m. Party; Prew, Mike Wheadon.

Cuthbert’s. 7 Axbridge Caving Club members, led by Roger Stenner. Tourist trip to Curtain Chamber, Cascade, Railway Tunnel, Upper Traverse Chamber, Fingers and out. Time 4¾ hours.

Swildons (Top). Dave Hoskyns, Frank Darbon and four others. Photographic trip.

Alfie's Hole. Alfie, Jill, Wally and Mike Thompson. Rock shifting until one of the largest rocks in the cave was tackled. This was beyond the capabilities of the team but was hauled up simply because nobody dared to drop it. The party then collapsed exhausted.

Eastwater. To terminal rift via Dolphin route. Descended by Muddy Oxbow inadvertently and had to scale the thirteen pots. Time taken, 3 hours. Party, Tony O’Flaherty and M. Ware.

No. 134

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LETTER To the Editor, B.B. A few years ago, the question of the club's badge was raised, and then it was generally agreed that the pattern used for the sign on the Belfry door was the correct size and shape for the bat. This is the same as the pattern of bat used for the small lead badges that are still to be seen occasionally.

Daphne Stenner then used this pattern, and carved a master pattern to scale, into a block of wax to enable two sizes of bats to be cast in plastic mixed by Tony Rich. A number of such badges were made and distributed, but proved to be very fragile. Tony countered this by embedding one in a disc of clear P.V.A., the prototype being given to Sid Hobbs. Owing to Tony going to Canada, no more were made.

Shortly before his departure, Tony showed me perfect casts of both sizes, both carefully cleaned up with the intention of using them to make casts for better masters than would be possible by carving into wax. The badges were to be made in two stages, first casting the bat and then embedding the bat in plastic.

I am sure Sid would agree with me that a better Motor Vehicle or rucksack badge would be hard to find, and if means of making more can be found, either commercially or by the help of members, the original wax master and the cleaned up casts are available.

In the meantime, a small grumble. It’s a pity that the proper club bat cannot to used on the B.B. Roger Stenner.

Editor's Note. I'm afraid you're stuck with the present bat on the B.B. until 1960! All this year's covers are printed. _______________________________________________________________________________________

TANKARD HOLE

by Roger Stenner In January 1958, a brief report on Tankard Hole was printed in the B.B. Since then, there have been several new developments, and because of them I am writing this second interim report, bearing the fact in mind that a full account will appear in a future B.E.C, Saving Report.

The stability of the entrance is rather in question. When members of the B.E.C. were given the 'go ahead'

by Wessex diggers in June 1956, the entrance was blocked by a roof fall and a good digging session was needed to get small cavers in, followed by a bigger digging session to get bigger sized caver into the cave.

At this stage, the shoring beyond the shaft was rather comic in a horrifying fashion, and, despite the care that was obviously needed, by September 1956, a would-be exploration party again had to start digging before the cave could be entered. Most of the shoring had fallen, and debris was still coming down spasmodically, the debris being a mixture of mud, gravel and assorted boulders causing the party to run the gauntlet in an unpleasant fashion. In the spring of 1957, the entrance was still open, but in August 1957, when Pete Miller first did a Tankard trip, the entrance again needed digging out, but when dug, had remained substantially the same as before.

Between August 1957 and August 1958, a really big change took place, and an hour and a half had to be spent removing boulders. Daylight was visible beyond the shaft. The following day we found that the way on from the first chamber no longer existed, and no trace could be seen of the rope which led from this chamber to the eighteen foot pitch. As I had a wife to support, Pete Miller was persuaded to pioneer a new route and soon a familiar spot was reached, and there was the old rope, leading up into a jumble of boulders.

In the last trip, a large boulder was seen to have shifted in the entrance, and this part of the cave is now in a really unstable condition. The only solution is a new shaft, dug in a different position instead of the obvious place at the lowest part of the depression, the new shaft should be nearer the side. In the meantime, the top

Page 4 No. 134 of the present shaft will be repaired and relocked. Keys to the lock are in the possession of B. Prewer (B.E.C. and Wessex.) Mr. A. Fincham (B.,E.C. and Wessex) and myself (Holding Mr A. Rich's key.)

Tankard is not to be recommended for pleasure trips, except to people with a very strange idea of pleasure.

Except for the passage leading to the dig, where progress is most likely, the cave has been surveyed for the Caving Report using a clinometer, prismatic compass and steel tape. The depth to the rift leading to the bottom of the lowest chamber is 148'. Passage length is 455', 190' of which is made up of side passages. The survey took five trips, and totalled 21½ hours, progress being impeded by the number of short legs that were needed. In the main passage of 265', there were 50 legs in the survey. Triangulations were made to test the accuracy of the instruments under these conditions.

The nature of the cave is basically a spiralling boulder ruckle, the side passages tending to be vertically above one another five in one place and four in another. Because of this, a satisfactory way of presenting the results is hard to find. The C.R.G. method would be guaranteed to get even Tony Rich completely muddled.

To add to the difficulty, larger chambers are difficult to show because of the lack of symmetry. Some photographs have been taken, but they only seem to make the understanding of the shape of the cave worse.

If anyone knows of a survey of a boulder ruckle 148' deep, I would be grateful if I could see a copy. _______________________________________________________________________________________ We hope that Roger and Pete will not mind the Mick being taken in the article which follows. The survaye of Tankard must have been a tricky job. - Editor.

IT WENT THAT-A-WAY The exploration and surveying of a hole like Tankard presents some interesting and unusual problems. A typical trip starts, for instance, by sending a man out in advance of the rest of the party to find the entrance.

A method often adopted consists of going to where the entrance was on the last trip, and starting a systematic search from there. It is hoped eventually to be able to publish a book of tables showing the probable position of the entrance on any particular day, taking into account the phases of the moon and high tide at Westonsuper-Mare.

Once into the cave; the survey continues. An interesting addition to normal practice here is the use of a stopwatch, as not only the distance and bearing, but also the time must be noted. A survey reading taken at, say, 4.55 p.m. cannot be drawn on the same plan as one taken at 4.56.

The naming of parts of the cave system presented some degree of difficulty, and a completely new system had to be invented. Such names as “45 Second Chamber” are typical. A part of the cave called “10th of December Grotto” does not mean that it was discovered then, so much as it actually existed on that date, rather than on the 9th or the 11th.

Everywhere there is the suggestion of movement. Places such as Upper and Lower Mud Hall in Cuthbert's would be come called Ascending and Descending Mud Hall if they were in Tankard. All equipment for the trip has to be carried around, as putting anything down anywhere means a later trip to find out where that portion of the cave has moved to.

Will Tankard ever get to Wookey? We must be careful to define what we mean here. If we mean will passages one day be discovered leading from Tankard to Wookey Hole, the answer is almost certainly ‘no’, but if we mean the whole issue, entrance and all, finish up one day in the Wookey area, the answer is that we wouldn't be the least surprised.

Where did Tankard come from? Places as far apart as Bodmin Moor and Newcastle-on-Tyne have been suggested. Again, your guess is as good as mine. The only fact we can be sure about is that at present, we have it with us on Mendip - at least we did last weekend and it is presumably up to us to make the most of it (whatever that may mean in this case) before it outdistances us.

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GERMANIUM AT LYME REGIS

by Jack Waddon.

It may be of interest to those of our members who are concerned with electronics (and there are quite a few of them!) to learn of the occurrence of Germanium in the West Country.

Germanium is a comparatively rare element, which has become increasingly important as the principal constituent of most types of transistor - the crystal device which is being used more and more instead of the radio valve.

In the lower lias of Dorset, isolated fragments of lignite are frequently found embedded in the limestones and shales of marine origin. A walk along the beach between Lyme Regis and Charmouth is invariably repaid by the discovery of many of these easily recognised fossil wood specimens. They vary from a few inches to several feet in length. On a recent visit, I found a good specimen of a soft coniferous wood, in which the grain and various knots could clearly be seen, in boulders of a soft whitish limesttone strewn along the beach.

According to an interesting report which has recently been published (*) various samples of lignite were collected from Lyme Regis, burnt, and a spectrographic analysis made of the ashes. Of the samples taken, the ash was found to contain a mean concentration of 1.48% germanium, representing a mean concentration in the lignite of 0.18% germanium.

Although this occurrence of germanium is of no economic importance (germanium salts being produced as a by-product of certain mines in the Belgian Congo) there is no doubt that, had it been known some years ago, it would have aroused some considerable interest, as at that time, the principal sources of germanium was soot in chimneys of factories where the coal from certain seams were burnt., Indeed, it was just over ten years ago that I remember R.A. Setterington getting spectrographic analyses made of various samples of dross etc. from the Mendip Mineries in the hope that some germanium might be present, but although all sorts of other interesting elements appeared to be present, there existed not the faintest trace of germanium. (*) A. Hallam and K.W. Payne. “Nature”, Vol. 131, No 4G14, pp 1008-9. (April 5, 1958.) _______________________________________________________________________________________

SONNET This automation lark is here to stay.

Not very long ago, two bods would write Each bloke's address by hand, till, late at night, T'was done; and all by post were sent away.

Now each B.B., with most astounding speed, Is passed through our Addressograph machine Which neatly prints on every magazine

Its destination - plain for all to read.

But not content with this, we lately found An automatic stapling device And every B.B.’s cavers – in a trice Will finish up identically bound.

One last machine we’ve needed now for ages To write some articles to fill our pages.

_______________________________________________________________________________________ Useful Adressess R.J. Bagshaw: Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, 699 Wells Road, Knowle, Bristol 4.

R. Bennett: Caving Secretary. 37 Queens Road, Ashley Down, Bristol 7.

S.J. Collins: Hut Warden and Editor. 33 Richmond Terrace, Clifton, Bristol 8.

P. Ifold: Climbing Secretary. "Sunnyside", Rectory Lane, Compton Martin, Somerset.

Marriott (Mo): Lamp Spares. 718, Muller Road, Eastville, Bristol 5.

B. Prewer: B.B. Postal Dept. 14 Egerton Road, Bath, Somerset.