The British Caving Library (BCL) is pleased to announce that the Eric Hensler Collection is now online as part of the BCRA Online Archives. We have to thank Eric’s granddaughter Tabitha for passing on the material, the Hensler family for allowing us to put the collection online and, especially, the creator of BCRA Online Archives for digitising the material and creating the online archive and for the introduction to this collection.
Eric Hensler’s name is instantly recognisable as the discoverer of Hensler’s Passage in Gaping Gill in 1937; he caved with Eli Simpson in the 1930’s and was a member of BSA until it combined with CRG to become BCRA in 1973. Being also a member of CRG, trusted and well liked by both parties, he was a prime mover in the founding of the new body. He was also a member of MNRC from the 1930’s, was responsible for many discoveries on Mendip and drew up many of the original surveys of sites like Swildons Hole.
The Hensler Collection can be reached via the BCL website caving-library.org.uk where clicking on the link to the BCRA Online Archives will take you to the collection. The introduction will give an idea of the astonishing variety of Hensler’s caving career and of his life outside caving. There are links in the introduction to a recording of Hensler in the Audio Archive, to Sid Perou’s film of GG (which includes Hensler re-enacting his discovery) and to the Mendip Cave Registry and Archive website which has digitised versions of pages from Hensler’s original caving log books.
Some of the large scale surveys in the collection have yet to be digitised and it’s hoped to add them to the online archive in due course.
Jenny P
BCRA Library Co-ordinator
Eric Hensler’s name is instantly recognisable as the discoverer of Hensler’s Passage in Gaping Gill in 1937; he caved with Eli Simpson in the 1930’s and was a member of BSA until it combined with CRG to become BCRA in 1973. Being also a member of CRG, trusted and well liked by both parties, he was a prime mover in the founding of the new body. He was also a member of MNRC from the 1930’s, was responsible for many discoveries on Mendip and drew up many of the original surveys of sites like Swildons Hole.
The Hensler Collection can be reached via the BCL website caving-library.org.uk where clicking on the link to the BCRA Online Archives will take you to the collection. The introduction will give an idea of the astonishing variety of Hensler’s caving career and of his life outside caving. There are links in the introduction to a recording of Hensler in the Audio Archive, to Sid Perou’s film of GG (which includes Hensler re-enacting his discovery) and to the Mendip Cave Registry and Archive website which has digitised versions of pages from Hensler’s original caving log books.
Some of the large scale surveys in the collection have yet to be digitised and it’s hoped to add them to the online archive in due course.
Jenny P
BCRA Library Co-ordinator
