At The J'Rats 2015

The Old Ruminator

Well-known member
Well I am glad I went. So much going on under Mendip these days. All very well run and presented and every talk done efficiently in the presenters own style. Duncan's matter of fact presentation. ( I would sh*t myself if I had no air in a murky sump ). The great enthusiastic bit on Upper Canada Cave . The long slog at Home Close superbly shown and described by Tony Audsley. Little known sieges like the ones at Hobnail and Fester. It puts ones own efforts into perspective. Graham Prices fascinating look at new areas above Sanford Levy with promise of more to find there. All those wobbly stacked deads gave me the shivers. And to think nothing less than 100m in a single cave yet on the shovel since it all started.Oh Great Videos too. Grebe mud set to music and the " gnomes " at Fester Hole. Our little bit with photos of miniature cavers to make it all look big. What will we see next year ?
Mac opens the show.

 

The Old Ruminator

Well-known member
Yes I wasnt going because I tend to avoid cavers social events. I dont like driving much also. A miserable old git I suppose. I got thoroughly confused in the dark on Mendip when I found the Priddy road closed. ( On the way up from Cheddar ). Anyway all was well and my stupid fear of finding a parking space was overcome. How can you have a phobia about parking ? I spent the whole evening fretting about being boxed in. I actually assaulted somebody who boxed me in once. Boulders and lost at sea no problem. Cars and parking -- oo er. I think I will chop the posts up cus the wretched thing might time out.
 

The Old Ruminator

Well-known member
Where was I ? Doesnt the forum realise old people need lots of coffee and toilet breaks. Ahh yes the event. Wow so much being done. Now I have to ask a question regarding that. So much being done on Mendip and none of it gets here on the forum. No I am not forum bashing I just wonder why cavers are so reticent. We Mendip folk do have a closed Facebook group and a bit gets on there. Perhaps all the diggers are waiting for that epic find before going public. So that takes up back to the trip reports. Nothing here to match the volume of stuff in the club magazines. Nothing much here in respect to photos either and I saw some super stuff last night. To me it really is an enigma as the mods do their best to encourage stuff.
Toilet break --
 

The Old Ruminator

Well-known member
Reticence.
Lets take our own project at Vurley. I put up a post and all hell let loose." Ye Gods you fool. Look at all those health and safety issues. The contractor will be sued." Well I have never worked in industry and didnt realise how delicate it all was. Off it all came cus how was I to know where the offences were. Today we have two teams at Vurley and have committed a lot of money to the project. Lots of people involved. The landowner, English Nature, The very big team of folk. If one says lay off the publicity thats it. No dig reports here though I do sneak the odd photo in other posts. So that's our excuse. I wonder where it all goes wrong so to speak.
 

PeteHall

Moderator
The Old Ruminator said:
So much being done on Mendip and none of it gets here on the forum. 

Maybe I'll write something up, it's not very exciting, but if 1m on Mendip is worth 1000m in Yorkshire, we've made nearly 40km this year. We've also managed to prove that The old Ruminator might not be the only one prone to accidents and near misses...  :doubt:
 

Duncan S

New member
Blimmin good night
Genuinely interesting presentations from all the digging teams followed a lively session afterwards which (I believe) carried on in the club huts late enough that it was barely worth going to bed.
Congratulations to the Home Close team. Years of persistence have paid off with a spectacular find and a connection through to Wigmore.
I met the youngest member of the Home Close dig team this morning - first time I've actually seen a green colour cast on someone's face, I thought it was a myth! A well deserved celebration :)
 

Space Kadet

New member
I'm looking forward to Home Close Hole cave being opened up for caving, the through trip from Wigmore diving and caving will be a true collectors piece.  Not to mention the possibilities for extending Wigmore and opening up more digs underground. 
 

reforma

Member
Can anyone elaborate a little on the holme close dig. i used to read the online log but it stopped at the end of 2014. Would love to hear a few more details.

Thanks
 

Duncan S

New member
Rumor has it that an announcement about the breakthrough will be in the next Descent, followed by a full article before long.
 

The Old Ruminator

Well-known member
It was written up for Decent and I think there is a survey in The Wessex magazine. Sadly it now seems that the trip is too long for most of the aged team. 80ft abseil does not help.
 

The Old Ruminator

Well-known member
Zactly. Mud and Mendip are synonymous. :LOL:

I have this awful vision of next years awards.

" And to Burrington Bears Scout Group for their astonishing find in Aveline's Hole ".

Ho Ho.

We shall see but there wont be lack of effort on our part.

Two teams a week digging like mad. We did 40 skip loads on Tuesday alone.

 
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