Westminster Spelæological Group Cave Exploration and Investigation President: Toby Clark Esq
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Headquarters - Caerllwyn Cottage Halt Road Rhigos ABERDARE CF44 9UW 01685 811080 http://www.wsg.org.uk Westminster Spelæological Group Cave Exploration and Investigation President: Toby Clark esq. Newsletter No. 2010/1 January 2010 The Club meets on first and third Tuesday of the month at: Ship & Shovell bar, Craven Passage WC2. (Off Villiers Street under Charring Cross station), normally from 7pm onwards. Left: “Get into the groove…” Judi Durber in the letterbox, OFD 1 ½ - bonfire weekend. Photo: J.Durber Collection. Editorial: I’m once again disappearing back under a rock somewhere. Thanks for your contributions over the time I’ve been NL editor. The next newsletter will be in the capable hands of Steve Lloyd who will be your editor for the foreseeable future…Let Steve have your contribution for the next issue please… Cheers, Graham . Club News. New Members - We welcome Judi Durber, Martin Powell and Wendy Chung to the fold. A fantastic bonfire weekend in November with what has to be Dave Farey’s most incredible firework display to date - See Dave’s article buried somewhere in the depths of this tome. The annual London Beano took place on the 12 th December. The crowd assembled in the Grapes at Limehouse and walked the 4 miles along the Regents canal to Islington Tunnel where we escaped the comparative tranquillity back to street level – right in the heart of Duncan’s own part of London – see pix further down. We then retired to the three Compasses in Farringdon for ales and excellent Thai food. Well done Andy for organising it. The annual blow out – sorry, “Feast of the Beasts” at Caerllwyn attracted about 20 this year - Pictures in the website gallery. At least four members have called for the reintroduction of the caving logbook in the cottage as it is felt that trips don’t get written up on the web and also it’s good to have a written record of trips, particularly if you’re digging or simply stuck for something else to read. So, write your trips up while they’re fresh in your memory! WSG Newsletter – January 2010 WSG 2010 Page 1 of 16 Club News – continued… The ‘Grow a caver’ scheme. Congratulations to ‘Chairmum’ Alys and Chris who announced the arrival of Megan Alys Smartt on the morning of 17 th December 2009. Escaping some three weeks early, Megan weighed in at 8lb. 13oz. Membership forms are available on the website… And… The Hon Treasurer Mr Peter Jurd and his good lady Jo have invested in the Grow-a-Caver scheme… Congratulations to you both! Fumpa has bought some new rock shoes!!! (After literally years of faffing – Ed.) We’ve had a few weeks or long weekends in Snowdonia over the years and this year he and I are planning to bag Main Wall on Diffws Ddu (Cyrn Las) in the Llanberis pass (amongst others) in the summer. If you want to come and watch or even take part, let me know. We’ve hired Cwm Glas Mawr, the climbers’ club hut in the pass in previous years. If there’s enough interest, I’ll do so again. In an email of 17 th Dec 2009 to Toby the Elder, Brian Bowell writes… Hi Toby. Due to the time difference we have already celebrated Christmas, we are now well on the way to Burn's night. Perhaps you could Tippex out one celebratory message and ink in another. By the way, that's George not Robbie Burns. Since you ask we are all well and have become empty nesters. Patricia got a: B.A., job & a house in one week. The tumble dryer's been off for the first time in 21 years. Eileen's working down in Ashburton, south of Christchurch, until next month, so the nest is actually even emptier. There's splendid caving down here. More caves in Waitomo than you can shake a stick at. We were on a property last month and the farmer, 81 and build like the proverbial, showed us entrances that nobody's ever been into. The cave we went in to hasn't been visited since the 1950s. A week or so back we discovered and surveyed a new, tomo, entrance to a big know system called Ecch. We thought of calling the new entrance 'Ecch by Ecch'. So when we get asked 'where's the new entrance to Ecch?' we can say 'it's by by Ecch'. And on ad-nauseam. In January the club is off to the Ellis Basin, near Mount Arthur, to do a first transit of the Ellis Basin system. Take a look at: http:// www.nsg.org.nz/mainpages/karst.htm . The two guys in the second photo are caving buddies of mine. Any road up kind regards to you all in your family and the rag tag army that is WSG. Long may you run. Pix from the London Beano – Some of the assembled crowd at the Grapes (L) and Duncan’s own area of London (R). WSG Newsletter – January 2010 WSG 2010 Page 2 of 16 Cottage News. A timely reminder about the water heater in the shower block. This heater supplies water to the showers, basins and the kitchen but lives in the shower block. It is extremely vulnerable to frost damage. To prevent this, there is a drain cock that allows the water in the heater to be rained when the cottage is vacated and also, in extreme cold, when the heater is to be left unused for more than a few hours. There are instructions for the (simple) procedure by the heater. It’s important that you are aware of the danger of freezing – it will destroy the internals of the heater and repair is of the order of £400. Caving News. Ogof Drws Cefn is a hot topic at the moment. The ‘back door’ into Ogof Draenen has generated some unfortunately public bloodletting on the UK Caving forum’s Wales section. WSG is now a member of the Pwll Du Cave Management Group (PDCMG) having been voted in at the meeting held in Blaenavon on 12 th December. Tim Barter has taken on the role of WSG representative. Clearly, such issues as access, second entrances, conservation and the like invoke strong emotions. At the meeting WSG could not vote on the main motion “There should be no access to Ogof Draenen though Drws Cefn ” which was carried by 7 votes to 5 with no abstentions. WSG were admitted to the group after the vote along with CUCC – both clubs indicated they were in favour of the motion. Two member clubs did not attend. This is clearly an emotive issue - if you have a view, please speak to Tim. Full minutes are available on the PDCMG website - http://www.pdcmg.org.uk/begin.htm Virtual Caving - Send your mouse down a hole... http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8388000/8388961.stm This will be of interest if you were on the canal walk just before Christmas. For those into vertical caving, have a look at this lot - Andy’s Hieblers are in there somewhere… http://storrick.cnchost.com/VerticalDevicesPage/VerticalHome.shtml For those who’ve not seen it first hand, here’s an armchair cave diver’s view of the Dinas Silicate Mine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QktGgM3Lyyo&NR=1 Calendar for 2010. For latest info follow www.wsg.org.uk ⇒ ‘Club Diary’ and search there. Contact Chris Franklin or other named organiser for details Club meetings are usually 2 nd and 4 th weekends in the month, defaulting to South Wales. (TBC = to be confirmed). Use the "Sign Me Up" feature on the members' website... Dates Venue Event Committee 2nd and 16 th Feb London 1st and 3 rd Tuesday pub meets 20 th Feb Caerllwyn Dave Farey’s Birthday weekend and Joint Cave & Mountain Rescue Practice. Contact [email protected] 2nd and 16 th Mar London 1st and 3 rd Tuesday pub meets 2nd – 5 th April Caerllwyn Digathon – the 18 th Hole gets a seeing to…4 days to the PMMS… 6th and 20 th Apr London 1st and 3 rd Tuesday pub meets Annual fixed dates – 3 rd Sat in Jan = 1 st Committee meeting of year…1 st Sat June = AGM…1 st Sat Nov = Bonfire WSG Newsletter – January 2010 WSG 2010 Page 3 of 16 Chris’ Caving Crossword from Oct 2009. – The Answers!! THTHTH 1 2 3 606060 ANNIVERSARY OF WSG C R S H A F T TH 4 5 On SATURDAY 5 JUNE, 2010 we will be th B A L L O T M E N T H 6 celebrating the 60 Year of WSG. We will be holding A S U D I P 7 8 a black tie evening at Ty Newydd Country Hotel , just S T A L A G M I T E N P down the road from Caerllwyn. A 3-course meal will 9 10 L E D P H R E A T I C be on offer along with a ceilidh band to dance the 11 E E R N A night away. 12 13 T A E A D D U E Why are we advertising so early?! Well, it’s the 60th 14 H S T U W S R Anniversary, so we want as many of you to join us as 15 16 B E R G E R G I T H L possible, so put it in your diaries now. It doesn’t I G U L I O L matter if you’re down the cottage every month or D I S L T V W haven’t been for 40 years.