H E B Balch 1869-1958 The Father of Mendip Caving.

[rhychydwr1]

Rather than try an write an obituary which will not do justest to this great man, I will quote a few references:

PIONEER UNDER THE MENDIPS / Herbert Ernst Balch of Wells / A Short Biography by W I Stanton.  [Pub as] WCC Occ Pub Ser 1 No 1 Oct 1969  123 pp 34 plates 2 figs.  Balch was the author of numerous Mendip caving books.  SB 

WCC Jl (69)July 1958

etc.

Google: Herbert Ernest Balch

 

[langcliffe]

We are fortunate to have in the Caving Audio Archive a recording of the lecture given by Herbert Balch at the opening of the Axbridge Caving Group and Archaeological Society Museum in 1952. It was provided by Alan Gray of the Axbridge Caving Group. The quality is not great but it is still a thrill to hear the voice of the great man himself:

http://caving-library.org.uk/audio/playback-128.html