R.I.P. - Nicholas Barrington

[Rich West]

Those of you of a "certain age" will be sorry to hear that Nick Barrington died on Sunday 7th July.
His "Caves of Mendip" ran to 3 editions [1957/1962/1964].
It was many local cavers bible despite the fact that it was printed on what seemed like blotting paper and the binding was not very robust. Because of this well-used copies did not last long and I expect a pristine first edition is a very rare beast.
It was followed by the publications of Stanton, Knibbs & Irwin and Jarratt & Irwin and we look forward to the arrival of "Mendip Underground 5" edited by Gray, Taviner & Witcombe.
Nick was always a very welcoming host at the Royal Oak in Axbridge.
Sad that another contributor to the history of Mendip caving has disappeared.

 

[Sid]

Sad news indeed. I never met Nick but we had been speaking regualry over the last 18 months.

He kindly donated his 900+ caving photos to the MCRA and many can be seen on the Flickr site.

One of his photos is still in use at the front of Gough's Cave.

He was always interested in any Mendip news and provided many details which I have added to the archive.

Paul

 

[graham]

Sad news, we lose another link with the past.

His "Caves of Mendip" ... I expect a pristine first edition is a very rare beast.

I have one, I expect Mr Oldham to offer me a fiver for it any day now.

 

[Rich West]

Graham - your copy obviously belonged to a non-caver or one of those weird bibliophiles who never open their books unless wearing gloves and a face mask! You only had to turn a few pages for the disintegration to start. I always thought it was a ploy by Dalesman (the publishers) to get you to buy another. I remember it was nearly always possible to find assorted muddy orphan pages scattered around Hillgrove.

 

[graham]

Graham - your copy obviously belonged to a non-caver or one of those weird bibliophiles who never open their books unless wearing gloves and a face mask! You only had to turn a few pages for the disintegration to start. I always thought it was a ploy by Dalesman (the publishers) to get you to buy another. I remember it was nearly always possible to find assorted muddy orphan pages scattered around Hillgrove.

Rich

This actually my second. I used to have OCL's personal copy, annotations and all, but it got destroyed by damp, sadly (not my fault, just one of those things). My copies of 2nd & 3rd editions have both had to have their bindings repaired.

 

[mikem]

Nick Barrington's copy of the 1972 Complete Caves is almost pristine, but then I guess he didn't need to read it! (& I know that's not one of the editions you are on about)

Mike

 

[Alex]

For rope permissions its ask Dave Ramsy, but he no longer works in Inglesport, I think works in Settle now.

 

[graham]

For rope permissions its ask Dave Ramsy, but he no longer works in Inglesport, I think works in Settle now.

:-\

 

[mikem]

Alex has frequently stated he isn't very good with computers...

Mike

 

[bograt]

For rope permissions its ask Dave Ramsy, but he no longer works in Inglesport, I think works in Settle now.

Hmm, I think, mayhap, the Ireby Fell Thread??.

I have been looking for my original Mendip Caves book, it appears to be buried in the archives (OMG, another digging trip! ) if I recall, my copy was in a cloth binding, much like the copy of "Caves Of South Wales" that I have found (Tim Stratford, 1978), Ring any bells anyone?.

 

[mrodoc]

The cloth bound one is actually something like the third or fourth edition! It's cover is the notorious fake waterfall.

 

[graham]

The cloth bound one is actually something like the third or fourth edition! It's cover is the notorious fake waterfall.

Ok, clarity time:

Nick Barrington was wholly or partially responsible for 6 editions of the Mendip guide book. There were

Three editions under his sole authorship of The Caves of Mendip published in 1957, 1962 and 1964.

Two editions by  him and Willie Stanton of The Complete Caves of Mendip  published in 1970 and 1972. The 1970 edition is the one with the fake waterfall on the cover.

One edition by him and Willie Stanton of Mendip: The Complete Caves and a view of the hills published in 1977.

The 1977 volume is still an indispensable guide for serious students of Mendip. It has in it so much more detail than has been in any of the first four editions of Mendip Underground, though it does have a number of minor errors, all (I hope) now corrected in the Mendip Cave Registry & Archive.

Its place on my desk should be taken by the fifth edition of Mendip Underground, though.

 

[tony from suffolk]

Very sad to learn Nicholas Barrington's died. My first copy of The Caves of Mendip, revised 1964 edition (10/6p), alas quickly disintegrated (taking it underground hastened its demise) so I bought two copies of the same edition to replace it, one to take away on trips (but not underground!) and one to keep at home. The latter's still in remarkably good nick and, reading through it now after a gap of many years, I realise how much I remember of the text and how inspiring some of the entries were.

When you're a young, adventurous sort of chap, how could you fail to be excited by the following entry for Tankard Hole (or Pot) -  "Several very unsafe chambers off main route. Way on can be seen but has not been entered..."

 

[martinr]

My copy of Caves of Mendip 1957, previous owner one John Ifold of Nempnett

 

[Sid]

Jim Hanwell's full and more detailed article of Nick Barrington appears in the latest Wessex CC Journal 331.

 

[ditzy 24//7]

sad news, my thoughts are with his friends and family.

 

[cap n chris]

He died a year ago, pretty nearly.

 

[rhychydwr1]

Sad news, we lose another link with the past.

His "Caves of Mendip" ... I expect a pristine first edition is a very rare beast.

I have one, I expect Mr Oldham to offer me a fiver for it any day now.

No, I am writing my own 

 

[richardg]

Sad news, we lose another link with the past.

His "Caves of Mendip" ... I expect a pristine first edition is a very rare beast.

I have one, I expect Mr Oldham to offer me a fiver for it any day now.

No, I am writing my own   

Tony you are Ace 

 

[bograt]

Those of you of a "certain age" will be sorry to hear that Nick Barrington died on Sunday 7th July.

Never knew him, did read his books, seems like he's taking a long time to die.