Cave and Crag News : April 2013

Spring is here: Normal Activity Resumed! The long winter caused the postponement of the Novice Climbing Meet, and even of the Indoor Quiz Night, but now the snow has finally gone and club events are coming up thick and fast: April 20th-21st Pant Ifan Working Party Contact John Minchin if you can help. Sunday April 28th, Novice Climbing Meet, Birchens Meet in the carpark near the Robin Hood pub DE45 1PQ between 11am and 11.15am or find us at the crag. Novices please contact Andy Hemsted 0121 382 6168 in advance. Friday May 10th, Quiz and Gear Swap More information on Page 7 May Caving, Yorkshire Probably 18th/19th, keep up with the discussion via the Forum on the C&C website. Organiser Jo White

June 7th—9th, Canoe Meet Unfortunately this Meet didn’t appear on the Meets Card; it is going ahead as usual, with Alan Crowe or-ganising as usual. Please contact him on 0121 788 2447 to let him know that you’re interested, or for more details. Email a.r.crowe.weld@gmail.com June 21st—23rd, Gritstone Challenge Are you tough enough? Let Andy Hemsted know if you’re interested. More details nearer the time, but we will probably climb from Stanage to Curbar again this year. August 7th—11th, Kids’ Meet, Croyde, Devon Contact Chris Haines if you are a kid at heart, and want to enjoy the sun, sand, and surf. Baggy Point not too far away either! Saturday 5th October, President’s Meet

‘For this year’s Presidents Meet we will be visiting The

Forest of Dean. This is a really lovely part of the coun-

try with walking, off road cycling, caving and of

course, climbing all on the doorstep!

Full details will come with the next newsletter, but I

can tell you that the chef/proprietor at our chosen venue

is passionate about using small local suppliers, features

in the 'Taste of the West Awards 2013', and is to be

listed in the 2014 Michelin Gastro Pub Guide. Also, in

addition to offering some ensuite rooms, the venue can

accommodate tents and campervans. So reserve the 5th

October in your diaries and here's to a great summer!

Cheers, Stuart.’

Your Editor has once again been pleasantly surprised: I now

have proof that someone reads this humble publication from

cover to cover! In the last ‘Back to the Archives’, I lamented

that I had no 1957 No 3, and wondered what gems there

might be in this issue. This comment drove Stan Moore into

action, and a photocopy of the missing newsletter was soon

dropping through my letterbox, along with a letter.

Stan writes ‘One of my children said that they would like to

have it (the original) when I ‘pop my clogs’ for my very ver-

bose account of our ascent of the North Face of the Aiguille

Du Plan in Chamonix’. Stan did this route with Bob Simp-

son of the Nottingham Polaris Club, and I can photocopy the

article for anyone who would like to read it.

We hope that your eager child will have to wait many many

years, Stan. In the meantime, take care whenever he/she of-

fers you an apple, and takes a bite from one side to prove that

it’s not poisoned…..

Welcome to New Member Blake Williams

Blake seems to have been at almost every Meet since he first

started climbing with us last year, and will be outside pushing

his skills now that the rock is warming up. In February he

accompanied Dave Milford and Matt Dingley on an expedi-

tion through the Dinorwic Slate Quarries near Llanberis. This

route, ‘Snakes and Ladders (and Tunnels)’ involves abseils,

climbing ancient rusting ladders, crawling through tunnels

etc etc, and is not recommended for anyone sane….

Blake resides at 23 The Lindens, Brereton, Rugeley, WS15

1GR, Mob 07791 384922, email me@blake.ws

Changes of details:

Patti Millward has now moved to 405 Lupton Court, The

Crescent, Bromsgrove, WORCS, B60 2DE.

Phone 01527 872 877

Ross Freeman phone now 0778 657 1446

Norman Beemond phone now 01623 473 716

Roy Morgan email is roymorgan5@yahoo.co.uk

Barry Lloyd email barryvone@hotmail.co.uk

Dennis Green email brummo@comcast.net

Janette White email whitejanette@hitmail.com

Jan Perrins PO Box 253, 3213 West Wheeler St, Seattle,

WA98199, USA

Next Newsletter will be published in the summer, probably

in late July. Any articles, photos, meet reports etc which

reach Andy Hemsted by mid-July will be in time. Don’t

worry if you don’t get an immediate response; I’m hoping to

be climbing or orienteering somewhere, and may not have

internet access.

Page 1

Easter Climbing Meet, Cornwall

The run up to Easter this year was unpromising to say the least, but four-

teen hardy souls found the motivation to migrate south west for the holi-

day!

Although the weather was quite character building, with a strong easterly

wind, we enjoyed three good days climbing, a mine trip to Perranporth and

some welcome sunshine, as well as coast walks and clear, starry nights.

At the site, Craig and Kerry made us welcome as usual, and although we

didn't win the music quiz this year, it was only because we were late back

from the crag and missed the first round! On Monday night, an end of

meet Fish and Chip supper in Jeremys Fish Bar [great food, tolerant wait-

ress, noisy customers [us!]], was followed by pints of ProperJob and live

folk music at the Star Inn, St.Just, which rounded the weekend off nicely.

A big 'Well Done!' goes out to Blake Williams, who after ably seconding

'Demo Route', has now ticked his first outdoor leads, climbing at Sennen

and Bosigran. Also to Clive 'BirdMan' Bennett, who got back on and fin-

ished the job after taking a flyer from the third pitch of 'Autumn Flakes', a

tricky and we think, undergraded route at Bosigran. 'Get Well Soon' to

Jean Smith, who sustained a thumb injury after being floored by an espe-

cially fierce gust on the cliff path near Zennor. 'Bon Voyage' to Bill &

Joan who went home to pack for New Zealand. Last but definitely not

least, the 'Award for the Most Committed Outdoor Enthusiasts of the

Meet', goes to Jeremy and Fiona , who thought it great fun to go body

boarding, in the SEA, not just once, but on TWO separate occasions!

[hope you're over the cold and sore throat now Fiona]

Thanks to all who came, it was great fun.

Stuart W.

Members and guests attending:

Jean Smith, Geoff Eveson, Graham, Lyn and Sarah Wales, Bill Harris,

Joan Semmens, Blake Williams, Stuart & Valerie Wright, Clive Bennett,

Steve Foley, Jeremy and Fiona Stopford.

Jeremy Stopford on one of the delightful short sand-

stone routes at Grinshill, March 2nd. Please colour

the sky blus: this was the day when Spring arrived….

we didn’t realise that Winter was soon going to re-

turn !

AGM, March 1st –3rd, Coalbrookdale

We once again had an excellent AGM weekend, this time

organised by Edgar Harwood; many thanks. The

Coalbrookdale Hostel is a fine building, and a reminder of

how this area was once the centre of the ‘Industrial Revolu-

tion’ which was starting to transform Britain.

Saturday 2nd was a beautiful day, and various groups went

off walking, cycling, climbing, or visiting the local attrac-

tions.

At 4 o’clock everyone returned for the AGM itself, which

went smoothly, and efficiently. Thanks went to Dave Mil-

ford, stepping down as Climbing Secretary, and to Jo White,

who has moved to a new job oop north. Andy Hemsted indi-

cated that he would be willing to join the committee to look

after the climbing.

The action then moved to the kitchen, where Jenny and Pen-

ny organised a large number of volunteers and an even larger

array of pots and pans for the now-traditional banquet.

On Sunday 3rd, Jeremy Stopford organised an enjoyable visit

to an old copper mine in Clive; is it true that this village is

named after one of our most distinguished club members?

Electronic Newsletters: I am going to continue

sending paper newsletters to those who wish to

have them, but will soon be able to send an

electronic copy instead to those who prefer this.

The electronic version will have the same infor-

mation and photos as the printed one, but may

not have quite the same format. Before you

make a choice, I will send an electronic version

to all those who have an email address.

Roger Cross writes:

‘Firstly, many people will be aware that my mother died earlier this

year. I would like to thank all those who have offered condolences

and support. In particular, I wish to express my gratitude to Edgar

Harwood for the blend of compassion and professionalism he

brought to conducting the funeral service.

Secondly, as a result of this I have an urgent need to downsize. A lot

of stuff is currently in store and I haven’t even located it all, let

alone catalogued it, so it will probably be a few weeks before I have

things sorted and ready to go, but the items needing a new home fall

into two categories:

A) Cave and Crag Property, including negatives and some

prints from the 50th Anniversary, some copies of Descent

magazine, and other Caving publications.

B) Personal Property, including some property of my late father

Len. A number of magazines and books relating to Caving,

Mines and Industrial Archaeology. ‘

Please let Roger know if you are interested; he can give you a fuller

list of items. He is not looking to sell anything, but any donation to

the John Taylor Hospice CIC would be appreciated. Items would

need to be fetched from Coventry.

Finally, Roger writes ‘Anyone who reads the Birmingham Mail

should watch out for an upcoming article on their ‘Hospice At

Home’ service, which I contributed to.’

Page 2

Roy Morgan and John Burton at the Alstonefield Walk Weekend

Memories of the Early Days: Roy and John

Last year Gill Naylor suggested that your Editor might like to speak

to some of the senior club members. After asking Mike Varley for

guidance, I ended up ‘interviewing’ Roy Morgan and John Burton

during the Alstonefield Weekend last December. We had a great

chat about their early days in the C&C, but unfortunately when I got

home I found that my note-taking skills were not too good, and so I

had to ask them if they could repeat their recollections. Thanks to

them both for sending me these:

John Burton recalls:

I first came into contact with the C&C in the early 1950's when I

went to a talk on mountaineering by Owen Clarke. I was walking

and climbing with a group I had met at work. A year or two later I

was at a class at Birmingham Tech. when I noticed the person sit-

ting next to me was looking at the Llanberis climbing guide book. It

was Brian Hogan, who invited me to come along to the C&C, which

I joined in 1955.

The weekends away were initially by coach to North Wales, or by

train and bus to Derbyshire. The younger group which I joined in-

cluded Brian Hogan, Roy Morgan, Colin Pryke, Roy Yates and

Nevil Knight. Later when some of the older members had motorcars

and motorcycles we climbed in the Lakes and

Scotland.

Pant Ifan had recently been acquired by the Club and as well as

working on the Hut we were involved with establishing the access

to the cliffs, this involved the Nature Conservatory, Bangor Univer-

sity, the Climbers Club and the C&C.

The climbing at Tremadoc was for a short time by permit, issued by

the Conservators. The pinnacle had a nice route up the front face

and a short easy route at the back. Unfortunately an old climber

stated that 'years ago he could step onto the top from the main face

and the pinnacle was moving away and was likely to fall'. The pin-

nacle was blown up and a new route, R.I.P., made on the front face.

I remember Jack Longland & Bill Tilman attending the annual din-

ner during that period.

The C&C had climbers’ caving meets and cavers’ climbing meets, I

remember being taken down some super caves, with the cavers do-

ing all the hard work (laddering etc.) and the climbers just turning

up and being shown the sights.

Roy Morgan sends these memories:

First Meeting with A. B. Afford

Early In 1947 when Brian Hogan and I were 11 years old together

with some members of our little gang, we became interested in natu-

ral history, caterpillars and other creepy crawlies. After school we

would set off on expeditions around the neighbourhood, searching

in people’s gardens and hedges for our prey.

One evening upon our return to our home territory we met with

another of our gang who was talking to a man on a bike. We

stopped and were introduced to Arthur who was at that time con-

nected to the local scout troop. He asked us what we’d got in our

jam jars and after a poke around in the greenery within, promptly

identified our collection. We chatted for a while then finally he said

he would take us for a hike in the countryside but we first of all

must obtain our parents’ permission. This accomplished we were

introduced to the footpaths and country lanes of Warwickshire the

following Saturday.

This chance meeting with A. B. Afford resulted in an early meeting

with the Birmingham Cave and Crag Club with visits to Dave

(Digger) Williams’s parents’ house where we helped to manufacture

and assemble rope ladders for use in caving and of course our visits

to Wetton and the Gateham dig.

Brian and I are the only two of our little gang who, at attaining the

age of eighteen became members of the Cave and Crag and are still

active today.

Other Climbers

The coach trips at that time were a great social start to a weekend in

Wales. The pick-up point was at the Hall of Memory in Broad

Street, setting off at 6.00pm Friday. The route took us through Wol-

verhampton, along the Shrewsbury By-pass and the A5. In Llangol-

len there was always a stop for fish and chips and for those who

wanted a pint or two. Ogwen was the usual destination where mem-

bers dispersed to the campsite at Gwern-gof-Isaf, Gwern-gof-Uchaf

or if more elite, to the comforts of Glen Dena.

Who were the passengers on the coaches? Stan Moore, David

(Digger) Williams, Kenneth (Knobby) Clarke, David (Jazzer) Jas-

per, Brian Hogan, Roy Morgan, Norman Bemand, Rick Skinner,

Bill (Ginger) Cross, Kurt Stchowasser, Jean Binsley, Celia ?, and

many others whose names I can’t remember. Bob was the regular

driver, he kept a store of bottled beer (no cans in these days) in a

cupboard above his head which he sampled as he drove along.

The Hounds Head Pinnacle at Tremadoc was demolished in 1963

because someone considered it to be unstable, I can’t find any refer-

ence to who this someone was but, it was the county council of the

day which carried out the destruction of this feature.

Several new routes were pioneered by club members, mainly by

Trevor Jones and Harry Smith. We did a variation finish in 1955 to

the Pinnacle route; this appeared in the earlier guidebook as “Much

Ado about Nothing” and was completed by Brian Hogan, Roy Mor-

gan, Roy Yates and Trevor Jones. There is no mention of it in the

later guidebooks because of course the main Pinnacle route no long-

er exists.

Speakers at Club Dinners

The Christian name of the speaker was Jack Longland he was a

member of the Climbers Club. He became the Director of Educa-

tion for Derbyshire. He launched one of the first outdoor centres in

the country “White Hall” at the top of Long Hill Buxton. The Prin-

cipal there was Geoffrey Sutton and followed by Eric Langmuir.

Page 3

C&C Caving 1956 to 1960

Frank Salt

The second half of the 1950’s was a major period of technological change in the caving world. At the start of this period the Cave and Crag Club held a stock of ropes and ladders for use on major meets. The standard rope of the era was three quarter inch diameter hemp and came in 100ft or 120ft lengths.

Whist the ladders, all 25ft long, used the same type of rope for their sides, the rungs consisting of hard timber approximately one inch by one and a quarter.

A 25ft ladder would just fit into a hessian potato sack, which passed for the tackle bags of the day, and one person to one rope or ladder was the standard allocation of equipment in any party going underground.

Whilst requiring some effort to carry these items when dry, their weight would more than double when soaked in water and coated with mud. When look-ing back at the coach trips that the club ran during those times it must be realized that to successfully bottom a cave, like Lost Johns in Yorkshire, 12 to 18

people would be required to carry the gear in and rig the cave. In many cases the size of the team would reduce as it progressed down the cave with people

remaining at the top of the larger pitches to act as lifeline man. This meant that only a handful of the total number would actually make it to the bottom of the cave whilst those left at the heads of the pitches would spend many hours hanging around in wet gear waiting for the returning party.

The club coach trip, although also a product of the transport shortages of that period, made it possible to do the classic caves and potholes of that period. On these major trips it was not uncommon to put in 10 to 12 hours of hard caving on the Saturday and still go back down for another 5 to 7 hours on Sunday

to finally get the tackle out. To lift a 150 foot of soaking rope ladder up a wet pitch was almost a superhuman task that could involve half of the party, and

in some of the deeper Yorkshire pots, one could often find bundles of rotting rope ladders left behind by previous parties where time, or energy, had given out.

These were epic trips where the need for physical strength combined with the poor lighting and clothing did much to push people to their limits. However it

also did much to bind those involved into firm friendships that for many would last long past their caving days.

At around 1957 -58 the Cave and Crag acquired its first aluminum and wire rope ladders, although for a time it still used a couple of Italian hemp ropes passed down from the climbers as lifelines. As caving ropes and ladders had to be washed and carefully dried after each trip the position of Tackle Master

within the club was one of some responsibility, also any equipment left unrecovered in a cave for more than a week or two was often beyond safe use as wet

hemp would quickly lose 50% of its strength under these conditions.

The climbers, who had always relied more on personal gear than that owned by the club, rapidly made the transit from natural fibre to nylon whilst cavers,

who needed group equipment, had to argue at endless committee meetings to get the funds to make the transit. An attempt to produce a cheap, rot-free, lightweight rope ladder during this era resulted in a ladder with the rungs made of broomstick material and the sides from 5mm nylon cord. This was most

interesting as the stretch in a 100ft length was enough to do a 120ft pitch. The problem occurred when stepping off the last rung as it would suddenly shoot

20 foot into the air and go beyond reach. This project was abandoned and the use of wire rope and aluminum ladders accepted, which greatly reduced the volume of equipment to be moved through a cave.

With the arrival of nylon ropes it also became possible to rig longer pitches with double ropes cutting out the need to leave a lifeline man at the top of pitch-es. For the brave few this also enabled the last man down the pitch to abseil, although at this stage SRT, and harnesses, was still many years away and the

abseil method was simply to pass the rope through a crab on a waist length and use one’s back and shoulder as the friction brake. In this same era the hob-

nail boot slowly gave way to the ‘commando’ rubber sole and the first National Coal Board sales of surplus miners cap lamps produced a small trickle of electric headlamps, although not enough to displace the carbide lamps that were still used by the bulk of the cavers. To be able to descend a wet pitch with-

out one’s light going out removed most of the horror of the occasion, and certainly added to the safety, although only a few had such luxury .

One of the greatest items of gear that started to appear on the caving scene around the late 1950’s was the anti-exposure suit, affectionately known as the

goon suit. Originally designed for aircraft crew these lightweight, inflatable overalls could be worn under normal caving overalls and had the ability to keep

a caver dry and protected from the cold. Whilst they were new these suits were fantastic, but their designers had never intended their use for any activity as destructive as caving, so their life tended to be short. When they first appeared on the military surplus market they could be purchased for as little as ten

shillings but within 5 years the last few to appear on the market were being grabbed at 7 to 10 pounds each.

In the early 1960’s the goon suit, due to the ease of damage, scarcity and cost, gave way to the wet suit. These had the double advantage of insulation and

weight reduction, as a full set of wet woolens from a failed goon suit, plus overalls, could add 25kg to a person’s weight when climbing a wet pitch.

Within 4 or 5 years the effect of wire rope ladders, nylon ropes and cold resistant clothing had a major impact upon caving. It was now possible for a single caver to carry a 100ft of ladder and a rope in a single tackle bag. The 12 to 15 hour epic descents of the major Yorkshire potholes were now being done in 6

hours in comfort and increased personal safety. The 12 to 15 people needed for the party had fallen to 4 or 5, so that the days of the club coach and the need

for large parties came to an end, coinciding with the flood of private transport that occurred at around that time. All a caver required now to do a classic pot was a couple of cars and a handful of friends.

These changes effectively downgraded the difficulties and what was originally classed as super-severe and done by the few was now being done by the many, although for many there was no corresponding improvement in personal skills, as was shown by the increasing number of accidents over the country.

In this period of smaller groups one form of group transport for the Cave and Crag did survive from the 1950’s into the 1960’s and that was the Land Rover,

offered for weekend hire by Stan Whitehead or others.

Stan could best be described as an outdoor philanthropist who delighted in getting young people out into the country. To this end he purchased a number of

new Land Rovers, which complete with trailers, were able to take groups of up to nine people away for trips or expeditions; the only cost being the petrol bill split equally between the passengers plus a small overhead for wear and tear. Stan’s original Land Rover, called Fram, was later joined by John Hiron’s

vehicle called Quest and Mary Nutt’s machine called Nutty. Between them these machines catered for those members who lacked transport or who enjoyed

the group atmosphere that these vehicles provided.

In its original members the Cave and Crag had strong ties to the South Wales Caving Club through such members as Lewis Railton, Bill Little and AB Af-

ford but this type of affiliation started to expand. Although the Cave and Crag was the senior Birmingham club of this era, other groups started to spring up in the 50’s. The North Birmingham YHA formed a strong caving group that contained Brian Higgins, Tom Round and Mary Nutt, whilst the Birmingham

Athletics Institute added such characters as Harold Manison and John Gregory to the mix. Into the middle of all of these semi-serious cavers the Birming-

ham Enterprise Club came on to the caving scene with all the finesse of a Genghis Khan orgy, leaving Bill Vale in our membership, whilst strong ties were made to the Mendips via Marcel Thums, Anthony O’Flaherty and Roger Luttmer.

Although these groups were stand-alone to begin with, the attraction was too great and a magic blend quickly formed in which the original individual clubs’ membership boundaries became blurred on weekend meets. This pool also increased the amount of activity as clubs shared members, meet lists and huts,

with the result that during the period from 1958 to the mid-1960’s some form of trip or activity would have been possible every weekend throughout the year.

The use of ‘Club Huts’ was often the key to these activities. Although the cottage at Pant Ifan was well established by this period it was very much a climb-

climber’s cottage, with many of the young cavers of the day feeling that they needed a similar base to call their own. At the time I started going out with the

Cave and Crag the club did have a bunkhouse above a tea room in Baslow that provided a base for climbers on the local gritstone as well for cavers wanting

to look at the area around Eyam and Stony Middleton.

The Baslow hut lacked any running water or plumbing so that water for cooking and washing-up had to be carried into the hut in large containers. Likewise waste-water was collected in something resembling a milk churn which had to be man-handled out of the building at the end of the week end. The final

demise of the hut came about when this container was knocked over one Sunday afternoon resulting in a large volume of dirty washing up water vanishing

down a hole in the floor. Unfortunately it appeared a few seconds later through a corresponding hole in the ceiling of the tea room below!

A week or two later Edgar Harwood and I dismantled the contents of the Baslow hut and all the bits were moved to Wetton, where another tea room, in the

garden of the Royal Oak, gave us more scope for the mishaps and strange practices that seemed to be common within the club around these times. I can remember few problems with the landlord, or the pub, so I assume that the volume of ale drunk must have compensated for the nuisance that we

caused. I certainly remember the times we attempted to light the stove by putting a cup full of carbide in to the ash pan below the wood and then adding a

splash of water and a match. This worked a few times but on the final occasion there was some delay in finding the matches, by which time heavy white fumes were seen coming out of a hatch in the flue pipe. When a match was finally found and offered to these fumes the resultant explosion opened the stove

like a lily and turned the internal firebricks into rubble.

In an attempt to hide these sins Bruce Moore and Derrick Edge were dispatched to a local mine to acquire a bag of sticky yellow clay to glue the fire bricks

back together and seal the split up the back of the stove. Unfortunately the clay lacked any ceramic properties and crumbled to dust when the hut warden

(John Hirons?) lit the stove the following weekend. I have no doubt that these activities are recorded somewhere in the committee records of the day. It was in the days of the Wetton hut that the collecting of signs reached its zenith amongst the clubs members. Initially a few small brass plates indicating

such things as solicitors or company offices together with a flag saying West Highland Museum graced the hut walls. As these had been collected by the

‘older and more respectable’ members of the club if fell upon the new younger members to expand the collection, and this they did with enthusiasm. An assortment of brass plaques, name plates and notices quickly showed that the collection was not only being conducted at a local level but seemed to have

expanded half way across Europe, whilst the diverse messages on these signs informed us of everything from locations for VD clinics to the need to respect holy ground.

The drive on this collecting frenzy was checked when the police visited the hut following the disappearance of large reflective road signs from the A515. Although the offending signs were not found, the other treasures revealed in the search caused some discussion between the police and the committee. This,

no doubt, also added to their paperwork during that period and caused a redistribution of some of the more questionable items to other locations.

The final demise of the Wetton Hut came with a change of Landlord at the pub. I doubt if the new landlord would have been overjoyed with what he found living in the tea room at the bottom of his garden, even with the amount that the bar takings generated, but the sudden interest by the younger members of

the club in his daughter was another thing altogether. We had to go.

Fortunately the landlady at Alstonefield could see the drinking benefits and so the Club was welcomed to the “George “.

By the late 1950’s the younger cavers of that era had reached levels of skill that had them pushing many of the classic hard caves of the time. However, as caves in the UK were minor league, we were inclined to underestimate our ability. France had the deepest caves in the world at that time and the bulk of

books on caving were French; it followed therefore the French must be best, especially as their books told us so.

In 1959 two things happened that caused a rethink of our skills level. The first was in March 1959 when the club became involved in the Neil Moss accident

at Peak Cavern in Derbyshire. In the week after the accident a handful of club members were involved, together with many others, in the attempted body

recovery and the removal of all the rescue equipment scattered throughout the cave. With all of the hype that the accident had generated the press had brought over from France Jo Berger, the discoverer of the then deepest cave in the world, to show the British cavers how to do it. As it turned out Berger

was himself a reporter whose paper worked in conjunction with the Daily Express. Even so the police and others were impressed and so Berger was led by

the police into the cave. It was soon apparent that he was far from a god and much closer to a liability. In having to assist him out of the cave we became aware that this god was actually only a second-rate caver.

This boost to our ego was confirmed in June 1959 when Stan Whitehead, Derrick Edge, Brian Higgins, Bruce Moore, Bill Shepard and I went on what was probably the club’s first overseas caving expedition to France. Caving with the gods on their own soil reinforced the findings that UK cavers may have

lacked the super-deep holes of the continent to practice in but we needed few lessons in how to cave. The French, on the other hand, were able to teach us a

lot about hospitality, with their easy-going lifestyle, fine wines and excellent food. For me this trip to the Pyrenees, and the subsequent trips back to France, remained amongst some of my happiest memories.

With the lift in our egos that this realization brought us, plus the new base at Alstonefield and easy access to transport, a new era began and the dynamic sixties opened up with testosterone and explosives being added. With this mix of clubs and people no cave seemed impossible, and so the scene was set for

the Berger Expedition of 1962, and for the liberation of many of those involved to go out and upset the world.

In January I sent the AGM information to members, and I

received this from Ian Sanderson, who now lives in Tasma-

nis (as does Frank Salt), but retains his club membership:

‘Thanks for the AGM data and as anticipated please accept my apologies for not being there. Weather is a little kinder here except for the generation of bushfires. Walked 24 km round trip to Lake Myrtle in our Tasmanian highlands this week in perfect weather (see photo) Regards Ian Sanderson’

It’s good to know that club activity continues even when

the UK is suffering from cold wet windy foggy conditions;

once you’ve finished colouring on Page 2, you can use the

rest of the blue on the sky and water of this lovely scene.

In the Archives: 1958

As mentioned on Page 1, Stan Moore has provided me with 1957

No 3. In this edition there was an entertaining account of a goat-

rescue on Snape Slabs, and David Snell wrote about a visit to a

coalmine. The Editor wrote ‘unless this publication is to become bi-

monthly, members must contribute more articles’. Well, we know

what happened after that appeal, don’t we? I have no newsletters for

Jan – March 1958, but then there were issues for April/May, May/

June, Sept/Oct, and December.

In 1958 climbing was still strong in the club. A report of an attempt

on the Mer de Glace face of the Grepon had no author …. but as the

Editor was C.T.Jones, perhaps we can make assumptions.

‘New Climbs and Notes’ tells us that ‘The first pitch of Great West-

ern will now be much harder since the removal of a large earth

ledge by John (Man Mountain) Burton’. I’m surprised that The

Committee allowed him to remain a member…

In the same Spring issue there are reports on two new routes put up

by Alf Beanland, in conjunction with C.T.Jones and J Sims. These

must have been amongst his last climbs, as the May/June newsletter

covered the tragic death of Alf, Pete Knapp and Moelwyn Morgan

on Ben Nevis at Easter 1958, perhaps caused by falling rock. There

were recollections of these three climbers, who were certainly

among the most experienced mountaineers in the club.

Also in this issue were articles about the conquest of Kilnsey Crag

Overhang (a huge roof was crossed by an aid climb, led by Ron

Moseley), and the Wetton Dig.

An ‘Alpine Number’ in Sept/Oct had some thoughts about bivouacs,

a description of Merlin’s cave, and a report on the Alpine season.

Trevor (C.T.) Jones had been active in North Wales in the summer,

with new routes on Cloggy and on Craig Pant Ifan … the still formi-

dable Barbarian.

The book ‘The Black Cliff’ by Crew, Soper and Wilson had this to

say about the club;

‘Meanwhile the Cave and Crag Club were active on the Tremadoc

outcrops. Trevor Jones was performing antics to some effect, pro-

ducing a host of new climbs on these bramble and creeper-clad

walls. He climbed with a great deal of ‘push’, which often got him

into, rather than out of, difficulties; the day would be saved by his

strength and his ability to climb well when panic-stricken. After-

wards the Clown Prince of British Climbing would hold court, en-

thralling a pub audience with his heavily embroided account of the

epic. In 1958 he made two new climbs on Cloggy. Beanland’s (….)

just to the right of East Gully (…..) The climbing is interesting and

the standard HVS, but the route lacks independence of line: a ‘filler-

in’. Jones’ next contribution, the rediscovery of Brwynog (Terrace)

Chimney, is also rarely repeated, but is a climb of character and

atmosphere. This steep buttress, which bounds the Far East Buttress

on the left, is well worth doing for its rock scenery and its isolated

position.’

Back in our newsletter, there were applications for membership in

1958 from a Mr F Salt and a Mr B Higgins. Whatever happened to

them??

Finally, it was an active year for a certain J.B … I wonder why he

didn’t mention the following episode when interviewed? The news-

letter congratulated him and Colin Pryke on their fine carving of

‘Cave and Crag’ in the little shepherd’s hut at the Montenvers. Are

the French Foreign Legion still seaching for the perpetrators of this

heinous crime?

Picture Quiz! Which New Member is this at Grinshill? Is he a) very shy? b) being dragged across the ground? c) falling asleep? d) all three are correct? A draw for the £5000 prize will be made at the Novice Climbing Meet. Make sure that YOUR NAME is in the mix by entering before midnight on April 16th 2013.

Many Congratulations to: Yvonne Haines and Graham Burquest, who were married on February 16th. We look forward to seeing them both at many future C&C events.

Congratulations also to Mike O’Reilly and his partner Luan, who are expecting their first child in September.

POSSIBLE HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS

From time to time the committee receives emails from individuals

and organisations that are advertising accommodation and/or activi-

ties they feel might suit groups such as ours.

Whilst it was felt that members might be interested in considering

some of these locations listed below, committee members would

wish to emphasise that these sites have not been vetted by them and,

therefore, that they are not in any way responsible for what occurs

there.

1)Bunkhouse in Ullswater: www.distant-horizons.co.uk

2) Cala Gonone, Sardinia:

www.sardinia-apartmentsmula.jimdo.com

Details in English: Email: rosemula@virgilio.it

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