The Grampian Speleological Group Bulletin

ISSN 0306 1698

the grampian speleological group bulletin

fourth series vol. 3 no. 4

March 2008 price £2 -2-

GSG Bulletin Fourth Series Vol.3 No.4

CONTENTS

Page Number

Editorial 3 Area Meet Reports 5 Additions to the Library 8 Meet Report: An Unknown Mine 12 Vale: ‘Alfie’ Collins 13 Book Review: Swildon’s Hole 14 Caves in South Georgia, Antarctica 15 Some Fragments of Early Club History 17 Book Review: A Glimmering in Darkness 23 Meghayala 2008 24 More Notes on Durness 26 Pride and Perseverance: Rana Hole 33 The Rana Hole Excavation; a Short History 33 Rana - The Autumn Breakthrough 37 Breakout! We Reach Claonaite Seven 40 Building the Rana Dam 45 Rana Hole - The Statistics of a Dig 47 A Return to Iran, 2007 50 Meet Note: Caves at Arbroath 53 Book Review: Hutton’s Arse 54

Cover Design: A.L. Jeffreys

Obtainable from:

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Web Site: http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/~arb/gsg/

E-mail (Editorial) [email protected] -3- the grampian speleological group

Editorial:

Recently Nigel Graham (Wessex C.C.) stimulated some interesting correspondence in Descent (No. 197) by commenting on what he considered to be gratuitously obscene names given to rather tough sections of caves, specifically in this case, Priddy Green Sink. Regardless of whether or not you agree wholeheartedly with his complaint, I think there is some mileage in probing a little deeper into the wider subject of cave names, some of which are sublimely inspired and weather the passage of time whereas others reflect current events or mores at the time of their naming that have subsequently sunk without trace, leaving said names ‘high and dry’.

I thank Pete Ryder (Descent No. 199) for broadening the debate away from potential mudslinging and would like to explore a little further through the doors he opened up.

Cavers are, on the whole, earthy and coarse when engaged in extruding themselves through tight and awkward passages - I certainly am - but fundamentally I suppose I support Peter when he states his preference not to use or like names which are overtly pornographic or downright crude. Using them in conversation is generally uncomfortable and, more importantly, they demonstrate a lack of imagination - something I have sounded off about for years. This is not being prudish or ‘stuffed shirt’, simply a plea to lift written language above the gutter. Just to emphasise my possibly ambivalent position, I admire clever use of the vernacular, as in ‘The Manchester Shit Canal’ or ‘Via Diarrhoea’, but ask that grey cells be activated a little more carefully when thinking up new names.

I totally empathise with Peter’s further comment that caves deserve respect. Whether the ‘earthiest’ caver actually realises it or not, his/her experience underground has a spiritual quality which balances with the physical enjoyment accrued. It’s a kind of ‘ying-yang’ thing, similar to the metaphysical discipline govern- ing violent martial arts, and while of course the right to name cave features lies with the first explorers, they have to recognise a responsibility to future users, be they potholers, scholars or the ‘general public’. Whether you believe in God’s creation, Gaea or simply the accidental wonder of planetary evolution, caves present us with a truly marvellous experience; one that can only elevate our mental condition, and this should be mir- rored in the names we apportion to them. Employment of unmerited crudity in such circumstances reflects more on the namers than the cave.

Moving on: if there is a soapbox for me here, it is to rail against the mundane and un-imaginative. Over the years I have had my fill of ‘Mud Crawls’, ‘Fairy Caves’, ‘Easter Grottoes’, ‘Great Chambers’, ‘Frozen Waterfalls’, ‘Organ Pipes’, ‘Halls of Mountain Kings’... enough already! Consider who caves really belong to - certainly not just the first explorer, not matter how much effort he/she has put in to reveal them. They are our geographical heritage, things of often breath-taking architecture, sometimes almost too small for our gross frames to fit through, but occasionally huge and timeless. Think of a great cathedral, with soaring but- tresses, beautiful stained glass windows, sculpted marble tombs and shrines, intricate embroidered hang- ings.... given that you are required to give names to all these features, are you really going to use pedestrian terms like ‘The Door’, ‘Coloured Window’, ‘a Lump of Knobbly Marble’? I certainly hope not! Use some imagination. Which is better - ‘Three Ways Junction’ or ‘Stargate’?

I am not advocating solemnity either. A survey I admire that is filled with humourous and inventive names is that of Knackered Tacklesack Cave (part of Steinbruckenhohle in Austria), by Cambridge University. Here we find such gems as ‘Germknodel’s Revenge’, ‘Fat Worm Blows a Sparky’ and ‘Brian’s Phat Shaft’. No clear reference to the topography but radiating delightful creativity. It suggests to me a form of poetry - with much the same effect. Everybody enjoys a good poem, but no-one wants to buy the book. Well I say, buy the damn book and learn its lessons. -4- In short, you don’t have to stoop to man’s basest instincts when naming a particularly awkward piece of passage. A sticky crawl may indeed remind you of excrement, but keep that thought to yourself. Why not call it ‘Gaffer Tape’, for instance. Does the same job and nobody is offended.

Returning to my opening remarks, we have something of an obligation to future explorers to title our finds responsibly. Looking out of the hut door, we fondly refer to the view as ‘Twin Titties’, but at the end of the day it’s Cul Mor on the map. H. Rider Haggard had the same situation in King Solomon’s Mines but instead of ‘Twin Titties’ he called his mountain ‘The Breasts of Sheba’. Poetry, you see? In the last fifty years there has been a vast relaxing of laws and practices on obscenity. Theatre and film now use foul language as stan- dard, perhaps rightly, seeing that this is how it is at ‘street level’ but there comes a point where restraint and self discipline should be brought into play if only to preserve some level of decorum in a rapidly degrading society. In my view the written word, arguably other than fiction, is that point. Scientific debate on cave formation will not be enhanced by references to gynaecology (and as Peter Ryder says, it usually is female anatomy!) or excretory functions.

Let me conclude by pointing out that the one thing this editorial most certainly does not advocate, is a delib- erate avoidance of nomenclature because it is not ‘PC’. I have no time at all for that sort of nonsense. People who take offence at a specific passage name for that reason should ponder that ‘One man’s meat is another man’s poison’ and cultivate some tolerance. Or, put another way, they should get out more. No, my thesis is that mankind has an infinite capacity to address life wittily and ingeniously so before you ‘knee-jerk’ a name into existence, sit down and have a reflective think first. Thus you can avoid the lumpen and pedestrian. Let’s be creative out there!

* * * * * * * *

2007 ended in spectacular fashion for the club when Rana Hole finally yielded its secrets and guided members into the promised land of Claonaite 7. This has been a complete vindication for the diggers and while an account of the exploration is adequately covered within this issue, I should like to pay tribute to the per- sistence - in all kinds of weather and conditions - of everyone who contributed to this hard won triumph. Thirteen years may not, in the great scheme of things, appear to be such a long time for a dig of this calibre, but it takes a specific kind of faith to keep bashing away when all one has to show for it is a sore back and blisters! Thanks therefore, to those who travelled almost literally the length of Britain to grub about in glacial muck and to all the Scottish regulars who dedicated many weekends to pure, un-exciting clearance for without them, this culmination would have been so much longer in coming. It is true to observe that this club, like many others, roughly divides into diggers and non-diggers although most of us have assisted at one time or another, but if there are any tears to shed, let them be for those indefatigable regulars who missed out on exploration of the various breakthroughs which they most of all deserved.

Now that ‘dry’ routes have been opened I confidently expect fresh discoveries to be revealed in Claonaite 7 (the way in was an overlooked rift passage for example) so look forward to 2008 being a frutiful year. For the diggers, once the ponding area at the foot of Rana has been rectified and the shaft completely cleared out, another site awaits attention: Poll na Damoclean, across the valley. Although water tested here proved it flows straight down to Allt nan Uamh Stream Cave it is not complete science fiction to postulate that pre-glacial passages from this site might link into Claonaite as well, so there is plenty to be done. Meanwhile, well done us!

Alan L. Jeffreys, Editor

------oOo------5- AREA MEET REPORTS (to 8.3.08) (Edinburgh logs only)

The paucity of regional variation in this issue reflects the amount of work concentrated on Rana Hole in Sutherland, where a breakthrough into Uamh an Claonaite has crowned a 12 year old dig with success.

ANGUS

Taking advantage of a low Spring tide in February, Iain Greig and friend paid a visit to the interesting group of sea caves near Arbroath. Eight holes were checked out and it was discovered that a new flight of wooden steps down to Dark and Light Caves has resulted in greater tourist erosion. More importantly, in Stalactite Cave they found evidence that the large ‘pseudo-stalagmite’ at the rear has been removed, obviously by someone breaking it off.

ARGYLL

In September, Jim Salvona paid a visit to Spouting Cave on Iona.

Nigel Marsh and family explored most of the better caves in Glen Creran in November and also a couple at the lower end of Glenstockdale.

Early March saw a party of five return to the lead mines of Tyndrum. Apart from touring all previously explored tunnels, they bolted and laddered a small shaft which accessed about 10 metres of flooded passage ending in a blank wall. Weather on their return to the cars was ‘interesting’.

CORNWALL

In January, Bob Batty found himself in Cornwall and participated in a tour round South Crofty Tin Mine which is now active again, producing copper and tin.

DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY

Scouting possible locations for a joint rescue practice, a party of four paid a visit to Barjag Limestone Mine in February.

FIFE

In September Martyn Farr came north to spend two days obtaining underwater photographs of the flooded workings in Roscobie Quarry. While three divers swam around, Goon furtled about in the one (large) dry mine passage accessible to non-divers.

INVERNESSHIRE

With the Annual Dinner on Skye in October there was a boost to caving on the island and environs. An as appetiser, many members travelled to the Coille Gaireallach for a series of trips into High Pasture and Iris Caves while others went, at different times, to Spar Cave, Boulder Pot, Vampire Pot and Vampire Cave near Torrin. Yet others explored the Sanachan copper mines in Kishorn.

The day after saw more muted explorations of Camas Malag Cave and another walk over Beinn na Caillich - this latter without finding anything new.

At the end of January Steve Birch accompanied pupils from Portree High School down McCoiter’s Cave, a -6- basalt fissure cave near the town.

MIDLOTHIAN

Five members paid a visit to the limestone mines at Middleton in November when numerous photographs were taken.

The next month, in frosty weather, four members went to Pathhead Mine and completed a circuit of the workings without finding anything extraordinary.

NEW ZEALAND

While on a sojourn in New Zealand’s North Island, Alice Dowswell joined a commercial trip through Haggas Honking Holes, Waitomo.

PERTHSHIRE

During a Tayside MR team exercise on Schiehallion in September, Lassintullich caves 1-5 were all visited and some included in the rescue practice.

SUTHERLAND

Needless to say, Assynt has witnessed a huge amount of effort down Rana Hole, commencing in mid September with a four day dam building and bailing session to overcome ponding difficulties. For recre- ation there were also trips to ANUS Cave and the Bone Caves.

In early October there was more bailing and digging in Rana followed by a joint SCRO/AMRT exercise taking in several caves in the Traligill valley. Later in the month a strong team cleared out 205 kibbles from Rana and advanced the bottom rift some seven metres in all.

Following the Annual Dinner on Skye, eleven members travelled on to Assynt and after the removal of 60 kibbles, Julian Walford found a void above head height in the rift. Seven of the team thrutched up to discover a narrow but easy rift ending in a wide boulder choked section after 34 metres. The next day Julian and Bob Mehew surveyed the extension and after almost an hour’s work on a hole in the floor were aston- ished to emerge in a chamber of significant size about 50x20 metres and up to 6 metres in height.

In early November a party of 19 conducted a thorough examination of the new extensions and removed 65 kibbles of muck from the breakthrough point. The following day surveying and radio location was undertaken and there was a tourist trip round Cnoc nan Uamh.

Mid December saw another large contingent surveying and digging frantically at a couple of possible con- tinuations without success. On the Sunday, Ivan Young fired a snapper at the top of the most promising dig after unsuccesfully Hilti capping a wall bulge at the breakthrough point the previous day.

On Christmas Eve, Chris Warwick and daughter Shona toured Two A’s Chamber, found the banged dig was now negotiable and so climbed down to find some 70 metres of new passages and small chambers where falling water appeared to descend into yet further depths.

Over Christmas and New Year this extension provided Tony Jarratt and others with a platform to create a route down to the foot of Belh Aven in Claonaite 7 (see this issue).

On 1st January the small new cave (Campbell’s Cave) above Claonaite was dug to reveal five metres of pas- -7- sage into a small chamber. The following week there was more dam building in Rana and more digging at Campbell’s Cave.

During February there was another mass visit to Rana when more digging was achieved at the foot of the shaft and some great photographs of the Great Northern Time Machine taken.

Consistent wet weather in March led to some frustrating descents of Rana, when access to the extensions was flooded but the main shaft was completely surveyed anyway. Simultaneously there were trips into Cnoc nan Uamh, Betula Hole and Allt nan Uamh Stream Cave. Digging at Campbell’s Cave saw 45 bucket loads removed and the entrance area stabilised.

WARWICKSHIRE

In early March, Anna Ermakova made an exotic departure from normal caving by touring some of Birmingham’s sewers and underground drainage systems. Evidently entry to one section was through deep water which does not encourage return visits!

WEST LOTHIAN

November saw a party of six practising surveying and photography in Hillhouse Mine, which now sports notices informing us it has become a ‘dangerous cave’!

Roger Galloway and Annie Audsley located a mine near West Calder in December. Just a short adit and, as yet, no identifiable name. In February the same two also looked at a rock shelter near Fullwood Burn and a coal mine adit near Braidwood, finding the latter has now collapsed.

In February there was an introductory trip into Leven Seat Limestone Mine in preparation for a possible visit by NAMHO in the summer. A new nearby landfill site added odour and rubbish to the proceedings!

YORKSHIRE

The autumn season kicked off in mid September with a descent of Ireby Fell Cavern by four members and the following month there was a trip to the bottom of Rift Pot near Marble Steps. There were SRT training meets to Sell Gill Holes and Rowten Pot in October.

On 4th November, Gavel Pot was bottomed and at the middle of the month John and Gill Glover carried out a descent of Long Churn Cave.

December saw a party down Lancaster Hole and the next day they went into Yordas Cave. At the end of the month there was a descent of Notts 2.

On a damp weekend in January there were trips into Bull Pot, Kingsdale and Gavel Pot, while some members, in search of something different, explored the group of caves near Haws Gill Wheel, finding most of them waterlogged if not entirely sumped..

At the beginning of February, a team of six bottomed Gaping Gill via Dihedral and exchanged with other members who had come down Bar Pot. The next day there was a quick abseil down Aquamole Pot.

On 10th February, five members carried out a descent of Illusion Pot.

-----oOo------8- ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY (to 12.3. 2008)

1. BOOKS

Burger, P. (2006) Cave Exploring Tyler, I. (2006) The Lakes and Cumbria Mines Guide Bitterli, T. [Ed] (1996) Proyecto Cerro Rabon Thiry, J-P. (1986) Techniques de Plongee Souterraine. Union Belge de Speleologie Henderson, R. (1995) Scottish Keeriosities Hill,E. [Ed] (2007) Kendal Caving Club. The First 50 Years St Pierre, D. (2007) Grotte Casteret. An Annotated Bibliography. BCRA Cave Studies No.17 Irwin, D., A. Moody & A. Farrant (2007) Swildon’s Hole. 100 Years of Exploration. Viala, C. (2005) Grottes et Caches Camisardes Choppy, J. (2004) Grotte de Clamouse. La Vision d’un Speleologue Fraser, C. (1954, rep. 2008) Dead Man’s Cave (Children’s book) Hooper, J. & J. Frost (2007) The Hollow Mountain 1974-2006 (Slovenia) Stephen, W.M. (1968) The Binnend Oilworks and the Binn Village

2. SHEET SURVEYS Approx. scale Trident Series, County Pot. (2005) 2” = 10m

3. CAVING JOURNALS

Association of Mexican Cave Studies, Newsletter Nos. 25,26,27,28,29 (2002-2006) Axbridge Caving Group, Occ. Publ. No.5 (2006) British Speleological Association, Cave Science No.3 (1948) BCRA Cave and Karst Science Vol. 33 No.3 (2007) BCRA Cave Radio Group, Journal Nos. 67,68,69 (2007) British Speleological Association ‘Caves & Caving’ (copy) Vol.1 No.4 (1938) Cave Diving Group, Newsletter Nos. 165,166 (2007-8) Chelsea Spelaeological Society, Newsletter Vol. 49 Nos.10,11,12 Vol. 50 Nos.1,2,3 (2007-8) Craven Pothole Club, Record Nos. 88,89 (2007-8) Descent Nos. 198,199,200 (2007-8) Die Hohle Vol. 58 Nos. 1-4 (2007) Federacio Balear D’Espeleologia, Endins Nos. 29,30,31 (2006-7) Federation Francaise de Speleologie Compte Rendu d’Activities No.2 (1993) Gloucester Cave Rescue Group, Newsletter Aug 1965 April 1967 Gloucester Speleological Society, Newssheet July 2001; Jan 2002; July 2002 Gloucester Speleological Society, Newsletter Nos. 1,2 (1960) Sept, Oct. (1963) Jan,Mar,May,June,July,Aug. (1964) Feb,April,May,June,Sept,Nov,Dec. (1965) Jan,Feb,April,May,June,July,Aug,Sept, Nov,Dec. (1966) June,July,Aug,Sept,Oct,Nov,Dec.(1967) Jan,Feb,Mar,April,May,June,July/Aug, Sept,Oct/Nov,Dec. (1968) Jan,Feb,Mar,April,May,June/July (1969) -9- Nov,Dec. (1972) Jan,Feb,Mar,April,May,July,Sept,Nov, Dec. (1973) Jan,Feb,April,May,Sept. (1974) July/Aug,Sept/Oct,Nov/Dec. (1976) Jan,April,June,Nov/Dec. (1977) Vol. 2 Nos. 2,3 (1978) Vol. 3 Nos. 3,4 (1979) Vol. 4 Nos. 1,2 (1979) Vol. 4 No.3 (1980) Vol. 5 No.1 (1980) Vol. 5 Nos. 2,3,4 (1981) Vol. 6 Nos. 1,2,3,4 (1982) Vol. 7 No.1 (1982) Vol. 7 No.2 (1983) Vol. 8 Nos.1,2,3 (1984) Vol. 9 Nos. 1,2 (1985) Vol. 10 No.1 (1986) Vol. 11 No.1 (1987) Oct. (1989) May, Oct. (1990) Vol. 15 Nos. 1,2 (1991) Vol. 16 No.2 (1992) Nos. 1,2 (1993) Oct. (1994) May, Oct. (1995) March, Oct. (1996) April, June, Sept. (1998) Feb,May,July,Oct. 91999) Jan,May,Nov. (2000) Jan,May (2001) Jan,July (2002) April 92003) Gloucester Speleological Society, Journal Vol.1 Nos. 1,2 Vol.2 Nos. 1,3 (meant to be 2) Vol.3 Nos. 1,2 Vol.4 No.1 (1961-1966(?) Gloucester Speleological Society, Special Publ. No.1 (no date) Gloucester Speleological Society, Special Trip Report, France,2002 (2003) Gloucester Speleological Society, Library List (1983) Hereford Caving Club, Newsletter Nos. 39,40,41,42 (1985-88) Italian Speleological Society, ‘Speleologia’ Year 28 No. 57 (2007) Kendal Caving Club, Journal No.2 (1967) Kendal Caving Club, Newsletter Nos. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 (1957-58) Vol. 2 Nos. 1-3,4 (1959-60) Vol. 3 Nos.1,2/3,4 (1960-61) Vol. 5 Nos.1,4,7,8 (1966-68) Vol. 6 Nos.1,2,3 (1973-76) Vol. 7 Nos.1,2,3 (1978) Autumn (1997) Mendip Caving Group, Newsletter Nos. 30-111,129,133,220,224 344,345 (1965-2007) -10- Mendip Caving Group, Newsletter ‘Local Edition’ Nos. 1-3 (1988) Mendip Caving Group, Bulletin Nos. 1-21 (1988-1997) Mendip Caving Group, Journal Nos. 1,2,5,6 (1959-1976) Mendip Caving Group, Occ. Publs. Nos. 4,5 (1996--2007) Mendip Caving Group, ‘Introduction to Caving & the MCG’ (1964) Mendip Nature Research Committee, Newsletter No. 62 (1971) Mendip Times Vol. 3 Nos. 4,7 (2007) Mountain Rescue Committee, Scotland, ‘Casbag’ Nos.16,17 (2007) NSS of the USA, News Vol. 64 Nos.1,2,9,10,11,12 Vol. 65 Nos.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, (2006-7) NSS of the USA Arts & Letters Section, ‘Illuminations’ No. 6 (2002) Northern Cavern & Mine Research Society, Memoirs Vol.2 Nos.3,4 (1973-74) Red Rose Cave & Pothole Club, Newsletter Vol. 44 Nos.1,2 (2007) Shepton Mallet Caving Club, Journal Series 11 No.10 (2006) Subterranea Britannica, ‘Subterranea’ No. 15 (2007) Subterranea Croatica Vol. 8 No.5 (2007) Sydney Speleological Society, Journal Vol. 51 Nos.9,10,11,12 Vol. 52 Nos.1,2 (2007-8) Univ. of Bristol Spelaeological Society, Proceedings Vol. 24 No.2 (2008) University College of Swansea C.C. Speleotawe ‘65 No.1 (1965) Wessex Cave Club, Journal Vol. 29 Nos. 307,308 (2007) West London Cave Club, General Circular No.2 (1972) West London Cave Club, Journal No.1 (1973) West London Cave Club, History [‘Part the First’] 1975 (+ spoof version, 1980) Westminster Spelaeological Group, Journal ‘The London Caver’ No.2 (1956) Westminster Spelaeological Group, Bulletin Summer, October,December 1964 Nos. 1-6 (1965) Nos. 7,8,10,11,12 (1966) Vol. 5 Nos. 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,11 (1967-68) Westminster Spelaeological Group, Newsletter 2007/4 ; 2008/1

4. MAPS

OS 1:50,000 No. 119: Buxton and Matlock (2006) 172: Bristol and Bath (2006) 183: Yeovil and Frome (2005)

5. CAVE GUIDES, ABSTRACTS ETC. Cave Guidebooks: Stump Cross Caverns (no date) White Scar Caves (1937) White Scar Caves (no date) White Scar Caves (c. 1948) Leaflets: CPC Gaping Gill Winch Meet (2004) Doolin Cave, Co. Clare Nenthead Mines Heritage Centre Smugglers Adventure Cave, Hastings Seventy-five Years Underground. CPC Exhibition (2005) Gouffre Geant de Cabrespine Settle in the Yorkshire Dales -11- Grotte de Villars, France Bastide de Domme, France Abstract: Geological Society (1858) Descriptive Account of the Bone Cavern, Brixham. No.1096 Strahan, A. (1910) Guide to the Geological Model of Ingleborough and District. Geological Survey of England and Wales. No. 1097 Pick, S.J. & F.G. Balcombe (1937) Ireland 1937.(Record of a Visit) No.1098 King, A. (1993) Cave Exploration. Early Man and the Ice Ages in Northern England. No. 1099 The Mendip Times Vol.3 Nos. 1,2 (2007) Nos. 1100,1101 Abstract: Barron, H.,Krabbendam, M & Todd, G. (2005) Scotland’s First Geopark. Earth Heritage No. 23,pp 19-21. No. 1102 Abstract: Pick, S.J. & P.W. Bartlett (1936) Cave Explorations in Clare. The Irish Naturalist’s Journal Vol. VI No.3, pp. 64-68. No. 1103 Abstract: Anderson, A. (1980) Ben Peach’s Scotland. Institute of Geological Sciences.18p. No. 1104 Abstract: Shaw, T.R. (1968) Index to UBSS Hut Log 31.7.43-4.5.68 and Bristol Log 6.11.65-3.5.68. No.1105 Abstract: Shaw, T.R. (1964) Index: Sidcot School Speleological Society Logbooks Nos. 1-14 (1936-64) No. 1106 Abstract: Coleman, J.C. & N.J. Dunnington (1944) The Pollnagollum Cave, Co. Clare. Proc. Royal Irish Society Vol.L Section B No.5 pp 105-132. No. 1107 Abstract: Seeley, N. (2007) Hidden Jordan: Caving into the Copper Age. Current World Archaeology Vol.3 No.1 (No.25) pp 23-30. No. 1108 Abstract: The Derbyshire Pennine Club. Anon (1907) The Climbers’ Club Journal Vol. IX No.36,pp 146- 150. No. 1109 Abstract: The Derbyshire Pennine Club Notes. Anon (1907) The Climbers’ Club Journal Vol. X No.37, pp 18-22. No. 1110 Abstract: The Derbyshire Pennine Club Notes. Anon (1908) The Climbers’ Club Journal Vol X No. 39 pp 80-84. No.1111 Abstract: The Derbyshire Pennine Club Notes. Anon (1909) The Climbers’ Club Journal Vol. XII No. 46 pp 73-74. No. 1112 Abstract: The Derbyshire Pennine Club Notes. Anon. (1909) The Climbers’ Club Journal Vol. XII No. 45 pp 33-44. No. 1113 Abstract: The Derbyshire Pennine Club Notes. Anon (1910) The Climbers’ Club Journal Vol. XII No. 48 pp 164-169. No. 1114 Abstract: Caving. A.G. Gemmell. Out of Doors July/Aug (1954) pp.3-8. No. 1115 Cave Guide: Parco Grotta Cascata Varone.(2004) Campbell, A. (1997)The Woodhead Lead Mine. Carsphairn Heritage Group. No. 1116 Leaflets: Gouffre de Padirac Marble Arch Caves Woodhead Lead Mine Grotte d’Oisselle Grottes des Moidons Abstract: Dye, J. (1851 - transcription) Strontian Mines Inquest. Argyll Archive, Lochgilphead. No. 1117 Abstract: Davis, R.H. [Ed] (1935) Diving in Prehistoric Caves, in Deep Diving and Submarine Operations. pp 394-5. No. 1118 Abstract: Balcombe, G. (1978) Great Gable to Wookey Hole. Alpine Club Journal Vol. 83 No.327 pp 168- 174. No. 1119 Abstract: Breuil, The Abbe H. (1922) Observations on the Pre-Neolithic Industries of Scotland. Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. Vol. 56 pp 261-281. No. 1120 Abstract: Thornber, N. (no date) Yorkshire Underground. ‘Out of Doors’ Vol. 10 No.1 pp 28-31. No. 1121 Rescues 2006. Cave Rescue Organisation (2007) No. 1122 Subterranea Britannica, Handbook. M. Dixon (Ed) (2007) No. 1123 Abstract: La Mina de Almaden. F.J. Palero. (no date/source). No. 1124 -12- William Pengelley Cave Studies Trust. (1982) Joint Mitnor Cave. No. 1125 Abstract: ‘L.S.’ In Memoriam: John Birkbeck. The Alpine Journal Vol. XV, pp 277-280. No. 1126 Abstract: Saville, A. (2005) Archaeology and the Creag nan Uamh Bone Caves. Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 135, pp. 343-369. No. 1127 Abstract: Seatree, G. (1908) Alum Pot. Fell & Rock Climbing Club Journal Vol.1 No.2 pp103-114. No.1129 Abstract: Hendy, (2008) P. Mendip’s Mines. Mendip Times Vol.3 No.9, p.17. No. 1128.

6. CDs, VIDEOS ETC.

VIDEO No. 44. Ratho Cundie

DVD No. No.22. Hard Decisions at Sleets Gill No.23. Beneath the Pennines: White Scar No.24. ISSA Scotland and Bike Ride in Assynt (2007) No.25. Caverns of Casterton Fell.The Early Years (Ron Bliss) No.26. Sunday at Sunset Pot No.27. Time Team (Wemyss Caves); BBC 2 Inside Out (Mossdale, 40 Years On).

CD: Kendal Caving Club, Publications 1957-2007 Uamh an Ard Achadh and Environs Project Data Structure Report (2006)

SLIDES: No. 1109. Gouffre de Padirac, Entrance No. 1110. Gouffre de Padirac, View of the Grand Dome Chamber. ------Meet Report - AN UNKNOWN MINE

On 29th December Annie Audsley and myself visited a site 4 kms south of West Calder marked on the map as a building in the woods with a track going west from the B road. There are obvious surface remains and two brick buildings with concrete roofs sloping to the west which are the entry points to a set of drift mines.

Access is gained to both on the north side through holes that explorers in the past have created, since the original entrances have been long bricked up. The northern drift has a lot of modern rubbish which has been pushed through the hole including the customary dead sheep. It is rectangular with a screeded concrete floor descending at 15 degrees and with a set of steel rails bolted to the floor. The southern drift is of the same construction but is wider and has two pairs of rails with some kind of points system at the top. Every 10 metres or so there are numbered man alcoves. After 40 metres construction changes to a natural rock arch but immediately sumps. We had a rake through the spoil heaps which seemed to be fine broken uncooked shale with the odd bit of coal.

My first thought was that the mine would be Baads Mine (which fed Pumpherston oilworks with coal) because the nearest dwelling is called Baadsmill, but on checking this out from the book ‘Mining in the Lothians’(Guthrie Hutton) the photograph of Baads Drift Mine was very different from what we saw. Also it mentioned that Baads was unofficially known as West Mains after the adjacent farm which is over 2 kms away.

The web has several sites with lists of mines, none giving any clue. The geological map sheet 32W 1:50,000 suggests the mine is on Harburn, Foul Hosie and Craigenhill limestones, although as mentioned spoil heaps indicate either coal or shale. Suggestions as to identity would be welcome. Roger Galloway -13-

VALE: ‘Alfie’ Collins

Older members of the GSG will be saddened to hear that ‘Alfie’, actually Stanley John Collins, passed away on 22nd October 2007, aged 83. Mendip clubs were represented at his thanksgiving service at St Mary’s Church, Litton, on Wednesday 31st October 2007.

The address was given by Sett (Tony Settingham) who revealed that Alfie had originally joined the UBSS when at Bristol University. He later moved to Bristol to work for BAE. He joined the BEC in 1944, Member No. 89. At early singsongs in the Hunters he played the piano. This was news to me as most of us remember him playing the banjo; perhaps that is because my arrival on Mendip coincided with that of Roger Biddle who monopolised the piano. He was BEC caving secretary and hut warden in the mid 1950s and took over the editorship of the Belfry Bulletin from Harry Stanbury, BEC member No.1, from the March 1957 issue until Christmas 1967 when he was ousted from post by other members. I was aware of this episode but have only recently seen the original exchange of correspondence: Wig vs Alfie. The moral is that club officers and the club should take care that nobody overstays their usefulness. Alfie never again entered the Belfry or attended BEC functions, instead he produced his own ‘The Bulletin’ and arranged his own private dinner for like-minded friends. The latest was but a few days after his pass- ing.

Alfie was a digger, notably Hunter’s Hole, and that bearing his own name (now filled in). He was the author of BEC Caving Reports No.1 in January 1956 ‘Surveying in Redcliffe Caves, Bristol, 1953-54’, No.4 ‘The Shoring of Swallet Cave Entrances’, published in August 1958, and No.12 ‘The Presentation of Cave Survey Data’, published in September 1966, putting forward ‘severity route diagrams’ which never caught on. Caves were represented by straight lines, rather like the London Underground map, with symbols for pitches, squeezes, sumps etc.

However his most lasting legacy must be ‘The Speleodes’, which went to three editions, and which he used to recite. (I well remember back in the ‘60s after the pub in the old Shepton hut Alfie took on Goon, one for one, Speleodes v recitations.... I have to say Goon won). He also wrote ‘A Strange Device’, a tale of 1995.

He was the consummate speleomusician. Back in April 1976 the Grampian Speleological Group produced their occasional publication No.3 ‘The Caving Songs of Mendip’, launched in the Hunters and continued back at the Mineries until the early hours. In a review I wrote for the Shepton journal in 1976 I said “that it has been done by a non-Mendip club avoids much of the scorn and reluctance/ problems in publication....” I also commented that others have been goaded into action to rescue very early material including original versions of some of the songs in the GSG collection. Eight years later, almost to the month, at the SMCC post AGM dinner at the Penscot Farmhouse Hotel, Shipham, on 12th May 1984, Alfie, probably in a desire to set the record straight, chose an SMCC function to unveil his ‘Alfie’s Manuscript Collection of Mendip Cavers’ Songs’ containing 27 listed, actually 41 songs, complete with the musical notation of which at least 13 are by Alfie. (See review in GSG Bulletin, 2nd Series 4(3) pp 27-31 (1984).

Anyone who identifies with Mendip (son of or otherwise) should be eternally grateful to Alfie for making life that much more enjoyable.

Martin M. Mills -14- BOOK REVIEW:

Swildon’s Hole. 100 Years of Exploration. By Dave Irwin, Alison Moody and Andy Farrant. (2007) 276 pp, 90 surveys and diagrams, profuse illustrations, many in colour. Hardback. ISBN 978-0-9500433-5-7. £25 from the Wessex Cave Club, Upper Pitts, Eastwater Lane, Priddy, Somerset BA5 3AX.

As one of the premier caving clubs on Mendip, Wessex Cave Club have a tradition of producing fine publications. In 1975 their Pictorial History of Swildon’s Hole quickly became a collector’s item, packed with black and white photographs covering the full panoply of exploration in this excellent cave system. I thought at the time that it could hardly be bettered. Now I know different!

This new book is just a sumptuous piece of work, imaginatively designed, well written and completely thorough. The volume comes complete with an up-to-the-minute folded sheet survey of the system, a full list of references and works for further reading and a very useable index.

The work is divided into three sections: History of Exploration (Dave Irwin); A Description of the Cave (Alison Moody) and The Formation of the Cave (Andy Farrant) and each is superbly readable. Considering that Alison has personally examined every rock and handful of grit in the entire system this is indeed a cred- it to her writing style. So often blow by blow descriptions can degenerate into the pedestrian. Andy covers the gradual formation of the cave with clear text and many multi-coloured surveys making the whole affair easy to follow. Touching on this, Alison’s section begins with a double page aerial colour photograph of Priddy with an oblique survey superimposed showing clearly where the various parts lie - or are heading. It reveals that passage just beyond sump 12 lies immediately below Tony Jarratt’s house (get digging in the cellar, Tony).

However, pride of place must go to the late Dave Irwin (who died before seeing the book published), for his wonderful history of exploration which occupies nearly half the pages. Unquestionably, the history of Swildon’s mirrors that of Mendip caving in general and I found myself completely seduced by tales of yester- year when men were men and the sun always shone. It is nothing short of a triumph and a model of how caving history should be written.

I find it difficult to identify anything to criticise; Gonzo’s deft artistic talents have created a bright, easy on the eye volume, clearly printed on good quality gloss paper. Everything is fully referenced - even the photographs are listed and sourced by section - and careful editing means you can rely on this as definitive text. Bear in mind also that this has been produced by a caving club, not a professional publisher. My one small harp is that quite a few photographs are only 3x4 cms necessitating a magnifying glass on occasion when I wanted to see the face of a well-known caver whom I had not met. But, good grief, this is a terribly minor point and the pictures are sharp enough to do this easily.

If you want the ultimate British caving book, get this one. And get on with it, because copies are going fast and it is not known whether a reprint is on the cards.

Alan L. Jeffreys ------oOo------

INDEXES

Several detailed indexes ( for Glasgow SS, SWETC Caving Club, The Speleologist (both versions) Northern Caving, Caving International etc) are available from at £3 each from the Editor - address inside front cover. ------oOo------15- CAVES IN SOUTH GEORGIA, ANTARCTICA By Jackie Yuill

Icebergs, albatross, elephant seals, penguins, the ice - caves did not rank on my list of things to see on a recent trip to Antarctica, but there are caves, and we nearly visited one, hence this brief report.

Captain James Cook made the first landing on South Georgia in 1775, and when his accounts of the island were published in 1777, sealers arrived shortly afterwards. Within a few years, there were more than 100 ships (mainly from Britain, USA, Australia and France) in the Southern Ocean, taking fur seal skins and elephant oil. At the height of the bonanza, an amazing 57,000 fur seal skins were taken in 1800-1802 by an American sealer, Edmund Fanning. Fur seals became rarer, and as late as 1909, in what was possibly the last fur sealing voyage to South Georgia, only 170 fur seals could be found. *

Sealing was an extremely hard (and brutal) way of life - sealers were dropped off at promising beaches, and then left there to live and work for months at a time. They built rough shelters or lived in tents and caves along the shore, the latter possibly offering most protection against the biting cold and fierce winds. The floor of the cave was usually levelled, and a wall built part way across the entrance. A sail was hung from a spar across the doorway to give some level of protection against the elements.

Sealer’s Cave, Fortuna Bay, is such an example. The former sea cave is set slightly above and back from the present shore line. At the time of our visit, it was impossible to enter as a young fur seal had taken over occupation of this cave. (Fur seals remind me of bad tempered Jack Russells - teeth with attitude - only much larger). The cave entrance is approximately 4m wide by 4m high. The remains of a stone wall can be clearly seen. The cave floor is level earth and Landing on South Georgia extended back some 4-5 metres.

There are many such caves, particularly around the north-east coast of South Georgia. To date I have not found any complete record or account of these caves.

There are, however, many references to the cave in which Ernest Shackleton and five of his crew sheltered at Cave Cove after the epic failure of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914-1916. After the ship ‘Endurance’ was trapped and then crushed in the ice of Range mountains the Weddell Sea, just off Antarctica, Shackleton led reefs his men north-east to Elephant Island and then, adapt- reefs ing one of the three small boats and with five crew, Haakon Bay sailed over 800 miles to South Georgia to get help. They landed in King Haakon Bay and took refuge in a reefs glaciers small cave on an inlet they named Cave Cove. After Mave Bay the stormy seas and freezing temperatures, the cave Main range was indeed luxurious. Food was plentiful - as long as one wasn’t vegetarian!

As Harry McNeish wrote: “We have not been as comfortable for the last five weeks. We had three young Surroundings of King Haakon Bay and one old albatross for lunch with one pint of gravy (From an original drawing) -16- which beets [sic] all the chicken soup I ever tasted.” (Not likely to be adopted for a GSG Gourmet evening - too many air miles now to acquire the ingredients!! More importantly, a protected species).(1)

The cave was made as comfortable as possible, with dry tussock grass lining the floor and rough sleeping areas. Again, leaving three men at the cave, Shackleton, accompa- Cave at Cave Cove nied by two crew, became the first to ever cross South Georgia - another epic journey this time of high mountain terrain and biting cliffs steep tussock cold. Their trek, 36 hours, brought the men to the whaling station slope of Stromness where Shackleton was at last able to begin the rescue of all his expedition men - his crew at Cave Cove, on Elephant

boulder Island and the often forgotten heroes, the men who laid the supply canvas screen beach lines from the Ross Sea into Antarctica, finally rescued in January 1917. Entrance with sea sea icicles over it, 15ft. high. Cave height Despite the ordeal of the failed expedition, Shackleton and some of line of cliffs 12ft. his crew did return to Antarctica on later expeditions. It is difficult not to fall in love with South Georgia, and Shackleton’s body was Plan of Sleeping Berths in the Cave returned there after his death in 1922 and is buried at Grytviken. (from an original drawing) It remains difficult not to fall in love with South Georgia...... if there are any rich (very rich) philanthropists out there willing to sponsor an expedition to locate and record the caves of South Georgia, please get in touch with me as soon as possible.

* Since the cessation of sealing, the fur seal population has now recovered to an estimated 300,000 in South Georgia.

Reference: 1. McNeish, Henry (actually McNish) Ship’s Carpenter. Endurance Diary 1914-1917.

Sealer’s Cave, Fortuna Bay, South Georgia.

Photo: Jackie Yuill

------17- SOME FRAGMENTS OF EARLY CLUB HISTORY

By Alan L. Jeffreys

Efforts to trace records of early trips by the club have been frustrated by several factors. First and foremost, logbooks were not commenced until 17th September 1966, over five years after inauguration - a serious drawback to our knowledge. Secondly, the Bulletin did not start until June 1963 and even then, area meet reports did not always specify dates of meets.

The first trip reports were handwritten sheets submitted to the recorder (myself) - a practice not entirely effec- tive! In the summer of 1963 therefore, we designed a foolscap pro forma report sheet for trip leaders to fill in. This was a better and more successful system but it foundered when the club acquired a couple of cellar rooms in North St Andrew Street (little better than a slum). Trip reports tended to lie about, become trodden on and lost, with little attempt at filing, so that I am sure many of these now valuable documents were destroyed almost at birth.

By combing the club library, I have unearthed what remains of these early records, the first being from the very birth of the Group in June 1961. What follows is a brief compilation of extant information. It is based on a modest collection of single sheets along with some rather terse diaried entries I made in the ‘Speleological Yearbook and Diary’ volumes for 1964 and 1965, and is confined strictly to written reports, although I am well aware that a lot of other trips took place as well. Any meets described uniquely in the Bulletin, such as Grange Rigg Pot in August 1963 and Sell Gill in January 1964 are not listed below).

1. Figgate Burn, Duddingston, Edinburgh. 1st June 1961 - September 1962. In June 1961 on the steep bank of the Figgate Burn at Duddingston cross- roads, members explored a number of tunnels associated with the demol- ished mill, and a cylindrical steel pipe which debouched into a Victorian main sewer, itself followed for a considerable distance downstream. On August 12th a C. Barker and the writer explored three tunnels and on 27th August, A. Jeffreys, G. Alden and A. Conner finished off most explorations except a tiny wet aperture in the wall of the road bridge, which was forced to a choke in September 1962 after 60 feet. (This square hole measured 2.5ft x 2ft and discharged water into the burn. Not pleasant!)

2. Calton Hill, Edinburgh, 1962. Alex Conner in steel pipe leading to the In May and September 1962, A. Jeffreys, G. Alden, A. Conner and a sewer at Duddingston, 1961. Mendip caver named D. Christie paid two visits to holes in the side of Photo: A. Jeffreys Calton Hill, which proved to lead onto the bricked roof of the railway tunnel from Waverley Station. These are now blocked off.

3. Jeanie Barrie’s Cave, Pentlands, 1963. In March 1963 an abortive attempt to find the cave in execrable snowy weather failed. Trip enlivened by George Alden’s motor bike firing a spark plug at a sheep. We got the bus home.

4. Fordel Coal Mine, Dalkeith, 5th - 13th May, 1963. Solo investigation by George Alden on Thursday 5th May revealed a promising mine complex ripe for exploration. He and the writer returned on Saturday 7th May and spent one and a half hours following tunnels down to a flooded area and logging all surface features associated with the mine. The following Saturday, 13th May, A. Jeffreys, G. Alden, Joyce Brunton and Joe Holliday spent over two hours pushing various side passages. 5. Wednesday 26th June, 1963. AGM. -18- 6. Hole near St. Antony’s Chapel, Arthur’s Seat, 26th June 1963. A. Jeffreys, G. Alden, J. Brunton and Ian Cumming made an attempt on this narrow cave immediately after the AGM, but made little progress due to the protruding rock shelf which bars entry to a very tight fissure.

7. Middleton Limestone Mine, Sunday 30th June 1963. A. Jeffreys, G. Alden and I. Cumming examined most of the accessible quarry which did not offer any particular sport, being quite shallow and clean. It appeared stone was still being obtained from this site.

8. Fordel mine, Saturday 6th July 1963. A. Jeffreys, G. Alden, J. Brunton and I. Cumming carried out a trip to the end of the mine but began suffering from oxygen starvation. Bad air led to spectacular headaches. Opinions were divided as to whether the gas was Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide or ‘Firedamp’ (methane, nitrogen and carbon dioxide). Either way, it spelt the end for proper exploration at this G. Alden and J. Brunton (J. Holliday just visible left) outside Fordel Mine, site. June 1963. Photo: A. Jeffreys 9. Long Strip Shaft, Dalkeith, Tuesday 30th July 1963. A. Jeffreys, G. Alden and I. Cumming on an evening visit to a deep bricked shaft in Long Strip Wood near Fordel. 120 feet of rope ladder were lowered and A. Jeffreys descended. No bottom was reached and unsafe walls dictated a retreat. No lateral passages seen.

10. Jeanie Barrie’s Cave, August 1963. Unspecified number of members explored the cave to the base of the chute which was then the terminal point. Report by A. Jeffreys.

11. Fordel Mine, Sunday 11th August 1963. I. Cumming and Rosemary Crockett paid a brief visit to the main passages but encountered traces of gas at several points and decided to exit.

12. Fordel Mine, Sunday 18th August 1963. A. Jeffreys, G. Alden, J. Holliday, M. Haston, J. Wilson, I. Cumming tried to dig out a low crawl in the left hand series of the mine. Gas forced an exit and more bad headaches. The report is appended by another, reproduced here:

“Examination of shaft (un-named) in field overlying Bryan’s Splint coal measures. The head of the shaft is surrounded by a 10ft brick wall (square). The shaft is circular and watered by a steady stream which entered approximately 45 feet below the surface. The base of the shaft was flooded, the distance to the water being estimated at 90-100 feet. 90 feet of rope ladder, with 30 feet of electron in reserve, was taken up to the shaft. The belay for this ladder is a telegraph pole 100 feet from the pitch wall. A scaffolding pole was carried up and laid across the top of the wall and pitoned into position. The ladders were hung over the bar to avoid contact with the walls. Lifelining was done through a pulley block. A. Jeffreys descended approximately 55 feet, at which point the lifeline gave out. He removed the line and climbed on down to 90 feet. He observed a clear drop of another 40 feet before the water was reached. G. Alden climbed down after A. Jeffreys had returned and reached a depth of 60 feet before ascending. Neither observed any lateral passages. The shaft is not heavily watered but exposure suits are definitely an asset. The pole was left against the wall inside the top of the pitch for future occasions.” M. Haston, I. Cumming (& J. Wilson) Main Passage, Fordel Mine, August 1963. Thirty years on a search for this shaft proved abortive. Photo: A. Jeffreys -19- 13. Pathhead Quarry, Midlothian, Wednesday 4th, Sunday 8th September 1963. Evening visit by G. Alden and A. Jeffreys after being told of the mine by Jim Salvona. Most of the mine seen and getting lost (twice) was a highlight. The party returned, joined by I. Cumming, the following weekend. Night lights were used to aid navigation, photographs were taken and samples of gours and cave pearls collected.

14. Burdiehouse Quarry, Edinburgh, Monday 27th January 1964. [diary entry] “Burdiehouse Quarry examined. Penetration down 30ft shute in right hand wall to lower series which on this occasion were flooded.”

15. Jeanie Barrie’s Cave, Saturday 15th February, 1964. [diary entry] “Jeanie Barrie’s Cave. Tight I. Cumming in Pathhead Limestone Mine final passage dug out September 1963. but no further Photo: A. Jeffreys progress possible.” This refers to eyehole after final chamber.

16. Leadhills, Saturday 22nd February 1964. [diary entry] “Leadhills: Cove’s Vein at Wanlockhead; all mine examined. The final passage will ‘go’ with digging.”

G. Alden at the head of a small pitch, 17. Bowden Hill Mine, West Lothian, Sunday 1st March 1964. Burdiehouse Mine, January 1964. G. Henderson and H. Speed checked out all entrances, exploring holes Photo: A. Jeffreys 1-2. A smoke bomb was dropped into hole 6 (on top of the hill) to test for air currents - unsuccessful).

Sunday 8th March 1964 - AGM

18. Bowden Hill Mine, Sunday 15th March 1964. A. Jeffreys, J. Holliday, D. Fraser, J. Harper, G. Henderson fully explored holes 1 to 2 and then descended hole 6 (then numbered No.3). Dead sheep in the entrance not welcome but the whole mine explored.

19. Hilderston Mine, West Lothian, Sunday 22nd March 1964. G. Henderson, L. Henderson, S. Anderson and D. Fraser discovered and explored the lead mine off flooded quarry pit at Hilderston (then thought to be a silver mine).

20. Bowden Hill Mine, Sunday 22nd March 1964. There were trips into hole 5 (Pipe Passage); a solo trip by A. Jeffreys in the afternoon and another starting 5pm by G. Henderson, L. Henderson, S. J. Holliday in Cove Vein, Wanlockhead Anderson and D. Fraser. February 1964. Photo: A. Jeffreys 21. Wanlockhead, Saturday 29th March 1964. G. Henderson, D. Fraser, L. Henderson, S. Anderson and R. Crossman explored West Glencrieff Mine and the long drainage adit in the valley floor. Several other shafts were also located. -20- 22. Hilderston ‘Silver’ Mine, Sunday 5th April 1964. A. Jeffreys, L. Henderson and S. Anderson pushed the mine as far as the flooded fork at the back but high levels dictated a retreat at this point.

23. Bowden Hill Mine, Sunday 5th April 1964. G. Henderson, L.Henderson, J. MacDonald and R. Crossman entered hole 4 for the first time and connected it to Pipe Passage. Other areas also explored.

24. Cousland Quarry, Sunday 10th May 1964. G. Henderson, L. Henderson, P. Thompson, R. Crossman and J. MacDonald entered mine via the 45ft shaft and lakes examined with rubber dinghies. Noted that blasting operations were threatening the existence of the workings.

25. Cousland Quarry, Wednesay 10th June 1964. G. Henderson and E. Jamieson went in to remove a large number of interesting formations because blasting was gradually destroying the mine.

26. West Glencrieff Mine, Wanlockhead, Sunday 21st June 1964. G. Henderson, L. Henderson and D. Fraser found an old survey sheet in the mine buildings and identified an adit entrance. About 400 metres of tunnel explored and a shaft on the hill found which was thought to connect with level 7 of the mine.

[At the back of the 1964 diary, the following meets were listed without comment: During January: Burdiehouse Quarry; Cousland and minor caves, mine shafts near Dalkeith, Sell Gill Holes. During February: Cousland; Jeanie Barrie’s Cave. During March: Leadhills/Wanlockhead; Alva Silver Mines.] Sam Anderson and Donald Fraser, 45 ft pitch into Cousland Mine, June 1964. 27. Fordel Mine, Saturday 2nd January 1965. Photo: A. Jeffreys [diary entry] “Fordel Mine: final sump reached but gas encountered. Cousland Mine visited.”

28. Burdiehouse Limestone Mine, Tuesday 5th January 1965. G. Henderson, Mike and Margaret Austin paid a casual visit in the light of landfill operations on site. Rubbish tipped had raised water level by some 20-30 ft. Loss of mine meant no access to a “mass of interesting fossils in the walls.”

29. Jeanie Barrie’s Cave, Sunday 17th January 1965. [diary entry] “Jeanie Barrie’s Cave totally traversed. Digging commenced in 1st and 2nd shakeholes.”

30. Jeanie Barrie’s Cave, Sunday 31st January 1965. [diary entry] “Jeanie Barrie’s Cave. Digging out 1st and 2nd shakeholes. Interview by Graham Williams of Sunday Express. Entrance crawl in main cave enlarged.”

31. Bowden Hill Mine, Sunday 7th February 1965. [diary entry] “Bowden Hill, Through trip 4-5, 1-2. Easter Carriber Mine explored with Stewart Ross of Evening news.” -21- 32. Jeanie Barrie’s Cave, Sunday 14th February 1965. [diary entry] “Jeanie Barrie’s Cave. Digging out 1st and 2nd shakeholes. No.1 hole subsidence cleared after flooding. Narrow crawlway in No.2 revealed.”

33. Jeanie Barrie’s Cave, Sunday 21st February 1965. [diary entry] “Jeanie Barrie’s Cave. No.2 shakehole dug out and 4” rift exposed.”

34. Surface Meet, Carlops, Saturday 6th March 1965. [diary entry] “Private member’s meet, Carlops area. Petrifying spring found.”

35. Bowden Hill Mine, Sunday 7th March 1965. [diary entry] “Bowden Hill. Extension from Chicken Run crawl in No.4 explored for approximately quarter of a mile to a working face. Good limestone fault aven encountered.”

Thursday 11th March 1965 AGM

36. Bowden Hill Mine, Sunday 14th March 1965. [diary entry] “‘Scotsman’ photographers taken into No.5 hole and mock cave rescue undertaken from Mud Hall to Moon Traverse.”

37. Bowden Hill Mine, Saturday 27th March 1965. [diary entry] “Seven members make the all-important breakthrough in the bid to connect Hole 2 to 4. A long and arduous series of crawls off the no.4 main hall lead via a series of high level boulder chokes to long entrance passage, the beginning of which was completely blocked with earth and stones. This was dug out and was found to be less than 100 yards from No.2. The major distance between holes 2 and 4 has now been covered. (Hole 3 has been re-named 6 and the new entrance 3).”

38. Bowden Hill Mine, Saturday 3rd April 1965. [diary entry] “Through trip Nos. 3-5 made, this time in reverse and the whole route strung to Chicken Run. Diverse passages on the left of No.3 explored without success. Entrance passage here 556 feet long.”

39. Jeanie Barrie’s Cave, Sunday 11th April 1965. [diary entry] “Jeanie Barrie’s Cave. Shakehole No.3 examined. New cave discovered at the south end of the Windy Gowl.”

40. Cousland Quarry, Sunday 18th April 1965. [diary entry] “Cousland visited and old series explored.”

41. Sunset Hole, Yorkshire, Saturday 24th-Sunday 25th April 1965. [diary entry] “Yorkshire. Party camped at Ribblehead. Sunset Hole bottomed and side passages visited.”

42. Cousland Quarry, Sunday 2nd May 1965. [diary entry] “Cousland visited and specimens removed. Mining not yet reached cavern. Through trip to New Series made.”

43. Garelton Iron Ore Mine, East Lothian, Sunday 9th May 1965. [diary entry] “Garelton Iron Ore Mine, Haddington. Impressive entrance led to very high rift passage with deep canal necessitating dinghy. Unstable boulder choke not climbed. Photogenic and good possibilities for aven work noted.”

44. Alum Pot -Long Churn, Yorkshire, Saturday 15th- Monday 17th May 1965. [diary entry] “Skirwith Cave (show). Long Churn Lower Cave descended to rock bridge, Alum Pot. Long -22- Churn Upper cave explored and Diccan followed to head of big pitch. (Sunday). Yordas Cave. Chapter House pitches (wet) free climbed and upper series fully explored. Crawl forced to base of 70ft pitch. (Monday) Calf Holes, Birkwith explored.”

45. Garelton Iron Ore Mine, Sunday 23rd May 1965. [diary entry] “Garelton Iron Ore Mine. Scaling ladders taken in and photos taken. No way found to climb boulder choke as water over 11ft deep.”

46. Gaping Gill, Saturday 5th June 1965. [diary entry] “ G.G. Winch.”

47. Jeanie Barrie’s Cave, Sunday 3rd October 1965. [diary entry] “Jeanie Barrie’s digging and surveying.”

48. Giant’s Hole, Derbyshire, Sunday 10th October 1965. [diary entry] “Giant’s Hole, Derbyshire. Bottomed at 495 feet in five and a half hours.”

49. Cousland Quarry, Tuesday 12th October 1965. [diary entry] “Eric Glen and Brian Reid took school party of eleven down Cousland.”

50. Bowden Hill Mine, Sunday 17th October 1965. L. Henderson in ‘Moon Traverse’, Bowden Hill [diary entry] “Bowden Hill. 3-5 and 6 visited.” Mine, 7th March 1965. Photo: A. Jeffreys 51. Allt nan Uamh Stream Cave, Sutherland, Sunday 24th- Tuesday 26th October 1965. [diary entry] “A. Jeffreys and L. Henderson. Allt nan Uamh Stream Cave, Sutherland, fully explored. (Monday) Knockan region. Uamh an Tartair bottomed. Uamh Cul and Pol Eoghainn both visited (former forced to stream passage). (Tuesday) Surveyed two fissure caves in sandstone on hill overlooking Golspie to the north.”

52. Cove, Berwickshire, Sunday 24th October 1965. [diary entry] “Cove - sea caves explored.”

53. Cove, Saturday 30th October 1965. [diary entry] “Cove. Sea cave surveyed. Eric Glen and Brian Reid lead Yorkshire trip {with Ferranti Mountaineering Club Caving Section. Marble Steps and Sell Gill chosen, but flood conditions rendered trips ineffective).”

54. Nine Mile Burn Mine, Peeblesshire, Saturday 6th November 1965. [diary entry] “Nine Mile Burn Mine located.”

55. Bowden Hill Mine, Sunday 21st November 1965. [diary entry] “Mock rescue in Bowden Hill. Casualty taken from Drum Crawl to entrance passage of No.3. There attempt abandoned due to instability of mine.”

Notes: It will be seen that there are gaps in the diary record, especially in 1964 where I stopped recording trips in March. There were of course more trips than those listed above and this survey should be read in conjunction with Bulletins for 1963-5. As far as I am aware, there are no other extant reports in existence. Entry No.44 was the occasion when a newcomer with inner ear problems continually fell off a boulder bridge into (fortunately) deep water. He had not declared this failing and it gave rise to the club rule that prospec- -23- tive members must attend at least one easy trip with the club before signing up. Entry No.53, as far as I can recollect, refers to an abandoned site from whence the club acquired its first bank charger which is still used today.

Many of the mine sites visited are now gone. They include: Fordel Mine; shaft at Bryan’s Splint; Burdiehouse Limestone Mine; Cousland Quarry; Garelton Iron Ore Mine; most of the Leadhills and Wanlockhead mines.

Jeanie Barrie’s Cave breakthrough in 1963 is not cited (see Bulletin 1st Series, Vol.1 No.4 (1963) p.3). The entries on the shakeholes refer to the line of collapses on the hill above, thought to trace the line of old silver workings. Digging failed to open up any voids. Roddy Owens in entrance passage, Jeanie Barrie’s Cave, October 1965. ---oOo--- Photo: A. Jeffreys Book Review: A Glimmering in Darkness. By Graham Balcombe [Edited by Duncan Price]. Published by the Cave Diving Group (2007) ISBN 978-0-901031-03-7. £20. Anyone with an interest in British cave diving will already be well informed about the late Graham Balcombe whose efforts before and immediately after the 2nd World War led directly to the formation of the Cave Diving Group. Sadly Graham died in 2000, still a well known figure on Mendip, clad in a kilt (not necessarily because he had Scottish con- nections, rather for comfort because of severe eczema), and it was the legendary Oliver Lloyd who first suggested he publish his memoirs, based upon a series of meticulously kept notebooks. These chart virtually everything Graham did from his early experiments with underwater breathing through a garden hose (failure!) to advanced oxygen rebreather work using equipment developed by wartime frogmen - all arising from an introductory trip down Swildon’s Hole in 1935.

This book reproduces all Balcombe’s exciting dives while a quantity of routine ‘housekeeping’ notes have wisely been edited out. Read in context, they recount truly epic original forays into territory never before penetrated by mankind, a thing perhaps accepted rather lightly by today’s high tech divers, whose street cred is based on 60 years of experi- ment, bravery and tragedy. Immersing myself in these pages I was transported back to a different world, where an expedition to Wookey from London involved some 200 lbs of personal equipment but most parts of the country could be reached by train and bus services that today are but a distant memory. At times, he even posted some gear to Derbyshire in order to lessen the load on public transport! All the famous breakthroughs are here - Swildon’s 2, OFD, Stoke Lane, Wookey Hole, Peak and Speedwell, as well as countless dives frustrated by sheer sump size and the limi- tations of pump driven bottom walking - Keld Head, Black Keld, Llygad Llwchwr and Alum Pot. This is living history of the best kind, written by exceptional people in, I think, much better times.

As for the book itself: its construction is of very high quality, clad in a hard cover, with 291 pages of really clear print. The text is set in Arial, a good choice. Perhaps the printing process was not too kind to some of the photographs (these are sparse and I would have liked more) but on the whole it is an excellent piece of work. There is one big criticism. Being a print on demand volume, I presume the printers have been supplied with a disc from CDG. This, quite clearly, has not been adequately proof read, so typos and spelling mistakes abound. On occasion, the editor should have adjusted text which was obviously abbreviated in the original notebooks and even supplied comments in parenthesis to further explain some details. Some modern surveys showing sumps examined by these early divers would have been useful as well. Only Wookey Hole, as drawn by Bob Davies, is shown. Nevertheless for those fascinated, as I am, in the history of cave exploration in this country, this book is an absolute must. The past, they say, is a foreign country. Here you will find dedicated people who went caving in collar and tie, put up with excessive bicycle journeys (Leeds to Kingsdale with a trailer full of heavy diving gear!) and were quite happy to sleep out of doors in all weathers. Such is not the calibre of cavers today! That these men were at the cutting edge may be discerned from the generous support they received from Siebe Gorman and others. We shall not see their like again. A thoroughly recommended read.

Obtainable from the CDG at www.cavedivinggroup.org.uk or direct from the publishers: www.lulu.com/content/864183. Alan Jeffreys -24- MEGHALAYA, CAVING IN THE ABODE OF THE CLOUDS - 2008

By Simon Brooks and Mark Brown

With yet another good representation from the GSG that included Simon Brooks, Mark Brown, Tony Boycott, Ross Davidson, Peter Glanvill, Kate Janossy, J-Rat, Hugh Penney, Fraser Simpson, Jayne Stead and Mark Tringham an international team totalling 44 cavers (including 20 from the UK, 6 from Meghalaya, 4 from Ireland, 4 from Switzerland, 2 from Denmark, 2 from Canada and 1 each from Austria, Iran, Sweden and Belgium) spent up to three and a half weeks (4th to 27th February 2008) in the Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya. Focussing on the caving areas of Shnongrim Ridge in the Nongkhlieh Elaka, the Litien valley to the east and in the Semasi area to the north east of the ridge.

Over the course of the expedition a total of 37 caves were explored, mapped and photographed to discover 13.978 kilometres of new cave passage. 17 of these were entirely new caves with the rest being extensions to systems that were partially explored in previous years. Key achievements from this year’s exploration include:

* The linking of the Liat Prah System to Krem Labbit (Moolesgni) via a 3m sump free dive and the connection of two other potholes into the system and surveying of new side passages created a cave system of 30.957km in length. This firmly established this system as the longest cave known to date in the Indian sub-continent and more significantly made it the first Indian cave to exceed 30 kms in length.

* The extension of Krem Tyngheng in the Semasi area from 9.866km to 12.960 km in length via some long swims to make it India’s 5th longest cave.

* The surveying of two other caves in the Semasi area: Krem Labbit Kseh at 883m in length and Krem Bliat at 613m, both of which are on-going.

* The pushing of many side passages and climbs in a bid to link together cave systems on the ridge. One aven of over 30m height was climbed in Krem Umthloo, which with other extensions made this system 18.181km in length maintaining it as the third longest cave in the Indian sub-continent.

* The extension of several existing caves in the area including: Umsngad River Sink that was extend ed from 1.25km to 2.15km in length and is still on-going; Krem Kdong Thloo that was extended from1.18km to 1.58kms. In Krem Um Manong a bolt climb gained a high level passage taking the cave from 105m to 922m in length; Krem Synrang Ngap was extended from 4.51km to 4.92km and Krem Mawshun from 3.33km to 3.624km.

* The discovery and exploration of several new caves in the previously blank N.E. section of the ridge near to the Liat Prah system including Krem Lumthymme that is 1.1km in length but unfortunately failed to connect into the Liat Prah system.

*The discovery and exploration of two new caves on the south flank of the ridge, that are likely to connect and form part of a larger system in what was previously a blank area on the Shnongrim Ridge map. Both containing large sections of trunk passage and Krem Thapbalong Sim is current ly 351.6m in length and on-going and Krem Shyrong Shrieh is 1.390m in length and also on-going.

*The discovery and exploration of new caves that have, once again, increased the total length of cave passage explored and surveyed on the Shnongrim Ridge from 139kms to 148.3kms in total, this being the greatest concentration of cave passage in one place within the Indian sub-continent. -25- *The completion of the surface mapping project of the main area of the ridge and Litien valley, which in combination with the cave mapping gives a clearer picture of the geomorphology and hydrology of the area. This exercise alone has played a significant role in unlocking the secrets of the ridge, a contribution to the locating and exploring of additional significant cave systems as detailed above and giving a much better understanding of how the caves on the ridge were formed.

In addition to cave exploration, an international conference entitled ‘Discover Meghalaya - The Caving Experience’ was held at the Pinewood Hotel in Shillong on the 22nd to the 23rd February. The Government of Meghalaya Tourism Department and the Meghalaya Adventurers Association hosted this with a significant input being made by the European team members. The conference was attended by some members of the expedition, the MAA and other representatives from the coal and limestone extraction industry and Adventure Travel Agencies from across India and Bangladesh. The aim of the conference was to raise awareness of the great cave resource within Meghalaya, highlight the threats to the caves posed by the recent increases in the limestone and coal extraction industries and try to identify ways of addressing this issue, and to develop strategies to promote the use of caves for tourism and local economic development. The conference was a great success and was followed by a field trip into the Liat Prah system for 25 of the delegates that gave them the chance to experience the underground caving environment first hand.

To date the whereabouts of over 1,150 caves are known in Meghalaya of which 669 have been explored to yield in excess of 324 kilometres of surveyed cave passage, with much more still waiting to be discovered. Much of the cave that has been found to date is impressive river cave mixed with huge fossil passage that creates cave systems equal in size and beauty to any found elsewhere in the world, putting Meghalaya firmly on the world-caving map as a significant caving region.

In the achievement of the above the Caving in the Abode of the Clouds Project is indebted to the help and support it has received from: the Meghalaya Adventurers Association; the Government of India Tourist Office (East and North East India) Kolkata; the Meghalaya State Tourism Department; Officials and Government Departments within Meghalaya and, very importantly, the people of Meghalaya. Not to forget the GSG who organise and fund the annual Meghalaya calendar. ------INDIAN SUB CONTINENT LONGEST/DEEPEST LIMESTONE CAVES - MARCH 2008 Longest: Cave name Country/Region Length 1. Krem Liat Prah/Um Im/Labbit India, Meghalaya 30,975m 2. Krem Kotsati?um Lawan India, Meghalaya 21,530m 3. Krem Umthloo-Synrang Labbit India, Meghalaya 18,181m 4. Synrang Pamiang India, Meghalaya 14,157m 5. Krem Tyngheng India, Meghalaya 12,960m 6. Pielklieng-Sielkan Pouk India, Meghalaya 12,434m 7. Krem Shrieh India, Meghalaya 8,862m 8. Krem Mawkhyrdop (Mawmluh) India, Meghalaya 7,194m 9. Krem Lymput India, Meghalaya 6,641m 10. Mondel Kol (Master System) India, Meghalaya 5,831m

Deepest: (Glacier Ice Caves omitted) Vertical Range/Depth 1. Synrang Pamiang India, Meghalaya 317m (+4m/-313m) 2. Krem Kotsati India, Meghalaya 215m (+6m/-209m) 3. Krem Umjasew India, Meghalaya 197m (-197m) 4. Krem Umthloo India, Meghalaya 188m (-188m) 5. Pielkhlieng-Sielkan Pouk India, Meghalaya 180m (-180m) 6. Pakaw Puk India, Meghalaya 170m (-170m) 7. Krem Shrieh India, Meghalaya 169m (-169m) 8. Kren Risang India, Meghalaya 154m (-154m) 9. Krem Wah Ser India, Meghalaya 145m (-145m) 10. Krem Shien Khlieh India, Meghalaya 143m (-143m) -26- MORE NOTES ON DURNESS By Iain Greig

Sites of Speleological Interest Between Web Cave and Sangomore, Durness (as of October 2007)

Name: Cnoc Damh Dig 1 NGR:NC 39518 64751 Description: Shakehole, c. 4.5m diameter and c. 4m deep with loose peat bank which could be dug relatively easily.

Name: Lower UCG Dig 1 NGR: NC 39477 65267 Description: Shakehole c. 7m wide and 3m deep with additional isolated depression at bottom of shake.

Name: Lower UCG Dig 2 NGR: NC 39556 65299 Description: Small shake close to the Eilean Dubh - Sailmhor boundary; bedrock exposed at base of shake with loose peat bank. Several larger shakeholes all around.

Name: Uamh na Comhachaige Gile (UCG Dig 1) NGR: NC39590 65453 Description: Large shakehole, c. 6m deep with bedrock and crevice opening exposed at base. Steep opening too tight at present, although till slope within the shake may be partially filling entrance. Crevice goes down a further few metres deeper with stream gravels being visible within a tight level passage.

Name: UCG (Dig 2) NGR: NC 39531 65403 Description: Large shake c. 6m wide, c. 5m deep exposing tan coloured glacial till below peat.

Name: UCG (Dig 3) NGR: NC 39568 65413 Description: Large shakehole 5m wide, 4m deep. Surrounded by two similar sized shake holes. Small hole found in peat bank at the base of the shake with a slight cold draught. Thin reddened fault breccia exposed indicating bedrock and formation along small fault line, explaining lengthy line of numerous large shakeholes.

Name: Upper Caladail (Hole) Dig NGR : NC 39536 69995 Description: Tight fissure opening 0.5m wide at bottom of large shakehole full of bracken. Passage drops down a further 5m before meeting a tight level stream passage. Glacial till only a couple of metres thick here halfway up side of low hill.

Name: Lower Caladail Dig 1 NGR: NC 39427 65461 Description: Small shakehole with 1m wide choked entrance c 3m deep.

Name: Lower Caladail (Hole) Dig 2 NGR: NC 39405 65394 Description: Possible passage; elongated shake c 4m deep, small entrance with dry stream passage and small ‘chamber’ large enough to bend down inside. Entry halted by large quartzite erratic. Appears to carry on at a steep angle and blocked by loose rock. -27-

Martin Hayes (left) with Jim Salvona at 80 years young. Leven Seat Limestone Mine, Feb. 2008. Photo: Alan Jeffreys

Your editor in the main streamway, Gatekirk Cave, Yorkshire, January 2008

Photo: M. Hayes -28-

Ross Davidson and Graham Marshall digging at the breakthrough point in Two A’s Chamber, Rana Hole, November 2007. Photo: Alan Jeffreys

Shona Warwick in Black Rift Chamber on the day of discovery, December 2007. Photo: Chris Warwick -29-

Julian Walford in Black Rift Chamber, Rana Hole, December 2007

Photo: I. Young

South Georgia Sea Cave with Icicles (brown colouration is from Macaroni penguin colony). Photo: Jackie Yuill -30-

Lower River Passage, Krem Tyngheng, Meghalaya February 2008 Photo: S. Brooks

Danal Cave, Iran, 2nd Chamber.

Photo: S. Brooks -31- Name: Rabbit Hole Dig Pale Eilean Dubh 20m NGR: NC 39675 65409 dolostone Description: Small and tight near vertical passage c. 1m deep filled with loose rubble but wide enough for entry. Obscured by Dark ED/SMH? moss and only exposed by large rabbit bur- dolostone exposed row on edge of small, dry channel. Blocked by erratic boulder hidden below moss but pale Eilean Dubh dolostone bedrock is exposed on all sides of passage. Small stream and Not an obvious site but found c. 20m south exposed dolostone east of last large shakehole on eastern side of UCG at end of low heather-covered ridge. UCG Dig 3 Name: Peat Bank Shake 1 NGR: NC 39312 64459 Description: Medium sized shakehole with UCG Dig 1 potential opening but digging required as entrance choked with peat. One of a series of large surrounding shakeholes.

Name: Peat Bank Shake 2 NGR: NC 39290 64425 Description: Tight opening c.1m deep within small shake showing steeply dipping passage filled with small, loose erratics (moveable) but with considerable peat fill. Small stream runs into this shake in wet conditions.

Name: Gil Mhor Sink Plan sketch map of Uamh Na Comhachaige Gile locality NGR: NC 38868 64486 Description: Large, deep depression c. 30x50m wide with small, active stream running in from east side and sinking at base of enormous shake. Also has a smaller dry channel on western side. Sink entrance has been well blocked with several large boulders but water not backing up in dry conditions.

Gil Mhor Sink Name: Rowan Shake 1/2 (Dig) 40m NGR: NC 38821 64525 Description: Large shake c. 8m deep with c. 10m diameter and large rowan tree growing inside (only top of tree visible outside of shake). c. 20m west of Gil Mhor Sink. Another smaller shake can be found a few tens of metres to the northeast which contains a gravel (stream deposit) Rowan Shake 2 opening which has some good dig potential.

Name: Rowan Shake 3 (Dig) NGR: NC 39010 64435 Rowan Shake 1 Description: Loose shake c. 20x15m wide and c. 6m deep which has sink at base with stream deposits. Substantial -32- peat along with this but a small choked and pooled resurgence can be found up the eastern slope of this shake.

Name: Rowan Shake 4 NGR: NC 39005 64494 Description: Another loose 4m deep shake with a 5m diameter. Well choked by erratics.

Name: Rowan Shake 5 (Dig) NGR: NC 39043 64530 Description: Another slightly open 4m deep shake with a 5m diameter. Part of a double shake with the smaller shake revealing a crevice within an open 1m wide hole which has been blocked by large erratics.

Name: Poll a’ Morgan/ Gravel Hole (Cave/dig) NGR: NC 39127 64606 Description: 0.5m diameter peat hole leading into some 3-4m of gravel filled passage within glacial till at bottom of a 15m wide grassy double shake, although it is terminated by peat fall. Heads in an eastwards direction towards 6x8x5m shake. No bedrock exposed yet but almost certainly continues.

15m Name: Bhlar Duibhe Road Shake (Dig) NGR:NC 40935 65997 Description: Peat hole large enough for entry, found as an overflow for a small bog-choked shake fed by a marshy depression. No bedrock exposed but c 2m long and 1.5m deep (blocked inside by peat bank).

Name: Peat-Moss Sink Poll a’Morgan NGR: NC 40364 65791 Description: Erratic-gravel-moss filled sink which is 1.5m deep at edge of a large boggy marsh.

Name: Meadhaidh Hole (Dig) NGR: NC 40395 65282 Description: Collapsed shake very close to the Durness Group - Lewisian Gneiss fault at Loch Meadhaidh. Entrance sink is found at the base of a partially open 5x5m shakehole which has bedrock of the Sangomore Fm exposed (true limestone beds), although it is currently blocked by gravels and some large erratics.

Miscellaneous

Name: Peat Sink NGR : NC 39005 64282 Description: Small stream sinks into peat hole which is result of peat bed collapse. Another found c. 15m to west which is much more shake-like but filled with water. Part of stream which runs westwards into Gil Mhor.

Name: Peat Road Rising NGR: NC 39261 64947 Description: Spring: pool of water c 5m wide with upwards resurging water.

Name: Rowan Shake 6 NGR : NC 39055 64556 Description: c. 20x15m, 8m deep shakehole with a very large rowan tree growing within. Completely choked. -----oOo------33- PRIDE AND PERSEVERANCE: RANA HOLE

Great oaks from little acorns grow, as the saying goes. It can be difficult deciding which of a wilderness of shakeholes in what is perceived to be a somewhat under-developed karst landscape in Sutherland is worth digging, especially when so many have simply closed down after much back-breaking work. In Rana’s case of course we had a decided advantage - certain knowledge of passage beneath and a radio location to boot but there was a problem - over 30 metres of verticality and roughly the same distance horizontally to where a connection was postulated, all well obscured by breakdown and glacial fill. So digging commenced, over twelve years ago. From a modest beginning this excavation matured into an engineered masterpiece, involving several clubs under the general auspices of the GSG. Finally the long-sought ‘dry’ entry into Claonaite 7, haunt of a handful of cave divers, has been realised, although it is stressed here that work continues to stabilise and protect the new cave so intending visitors are requested to limit themselves to joining Grampian trips for the foreseeable future.

A fairly complete account, not only of the breathroughs but of the dig in general and some aspects of water management are given below. Caving literature does not, on the whole, devote much ink to the minutiae of cave digs, so this additional information will prove instructive. One section in particular, that of dam construction, is directly of relevance in this Bulletin because at the foot of the shaft, ponding and virtual sump- ing is still a problem in wet conditions - we have a lot of clearance to achieve before water flows freely away - and this has caused delays in completing a high grade survey of the extensions. In order to meet the dead- line, we have decided to reproduce what, at best, must be regarded as a grade 1 survey, with higher grade sections included where they exist. A proper representation will appear in a future issue.

Alan Jeffreys, Editor

The Rana Hole Excavation - A Short History

By Ivan Young

The first report (ref 1) of what was to be named Rana Hole was written by Tony Jarratt on 4th April 1976. In company with Bob Mehew and Jim Smart (BEC) he passed a peaty squeeze at the bottom of a shakehole and under a 4m aven to 5m of passage. He hypothesized that the peat floor was 'probably a fully choked pitch'. On the 5th June 1978 it was rediscovered and named by Peter Dowswell and the author (ref 2) on finding a common frog (Rana temporaria) sat in a hole in the peat floor.

The impetus for digging Rana was supplied by the discovery of Claonaite Seven on 28th May 1995 and a surface survey in July which placed Rana Hole directly over the Sump 6b area. Digging commenced with a solo trip Sketch survey of Rana Hole before October 1995 by Martin Hayes on 7th October when he enlarged the entrance crawl and started digging in the floor. He returned with two assistants the following day. Later in the month Tony Jarratt renewed his acquaintance and a team of six baled and dug. The following day J'Rat set off the first of many bangs to reduce a large boulder to rubble. The top of the 4m aven proved to be just peat and was dug out providing direct vertical access to the dig.

At this point digging used a plastic skip on a rope that was hauled by hand out of the entrance and over the heather. Using this we'd dug down about 6m when in April 1996 trip reports mentioned massive draughts, the sound of a stream and the smell of a smoke bomb divers had set off in Claonaite Seven several days -34- before. At this stage a generator and hammer drill had been carried up the hill and many shotholes were drilled and charges fired to extend the rift horizontally. This was during what had become a regular April/May migration of our Mendip plus other southern members and their friends for a week or more of spring caving in Assynt.

While digging and blasting did continue in Rana the main effort was distracted for a while. A Molephone survey in October 1996 had radiolocated Belh Aven in Claonaite Seven directly under another nearby shakehole. The main digging effort moved for a few months to what we named Mole Hole. Eventually this hole pinched out, was abandoned and later filled back in. Attention switched back to Rana - when diggers were not being distracted by competition from Damoclean Dig and then Whinging Dog Dig. Over the whole 12 year history of the dig, 1997 saw the fewest number of digging trips and the least spoil removed.

The Mendip Migration of 1998 introduced a hauler's seat above the entrance. This was a fish box lid sitting on a couple of poles. The increasing depth was making strong shoring a priority so later that Rana Hole - 28 October 1995: Chris Warwick year holes were drilled for an eyebolt and shoring. This used builder's and Tony Boycott hauling, Simon Brooks props and ex-warehouse wire mesh shelving. The 1999 Mendip below skip, Tony Jarratt digging unseen and Mike O’Driscoll observing. Aven in cave now Migration filled in the bottom of the shakehole to give a larger flat open to surface above Simon. work area. This buried the original crawl entrance. The next quantum Photo: Ivan Young step in digging technology arrived as several long scaffold poles were carried to Rana and a tripod and pulley erected over the hole.

Once again the heat of the Scottish spring was beginning to have its effects with diggers convinced they could hear the Claonaite stream. When they returned to Mendip, SRT gear and rope were left in the GSG hut ready for the imminent breakthrough. Digging continued enthusiastically for the rest of the year, but no breakthrough arrived. The first of several sets of half a dozen 'virtually unbreakable' yellow buckets from Screwfix arrived. They weren't. At this time we needed three folk hauling in the shakehole to lift the buckets to the surface then one or two more to carry them up and out of the shakehole and empty them onto the tip.

A summary of work appeared in the March 2000 GSG Bulletin (ref 3), though motivation appeared to slacken during 2000 and the first trip in 2001 wasn't until July. There were some productive sessions with the digging easy and loads reaching the surface at one per minute. From then till April 2003 we had increasing problems with water ponding at the bottom and many possible digging trips didn't happen when up to a metre of water was found waiting for us. At the end of 2002 large bags were installed Rana Hole - 9 August 1998: The Hauler’s Seat - and lined with plastic sheet so that water could be baled into Martin Sauro watching Derek Pettiglio and Roger them. Progress slowed, though at times it was dry enough to dig. Galloway (seated) haul, with Martin Hayes loading Discussions about submersible pumps, generators and long below. David Robinson and Julian Walford in background. The eyebolt for the ladder was lengths of hose started to dominate evenings in the pub. installed that day. Photo: Ivan Young -35- Pumps became irrelevant when, on 18th April 2003, the bottom (almost) dropped out of Rana. Julian Walford was there and about to start digging, when there was a loud roar and the material behind the shoring all trun- dled downwards. Instead of bouncing across the shaft towards a retreating Julian, it disappeared downwards leaving a black hole. After attempts to stabilise the hanging death and remove some of the debris he found about 6m of descending passage to a short narrow drop. The water problem disappeared and the timing was perfect as we now had a pile of large boulders requiring demolition and the Mendip Migration with J'Rat and his bang was imminent.

Digging now progressed speedily and soon gave us a second pitch. This was named the BBC pitch because of the ladder abandoned by a BBC film crew in the Bone Caves and 'wombled' to Rana. For the next three years the BBC pitch gradually deepened and hauling was a two stage process one pitch at a time. If there were not enough diggers to haul both pitches then we'd fill sandbags at the bottom and stack them Rana Hole - 10 July 1999: The Tripod - John Varty, Roger between pitches one day, then haul them up the Galloway and Jeremy (BEC) hauling, with Martin Hayes and entrance shaft during the next session. Roger Julian down below. The floor of the shakehole is being filled in and the original entrance is now buried. Photo: Ivan Young Galloway had heard of a bicycle powered winch being used at a dig in Derbyshire and started investi- gations which resulted in the next quantum leap.

In January 2006 Norman Flux - builder of bespoke cycle winches - and Mark Brown - pithead engineer - inspected the site, hauled out a few bags and told us how much better it could be. In April they arrived back with a tandem cycle winch and over the next few days completely reorganised the pitch head with a col- lapsible scaffolding tower, a gangplank level with the top of the spoil heap, and the tandem winch in the shakehole. Once it was installed the winch proved easily capable of lifting kibbles loaded with over 50kg, or more than twice the previous limit. A scaffold 'avalanche shelter' was built across the bottom of the shaft to protect diggers from anything falling down it.

The loaded kibbles were now so heavy that it was a struggle to move them along the gangplank and empty them into the wheelbarrow. A return trip by Norman and Mark in October 2006 installed a monorail system. When a loaded kibble reaches the surface it is transferred onto a hook hanging under a carrier running along a gently sloping scaffolding pole. Chains are clipped to the base of the kibble and it runs along the rail until over the wheelbarrow when a ramp automatically unhooks the kibble which falls, inverts and deposits its load (or most of it) into the wheelbarrow. With this in place hauling, unloading and tipping required a minimum of only three folk compared with four previously. The maximum rate was about the same as the tripod at one per minute, but the loads could now be over twice the weight.

We were still hauling the two pitches separately. For the BBC pitch we'd changed to a counterweight system. A digger wearing a full body harness with a pulley attached would slide down the extension ladder and as he did so a loaded bucket would ascend at twice the speed. It was exchanged for an empty one at the top and the human counterweight would climb back up and thus lower the empty bucket to the bottom to be replaced by a full one and the whole process repeated. As I found, this doesn't work if the full bucket approaches half the counterweight's weight. He then finds himself dangling in midair and having to haul on the rope to lower himself down the pitch.

During October 2007 a mini-Mendip Migration took the next step. To speed and simplify hauling all the shored material at the top of the BBC pitch was extracted. A trial with one person diverting kibbles between -36- pitches proved that the cycle winch could haul from the bottom in one go. Norman and Mark then spent a couple of days manufacturing and fitting a flume to divert kibbles between pitches on the way down. They also started to install fixed ladders up the entrance pitch away from the haulage path so diggers could nego- tiate it with minimum disturbance to hauling. In December 2006 the scaffolding tower was rebuilt so it could be lowered without moving the cycle winch and the Christmas/New Year period saw the flume improved, the fixed ladders completed and 456 kibble loads extracted.

The flume made the traverse between the ladders awkward. In January we inserted large U bolts of 12mm stainless steel rod as hand and foot-holds using out of date resin from the BCA eco-anchor programme. After an aborted trip because the shakehole was full of snow and it was blowing half a gale, we arrived the next time to dig out the winch out of the remaining snow. We found both it and the scaffolding tower damaged by the weight of snow, but were able to make temporary repairs and start digging and hauling.

After several more digging sessions the 2007 Mendip Migration arrived along with Norman and his Mk V Fluxcavator. Instead of a tandem this is a tri-cycle with three cyclists powering a larger diameter winch drum. This was installed, the flume repositioned, the top of the shaft opened up and sundry other improvements made. Digging then started, but in May water started becoming a problem again and we actually started hauling water from the bottom. At first the weather was Rana Hole - 20 October 2007: The Tri-Cycle Winch. The winch good and it was so dry it was easy to do. By the end of in action powered by Preston White, Julian Walford and Roger June we were starting to dig holes, construct dams and Galloway with Mark Brown moving a full kibble onto the monorail. Annie Audsley, Norman Flux, Ross Davidson and bale water around at the bottom to make any progress. John Crae digging below. Photo: Ivan Young It appeared that Rana was going horizontal and this was confirmed when we managed to insert about 5m of drain rods horizontally along the narrow rift that took the overflow.

From June to the middle of September we built a series of dams each improving upon the last until we had one that worked. We then were free to dig our way along what would otherwise have been an underwater rift passage. A pipe from the bottom of the dam was pushed ahead of the diggers and - to our great relief - water sent along it ran away and didn't flow back into the dig. It took only three more days of serious digging to make the breakthrough described in the next section into The Skye-Way.

Since the breakthrough we have continued digging out the rift. It does slowly drain and we hope to find and unblock whatever route the water follows so that we can permanently solve the flooding problem. Once we do that, we'll remove the dam, fixed ladders and platforms leaving a clean shaft, and then remove all the surface works as well. Finally we'll equip the shaft with eco-anchors and make a lid for the entrance.

References 1) A. Jarratt mss log Vol.II, 1974-1981, p.34 2) GSG Knockan Hut Logbook1977-1991 & GSG Edinburgh Log Vol.3, page 27 3) A. Jarratt (2000), The Rana Hole Saga, Bull. GSG 3rd series, Vol.5 No.3 pp 18-21 -37- RANA - THE AUTUMN BREAKTHROUGH

By Julian D. Walford

Background

As has been described in the dig history above, the first and last significant breakthrough was in 2003 when the main shaft opened up revealing what was to become the BBC pitch. From then on it had been steady progress downwards to a depth of about 30m.

2007 had seen increasing difficulties with water ponding at the bottom, but these were largely overcome by baling the digging site into the rift at the far eastern corner. Perhaps the most significant clue to the direction of the passage was when a deep 'trial pit' revealed the shaft walls to be closing in, as we started to dig along the rift. Flooding then significantly delayed progress until the substantial series of dams mentioned above were built.

The Sumped Rift

Late 2007 saw us progressing horizontally along the rift, but initially the dig had to be baled back behind the dam until it was largely dry. It was clear that along the rift there was some sort of weir, as the level did not rise above a certain level. Several attempts were made to probe the top of the rift to establish a drain path beyond this weir. This was finally successful and a pipe carrying the water from the dam installed at the narrow rift top.

A few days with strong digging and hauling teams enabled the rift material to be steadily removed, and the traditional Annual Dinner Meet in October, this year in Skye, provided a focus for several of us to plan a sustained session. There was some confusion as to whether this was before or after the dinner, as work commitments changed, but it started the weekend before with a strong team. Norman Flux and Mark Brown stayed in Assynt all week, spend- ing several days on digging, filming and engineering work in Rana.

By the dinner, the end of the rift was some 2.5 m high, but only 300 mm wide, and much narrower at the top. Crucially it was very cold with a powerful but limited draught coming from the top of the rift. The pipe draining the dam and keeping the dig relatively dry disappeared up into well-compacted gravels.

The Annual Dinner came and went. Skye was wet as usual but several of us returned to Elphin on Sunday for more. Luckily Assynt had not been quite as wet as Skye and the rift was still dry on Monday 29th October.

With continued easy digging, the rift started to widen and on Monday, it was possible to hack at the gravels at the top. Very unpleasant, mind, as the gravels fell on the digger's face, but the Kate Janossy climbing the ladder from the dig increasing draught encouraged continued progress, and a 'black into the Skye-Way. hole' could soon be seen between two boulders. This required a Photo: Ivan Young tricky manoeuvre to dislodge one of them and let it slip slowly past, -38- while ensuring the other stayed put. As soon as the first fell, it was clear there was a chamber to enter and so, defying gravity, a squeeze up and we were in! The second boulder was then dropped to make the route safe.

The First Breakthrough

Here in this small chamber, water was gently flowing from the end of our pipe along another narrow rift, slightly offset from the one we were digging. This was quickly followed for some 25 metres to its end. Along the way it enlarged both in width and height to a substantial chamber where the stream was sinking in the floor. All this passage seems to be fault controlled. Some desultory digging removing rocks suggested that quick progress there was not feasible.

The front runners of the team assembled here for photos after positioning a small ladder at the breakthrough point. Mark Brown climbed into the roof to explore the passage at the end and Kate Janossy noted that the draught was coming from the floor. With some more hauling to complete, all went out.

This passage was named 'The Skye-Way', after the dinner venue, and Norman Flux near the start of the because we had dug upwards into it. Most of the team then went home, Skye-Way. leaving only Bob Mehew and myself in Assynt. On Tuesday morning we Photo: Ivan Young returned to Rana intending to survey the Skye-Way.

The Second Breakthrough

A line survey was quickly run from the foot of the dam to the end of The Skye-Way, so there was nothing to do but look around for the draught. This was quickly located and stones easily removed. Flat out progress was soon possible, but after an hour of stacking, I could tell Bob's patience was wearing thin. When asked if I could see anything I had to reply - 'No, I think we've found a chamber', and soon afterwards, I was through, enlarging the squeeze to ensure I could get back again.

A cautious exploration of the left branch of the chamber then ensued, as every boulder seemed to want to move on its own. We followed the stream to where it sank, and then followed the noise of another on the far left. To our amazement that part of the chamber was decorated with many small but very interesting formations, on the ceiling, the floor, and in some places the walls.

At one place there is what looks like a pile of carbide debris, and for a moment I thought that we were actually in Claonaite Seven, but couldn't quite make out which diver had used carbide! The noise lured us on to the far south of the chamber. I slowly and cautiously squeezed past Julian Walford, Ross Davidson, Peter Reynolds and John Crae at the the decorations into a small ante-chamber. Here end of the Skye-Way. Julian standing on site of the dig through to the noise was located to a tiny roof tube. Two-A’s Chamber. Photo: Ivan Young -39- The walls of that part of the chamber were examined in detail, and the points where stones could be dropped noted. After some time we thought it was time to retrace our steps, back up the slope. To my concern I found I was lost as I didn't arrive back where I started, but found myself in the northern half of the chamber, where the boulders were larger, and more unbalanced. As we wan- dered around we found more potential dig sites, until we finally completed the circumnaviga- tion.

The entire chamber consists of breakdown, seemingly where the roof has collapsed, following solution from below. We didn't even attempt to survey it, but retreated, quite pleased with progress. Just in time too as on reaching Alan Jeffreys crawling below the formations in Two A’s Chamber. the dam, we watched the water rise up and flow Photo: Ivan Young over it, down into the rift. On the basis that the rift was now probably sumped, and it was still raining, we all went home. But not before making a few phone calls, which formed the basis of the early surveys and a report in Descent.

Rather than continue with the somewhat lengthy naming conventions of Claonaite Seven such as 'The Palatial Abode of Edward Concrete-head', 'Two-A's Chamber' has been chosen, representing the fusion of Claonaite and Rana - both of which have two A's on a good day.

On the first 'tourist trip' the following weekend we taped-off the formations, while Bob Jones photographed them. There is now a taped route guiding visitors through the formations to the western end of the chamber. Provided they crawl cautiously the formations should survive. During later visits John Crae started surveying the discoveries and Ivan used the SCRO Heyphones to radiolocate a couple of sites on the surface. This was to compare their location with that of Belh Aven in Claonaite Seven which had been radiolocated in 1995. Fraser Simpson arrived with the GSG camcorder and after some filming he and Alan Jeffreys started attacking the more obvious holes round the edges of the chamber for a way on.

The Third Breakthrough

At first sight it didn't appear that easy progress out of Two-A's Chamber would be possible. The best prospect was opposite the way in and at the foot of the boulder slope where a slot could be peered through with a con- tinuation plainly visible. However even the slimmest of those present wouldn't fit through. In mid-December Ivan drilled a shot hole and a single Snapper made a satisfying loud crump as it was set off from the Skye-Way. Despite the large volume of Two A's Chamber, the fumes almost beat Ivan up the ladders showing just how strongly Rana Anna Ermakova in the boulder strewn eastern end of Two draughts on a cold day. A’s Chamber. Photo: Ivan Young Just over a week later on 24th December, Chris Warwick and daughter Shona on a tourist visit to Two A's -40- Chamber found and followed the bang wires to find the way on now open. A quick squeeze down and a short crawl over breakdown led to a rift chamber, some 4m high, probably formed along another fault, which boasts a number of ways off, at both the top and bottom. The most important feature is a waterfall emerging from a roof tube. This is not the Rana water. It does seem to stain everything black. It flows off into a second chamber again with several ways off where it sank into the floor. Chris presciently called it Way On Chamber, now renamed Black Rift Chamber. Here another stream sometimes joins over blocks of thick broken flowstone, which look as though they would be well worth dating.

Altogether Chris and Shona explored about 60m Kate Janossy through the banged slot from Two A’s Chamber en route of passages liberally sprinkling names around - for Claonaite Seven. Photo: Ivan Young Santa's Grotto, Rudolph's Drop, Shona's Chamber, Elven High Way, Way On Chamber. One group of formations was named the 'The Pig's Ears' by Shona because that is exactly what they resembled. Overall, this mid-level linking series should be referred to as ‘The Mezzanine’. News was disseminated by phone and email to the GSG and the strong party already planning a Xmas/New Year assault gained reinforcements.

Over now to Tony for his account of the next and final breakthrough into Claonaite Seven.

BREAKOUT! WE REACH CLAONAITE SEVEN

By Tony Jarratt

Over the Christmas-Hogmanay period a minor Mendip Invasion of Assynt took place with Paul Brock, Siss Balomatis, Duncan Butler (BEC), the writer (GSG/BEC) and Robin ‘Tav’ Taviner (GSG/WCC) in atten- dance. Norman Flux, Mark Brown and Anwen Burrows represented both GSG and SUSS and a host of native Grampian members, including old Rana lags Julian Walford, Ivan Young, Martin Hayes, Andy Peggie, Roger Galloway, Annie Audsley, Kate Janossy and Derek Pettiglio appeared. Fraser Simpson luckily made a brief appearance armed with his video camera.

On Boxing Day Paul, Siss and your scribe staggered up the valley in traditional wet and windy Assynt weather. The water in the duck was wellie-deep and off we went on a tourist trip around Skye-Ways and the impressive Two A’s Chamber. We then descended the blasted hole in the floor of the chamber, where Ivan had successfully cleared a squeeze with a snapper, into some 70m of rift and bedding passages found earlier in the week by GSG locals Chris Warwick and daughter Shona. These passages seem to be heading west parallel to Two A’s and possibly heading into blank space. A good-sized waterfall comes in on the right hand side - where Cave pearls in the Mezzanine. does it come from? It certainly isn’t the Rana stream. Paul Photo: Ross Davidson climbed up in a few places and some digging and pushing was done which probably netted a few metres of new passage. I pushed into two metres of black, peaty crawl -41- leading off from near the waterfall and an obvious flood overflow. After digging a promising site dropping down a down-dip streamway (which may be a long term job) we found a much more promising rift which obviously had a roomy chamber or passage ahead. Three long shot holes were drilled, charged with 20gm cord and a No.7 det and fired from Two A’s Chamber after a preliminary misfire. Having had enough we then returned to the Alt Bar for a few beers.

Next day a massive Grampian tourist trip arrived and on arrival at the wet bit found it to be chest deep with the floor certainly out of my depth. Julian and team set about bailing it then the lads went through while Bob Jones and the girls chickened out. After some hesitation I led my team through the cold and very wet obstacle - leaving the rope, SRT kit and batteries on the dry side. We went straight to the banged squeeze and after a few minutes hammering and crowbarring, I was able to squeeze through into some 20 metres of reasonably roomy phreatic passage with a two metre, muddy, flat-out crawl just before the end (Santa’s Grotthole). A couple of tiny side passages are probably not worth digging and the stream passage below remained elusive. Paul and Siss followed me in for a look before we returned to the sink chamber where Julian’s team were having a brief dig. I then drilled two long shot holes in the solid, overhanging wall of the dig and fired a 40gm, No.7 det from Two A’s Chamber. We then rapidly headed out before hypothermia set in! A ‘character-building’ trip and a fast walk back down the valley to get warm.

The next day was drier and the puddle was wellie-deep. This allowed us to take in the rope, SRT kit and batteries in the dry. We went straight to the sink dig to find that the bang had sorted the rock lip out but that it was still difficult to get the spoil out. Tav had a bash and I had a look. I managed to shift a load of rock to find a c. 4m pitch immediately below me. No problem until I realised that there was another hole directly underneath my arse! Suddenly the whole lot moved and, with brown shreddies, I rapidly bailed out. We then left it to stabilise itself while we went back to the rift near the awkward climb where I drilled one long shot hole in the hanging rock, charged it with 20gm cord and a No.7 det and, the draught today going out of the cave (possibly because the wind direction on the surface had changed, but more likely because it was colder) we attempted to fire it from Black Rift Chamber. A misfire resulted, probably due to a batch of duff dets, so I had to go back and add another (No.8) det. This worked well and Tav and I were treated to a very loud bang. Roger Galloway on rope, descending Black Rift. We then returned to the sink dig for a while (after hiding from the Photo: Ivan Young fumes) and more digging was done until the lure of the banged dig saw our return. The bang had done a good job and we dug our way into six metres of rift passage - Misfire Rift. This didn’t go so we grabbed the rope and SRT kit and returned to the sink dig where I decided to go for it with the welcome assistance of Tav on belay. After some gardening, I set off down a steeply inclined, solid walled rift passage - keeping at a high level to avoid the jammed boulders below and after some eight metres or so reached a larger, vertical section with the floor visible some six metres below. To descend this meant taking a chance on the rope not pulling down the jammed boulders over which it would lie. The pitch was also very wet. It had to be done though so I set off down this much wider and slippery walled section, somewhat worried about getting back up! At the base of the pitch the stream flowed off to the east towards Belh Aven down an inclined boulder/scree slope but, being alone, with a fading light and a cold Tav patient- ly waiting above, I left it for another day. To the west a high phreatic passage dropped steeply down into a blank space on the survey and this I also left. Some very fine formations adorn the ceiling of the chamber below the pitch. At this point I had had enough adrenalin and set off out. The pitch proved to be no problem apart from the cold torrent. Convinced that I had been in previously un-visited upper levels of Uamh an Claonaite I gratefully rejoined Tav and we set off out, pausing briefly to neck a tin of Belhaven beer in -42- celebration. It also appeared that our trip had established Rana as Scotland’s deepest cave! Mark, Anwen and Duncan visited the next day and thoroughly emptied the rift of tons of ‘hanging death’.

The following day a strong team set off up the hill to push onwards and start clearing the entrance shaft of spoil and digging equipment. I was assigned to assist Fraser with his videoing and Mark’s project was to rig Black Rift - which he did to perfection (briefly filmed by Fraser). Lots of us descended and Mark headed off into the westerly-trend- ing dry, phreatic passage which he pushed along a narrow rift for some 50 metres or so to a c. 10m diameter chamber with a blue/green static sump pool - named Blue Chamber in memory of Paul’s recently deceased Border Terrier. A couple of other phreatic rifts leading off the newly named Black Cuillin Chamber were investigated but went nowhere.

Several people dug in the boulder-choked downstream passage and decided that three large sandstone boulders obstructing the way on needed banging so I went back for the bang, tools and Andy’s SRT kit so that he could get back up Black Rift - having dropped it un- equipped in error! I then commenced drilling the boulders but par- tial drill failure and the sandy consistency of the rock created big problems so I was forced to rethink on the possibility of pushing the furthest away rock forwards into the seemingly large space beyond. With much effort and the use of a crowbar I was eventu-

Julian Walford in Flake Canyon, below Black ally able to do this and squeeze down past the other two into a Rift. walking-sized stream passage. Photo: Ivan Young Much elated I called for the others to join me and Mark struggled through, followed by Paul, Siss, Duncan and Fraser (a perfect mix of GSG, SUSS and BEC members as it happened). The stream passage rapidly developed into a very muddy phreatic canyon with an immense detached rock flake on the left hand side on which we had to traverse above a lower flooded section. A short but filthy climb up beyond led to a short crawl with doomed straws hanging from the ceiling. At this point I was not at all convinced that ‘Flake Canyon’ was a winner as it appeared flood prone and was essen- tially heading upwards. I was therefore stunned, after carefully pushing the crawl, to reach a free-climbable, calcited rift about four metres deep in the side of a huge breakdown aven. The team joined me and we headed off down a massive boulder slope into a roomy boulder-strewn passage with a noisy streamway below. Expecting another pitch into Belh Aven I was somewhat confused but light began to dawn as I discovered scuff marks on the rocks and realised with even more elation that we were in the far reaches of Uamh an Claonaite! Howls of triumph rent the air as the news reached the ears of those assembled. For the writer it was almost 32 years since he first dug here! Thoroughly elated the team visited the stunning Great Northern Time Machine, inspected the bear bones nearby, posed for Fraser’s video and returned to Two A’s Chamber to imbibe the ‘champagne’ providentially left therein (and a second bottle with the rest of the team on the freezing surface).

On Hogmanay there was another tourist trip when more annoying- Roger Galloway negotiates the calcited climb ly obstructive boulders at the breakthrough point were removed by down into Belh Aven. Ivan and Julian. They also improved the climb out of Flake Photo: Ivan Young -43- RANA HOLE Assynt Sutherland -44- RANA HOLE Assynt Sutherland Note: These surveys are basically grade 1 pending access for high grade work -45- Canyon by piling boulders at its foot. On the first day of 2008 Mark bolted up to the top of Belh Aven, where green water from the base of Rana was now issuing, but he found the way on dangerously choked with huge blocks. The shaft is 20 metres high from the rubble floor. All in all a magnificent week’s digging and exploration with, luckily, all the right tools and dedicated company for the job. Norman now has to find a new project! The combined system is around 2868 metres long and 111 metres deep - Scotland’s longest and deepest by far. Slainte. ------oOo------BUILDING THE RANA DAM By Ivan Young

Our first attempts at dam construction in Rana Hole used sandbags alone. These dams leaked comprehen- sively every time, and high sandbag walls didn't fill us with confidence in their stability. Sandbags might be okay as a quick method of diverting a flood of shallow water, but just don't work if you want a leak-proof wall. We had the bags, however, and plenty of sediment to fill them. The solution was to build two sandbag walls separated by a gap, and then fill the gap with more sediment trampled down to form a waterproof barrier. The dam was to be up to 2 metres high so we needed to stop the sandbag walls falling outwards and hold the whole construction together. This we did with some lengths of wood, some metal wire grids (second-hand from old warehouse shelving) and a lot of strong cord. So here in five easy steps is how to build an underground dam.

Step 1 For a 2m wide dam take about ten pieces of wood and point one end with an axe or saw. They should be about 300mm longer than the intended height of the dam. The cross-section isn't critical: anything 25x40mm or over should be adequate. We used lengths of batten left over from building projects at the GSG hut. Mark out two lines along the length of the dam at least 800mm apart and hammer in the posts at intervals along each line. Take the wire grids and sit them inside each line of posts. If you don't have grids or something similar then just use more posts spaced much closer so that each sandbag rests against at least two posts.

Step 2 Start filling sandbags and use them to construct a wall inside each line of posts with a clear gap between the two walls. Use them like bricks with an overlap between layers. Pack them tightly against the cave walls and each other. Don't be tempt- ed to place any across the 'cavity' to fill short gaps at the end of a course. That just encourages leaks. Use part-filled bags instead.

Step 3 As each course of bags is completed fill in the gap between the two walls with sediment. Small rocks can be included as Fig.1 - Cross-section of dam long as they are completely surrounded with mud. This barrier is what stops water leaking though the dam and it must be well consolidated - not a problem if what you use is being dredged up from the bottom of the dig and you are walking back and forth across it as you build the dam.

Step 4 After the first couple of sandbag courses and at intervals thereafter run cords across the dam through the grids, around the posts and back again. Tie tightly. These cords are what hold the dam together, so fit plenty and don't use thin string!

Step 5 After the dam is at its final height, cover the top with old empty sandbags and a layer of rocks to protect it from water overtopping the dam during floods. For the same reason a layer of rocks against the bottom of the -46- downstream face of the dam will prevent this area being eroded by water cascading down that face. Without this protection the dam can be undermined, the fill will escape, and the dam becomes a sieve.

Optional extras Builder's Prop:- We fitted a builder's prop horizontally across the downstream side of the dam near its top. This reinforces the dam, gives something for diggers to use as a foothold or handhold when climbing up and down, and its solidity also eases any fears some might have that the dam could collapse and release a flood onto those digging downstream of it.

Drain:- During construction we incorporated a length of 100mm purple corrugated ducting at the bottom of the Rana dam to act as a drain. Laid flat it allowed water levels on either side to equalise. Pulled upwards it let us bale one side dry.

Hose:- We planned to get rid of the water behind the dam by sending it ahead of us along the dig. We fitted a 32mm water

pipe Photo 1: The Rana dam almost finished. through the dam with a valve so we could connect a hose.

Building pipes into the dam introduces a weakness since if they move gaps can open up through the fill. To avoid that, I made some 'stocks'. There are two of these: one fitted just inside each sandbag wall. They do two things. Being buried in the fill they help stop Photo 2- The dam with rock armouring in place the pipes moving about as they are flexed. They also make the leakage path for water much longer. The 32mm water pipe is also clamped to a short length of wooden batten buried in the fill to help stop it turning.

This has described the design of the Mk 3 Rana dam incorpo- rating what we learnt from previous versions. It has proved reliable, stable and almost completely watertight. Any small leakage is, we believe, through the sediments it is built on rather than through the dam itself. The structure is meant to be temporary. If it proves necessary to have a dam there permanently, you could soon be reading another article on building Photo 3 - the ‘Stocks’ with pipes reinforced concrete dams underground!

------oOo------47- Rana Hole - The Statistics of a Dig

By Ivan Young

Over the years since the GSG started digging in Rana Hole, there have been hundreds of visits to it. Thanks mainly to the log books kept in Taigh nam Famh, the GSG hut in Elphin, we have a superb record of each digging session, who was there, and what they were doing, or would have if it was complete. I know of at least two digging trips that were not recorded, and some members have expressed surprise that they don't feature quite as prominently in the numbers as they expected!

What follows is an analysis of what has been recorded and some diggers will, no doubt, find plenty there to argue about. So acknowledging in advance that there will be errors - mostly of omission - in the statistics, here is my attempt to summarise the enormous investment GSG members and friends have made to produce a dry entrance to Claonaite Seven. I am not aware of any other cave dig in the UK that has been analysed in such detail, so the numbers presented here give an insight into just what mountains can be moved by a deter- mined caving club given enough motivation, members, time and expertise.

Digging started on 7 October 1995 as a solo effort by Martin Hayes. This was the first recorded dig in Rana aimed at connecting to the newly discovered Claonaite Seven. Previous trips may have involved digging, but only to enter the cave. From then to the end of January 2008 there were 237 digging trips recorded. These involved 1252 visits by 165 different diggers giving an average of 7.5 trips per digger and 5.3 diggers per trip. Many diggers (70) were only there once, and most of the work was carried out by a hard core of about two dozen who contributed over 70% of the digger-days. The top ten contributed 54%.

Not all digging sessions were productive. Several were aborted when the dig was found full of water, and once the shakehole was full of snow and horizontal spin drift discouraged any attempt to dig it out. Most of these resulted in other caving activities and are not included in the totals. Fifty-six sessions resulted in no spoil being brought to the surface. One visit might fill a stack of sandbags and hoist them part way out while the following trip would complete the job. There were also 31 days when we concentrated on engineering work to build the haulage system, erect shoring, and build dams et cetera. That includes four trips when we actually sent filled sandbags and spoil back down the shaft to build the dam - but we don't like to talk about that!

That leaves 150 trips when we extracted spoil from the shaft. Making a few guesses for the amount shifted during the early years gives 12,100 for the total number of loads extracted. When we were hauling by hand, loads probably averaged about 18kg. Once the cycle winch was installed there was a step change to about 40kg, and possibly more for the Tri-Cycle version. Using those weights gives a total of about 290 tonnes excavated of which 45% was removed by the cycle winches over the last twenty months.

A cross check of the total weight can be made by working back from 290 tonnes to estimate the volume of material removed from Rana. Since the shaft started almost full, this should give us its volume. An average value for the specific gravity of wet clays, sands and gravels is 1.8 to 1.9. Limestone is higher at about 2.6 -48- and dolomitic limestones higher still at around 2.85. If we use 2 for the average specific gravity of Rana spoil that gives 145 cubic metres for the shaft volume or an average cross-section of about 5 sq metres. This seems about right and gives more credence in the 290 tonne estimate.

The same data allows us to see the effect of installing the cycle winch. The second his- togram shows the removal rate of spoil per digger day. BC (Before Cycles!) it ranged from 200 to 330 kg, With the tandem winch in 2006 it rose to about 380 kg though it fell back markedly in 2007 as many days were spend on dam building and other engineering activities (the grey bars). If the time spent on these non- digging activities is removed then the rate per digger day exceeded 450 kg in 2006 and was 360 in 2007 despite the dig going horizontal (the white bars). So far in 2008 there has not been much digging hence the apparently low productivity.

Over the 12½ years of the project enthusiasm waxed and waned. There was a fall-off in 1996/7 as the nearby Mole Hole was thought a better prospect, but it pinched out. Other Assynt projects also siphoned effort away as did the building of a conservatory at the hut. There were also long periods when ponding water became a real problem and months went by with little progress possible.

One thing we didn't record was the time we spent digging. An average day was probably about six to seven hours including time for walking there and back. That gives an estimated total of about 8,000 digger hours.

Some further messing about with postcodes and an Autoroute type programme gives a rough estimate for the mileage driven by diggers of 200,000 miles. That assumes two digging days per weekend and two diggers per car. It also adds about 8000 hours of travelling time. A more thorough analysis counting the number of times each digger was in Assynt wouldn't change that total much since for every digger there for a week's solid digging, there were many who dug only once per Assynt trip - especially the 70 who were there once only!

Costing the dig using the national minimum wage and the approved rate for car expenses plus the cost of all those Screwfix buckets, scaffolding, cycle winches, builder's props, wire mesh panels, ropes, explosives, wear and tear on personal equipment, hut fees and food gives a total of around £200,000. If we used a more reasonable hourly labour rate, it wouldn't be hard to exceed £350,000 for the notional cost of excavating Rana. Just as well we didn't have to pay for it to be done!

And a few more facts to finish with:-

Only one person has dug in Rana in every single year from 1995 to 2007 - It was Martin Hayes! The most -49- spoil extracted in a weekend was in August 2006 - 359 kibble loads or about 14½ tonnes. The person with the most number of visits in any one year was me with 38, Julian was 2nd with 32 and Norman 3rd with 28 all in 2007. I also hold the less welcome record of the longest run of visits with no progress being made - a sequence of 13 during summer 2007 that had a negative result as 61 kibble loads were sent down the shaft to build the dam. Finally, we didn't maintain a separate count, but from the notes in the digging reports we must have rescued several score frogs during the 12 years of the dig!

Top Rana Diggers

Julian Walford - 129, Roger Galloway - 102, Martin Hayes - 98, Ivan Young - 91, Tony Jarratt - 68, John Crae - 45, Norman Flux - 44, Mark Brown - 40, Bob Jones - 35, Tony Boycott - 25, Derek Pettiglio - 23, Peter Reynolds - 21, Preston White - 20, Annie Audsley - 19, Andy Peggie - 19, Paul Brock (BEC) - 18, Peter Dennis - 14, Simon Brooks - 13, Alan Jeffreys - 13, Richard Blake - 12, Graham Johnson - 12, Nick Williams - 12, Robin Taviner - 11, Fiona Ware - 11, Rosemary Jones - 10, Carol Walford - 10

This lists everyone recorded as digging on 10 or more occasions. All are GSG members except Paul, though 11 of the 26 might count another club as their main one.

The Rest of the Diggers

Listed by decreasing number of digging days from 8 down to 1.

8 Peter Glanvill, Rebecca Johnson, David Warren, John (Tangent) Williams 7 Ross Davidson, Dan Harries, Kate Janossy, Liz Millett, Mike O'Driscoll, Phil Rosewell, Mark Tringham 6 Jayne Stead, Julian Warren 5 Colin Coventry, Fiona Crozier, Robin Forrest, John Heathcote, Dave Hodgson, Bob Mehew, Neil Usher 4 Bob Batty, Andrew Brooks, Alice Dowswell, Johann Fleury, Derrik Guy, Colin Jamieson, Rob (Bobble) Lavington, Malcolm McConville, Ian Midgley, Hugh Penney, Fraser Simpson, Chris Warwick, Jamie Yuill 3 Sissel Balomatis, Chris Chapman, Johann Fleury, John Glover, Jerry Ingram, Alison Jones, Jim Salvona, Estelle Sandford, Glen Sankey, Martin Sauro, Bob Sommerville, Stefan Winkler, Andy Wright, Jackie Yuill 2 Ben Barnett, Jenni Brooks, Duncan Butler, Mark Campbell, Carol Dickson, Peter Dowswell, Philippa Glanvill, Mary Harrison, Peter Ireson, Derek Jamieson, Willie Jeffries, Catherine Jones, Mark Lonnen, Edwin Mason, David Robinson, Pete Rose, Sebastien Ryder, Caroline Stubbs, Simon Turner, Anne Vanderplank, John Varty, Shona Warwick, Radak Wilctor 1 Pete Allwright, Alice Audsley, Tony Audsley, Paul (Bax) Baxter, Pete Bennet, Steve Birch, Richard Boyle, Sandy Brown, Ellie Catleugh, Jim Conway, Paul Craddy, Nathan Critchlow-Watton, Chris D'arcy-Burt, Jonathan Dee, Amanda Dickson, Laura Downton, Ewan Duncan, Gair Dunlop, Anna Ermakova, Walter Fairnie, Mark Fotherington, Tim Francis, Isobel Fraser, Malika Friche, Markus Friedrich, Suzanne Gonzoles, Robin Gray, Perry Gregory, Dick Grindley, Thomas Gundacker, Matthew Harpham, Julie Hesketh, Barry Hulatt, Su Jeffreys, Stuart Johnston, Rosie Jones, Lisa Kamphausen, Andy Kendal, George Kennedy, Trevor Knieff, Caroline Langdon, Pat Langdon, Steve Little, Alex Livingstone, Peter MacNab, Snablet MacNab, Murdo MacPherson, Lin(da) Martin, Peter Martin, Fiona McCartney, David Morrison, Sofia Papadia, Carly Payne, George Plumffrey, Scott Robertson, Suzanne Robinson, Stuart Salerno, Anne Scott, Ben Sellway, Richard Simpson, Batek Skorowski, Elizabeth Stead, Matthew Tringham, Andy Tyler, Boo Webster, Steve White, Joan Whitfield, Paul Williams, Jeremy ?, Julie ?

Caving clubs (where known) represented by these diggers are in descending order of number of digging trips - GSG, BEC, SUSS, UBSS, CDG, ISSA, AUPC, WCC, TSG, MCG, SMCC, CPC, OCC, SWCC, SUI, CSS, DSS, GUPA, RRCPC, MCC. A caver known to be a member of several caving clubs has multiple entries in this list of clubs.

------oOo------50- A RETURN TO IRAN - CAVING WITH THE DAMAVAND CLUB AND THE HAMADAN MOUNTAINEERS, OCTOBER 2007

By Simon Brooks

Overview

From 10th October to 28th October 2007 I returned to Iran where I teamed up with Shary Ghazy (DAV Frankfurt, Germany) and members of the Damavand Mountaineering Club in Tehran, the Hamadan Mountaineering Club in Hamadan and cavers from Hamadan’s Azad University in order to visit, explore and survey caves in the north, west and central west of Iran. This visit built on the contacts and links I had made in 2006 when I joined Russian, Ukrainian and Iranian cavers on a trip to Ghar Parau as well as visiting caves in the Hamadan area. This recent trip had several objectives, the first of which was to conduct some more cave exploration and surveying in Iran. This would involve visiting the karst area of the Alborz Mountains that lie to the north of Tehran, Saholan Cave which is situated near to Mahabad in north west Iran and Ghar Dodzra and Ghar Sarab found in the Hamadan Province, central west Iran. The second (and arguably the most important) objective was to train Iranian cavers in the skills of surveying and recording caves and the third being to improve links with Iranian cavers and the respective clubs to which they belong. During the course of the visit 295 metres were surveyed in Ghar Yakhmorad, 771 metres in Saholan Cave (Ghar Saholan), 406 metres in Dodzra Ghar and 1,784 metres in Ghar Sarab.

Tehran and Caves in Northern Iran

Arriving in Tehran on the morning of 10th October I met up with Shary and travelled across the city to the headquarters of the Damavand Mountaineering Club where I delivered training workshop sessions on cave surveying and cave recording to a large and enthusiastic group of Iranian mountaineers and cavers. After this I went to the headquarters of the Alpine Club of Iran where in front of a large audience attending one of the Alpine Club’s monthly meetings I gave a lecture about the history and exploration of Ghar Parau and cave exploration in Iran. Both the lectures and training workshop were translated into Farsi by Shary for the benefit of those present.

The next day four members of the Damavand Club and I drove north of Tehran to the town of Chalus on the southern coast of the mighty Caspian Sea where we spent three days visiting caves in this area. On the way up to Chalus, and about one and a half hours north of Tehran, Ghar Yakhmorad (Cave of the Healing Ice) was visited and 295 metres of passage surveyed. The surveying was done by Iranian team members who under my supervision were putting their new surveying skills into practice. Ghar Yakhmorad is well known to Iranian cavers from Tehran who regularly use the system as a beginners’ cave in which to introduce people into the sport of caving. In the winter the cave contains much ice and in the further reaches this remains right through the summer as green coloured ice forming the floors of chambers in the cave. Regretfully there was not sufficient time to complete the survey of this cave but a good start has been made and the Damavand cavers have returned to continue the surveying. In the Chalus area itself the excellent Danial Cave was explored. This fine resurgence cave contains over two kilometres of superb streamway, many side passages, one large chamber and one smaller but well decorated chamber. During the visit some new side passages were explored and many photographs taken. The next day the team returned to Iran by a different route in order to see more of the karst and impressive scenery in the Alborz Mountains. On the way back a visit was made to the 400 metre long Ask Cave, a place well known to Iranian cavers as a beginners’ cave and for its spectacular cliff entrance that looks out squarely onto Damavand Peak, Iran’s highest mountain.

Ghar Saholan and the Mahabad Area

After the visit to the Caspian Sea area I met up once again with Shary, who had been visiting friends and relations in Tehran, and we travelled to the north west of Iran to the city of Mahabad where four members of the -51- Hamadan Mountaineering Club joined us. We met up with Mr Khaledi, the manager of Saholan Cave (Ghar Saholan). Saholan Cave is another one of Iran’s fine show caves that are very popular with Iranian tourists and foreign visitors alike. Here the management of Saholan Cave provided us with accommodation, food and transport to and from the cave, organised by Mr Khaledi, in return for surveying and photographing the cave for the cave management and the local government. As a result of this two very enjoyable days were spent in the company of Mr Khaledi and the cave guides mapping, photographing and fully exploring the cave which proved to be 771 metres in length and con- sisted of many lake chambers, canals and attractive dry passages. The lake chambers were surveyed with assistance from the cave guides and the boats that take visitors through the cave.

Leaving Mahabad three of the Hamadan Mountaineers returned directly to Hamadan whilst Shary, Yousef Nejaei and I took a more Survey Team Take a Picnic Lunch at Ghar Saholan, Iran, October 2007. leisurely two day cross country Photo: Simon Brooks route in order to visit the Kraftu Caves and the Katalekhor Show Cave. The Kraftu Caves are well known as an important archaeological site consisting of a large south west facing cliff in which there are many cave entrances on four distinct levels, many of which have been modified and adapted as homes in times past. However, what was not expected was that behind the many cliff entrances lies a large and very spectacular phreatic cave with many passages and large chambers. Recent developments at the Kraftu Caves have seen the installation of a new road, parking area and signage along with wooden walkways and steps to assist reaching the many cave entrances. In addition to this, lighting has been installed through the principal sections of the main cave enabling this to be penetrated for over 600 metres to a large chamber. Ghar Katalkhor is both Iran’s longest cave at 12.8 kilometres, having been mapped by a German/Swiss and Iranian team in 2003, and also a very beautiful and well visited show cave. Accompanied by a guide many of the main areas of the cave were visited and photographs taken. Shary then returned to Tehran whilst Yousef and I continued onwards to Hamadan.

Ghar Sarab and Dodzra Ghar, Hamadan Area

I then spent two days in Hamadan visiting friends and collecting information about Iranian caves. In addition to this I delivered another training workshop session on cave surveying and cave recording to an enthusiastic group of Iranian mountainerers and cavers from the Hamadan Mountaineering Club and Hamadan’s Azad University. This was translated into Farsi, this time by Ali Nejaei, for the benefit of those present.

On Sunday 21st October Shary returned from Tehran and Shary, Yousef and I travelled out to Sarab village where a base was established in a friend of Yousef’s house. Here three members of the Hamadan Mountaineering Club and one member of the Damavand Club of Tehran joined us. Over the period of the next five days the nearby Ghar Sarab was photographed, resurveyed and extended. This cave had been visited and partially explored by a Napier College, Edinburgh, team in 1973 comprised of 15 persons, eight of whom were GSG members, including Peter Dowswell and Andy Peggie. Due to a shortage of time they had surveyed about 1.7 kilometres of passage but left many unpushed leads. Since a recent irrigation scheme that had attempted to tap into the water at Ghar Sarab had merely drained the first part of the cave and revealed -52- new passage it was decided to resurvey the cave as this was the only way to tie in the new passages. The surveying was done by Iranian team members who under my supervision were putting their new surveying skills into practice. The Iranian members quickly gained competence in cave surveying and after only a couple of days were producing some very good quality survey notes and sketches.

After two days it became obvious that a lot of unsurveyed and unexplored passage remained in the cave and in the time available we were unlikely to finish surveying the whole system. Consequently by the end of the five days available about two thirds of the original cave had been surveyed to yield 1,784 metres of passage, a significant amount of which was totally new and uncharted. With the original surveyed length of the cave being recorded at 1.7 kilometres, Ghar Sarab is highly likely to double its original length before it is fully explored.

Whilst in the Sarab area, Shary, Yousef and I, accompanied by a team of cavers from Hamadan’s Azad University, made a visit to Dodzra Ghar (Smoking Cave). I had attempted to visit this cave in 2006 but a dispute over which village owned the cave had made it impossible on that occasion. The small entrance to Dodzra Ghar is situated on the summit of a low limestone hill and from here the cave descends very steeply through boulders and down steep chambers, short climbs and two pitches to reach two large and beautiful lake chambers. From the second of these the cave is likely to continue, albeit involving a long cold swim. This could not be checked out due to shortage of time. 460 metres of passage were surveyed with the cave reaching a depth of 154 metres.

Returning to Hamadan on 25th October I delivered another lecture, this time to students at Hamadan’s Azad University (with Shary translating this into Farsi) on the history of cave exploration in Iran and the exploration of Ghar Parau. This was followed by training workshop Shary in Dowswell’s Delight, Ghar Sarab, Iran. sessions on cave surveying and cave recording. Photo: Simon Brooks Returning to Tehran that evening the final two days of my trip were spent visiting friends and caving contacts in the city. On 27th October Shary returned to Germany and I spent the day in Tehran and in the evening I returned to the headquarters of the Damavand Mountaineering Club where a final cave surveying training workshop session was delivered to another large and enthusiastic group of Damavand Club members. To mark the end of the visit I presented a Suunto com- pass and clino, tape and survey book as a gift to the Damavand Club. This was both as a thank you and to enable the Damavand cavers and caving members of the Hamadan Mountaineers to continue to practice and develop their surveying skills. Recent reports from Iran indicate that they are making good use of this equipment. On 28th October I departed from Tehran and flew back to the UK.

Conclusion

Similarly to the visit in 2006 this recent trip to Iran was excellent with some fine cave passage explored and surveyed and many new contacts made. Iran once again proved fascinating. The scenery was beautiful and spectacular, the cities busy and modern and the Iranian people hospitable, welcoming and friendly. The links made with cavers from both the Damavand Club and the Hamadan Club were good and I was very impressed by the enthusiasm and energy of both the young and older members of both clubs. The opportunities to spend time caving with club members and share skills and knowledge were possibly the most enjoyable and reward -53- ing aspect of the trip. Needless to say all being well, I am planning to return to Iran in 2008.

Team 2007

North (Ghar Yakhmorad, Danial and Ask) - Simon Brooks (UK), Afshin Yousefi, Majid Kashian, Armed Rafiee and Rasoul (Hagi) Rasouli (Damavand Mountaineering Club, Tehran).

North West (Ghar Saholan) - Simon Brooks (UK), Shary Ghazy (Germany), Yousef Nejaei, Ali Nejaei, Eshan Jabbari, Mahdi Aslani, Human Farzanekari (Hamadan Mountaineers - Sina), Leyla Esfandyari (Damavand Mountaineering Club, Tehran) - (Ghar Dodzra) - Simon Brooks (UK), Shary Ghazy (Germany), Yousef Nejaei (Damavand Mountaineering Club, Tehran), Javad Giyahshenas, Abas Cheshme Ghasabani and cavers from Azad University, Hamadan.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Shary for acting as guide and interpreter and to her relations and friends in Iran for providing me with yet another wonderful insight to Iran and Iranian life. Yousef and Ali Nejaei, and the Hamadan Mountaineers for their friendship, help and hospitality in Hamadan and for logistics at Mahabad and Sarab. Afshin Yousefi, Leyla Esfandyari, Kazem Faridyan, Armed Rafiee and members of the Damavand Club, Tehran for their kindness, hospitality and assistance in Tehran and northern Iran. Mr Khaledi, the Ghar Saholan staff and local government officials in Mahabad for their assistance in Mahabad and Ghar Saholan.

Selected Bibliography

Hydrographical Expedition (Ghar Sarab) - Iran 1973 (Final Report). Napier College of Commerce and Technology - Edinburgh 1973.

Brooks, Simon (2002) Take Some More Tea (Exploration and Surveying of Ghar Alisadr 2000 and 2001) Descent No. 165.

Arshadi, S. & M. Laumanns (2004) Speleological Project Ghar Katalekhor (Zanjan/Iran). Hohlenkundliche Berichte, Berlin.

Brooks, Simon (2007) A Return to Ghar Parau. Descent No. 196

Brooks, Simon (2007) Ghar Parau Re-Visited: Zagros Mountains, Iran. Speleology No.9 ------Meet Note: CAVES OFARBROATH

A low Spring tide allowed entry (non-rope) into the Stalactite Cave via the southernmost entrance with water level in the inlet only up to knee depth at its deepest point. Sadly, the large and impressive ‘pseudo-stalactite’ from the rear flowstone/stalactite gallery has been removed with a clean break being found. Unlikely to have been removed by winter seas and appears to have been forcefully removed by a visitor over the past year. Lack of rings seen along the break point does show that this formation was indeed a thick (c. 0.3m) flowstone which had been rounded by the incoming sea over time.

An increasing amount of washed in litter was noted in the nearby Web Cave making it much more unpleasant to enter. A new flight of wooden steps leading from the cliff-top path down to the Dark/Light Caves in Carlingheugh Bay has also improved access to these caves. The entrance to Forbidden Cave in this area has increased in size (due to scree erosion), implying numerous visitors since my previous visit last Summer.

Iain Greig -54- Book Review: Hutton's Arse - by Dr. Malcolm Rider 3 billion years of extraordinary geology in Scotland's Northern Highlands Published by Rider-French Consulting Ltd., P.O. Box 1, Rogart, Sutherland, IV28 3XL, Scotland; 2005. 214pp, 96 photos, maps and diagrams, 170 x 240mm paperback. ISBN 0-9541906-1-0 £16.99

If you know nothing about geology, but want to understand just what is special about Assynt, if the differ- ence between argillaceous and arenaceous is yawn-provoking, but you are still interested in how the land- scapes of Sutherland and the rest of northern Scotland were formed, then this is the book for you. It is a very readable account of the geology of northwest Scotland and how our understanding of it has been built up over the last two and a half centuries. It concentrates on the geological epochs that are relevant to northwest Scotland with special attention to the Precambrian, the Devonian and the Tertiary volcanism that presaged the creation of the North Atlantic Ocean. My one criticism of the content is that I'd have liked to see much more on the Durness Limestones. They are only mentioned twice and if you want to know their detailed stratigraphy and composition you'll need to go elsewhere.

This is not a dry tome listing rocks and fossils without end. It takes you to familiar places in the northwest - Stoer and Knockan Crag to name but two. It describes the major players in the unravelling of the geological story and recounts not just the currently accepted version, but also the major misinterpretations that delayed a fuller understanding. As an aside did you know that one geologist in 1789 argued that the pyramids of Giza were natural features? I didn't. The major controversy that resulted from the Moine Thrust overlaying older rocks on top of younger is covered here in some detail. The Knockan Centre's display on the subject is beat- en into a far distant second place by the clarity of the explanation here. To quote Malcolm - "I think it requires a more adult display than the dumbed-down child appealing version chosen by SNH." I agree.

With chapters on the coming ice age (It's okay. No need to panic. It won't start for another 25,000 years), and what has been learnt from Moon rocks, the subject matter ranges widely, serving to introduce the reader to many different theories and techniques. It can be read in its own right or serve as an excellent primer for whetting the appetite and encouraging the reader to go searching elsewhere for more information and length- ier explanations. To aid this each chapter is followed by a list of further reading.

There is a website at www.huttonsarse.com containing many Internet links organised by chapter. The book was published in 2005 and now, three years later, some links no longer work. Others have been 'repaired' in the last few months: a good sign that the author is on the ball. For broken links, progressively shortening the URL from the end can eventually find a page that does return a result, and searching from there can lead to success. In other cases the eager reader should resort to their favourite search engine.

As mentioned, this book isn't a turgid exposition of geological theory, but a lively exposition on its subject, and the author isn't afraid to include his own opinions. And not just about geology. He is a resident of the area and his antipathy towards wind farms as a response to global warming is more than obvious.

A final comment about the book's title. James Hutton (1726-1797) as a field geologist had to travel widely on horseback and has left behind several written comments on his arse's ordeals!

Ivan Young