From the Archives

[langcliffe]

There are a number of caving archives which are not locked behind Club website logins which are well worth browsing through. I thought it would be interesting to have a thread of little gems which people may like to share when they come across them. It may also serve to draw attention to the wealth of material that is out there.

This first offering is from the Harold Wadsworth Hayward collection hosted by the British Geological Survey. It shows someone on the New Roof Traverse in Lost Johns during a trip by Leeds Cave Club in 1933. They got at least as far as Battle Axe, via Cathedral and Dome. There were about ten people on the trip, two of whom were women.

The gentleman in the photograph does have an electric light on his head, but no helmet. He is wearing clinker-soled boots, and his main protective clothing is a raincoat.

https://geoscenic.bgs.ac.uk/asset-bank/action/viewAsset?id=161873

 

[JasonC]

That is a fascinating site - thanks for posting! The quality of the photos is amazing, given the equipment of the time.
I also love: the lady stepping delicately across the plank in Long Churns, the chap going down Dowkabottom in shorts - in winter, and indeed Harold himself in shorts in Long Churns, and much more.
It's striking how recognisable many of the views are - there's no reason why they shouldn't be, yet it somehow seems surprising given how much has changed above ground in nearly 100 years.

 

[LadyMud]

I also love: the lady stepping delicately across the plank in Long Churns

It's about time the plank was replaced in Plank Pool
(for historical reasons, of course, not because I struggle to get round the pool )

 

[paul]

Moderator comment: Excellent idea! I've made this Topic "Sticky" in Caving Chat.

 

[Fulk]

Jason: It's striking how recognisable many of the views are - there's no reason why they shouldn't be, yet it somehow seems surprising given how much has changed above ground in nearly 100 years.

Unfortunately something that has changed is the formations in Lost Johns; I don't remember ever seeing so many down there as can be seen in the photos.

 

[Steve Clark]

If it’s of any interest, the archive of the Fylde Mountaineering Club is now publicly available on our website. We have always had a small but active group of cavers. The website is now hosted on AWS and much faster to load the larger documents.

Journals & Magazines – Fylde Mountaineering Club

If anyone or any libraries have any of our journals or newsletters from 1960-1974 we would be delighted if you’d let us scan them.

I will try and add some excerpts when I’ve had chance to read through more of them.

 

[langcliffe]

Fantastic! I look forward to browsing through them.

 

[langcliffe]

Without doubt, the most comprehensive caving online archive is that maintained by the Mendip Cave Registry, with getting on for 50 log books, and thousands of photographs, all well organised. Feeling insecure if I ever venture south of the Dales, most of the content means little to me, but one log book does chime with personally. That is Eric Hensler's.

Two of the explorations around the late 1930s and early 1940s stand out as remarkable, One is Bob Leakey's explorations in Mossdale Caverns, and the other is Eric Hensler's exploration of his eponymous series in Gaping Gill. Solo, he explored Hensler's Long Crawl and much of the series beyond. To do this with modern equipment knowing, with some idea of where one is going, is a major undertaking. To do it solo as an original exploration was an incredible achievement. His understated log book account of the exploration is absolutely typical of the man.

I met Eric at the CRG Field Meet at Gaping Gill in 1968, and I found him to be a charming, modest, gentleman with traditional values. It was soon after ULSA's exploration of the Far Country series, and he joined us to have a look. He was about 60 at the time, and with the brashness of youth we were amazed that such an old man was still caving. Unfortunately, he failed to negotiate The Blowhole, so he spent the next couple of hours chipping away at the squeeze with a hammer and chisel whilst we went on.

 

[langcliffe]

Following on from my comments about Bob Leakey's achievements in the above post, I have come across the following piece about Leakey in the BSA Records collection of the BCRA Online Archive.

https://archives.bcra.org.uk/archive.php?level=image&collection=bsa&document=ES091&item=4

I believe it to have been written by Eli SImpson, probably about 1958, and it really is a rather venomous piece. Bob's idiosyncrasies and idealism are highlighted in an exceptionally patronising manner, and although grudgingly acknowledging that "he was rather a valuable member of the BSA", it goes onto to say that "he was also always a risk underground being haphazard and erractic (sic)."

By this time, of course, Bob had gone off to form the Northern Speleological Group, so the piece may be the result of sour grapes.

 

[Fulk]

Did he not once set himself up as a boat-builder, only to be surprised that 'Leakey boats' weren't very popular (or is that just another silly tale told against him)?

 

[LadyMud]

I believe it to have been written by Eli SImpson, probably about 1958, and it really is a rather venomous piece.

I guess that tells us more about the writer than the subject . . .

 

[langcliffe]

Did he not once set himself up as a boat-builder, only to be surprised that 'Leakey boats' weren't very popular (or is that just another silly tale told against him)?

I think he did, in the 1970s - weren't they collapsible canoes, or summat? I remember that his lobster pots were quite clever, as they were also collapsable. Unfortunately, he didn't take into consideration that lobster pots seldom get moved, so there was no requirement for such things..

 

[langcliffe]

I guess that tells us more about the writer than the subject . . .

There's no doubt that Cymmie did have a nasty streak in him, for which there is a lot of evidence in the various archives. The only motive I can imagine for writing this note and then parking it into the records for posterity, was to belittle Leakey.

 

[IanWalker]

There is a shop near us trading as "LPS Heating and Plumbing". Real company name Leaks Plumbing Services, proprietor Mr C Leak.

 

[Pitlamp]

Did he not once set himself up as a boat-builder, only to be surprised that 'Leakey boats' weren't very popular (or is that just another silly tale told against him)?

Yep; I have a letter from RDL on headed notepaper entitled “Leakey Boats”. It’s quite clever marketing, when you think about it.
He also used to make lobster pots, or more correctly he got others to make them for him. Mike Wooding was one. Other cavers did, on and off.

 

[spelfish]

As you say, it's rather a nasty post. Ignoring everything else, Leakey's caving achievements seem very impressive to me and sufficient on their own to command respect. I know little about Eli Simpson except that he looms large in Dales caving history and appears to have had quite a malign influence in many areas. In the interests of balance, what were his positive contributions?

 

[langcliffe]

As you say, it's rather a nasty post. Ignoring everything else, Leakey's caving achievements seem very impressive to me and sufficient on their own to command respect. I know little about Eli Simpson except that he looms large in Dales caving history and appears to have had quite a malign influence in many areas. In the interests of balance, what were his positive contributions?

Recording data, as seen in the BSA Records collection in the BCRA Online Archive! Without his efforts, a lot of the history of UK caving would have been lost. He also seems to have inspired and focussed a younger generation during the late 1930s to the mid 1940s, during the second Golden Age of cave exploration in this country.

To itemise his malign influences on British caving would take a very long time...

 

[oldfart]

Yep; I have a letter from RDL on headed notepaper entitled “Leakey Boats”. It’s quite clever marketing, when you think about it.
He also used to make lobster pots, or more correctly he got others to make them for him. Mike Wooding was one. Other cavers did, on and off.

Including me and Chester,

 

[Pitlamp]

I know little about Eli Simpson except that he looms large in Dales caving history and appears to have had quite a malign influence in many areas. In the interests of balance, what were his positive contributions?

When you say "appears to have" I assume this is based on popular caving folklore rather than delving especially deeply into documentary evidence? Flick back through the last few Descent magazines and you'll find a brief but I hope more balanced view of his legacy.

I think "controversial" is a better word than "malign". There was a period of several years when he was certainly falling out with a lot of people and perhaps it's not unfair to say he could be very devious. True; he was at the heart of the "great exodus" in 1946 leading to the formation of the NPC and RRCPC, both of which have thrived ever since. I doubt this was his intended outcome but maybe we should thank him? My own view is that he loved caving and probably did the bad things which casual "history" seems to remember most because he genuinely believed it was for the best. He could act irrationally but we don't know the back story or all of the context. (I've often wondered if he was diabetic perhaps, in later life.) But he certainly made massive contributions to our pastime, over several decades.

As Langcliffe indicates, his records over a long period are phenomenal. He produced the first really good surveys of many of the Dales' classic cave systems (and elsewhere; Peak Cavern for example). He was the visionary who saw the need for a national organisation and was instrumental in getting it going (the BSA). He oversaw a long series of extremely good caving publications. He wrote extensively and knowledgably on caving. He understood and promoted the need for cave conservation and scientific study of caves. He kept the BSA simmering throughout the dreadful war years.

He was certainly no saint but hopefully the above examples might help to persuade you that there are two sides to every story? Could I suggest you refer to his obituary by Albert Mitchell (who knew Cymmie really well) in:

Craven Pothole Club Journal 3 (2) 1962 pages 96 - 97.

(If someone can persuade me it'll not break copyright rules I could post that here.)

 

[spelfish]

Thank you. Balance achieved! As you suggested, my assumption was based on folklore rather than knowledge (hence 'appears' to have had a malign influence rather than a more definite statement). I'll make sure I read his obituary.