 Crystal pool, OFD II. Photo by Linda Wilson.
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Another
month has gone by already? Yep, it certainly has, so here we go again
with another packed newsletter and some important dates for your diary
with caving both at home and abroad coming up, along with a maintenance
weekend on our beloved hut! This summer, as well as the traditional
Irish trip, there's an opportunity to go to 18th International Congress
of Speleology, being held in France. This is a fantastic opportunity to
meet cavers from other countries and take advantage of some great
pre-rigged caves and maybe even bag a place on a Berger trip! So now's
the time to start planning your summer adventures.
We'd love to hear what you've been up to recently, so keep those trip
reports coming in, especially if they involve daring rescues!
You can find all the back issues of the monthly newsletter online.
Zac and Linda
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YAY, CAVING!
Titan Shaft. Photo copyright Mark Burkey and used with his kind permission.
We have two dates for your diary, so if you are interested in either, please contact Haydon Saunders asap!
Friday 6th - Sunday 8th May - Derbyshire. The aim of
this trip is again to do some more challenging caving such as Titan.
This weekend is aimed at people who are self-sufficient cavers and
competent at SRT. If you are interested email Haydon or message him on Facebook and he'll add you to a group. Ideally you should be able to lead your trip or have a leader in mind.
Friday 10th - Sunday 12th June - Hut Maintenance/ Wood chopping weekend. This
is the traditional weekend where we all get together to give the hut a
lick of paint and fill the woodstore. It's not a caving weekend and is
more of an opportunity to have a bonfire and BBQ, there will also likely
be a barrel of Butcombe! It's always a great laugh but also on a
serious side the hut always needs a bit of TLC and if you have enjoyed a
weekend there in the past it's well worth helping keep it in one piece.
This is open to all and the sign-up sheet is here.
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BANWELL CAVES OPEN DAY - 3rd JUNE 2022
Bone stack in Banwell Bone Cave. Photo by Kay Wills from the Mendip Cave Registry and Archive.
An open day is being held at
Banwell Caves on 3rd June 2022. The following message has been received
from Colin Rodgers (UBSS and Axbridge Cave Club member). In addition,
Zac Woodford is hoping to go along to one of the working days on 22nd
May, so contact Zac if you're interested in getting involved.
Hi Folks,
We want to encourage Fun-Filled Annual Day-Time
Get-Togethers, like we used to have at Redcliff Caves and Wessex
Challenge. Lots of us only saw each other at the Redcliff Open
day. Suffering City Traffic and Parking hassle. Family members had a potential choice of Bristol venues, but in practice Redcliff was the main venue, and it was often cheaper to stay put and see nothing else.
In contrast, Banwell, has large grounds and many activities. It has been
a very popular day-out for visitors both in and out of the caves.
I cannot vouch for all the activities this year, it depends on
volunteer numbers. In the past, we had a rota of guided tours of
the follies, caves and tower, a video and talk, an exhibition and cream
teas. All going off on relay. There used to be craft stalls
and many exhibits. The house and grounds are beautiful. There
are activities for volunteers before the open days. You can come
at other times and get into Technical Activities, power cables to
improve; Stu. Mac. wants to do electronic analysis in the lower
galleries, and we have filming assignments. 'The Caves' are
featured in biological studies and UBSS are keen to have academic tours.
Don't be worried by traffic: there are no bottle-necks from Weston to 'The Caves.'
The short & avoidable rush hr. is only to the village from the A38.
The caves are West of the village and rush hr. free. There are also
numerous back roads to the South and North of 'The Caves.' Parking is at
'The Caves.' Bring the family, stay most of the day. If that's not
enough, there are numerous tourist activities within an easy
drive. A bus route is nearby, and I'm sure we could organise lifts
from Bristol etc., and no problem getting lifts back. Lifts Wanted and Offered board available.
If still uncertain, Come this year as a visitor, and see the
potential. In case you don't know, the ACG originated with a group
of Banwell Cave explorers. (If successful and with enough volunteers,
this event could develop. Remember the Wessex Challenge with lectures,
cave photography and art, 'buy and sell' and 'Caver Olympic' fun
squeezing through coat hangers etc.).
Colin,
on behalf of
'The Caves'
(West of) Banwell
nr. Weston-super-Mare
Somerset
BS29 6NA
NGR ST 3822 5881 (i.e. finger on good map: 382 588)
WG S84: 51. 32502, -2.88801
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LET'S CAVE IN FRANCE!
The British Caving Association recently offered two grants of £500
each to groups of young cavers to attend the 18th International
Congress of Speleology being held in the Savoie Mont-Blanc region of
France this summer. Zac Woodford applied on behalf of a team from UBSS,
as he reports ...
Hello all! I am thrilled to say that our application to the BCA for a
grant to attend the upcoming UIS conference was successful! That’s
right! The BCA is subsidizing a club expedition to the international
Spelaeological conference.
So far we have me, Gabriel, Merryn and Elaine attending but if any others are interested ping a message my way
and we’ll get you aboard. The dates for the conference are the 24th to
the 31st July. There will be talks on every aspect of spelaeology, from
speleogenisis to the latest breakthroughs in cave tech, so there’s
something for everyone.
Outside of the conference there will be plenty of opportunities to cave
in the south of France, a distinct change from Mendip. Many caves are
even being pre-rigged for the congress. I cannot contain how excited I
am about this trip, even more so now that it’s being subsidized. We are
also hoping to make an application to the Tratman Fund for further
funding, as this is an excellent opportunity for us to attend an
international congress.
Zac Woodford
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IRELAND SUMMER TRIP
Hi everyone! It’s Mia here to hype people up for the Ireland
expo. Our last one was in 2020 and it was fantastic; if you’re unsure
whether or not to try it out I am here to convince you to GO FOR IT. See the Facebook event and Ash’s description below:
"Summer
caving trip to Co Clare, Ireland. The dates for the trip are 26th
August - 11th September. Ideally come for both weeks!, however there
will most likely be a changeover day in the middle if you can only make
one of the weeks.
What
we'll be getting up to! We'll be staying near the Burren, which has
plenty of sporting caves, dramatic scenery and nearby beaches. Key
objectives of the trip are to continue surveying in the Coolagh River
Cave and Cullaun One, updating descriptions, and taking some nice
photos. We'll also be doing plenty of fun trips to places like
Poulnagollum. There will also be opportunities for walks, hikes (The
Burren is a beautifully scenic area), sea kayaking, swimming and going
to the beach.
Coolagh River Cave. There are bigger bits, honestly!
In
terms of caving, the caves are pretty wet and a wetsuit is highly
recommended in addition to the usual caving gear. I would recommend
having your own over suit, helmet and light - but let me know if this is
an issue and we'll work around it."
Back over to Mia for more info...
FAQs
Do I have to be a super pro experienced caver?
No! Just come keen to learn. Ash loves training up expo minions.
What else can I do there?
There’s lots to enjoy in the surrounding areas (including other amazing
caves) – for example, beaches, great hiking spots, seafood, Guinness
(!), and there’s the possibility of daytrips to other places of interest
e.g. the Cliffs of Moher.
What’s Coolagh River Cave like?
Really cool. Every type of caver on the last expo loved it for various
reasons. It genuinely has something for everyone – spacious traverses,
wiggly stomping passage, climbs, streamway, muddy grotty oxbows, and
more.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask Ash. If you have any
queries about being a not-so-pro super experienced caver on their first
expo, I am also happy to talk. Here are some highlights from expo 2020
to give you an idea of what it is like.
Ash and Zac employing an unusual means of transport in the Coolagh River Cave.
 Ash and Mia go sharking!
Someone has pulled an overly lively pint of Guinness!
Mia Jacobs
Student Prezz
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FAIRIES AND FROGGIES
The Toast Rack, OFD1, taken by Linda Wilson
on a totally different trip with totally different people, but hey, you
don't expect total toasty accuracy, do you? And to complicate matters
further, there's a school of thought that argues that this isn't
actually the toast rack, and that a formation a little further into the
cave is the original toast rack.
Although this one didn’t quite make national news, Jake Reich recounts the tale of another thrilling rescue in OFD …
Froggy went a courtin’ and he did ride, uh-huh
Froggy went a courtin’ and he did ride, uh-huh
Froggy went a courtin’ and he did ride
With a sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.
Haydon and his three minions, Bryn;
Nicholas (coming all the way from York university) and Jake, set off on a
sunny Saturday morning to OFD 1 (with a 'reasonable' 50 minutes worth
of faff).
The caving starts off smoothly with oversuits filled with double deckers
and snickers bars. Bryn decided to steal precious tackle bag space with
his stack of Welsh cakes. Brave. A steady walk ensued, before our
arrival at the Toast Rack with smiling faces. We then took a quick
detour to the step to check the (low) water levels. From there, a bit of
exploration (or rather, getting lost) to find Airy Fairy commenced.
After some ideas being thrown around about how best to leap over the
streamway from above, we deemed it too dangerous and found Airy Fairy
some other way.
We arrived at the Bolt Traverse, where Bryn was having loads of fun
(after his heart rate settled). Through Rawl Series we go and into the
streamway. At some point we arrived at a crawl with extremely beautiful,
yet extremely sharp crystals. Thankfully, since I showed my mother last
month's newsletter where I complained heavily about having no knee
pads, she was very worried about her favourite son's knees and sent me
some Warmbacs in the mail! Thanks mom! I was fully prepared, given that I
didn't leave my fresh kneepads in the sodding car! So, I mustered
through, destroying my knees in the process.
Off we went to Roly Poly Passage, with Nicholas winning the award for
fastest time to roll through (like a log rolling down a hill). We
steadily made our way back to the entrance, where Bryn found a cute
little froggy and a cute larger froggy lost in the cave! Bryn took the
small guy in his oversuit and climbed up, heroically saving his poor
amphibious soul. Nicholas bravely held the big boy between his two
hands, climbed up and similarly became a hero (with ol’ froggo narrowly
escaping a couple near death encounters from his hands)!
Jake Reichs (Honorary Member of the Frog Rescue Society
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FISHING FOR ROCKS
Mark Tringham outside the entrance to Fishmonger's Swallet. Photo by David Hardwick.
On Sunday 1st May, David Hardwick
and Mark Tringham spent a couple of happy (muddy) hours down
Fishmonger's Swallet. David provides an update following the recent
change of ownership.
The land upon which the entrance to Fishmonger's Swallet is located was
sold late last year along with the adjacent property. Contact has now
been made with the new owners and they have confirmed that they are
quite happy for there to be continued access to the cave. A formal
access agreement is in the process of being written up with Hades Caving
Club as the access controlling body.
This is the first trip since the sale and as anticipated there was quite
a lot of introductions and discussion about the cave and what had been
done there previously, before we actually got underground. It is great
that the new owners are as interested as their predecessors and
hopefully this will lead to a similar relationship to that with the
previous owners who so kindly indulged our activities and put up with
not only filthy cavers on their lawn but various film crews too
The purpose of this trip was to collect a few more rock samples from the
muddiest part of the cave to complete the write up on the cave geology.
To be totally truthful, it was to get the ones we didn’t bother to get
last time and probably should have, but there is only so much wallowing
in mud and lugging about of rocks that you can do before deciding enough
is enough. In fairness, it wasn’t just that we couldn’t be bothered
that left us a few samples short but having looked at and discussed the
nature of the cave we thought we had it sussed with what we had and it
was only when Mark cleaned up the samples and tested them that things
proved to be a little more complicated
I won’t bore you with details here, you can wait until the findings appear in Proceedings
for that (the details that is, not the being bored bit … although then
again ….!!) To summarise though …. there are features we
identified (OK, Mark did) that are normally only found in
Sandstone. Some of the rock layers also had the characteristic shininess
of silica again suggesting sandstone. These were subsequently found to
be limestone, meaning our theories about where we had met the interface
between the sandstone and limestone were incorrect and more sampling was
therefore needed, and, of course, the samples needed were of course at
the very far end where it is typically muddiest.
The result was, there was I, all pleased about going back into a cave
that I thought I might never be able to go into again, and there was
Mark, somewhat more reluctantly, going into the same cave having hoped
he would never have to go into it again. It only took a couple of hours
to get everything we needed so not the longest trip but hopefully a
productive one.
Two other bits to report are: Firstly, the property is now on mains
drainage so the overflow from the septic tank no longer flows into the
stream and down the cave and secondly, in digging the new connection
through to the main road (through rock, not surprisingly) they used JCBs
and breakers to cut a trench directly over the cave but despite this no
doubt causing vibrations, there do not appear to be any adverse effects
in the cave itself.
In fact, the cave was pretty much as left last Autumn. The scaffolding
all appeared sound and very little had changed underground. Some broken
glass had been washed in (or out of the debris) which was lying at the
bottom of the scaffolding along with a few bits of pottery but no bones
had been washed clean by the winter weather on this occasion. The amount
of water that has flowed into the cave since we were last there was
evident from the debris we had to dig through to get to the gate. More
than other years, but probably related to tree clearance and pruning by
the new owners rather than any major change in flow patterns etc.
Good to be back in and lots more to do.
Next steps are completing the photography (including the Tringham Buttocks!! - and you will have to wait for Proceedings for that to be explained!!) and hopefully also more of the filming which has only been done as far as Bone Idle Chamber.
David Hardwick
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MENDIP ACCESS NEWS
The following is a round-up of
access news from Mendip, thanks to the work of Graham Price,
Conservation and Access Officer, Council of Southern Caving Clubs
(CSCC).
MANOR FARM
New entrance structure, replacing the original one built in the 1960s by Prof. Tratman. Photo by Graham Price.
The work of rebuilding the entrance to the
cave has now been finished. For access, please call at the farm for
permission. A small goodwill fee of £2 per head is payable, so please
have some cash with you.
LOXTON CAVE
200 year old miner's boots in Loxton Cave, protected by conservation tape. Photo by Graham Price.
Following extensive stabilisation works on
the entrance shaft and conservation work to tape delicate areas and
historic artefacts underground, Loxton Cave will be open again soon on a
leader system under the aegis of CSCC.
Henry Morgan and Zac Woodford have agreed to be leaders for UBSS. This
fascinating cave was first entered by miners in the 18th century and
still contains a lot of evidence of their work there, including tally
marks, graffiti, clay pipes, old boots and the imprint of corduroy
trousers in mud. The location of the cave was then lost for nearly 200
years until it was rediscovered by digging in 2000.
COW HOLE
Following another change of ownership it has been possible to
renegotiate access to Cow Hole and the cave is now available for visits.
There is no requirement to call on the owner, however the following
procedure must be followed.
The entrance is located in the field one removed from the road. Park
neatly on the verge in Ubley Drove taking care not to obstruct any
gateways, leaving plenty of space for tractors with large trailers to
manoeuvre.
Follow the track across the first field from the gate situated at ST
51534 57093, which is between Ubley Barn and Ubley Hill Farm. This field
is effectively part of the garden of Ubley Barn and it is essential
that the gates at both ends are shut. There is a right of access across
the field and no need to obtain permission to use it.
The cave is located at ST 51963 567643 in the second field. The entrance
is not very visible and a GPS is useful to locate it. If the field is
planted with a grass crop for hay it is essential to take a direct route
to the entrance and avoid excessive damage to the grass. If the field
is in use for grazing and animals are present, it will be necessary for
one member of the party to remain on the surface to safeguard the
entrance.
Proposals to aid in locating the entrance and securing the lid are under consideration.
WARNING. Please take note that the section from the bottom of the
entrance shaft and the pitch into the Main Chamber is of questionable
stability and appropriate care must be taken. There is limited space at
the head of the pitch which is fitted with resin anchors. The pitch is
not suitable for SRT.
WATERWHEEL SWALLET
 Work on the replacement gate. Photo by Graham Price
Waterwheel Swallet was broken into over the
Christmas period and the cave had to be made secure and a temporary
fixed grill was installed.
The new gate has now been fitted and access restored. Access remains the same, the cave being fitted with a standard CSCC lock.
SINGING RIVER MINE
Following a change of ownership a while
ago, lengthy negotiations have being taking place with the new owner.
This has been a sensitive situation as effectively the cave is in the
back garden of the house at Shipham. These discussions have now been
concluded.
The cave will be locked and CSCC C&A officer Graham Price will
administer an access system of those caving clubs with premises where
keys can be held as the landowner does not wish keys to be held by
individuals. UBSS will be included in this arrangements and Hon. Sec.
Elliot McCall will be the designated point of contact for the
distribution of a key to third parties should outside requests for trips
be made.
All visits will need to be booked via and online booking system and the
landowner reserves the right to note any days during which the cave will
not be open to visits on this system. A goodwill fee for each visit
will also need to be collected. The mechanics of how this will be
collected.are currently under discussions. Please do not try to visit
the cave yet until we have the key and have been officially notified
that the cave can be visited again.
COMPTON MARTIN OCHRE MINE
Entrance to Compton Martin Ochre Mine before fitting of new gate. Photo by Graham Price.
A new gate will be fitted on Compton Martin
Ochre Mine in the near future. The mine is gated as a requirement of
the landowner for safety reasons and to protect the bat population. The
mine is an important bat site and when visiting care must be taken to
avoid any disturbance. During January, the mine is closed and visits are
not permitted. The gate will be on a standard CSCC padlock.
Limited parking available. Photo by Graham Price.
Please note there is very limited parking
available nearby. If there is space, please park in an obvious area on
the left in front of Feltham Lodge prior to the end of the road. If no
spaces are available you may have to park some distance away, taking
care not to restrict the road or access to any properties.
Please do not use the description of how to find the mine in Mendip
Underground. The easy route to the mine is to take the footpath on the
left hand side just to the side of the last house at the end of the
metalled road. This may appear to be taking you away from the combe but
after a short distance a less defined path on the right can be followed
up the hillside. When a flat area before the brow of the hill is
reached, cross the fence to the right into the wooded combe and the
entrance will be found a short distance ahead on the left.
FAIRY CAVE QUARRY
Formations in Shatter Cave, Fairy Cave Quarry. Photo by Linda Wilson.
The code for the padlock on the gate to
Fairy Cave Quarry has been changed as of 1 May 2022. If you would like
to know the new code, please ask Elliot McCall as UBSS secretary. Please
do not give out this code to any non-cavers.
Climbers have their own arrangements to obtain the code via the British
Mountaineering Council and need to follow their own procedure as a list
is kept of climbers who have been given the code so they can be notified
of any changes.
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CAVE LEADERS
Various caves on Mendip and in
South Wales operate on leadership systems. UBSS has leaders for several
cavers and we've attempted to collate this information here, with
contact links for the leaders, so members know who to approach for
trips.
In addition, CSCC maintain a useful access guide, which will be helpful when planning trips.
Charterhouse Cave - Andrew Atkinson and Clive Owen
Tween Twins, Burrington - Clive Owen
Loxton Cave - Henry Morgan and Zac Woodford
Aveline's Hole (rear section) - Graham Mullan and Linda Wilson
Pen Park Hole - Clive Owen and Elaine Oliver or contact Graham Mullan
Otter Hole - Elaine Oliver [Must be booked through the online system]
Dan yr Ogof - Clive Owen (£5 per person fee payable which goes to conservation projects and maintaining the rescue dumps)
If you are a leader for any caves and have been missed off this list, please let us know and we can up date this in a future newsletter.
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HIDDEN WORLDS
Robbie Shone, the partner of UBSS member Gina Mosely, is
bringing out his first coffee-table book, showcasing over 20 years of
stunning cave photography from all around the world.
The book is published by Kozu Books, based near the Mendips, UK. Kozu
are a small, independent, family-run business specialising in
high-quality, limited edition landscape books.
Hidden Worlds will be a 200 page, 300mm x 240mm case-bound, thread-sewn
book featuring a clothbound cover with a hand tipped-in image and letter
foiling. The Special and Collectors Editions additionally come with a
handmade slipcase and a signed and numbered print. These are limited to
only 100 and 50 copies each.
Pre-orders can be made via the publisher
for delivery to a specific address, or you can arrange to pick up at
the UIS congress in France or via Starless River by ordering from Shonephotography.com.
Prices can be found on Kozu Book’s website. Special and Collectors Editions are only available by pre-order (deadline 13th May). Standard
Editions will be available after the pre-order deadline (end of May),
but there will only be a limited number available.
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OOK, OOK!
With the Stables currently
undergoing essential building works the library collection remains
unavailable. Newly received material is, in the short term, being kept
off site, and if you have an urgent need to access any of the following
items listed below, we can try and arrange something, so please contact Hon. Librarian, Nathan Cubitt.
Material received by the Library, to 20th April 2022:
Somerset Archaeology and Natural History (2021) vol 168
Slovensky Kras (2020), vol 50, 1 and vol 58, 2
Wessex Caving Club Journal 357, vol 36, Dec 2021
Caves Australia, the Journal of the Australian Speleological Federation In, n0 218, Dec 2021
Nathan Cubitt, Hon. Librarian
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IF YOU KNOW A BIGGER HOLE ...
Main chamber, Douyme no 1. The big black mound on the rock to Louis' right is the bat poo.
On a sunny day in France, Linda
Wilson took a friend to see the largest chamber in the Dordogne and
played around with some photos en route.
The cave known as Grotte de Douyme (no 1), found to the north of Azerat,
made its first appearance in the UBSS Newsletter in October 2021, when
Jan Walker and I bimbled down the streamway and clambered up the muddy
slope at the end to the largest chamber in the Dordogne. This time, my
companion was Louis Lawrence, on his second caving trip. A pleasant
stroll down the streamway revealed that Louis' motorcycle boots weren't
as waterproof as he'd hoped, but wet feet are a small price to pay for a
nice section of passage and sight of a humongous great big chamber.
Streamway. Douyme no 1.
The bats were active today. It's very warm
here now and insects abound. We saw quite a few Lesser Horsehoes and I
pointed out to Louis the bloody great big pile of bat poo on top of a
rock under what's clearly one of their favourite roosting spots.
We spent some time looking at the historic graffiti on the wall at the
bottom of the mud slide up to the main chamber. Some of the names here
were familiar to us from the nearby Grotte du Poirrier, in particular
the surname Lafaye, that appears many times in both caves.
Lafaye and others, 1814. Mike, in '97, should have known better!
The earliest date we found was 1814, which
seems to be in association with the name Lafaye, and there's a later
example on 16 October 1927. The two names were unlikely to have been
left by the same person, so it seems likely that the Lafayes were -
maybe even still are - a local family. I need to check whether there is
any way of searching historic land ownership records in France. More
work is needed in both Douyme 1 and Poirrier to correlate the names and
dates in both caves.
Linda Wilson
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INSPECTING THE CLUSEAUX
The cluseaux of Terrasson, Dordogne, France. Photo by Linda Wilson.
Terrasson-Lavilledieu, a town in
south-west France, is a maze of cobbled streets set on the side of a
hill overlooking the Vézère river, a tributary of the Dordogne. For
years, Linda Wilson has heard tales of some underground passages in the
town, but has never managed to find them. This year, she finally
succeeded in tracking them down.
How hard can it be to find some underground
passages in a small town? Quite hard, as it turns out. I've wandered
the winding streets of Terrasson on numerous occasions in search of the
elusive cluseaux without success. I'd heard from friends that there are
some underground passages that can be visited, always catnip to a caver,
but until this month, all I'd ever been able to find was one very short
section of man-made tunnel behind a locked grill.
Entrance to the cluseaux.
This time, with the help of a friend with a
house in the town, I was able to satisfy my curiosity. Cluseau is a
local word unrecognised by either Google translate or my Harrap's
Dictionary. I've always understood it to be an Occitan word for man-made
hole in the ground. The information board at the entrance to the ones
in Terrasson doesn't give any clues to the origin of the name, although
it does wax lyrical about the possible uses for the tunnels, ranging
from a place of refuge from the Vikings (or insert marauder of choice),
somewhere to live, or a storage place . The latter appears to be the
most likely explanation, although a place of refuge during the numerous
wars that have ravaged this region can't be ruled out.
The chambers have been dug out of the sandstone by hand and the pick
marks can clearly be seen on the walls. A small seepage well at the end
is approximately half a metre deep.
Shallow well fed by seepage, and showing banding in the sandstone, and the cobbled floor.
There is one straight passage with a
cobbled floor and on each side are three deep alcoves, also floored with
cobbles. The main passage slopes to the centre and has a drainage
channel in the middle.
The cluseaux shown here can be found on the Escalier du Chareiroux and
appear to be open daily. There is electric lighting and they are free to
enter. Just be warned, the steps are slippery!
Linda Wilson
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SET BACK FOR BCA'S CROW CAMPAIGN
The BCA's long-running campaign to have caves included under the rights
granted by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act suffered a set back on
1st April 2022 as Linda Wilson, CSCC's representative on BCA Council
reports.
Following the compromise agreement reached
on the judicial review of the decision to exclude Stuart France from a
committee looking at access reform in Wales, David Rose, on behalf of
BCA, made a detailed case to the Welsh Government for the inclusion of
caving in the actives allowed under CRoW. On 1st April, the Welsh
Government responded to these representations. They responded in detail
to each point made to them but in essence, their reply is that they do
not have the resources to look into this further and that they are not
prepared to do so. They avoided taking any decision as to whether CRoW
applied to caving or not and simply set out what they described as their
'understanding' of the position. This is a subtle distinction, but an
important one.
They stated: "The Welsh Ministers consider that there are a number of
already identified practical obstacles which make reform of access
arrangements for cavers undesirable at this time, because of the
complexity, cost, and resources it would take to properly investigate
and overcome these obstacles (if indeed they could be overcome)."
One of these 'practical obstacles' is the fact that caves are not mapped
on any of the 'conclusive' maps on which the relevant legislation is
based.
They commented: "Consequently, the Welsh Ministers have at this stage
concluded that a significant work programme would be needed to consider,
develop and implement any potential reform of access arrangements for
caving." and concluded: "... having considered the best use of their
finite resources, they do not intend to consider reform of access
arrangements for caving in Wales at this time."
This response arrived just before the BCA Council meeting in early
April, and with CRoW Working Group Convenor David Rose on expedition in
Mexico, there was little the Council could do to reflect on the
response. Subsequently, Stuart France resigned from the CRoW working
group, as he did not agree with the decision to reach a compromise
agreement on the original action and feels that there is no realistic
prospect of success in any further action against the Welsh Government
at this time. No proposal has yet been made to council about what, if
anything, happens next.
The matter of the costs in the judicial review action remains undecided
and so BCA does not know whether it will receive back any of its costs.
To date, BCA has spent £80,000 on the action over the past two years. No
decision has been made as to what further action BCA can or should take
regarding this matter. There has been no substantive discussion in BCA
council as yet. As BCA's rep on council, any vote I cast there will be
done strictly in accordance with CSCC's wishes. The UBSS rep at CSCC is
Henry Morgan. If you have any views on whether BCA should spend more
money on any further legal action arising from the above, please let Henry know
and if necessary, this can be discussed by the committee prior to the
CSCC AGM on Friday 13th May 2022. BCA subscriptions have already
increased recently, partly due to the costs of this action and partly
due to the amount spent on conservation and access matters across the
regions.
Linda Wilson
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CAVING CAMEL READ TO THE END, DID YOU?
Caving Camel going starry-eyed over former
Student Treasurer Imogen Clement and Hon. Prezz. Elaine Oliver. With
thanks to Chris Howes for Caving Camel and Graham Mullan for the images
in our camel's glasses!
We conclude this month's newsletter
with the usual Honour Roll of those who plough through committee stuff,
trip write ups, club history, pretty photos and lots more to arrive at
the end and see exactly who beat them in the procrastination stakes last
month! Jan can always be relied on to drop everything and dive straight
on, and Megan was clearly delighted by the inclusion of her vomit
accolades - it's nice to know that in an uncertain world, some things
never change! So, without further ado ... drum roll ... here we go with
our monthly dose of readers' comments! Do keep them coming! At least
that way we know our meanderings haven't landed in everyone's spam boxes
by mistake ...
- Super newsletter, great memories, excellent trip reports (hats’
off for “that sorry excuse for a dead glow-worm!”), and many
congratulations to the new Committee! [Jan Walker]
- A bumper edition! The huge crowd in Yorkshire was most impressive.
Thanks for including all my "UBSS memories"! ;Bob Taylor]
- An even cuter cat ... [Chris Howes]
- Nice to see my vomit experience made it in. [Megan Malpas]
- Not sure if i should make a caving pussy joke or not....
excellent caving countdown as usual! [Imogen Clement] [Eds:
Oh go on, you know you want to!]
- Very entertaining thanks. Great memories of wet trips into
Longwood-August. Elaine should do the Oxlow-Giants trip if she hasn’t
done it yet and wants to get to like pendulums. [Dick
Willis] [Eds: A challenge!]
- Great to see how active UBSS is! [Hans Friederich]
- Oh! My! God! After a month of no caving, this newsletter is my
saviour! Thank you so much for the effort you put into it, it keeps me
connected to caving during my very very very busy term! It’s also super
cool that my award of buffest fresher is forever engraved in this
newsletter. And finally, I need to make a public apology for my mate
Jake Reich who should’ve made it on my list of cavers I would like to
have a drink with! [Guy Maalouf]
Of course I did, Caving Camel, how could you even doubt me?
THE END
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