Heard last night of the passing over of Ernie....

A well known, well liked Northern caver... He was a member of the prestigious Moldiwarps Speleological Group as well served his time as an officer in BCRA ....

RIP I remember him.  Very efficient BCRA Officer

Ernie was a true pioneer and gentleman, being more interested in exploration and helping young people get started in the caving world. He will be sadly missed by the Northern Dales Caving and Climbing communities.

I recall Ernie as a calm and objective source of advice when I took over as BCRA Chairman. A gentleman. RIP.

I'm sad to hear of the death of Ernie Shield who preceded me as Chairman of the British Cave Research Association for the years 1994-6 and followed up his (constitutional) three-year term by moving on to Publications Sales Officer. In spite of being new to the Association's key administrative position, Ernie made for a diligent and steady chairman, picking up well from the good work of his ardent predecessor, Keith Plumb. Ernie later took a particular interest in promoting the publications of BCRA and in his final position as sales officer grasped the initiative to acquire for the benefit of BCRA and its members the remaindered copies of the hardback edition of Limestones and caves of Wales (1989) edited by Trevor D. Ford, when these became available from the publisher.

Like myself, Ernie was not happy to see cave science reduced as a relatively minor subsidiary to the sport of caving and would have been much happier had there been a true merger of the National Caving Association and British Cave Research Association, as we (in BCRA) had thought was intended, taking into account the relative membership sizes of both organisations and interests of their respective members. Unfortunately, a relatively large number of BCRA members were instead allowed to fall by the wayside, if they did not wish to resign and rejoin via the new British Caving Association. Ernie was most unhappy with this situation. This has resulted with cavers in recent times having less awareness of aspects of cave science and the importance of conserving and studying caves, rather than primarily treating them as a place to visit for 'caving trips' and outdoor exercise, where ease of access is considered to be of prime importance.

Apart from his Association work, Ernie also loved his caving in the Northern Dales and others will be able to report more fully here on the valuable contribution he made to caving in his home region.

For anyone reading this thread who could not make Ernie's funeral. It was both amazing and truly inspiring. The small village was gridlocked with vehicles parked all over the place and the local vicar was walking round in a daze as she had not seen anything like it before.

The church was standing room only, filled with family, friends and a multitude of cavers and climbers from a number of clubs. The speeches, led by a family member, a climber and a caver were truly inspirational.

Ernie would have smiled down and launched into his classic giggling when a number of cars got stuck in the mud outside the church and had to be dragged out by a landrover.

While is was a very sad day, what came across was this was a life lived to the full by a humble and caring gentleman. Ernie's family should be both proud of his achievements and feel supported in the future by the many friends he made.

You only get one shot folks, make it count......

nickwilliams said:

I recall Ernie as a calm and objective source of advice when I took over as BCRA Chairman. A gentleman. RIP.

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Ernie was, in my view, one of the best chairmen we have had. He also ran BCRA's publications operation single-handedly for many years after he stepped down as chairman. I visited his house once and was shown the several garden sheds and garage crammed full of books and journals.