ISSN 0306 1698 the grampian speleological group bulletin fourth series vol. 3 no.2 March 2007 price £2 -2- GSG Bulletin Fourth Series Vol.3 No.2 CONTENTS Page Number Editorial 3 Meet Reports 4 Book Review: Not For the Faint-Hearted 5 Additions to the Library 6 Meet Note: Glen Clova 8 John Homes’ 1774 Survey of Assynt Farms 9 100.000 Hours of Light for Six Quid 14 The Skye Beneath Your Feet 15 The Alva Silver Mines 18 Three Tunnels Under West Lothian 26 Rucksack Club Caving 38 Book Review: Daniell’s Scotland 41 The Everlasting Torch 42 Updating Ossian 43 From the Archives: Hellot Hole 52 Mine Sites in Scotland 54 Cover Design: A.L. Jeffreys Obtainable from: The Grampian Speleological Group 8 Scone Gardens EDINBURGH EH8 7DQ (0131 66 1123) Web Site: http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/~arb/gsg/ E-mail (Editorial) [email protected] -3- grampian speleological group EDITORIAL: Once again the heavy hand of politics (what a dirty word that is becoming nowadays) intrudes on our caving activities. This time the subject is road pricing. Our enlightened government, eager to demonstrate its com- mitment to green policies, proposes to blanket Britain’s roads with a variable, mileage charging system dependent on vehicles being satellite tracked. In short, visits to caving areas for us in Scotland, where cav- ernous limestones invariably lie at some distance from big cities, will be penalised. I shudder to think what London cavers, speeding to Mendip or South Wales along the M4, would have to pay. Needless to say, I object strongly to this proposal - you wouldn’t expect me not to! - and I’ll tell you why. Prima facie, implementation of this scheme will, allegedly, reduce congestion and carbon emissions by cut- ting down the number of vehicles on our roads. Unfortunately, human beings are not only persistent, they are also incredibly adaptive, and I am convinced if such a tax were introduced, car journeying would not decrease significantly, it would merely result in yet more income for the exchequer. (This is the big red her- ring: making things more expensive does not automatically reduce their use, it only increases income). Not that I’m against pollution reduction. If politicians are serious about global warming, then there are a num- ber of avenues to be explored. Petrol rationing is an obvious one. Reinstating goods trains and city centre distribution depots is another. One long goods train between say, London and Manchester, could remove a huge number of articulated lorries from our motorways and who is going to carp about that (apart from the late Dr Beeching of infamous reputation?). Expanded research and development of alternative fuels and engines is another. When I started caving in the late 1950s, I regularly travelled back and forth to Settle by train, sharing local transport to the caves themselves. Nowadays, ticket pricing is ludicrously high, the rail system requires astro- nomical investment to redress neglect dating back to World War II, and country ‘halts’ have all but disap- peared. Who says we are moving forward?! More sinister is the methodology required to run the taxing scheme. ‘Galileo’ GPS devices are now, by law, being fitted to all new cars produced in the EU. This is how you will be tracked and charged. It does not take a quantum leap to realise what a powerful tool this could be for a totalitarian state. How much of your private life do you wish the authorities to oversee? Don’t forget, some years ago an assassination was arranged through tracking a mobile phone call. The response to a petition against road charging has been massive but the government says it will proceed anyway. What price democracy now? *** Making life complicated seems to be an endemic human condition. Thanks to those in authority who have our ‘best interests’ at heart, their insistence on public liability insurance has resulted in a labyrinthine mas- terpiece for membership of our national body. With DIMS, CIMS, choices of whether or not to belong to BCRA as well as BCA (individual membership only available to direct individual members of BCA), blah, blah, blah, I am told there are over 70 (!) permutations of subscription level for an increasingly desperate treasurer to cope with. And, of course, none of it is particularly cheap, thanks to the insurance premium. Given all that however, even when faced with a renewal form that aspires to mirror the dreaded income tax assessment form, I would urge readers to consider becoming individual members of BCA. Our pastime is shrinking; problems are increasing, and if we are to possess any ‘clout’ in dealing with access, conservation or misplaced ligitation, we need to make our national body as representative and powerful as possible. This requires your vote, your input and your support. Don’t be parochial - take an interest in our national situa- tion before something happens that could quite literally make what you enjoy doing, illegal. If you think that’s far fetched, remember what has happened to shooting clubs. Ah well, happy caving! Alan L. Jeffreys, Editor -4- AREA MEET REPORTS (To 25.2.06) (Edinburgh logs only) This has been a quiet half year, with the emphasis on sport caving and persistent digging at Rana Hole, which ever promises to ‘go’ almost immediately. Note that much of this activity is recorded in the Sutherland hut log not in the Bulletin. The 2005-6 log will be published soon. ARGYLL A trip to the loose new sections of Hibernian Hole in October allowed eight members to survey the recent discoveries and use a scaling pole to reach an aven which unfortunately was choked with boulders. There were also visits into Draught Caledonian and Treefeller’s Pot. CLACKMANNANSHIRE In February there was a flying visit to Alva silver mines to check some measurements, followed by another abortive attempt to find a Covenanter’s Cave near Kippen. INVERNESS-SHIRE En route home at the end of January, Derek Pettiglio stopped at Slochd on the A9 to look at rock shelters in the cliffs there. Although they look promising from the road, they only extend for some three metres. PEEBLESSHIRE A Mountain Rescue Seminar was held at West Linton in November. Before the field exercises Ivan Young walked around Harbourcraig, identifying a group of old coal mine shafts (all filled in), none of which offers any potential. ROSS AND CROMARTY In December there was a trip to Kishorn with visits to Heretic’s Cave, Wee Beastie and Triangle Cave. (Note: local members carry out many trips to caves here, at Applecross and on Skye which do not appear in the log- books). SOUTH WALES Conveniently the Group’s Annual Dinner was held at Blaenarvon, allowing trips into some classic Welsh caves in November. On Saturday there were visits to Agen Allwedd and Ogof Draenen and similarly the next day both these caves were revisited by different parties. SUTHERLAND Digging in Rana Hole in early December resulted in a major refettling of the scaffolding and 34 skipfulls removed. On the way back down the valley the team visited the Bone Caves and the next day, after de-rig- ging Rana, three members carried out a trip through Allt nan Uamh Stream Cave. The New Year weekend witnessed a lot of activity, especially at Rana Hole where many skiploads of spoil were excavated and brought to the surface. There were also several walks over the moors above Knockan Crag. On 29th December A. Jeffreys identified a major sink not far from Knockan Pot which will repay clearance. A new hole, which may or may not be Tillson’s Dig, was also examined by Derek Pettiglio. Work at Rana wound up on 2nd January. -5- On 27th January four members continued surveying the Farr Series in Allt nan Uamh, tackling the multi-level vertical rift as far as Thunderghast Falls. Although not a great distance as the crow flies, this work took five hours, taking in vertical pitches and passages beneath passages. Simultaneously a party dug at Rana Hole, hilti capping some rocks and rigging more stemples. Rather plentiful water was left draining well into grav- el at the bottom. Derek Pettiglio followed up his examinations at Knockan Crag, finding a small rising cave near the concrete water catchment, and walked between Knockan and Strathcanaird, finding nothing of inter- est. At the beginning of February a strong team assembled to dig Rana, but on arrival found the shakehole filled with snow and powerful spindrift making life impossible so instead there were trips into ANUS Cave and the Bone Caves. Also in February, a return to Rana saw repairs due to the snow and some digging. WEST LOTHIAN On a request from the farmer concerned, a party of six explored what was probably part of a mill’s water sys- tem at Ratho Mains Farm in October, discovering some 60 metres of interesting tunnels. Downstream the passage continued for a considerable distance but was not attempted owing to fine displays of straws which would have been damaged. (See this issue). YORKSHIRE At the end of October three members descended Alum Pot direct to the top of the last pitch and followed up with a trip through Long Churn to the Main Shaft. The following month a party carried out a thorough exploration of Heron Pot (too wet to exit from the bot- tom) and the next day enjoyed a through trip from Calf Holes to Browgill Cave. On 27th January three members bottomed Ireby Fell Cavern and in February, discouraged by iced-up roads, a party bent on Wretched Rabbit made other arrangements and went into Kingsdale Master Cave instead.