Wookey Sign STOLEN!!

Stupot

Active member
Seems someone has either nicked or hidden the Wookey sign by the landing in Swildon's, it was there Saturday,
and gone today  :confused:

Anyone shed any light, bit sad if someone has nicked it.

normal_DSCF0008.jpg


Stu.
 

AndyF

New member
Stupot said:
Seems someone has either nicked or hidden the Wookey sign by the landing in Swildon's, it was there Saturday,
and gone today  :confused:

Anyone shed any light, bit sad if someone has nicked it.

Stu.

That would be sad, it is a famous landmark......but it is worth noting that it was 'nicked' in the first place!
 

Les W

Active member
The sign by the landing is a more recent addition, the original sign is the one just past sump 1.
I hope that one is still in place.  ;)
 

Stupot

Active member
The sign by sump 1 is still there, but the one by the landing is no where to be seen, i searched high and low for it and found no trace of it  :confused:

Unless someone has taken it through the sumps, I am down to sump 9 on saturday so will keep my eyes peeled (like you could miss it).

I would be suprised if someone would drag it out the cave, if so it probably resides in caving hut by now.


Stu.
 

mike barnes

New member
Well sad. I used to hide my dive kit behind it whilst I pushed the Landing sump right next to it. There's a rawlbolt there so I could lock my tanks to it. Sump is still going, don't know why no one else has had a go. Big phreatic tube, sadly filled virtually to the roof with gravel, leading into a blank area of limestone. I gave up cause I thought the stream only came from the S.E inlets,( or is that N.W?). Have since found out that isn't the case.
 

Stupot

Active member
Mike,

Have noticed the bolt in the roof there, there are a few lead wieghts etc now exposed that were originally hidden
behind the sign, I assume they are yours then  (y)

Interesting sump then, how far in does it go ? entry looks alittle snug.


Stu.
 

cap n chris

Well-known member
Given that the sign appears to have been STOLEN!, has anyone rung the police yet?
Who bought the sign in the first place? Is there a receipt?
Who owns the sign? - does it belong to the cave/landowner or to the club which adopted the cave or the club/person who bought the sign?
If it's been stolen surely the police will only offer their condolences and a crime reference number for the insurance claim?
Will the insurance still be valid, since the theft occurred underground and caves are pretty off-limits for most insurers nowadays? Who pays the premium? Will the no claims discount be affected? Is it a cave & contents policy? Was the sign adequately secured against theft? What if the insurers refuse to pay out?...
What if the sign was taken by "joycavers" and it gets found and returned after the insurance money has been banked?

Questions, questions.....  :-\

 
T

tubby two

Guest
Maybe its been lost in the vastness of GB main chamber. Nah, that would be like hiding a needle in a thimble. Silly.

tt.
 

graham

New member
cap 'n chris said:
Given that the sign appears to have been STOLEN!, has anyone rung the police yet?
Who bought the sign in the first place? Is there a receipt?
Who owns the sign? - does it belong to the cave/landowner or to the club which adopted the cave or the club/person who bought the sign?
If it's been stolen surely the police will only offer their condolences and a crime reference number for the insurance claim?
Will the insurance still be valid, since the theft occurred underground and caves are pretty off-limits for most insurers nowadays? Who pays the premium? Will the no claims discount be affected? Is it a cave & contents policy? Was the sign adequately secured against theft? What if the insurers refuse to pay out?...
What if the sign was taken by "joycavers" and it gets found and returned after the insurance money has been banked?

Questions, questions.....  :-\

Has anyone taken Chris away and had him shot?
 

Brains

Well-known member
No, we havent had the risk assessment completed yet, then there are all the health and safety issues to address and taking out insurance against post traumatic stress....
 

cap n chris

Well-known member
My sarcasm was aroused by the emotionally loaded word "stolen"; in the circumstances a far more suitable word would have been "removed". After all, when you think about it, the sign must originally have been stolen to have been put in the cave in the first place surely? This being the case, can something which is stolen be stolen over again?....

Where's our resident pedant?  :kiss2:
 

cap n chris

Well-known member
Mentioning Joycavers reminded me of an old book which I've just checked.

According to Dr. Alex Uncomfort's "The More Joy of Caving", .... "placing objects such as road signs in caves is a recognised perversion of straight sport caving; usually practised by younger males who are inexperienced in refined caving techniques, these frolicksome young tykes find illicit thrills from theft and subsequent installation of juxtapositionary items. Well known examples include the `Wookey Hole avoiding City Centre' sign in Swildon's Hole, `Cul de Sac'/`No Through Road' signs in Providence Pot, the amusing `Pedestrian Access Only' sign in the entrance series of Daren Cilau and `Oncoming cars in middle of road' at the entrance to Gaping Gill".




 

Stupot

Active member
It's common knowledge that road signs and signs in general are fare game to cavers.

Taken from the highway code.

Section 4.1

All road signs on a public highway maybe removed without prior persmission by any such person
who ventures underground, the said sign will then be classed as "borrowed" and if then removed
from it's new location it will then be deemed as "stolen"


There you go ............  :ras:

Stu.
 

cap n chris

Well-known member
:idea: Ah, yes; I'd forgotten about that law.

Here's another useful quote, quite relevant in this thread, taken from Monty Python's "The Life of Brian"....

"Oh!,... he's making it up as he goes along!...."

:halo:
 

whitelackington

New member
  :)More than thirty years ago when The Axbridge still had a Hut at Nordach
we were going from The Hunter's to The M.C.G. Hut (cosilly near to The Axbridge Hut) when we passed a bumpy road sign, now this looked like a pair of tits without the nipples to my male teenage mind,
so we "borrowed it", painted a pair of nipples on it (don't remember where we got the red paint from, perhaps we "borrowed it") then stuffed it, in a mates reliant.
We didn't say a word, that was hard, then when we were ready to leave to go caving, he discovered the tis sign in his car,
he was very annoyed, which of course made it even funnier.
I think he's a doctor of nuclear physics now.
 
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