Caving clubs in 1956

AR

AR

Well-known member
Pitlamp said:
Yes, please do AR. His perspective on that bit of caving history would be well worth placing on record.
Wasn't it around then that PDMHs was also founded and was Sheffield-based at first? It'd be interesting to learn more about how these three organisations may (or may not?) be interelated.
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PDMHS was founded in 1959 following a meeting at Sheffield University, and IIRC two of the founders (Mike Smith and Bill Sarjeant) were post-grads in the Geology department; they may also have been in the caving section of SUMC. The early history of PDMHS was recorded in an article in our bulletin, I'll try and find the link as it should be available on our website.
 
Pitlamp

Pitlamp

Well-known member
cavingbiker said:
The BPC was founded in 1933, the CPC was founded in 1929.
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The Northern Pennine Club and the Cave Diving Group were both founded just after the war in 1946 (but the CDG is not a "club" as such, although it does have one of the best publishing records of any caving related organisation).
 
paul

paul

Moderator
AR said:
I thought the Orpheus were in existence by 1957 but they're not on the list, maybe they hadn't published anything at that point?
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Orpheus CC was founded in 1949. I don't know about early club publications other than the early journals called "The Lyre", the first of which is dated 1956.
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
Umm, I did say clubs I hadn't heard of, so ACG, BPC, BEC, CDG (various), CPC, DSS, MCG, MNRC, NPC, Orpheus, RRCPC, SMCC, SSSS (recently revived), SWCC, UBSS, Wessex (inc. London group!), WSG & YRC are all present & correct. Fylde & Cerberus aren't

Most random country is probably Martinique
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
Earby aren't, Northern SG are, but not NEG

This is useful & includes Operation Mole (they aren't currently in BCA):

Club List

Caving club based in North of England
www.rrcpc.org.uk www.rrcpc.org.uk
 
Pitlamp

Pitlamp

Well-known member
langcliffe said:
Which they keep to themselves.
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Not so; most decent caving club libraries maintain good collections and anyone can subscribe.
Maybe you actually mean not available online? There are several good reasons for that which I prefer not to elaborate on here. But I'll happily explain next time our paths cross.
 
langcliffe

langcliffe

Well-known member
They are online, but only available for CDG members. From where I am sitting, considering how much other clubs make available that I am sure that CDG members make use of, a bit of reciprocity would be welcomed.

However, I take your word that they have valid reasons for not releasing their older material online, which they prefer to keep to themselves.
 
J

Jenny P

Active member
AR said:
Operation Mole still exist, though I'm not sure if they're BCA affiliated. Yes, the SUMC caving section is what morphed into SUSS in the early 1960s, and TDF was definitely a member when he was at Sheffield. I think Mike Luff was at Sheffield Uni around the time of the breakaway, might ask him at the next PDMHS council meeting. I thought the Orpheus were in existence by 1957 but they're not on the list, maybe they hadn't published anything at that point?
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Orpheus were founded in 1949 and did have a sort of duplicated Newsletter going even at that time. I don't think they exchanged Newsletters with any other clubs though.

Trevor Ford led a SUMC "expedition" to Assynt just before the breakaway when they became SUSS. This was written up in 2 journal/newsletters, which we have in the British Caving Library.

I can recall that there were some clubs around that time who changed their names more often than cavers change their socks and they were a pain to keep up with when I looked after the Orpheus Caving Club library. Even now at BCL we have quite a few clubs listed by their current name with but with an accompanying note: (formerly known as XXX C C).
 
psychocrawler

psychocrawler

Member
langcliffe said:
They are online, but only available for CDG members. From where I am sitting, considering how much other clubs make available that I am sure that CDG members make use of, a bit of reciprocity would be welcomed.

However, I take your word that they have valid reasons for not releasing their older material online, which they prefer to keep to themselves.
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You have to join, or in my case rejoin, to get access to the online NLs. I used to have a full set on paper but had to create some shelf space by giving them away to a DS member.
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
As well as the RRCPC list of clubs (which includes Bentham & Ingleton CC, plus Black & Tans Mountaineering & CC), the GSG library catalogue is a good source:
Aardvark CC (Almanack published 1979)
Airedale CC (Journals 1966 & 1971)

airedalecavingclub Publisher Publications - Issuu

This site will hopefully contain all the surviving publications of the Airedale Caving Club.
issuu.com issuu.com
Ayrshire SS (Journals 1968-70)
Birmingham Polytechnic Carabiner Club (Journal 1971)
Bootle SG (undated Journal)
Bristol Polytechnic Club (Newsletter 1974)
British Nylon Spinners Sporting Club - Speleology Sub-Section (Journal 1959)

& that's just the As & Bs!

GSG Library | Grampian Speleological Group

www.gsg.org.uk www.gsg.org.uk
 
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Laurie

Laurie

Active member
The Mendip Nature Research Committee (MNRC) were formed some fifty years before that list but are not on it.
 
M

moletta

Member
Lancashire Climbing and Caving Club started life as Lancashire Caving and Climbing Club in 1936.

I believe the swap was to reflect a greater interest in climbing than caving. I'd be interested to know when the name was swapped over and if that was the reason
 
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