Digging logs from the Association of Thrupe Lane Advanced Speleologists at various sites between 1990 and 2002 are available for download as PDFs from the links below: DigCommenced Ended Pages Eighteen Acre 13 Oct 1993 9 Apr 1997 8 Cairo Shaft 16 Oct 1997 29 Nov 1997 1 Clay Holes 11 Jun 1994 30 Sep 1995 4 Cook's Wood Quarry Cave 31 Mar 1996 31 Mar 1996 1 Dave Mitchell's Dig 19 Apr 1997# 21 Oct 1998 10 Frog Pot 17 Sep 1997 30 Dec 1998 8 His Lordship's Hole 16 Jan 1999 27 Jan 1999 1 Honeymead Hole 27 Apr 1996 16 Apr 1997 25 Little Crapnell Swallet 29 Apr 1995 17 Dec 1995 16 Longwood Valley Sink 3 Jan 1993 11 Dec 1994 11 Rushy Ground Swallet 5 Oct 1994 10 May 1995 3 Thrupe Swallet 5 Dec 1999 20 Feb 2002 24 Viaduct Sink 1 Jul 1990 26 Nov 1995 15

# - earlier digs recorded from 4 Feb 1962

Digging logs from 2002 onwards are available on this site in the Digging Log Archives folder.

In addition, photographed log books for Viaduct Sink, Longwood Valley Sink and the Thrupe Lane Swallet Bleak Hall dig are available below.

Location/owner: Sidcot School. Photographed/scanned by: Paul Stillman.

Eric Hensler's caving log book entries, covering the years 1934 to 1978. An index spreadsheet (MS Excel format) is available containing a list of caves visited.

Note: The log is complete despite the gaps in page numbering, presumably where pages have been removed and employed for other purposes.

Location/owner: Wells Museum. Photographed/scanned by: Alan Gray. Indexed by Alan Gray.

A Survey of the Lead, Calamine & Ochre Mines on Sandford Hill, by T. Geoffrey & J. Theodore Swarbrick, 1948 to 1951

A contents list is available. See also Two photographs from Theo Swarbrick.

Location/owner: Sidcot School. Photographed/scanned by: Alan Gray. Indexed by Alan Gray.

An index to the scrapbooks of Gerard Platten, compiled by D. J. Irwin.

The originals for most of these volumes are held at Wells Museum. See scrapbook locations for full details.

Please contact the MCRA if you know of the whereabouts of any of the missing volumes.

Location/owner: Wells Museum. Photographed/scanned by: Dave Irwin.

The credit for finding Ariel Cave, on the ‘Isle’ of Portland, Dorset, goes to the caving and climbing section of the Combined Cadet Force of Hardye’s School, Dorchester. This is a brief note of context.

The school eventually took the name of its 16C founder after a somewhat chequered history (detailed on its web-site), and was a boy’s grammar-school until the introduction of the Comprehensive System in 1980. Under this change, it was merged with the local girls’ grammar, and secondary-modern, schools; and eventually all coalesced as The Thomas Hardye School on its modern site. It is now an academy under that name; mixed, and notable for its internal and local- community involvement in both the arts and sciences. Its impressive list of extra-curricular clubs include the Combined Cadet Force (CCF); but the site gives no details of these various club’s activities.

The discovery of the cave came from the HSCCF under its Captain, Andrew MacTavish, commissioning photographs from the Royal Navy helicopter squadron based on Portland at the time, to illustrate climbing routes on the high Westcliff. The entrance, about 10m down the 30m face, was proven for HSCCF by a Dorset Caving Group (DCG) abseiling practice; but fittingly it was ex-Hardyean Ian Wolff who was first in. He alone entered the passage for a few metres to prove it open, for DCG to tell the school the good news. After the students had had first go at it, producing a preliminary survey to perhaps BCRA Grade 2 (published in the archived HSCCF training manual presented here), the school and the club co-operated on further exploring this intriguing cave, reaching two boulder chokes and its Queen’s “Entrance”. The two groups had already co-operatively explored other Portland caves in the early-1970s; especially Sandy Hole, a DCG find at the cliff base several hundred metres South from Ariel Cave.

That Shakespearean name was given by HSCCF Capt. MacTavish. Also one of the school’s English Literature teachers, he played on The Tempest–uous weather of their first exploration, complete with heavy surf breaking on the rocky shore far below! A name further punned by others with nearby Persil Rift in the 1980s; and in late-2021, by an MCRA Archivist being nominatively house-proud with his finds in that cave’s inner recesses. Others connected Ariel Cave and Sandy Hole, c.1986, via one of the mass-movement rifts that break the limestone into huge blocks. The original relationships of these caves’ fossil stream passages are still enigmatic.

Finally, Hardye’s School holds a seismograph on permanent watch, making it one of the very few schools in Britain to be part of the British Geological Survey’s national seismography network. Although the instrument is in a foyer, it is of course normally accessible to visitors only on public events held in the main hall.

Nigel Graham (WCC and former DCG), 08 January 2022.

From the late 1940s until the 1980s, Luke Devenish was one of Mendip's more colourful characters, known to farmers and landowners as well as to cavers.

The complete transcriptions of Luke's logbooks, including hundreds of photographs and sketches, are available here for download as PDF files: Compendium Introduction [68 KB] Early Notebooks (1940-47) [5 MB] (see also Index Spreadsheet compiled by Alan Gray) Caving Diary Volume 1 (1947-49) [54 MB] Caving Diary Volume 2 (1949-51) [43 MB] Exploration of Ores Close Mineshafts (1957) [761 KB]

Thanks for this massive and meticulous electronic transcription effort go to Phil Hendy of the Wessex Cave Club.

Location/owner: WCC. Photographed/scanned by: Phil Hendy.

Maurice Hewins' caving log books. An index spreadsheet for these log books is available.

Location/owner: Maurice Hewins. Photographed/scanned by: Maurice Hewins (1958-77), Alan Gray (1981-91). Indexed by Alan Gray.

Pat Cronin’s caving and digging log books 1967 to 2023.

An index spreadsheet of these log books is available, compiled by Alan Gray.

These log books were kindly photographed and compiled to PDF versions by Rob Harper. Ray's Log Books contain many press clippings and also information relating to foreign caves; only the information relating to Mendip has been included here. Index to Ray Mansfield's logs (290 KB) Logbook 1 1960-1962 (114 MB) Logbook 2 1963 (105 MB) Logbook 3 1964-1965 (36 MB) Logbook 4 1966-1967 (308 KB) Logbook 5 1968-1971 (39 MB) Logbook 6 1971-1973 (9 MB) Logbook 7 1973-1975 (15 MB) Logbook 8 1976-1977 (7 MB) Logbook 9 1978-1979 (6 MB) Logbook 10 1979-1980 (1.5 MB) Logbook 11 1980-1982 (961 KB) Logbook 12 1982-1985 (76 KB)

Location/owner: UBSS. Photographed/scanned by: Rob Harper. Indexed by Rob Harper.

Caving log books from the Sidcot School Spelaeological Society. Also available for download is a full index spreadsheet (MS Excel format) of the individual cave sites mentioned in each volume.

Log book 10 and all log books after No. 21 (1978) are currently missing. Sidcot School SS and their associated logbooks continued through the 1980’s in to 1990’s. Please contact the MCRA if you know of the whereabouts of any Log Books post 1978.

Log Book 17 was rediscovered in the U.S. in 2017 and kindly donated back to the collection.

Location/owner: Sidcot School. Photographed/scanned by: Alan Gray. Indexed by Alan Gray.

In mid 2007 Tony and I were discussing the amazing historical caving archive contained within his Log Books. I suggested that I photographed them and was surprised that Tony agreed since, to my knowledge, he had never loaned them to anyone. I also think that Tony was surprised that someone would be daft enough to photograph them.

Tony also informed Richard Witcombe and myself that he would be delighted if the Log Books could be uploaded to the MCRA web site and then they could be a resource for the caving community.

Tony’s Log Books provide a complete record of all the caving trips that he undertook between 1964 and 2008. Many of us will remember Tony in the Hunters or in Bat Products completing Log Book entries.

Each entry consists of the following – Cave Name, Area, Location, Duration of the trip, Who was also on the trip and a description. In addition some entries are annotated Dive, Rescue, Discovery, Connection.

The main caving areas that Tony caved in are Mendip, Scotland and India (Meghalaya) but Tony caved all over the world.

The Log Books have not been electronically indexed (as yet), but Tony has included a written index to each book in its final pages. There is however a Word Document available for download listing all the discoveries Tony has been involved with.

There are 2871 pages and Tony spent 11,481 hours underground.

Have Fun

Alan Gray Electronic Transcriptions by Peter BurgessPeter has been steadily working on the task of transcribing Tony's handwritten pages into electronic documents, which have the great advantage that they can be searched. The fruits of his labours are available for download as PDF files: Volume 1 (7 MB) Volume 2 (11 MB) Volume 3 (2 MB) Volume 4 (5 MB) Volume 5 (1 MB)A massive thank you Peter from the MCRA, and keep up the good work!Tony's Log Books

Location/owner: Wells Museum. Photographed/scanned by: Alan Gray. Indexed by Peter Burgess (volumes 1-5), Alan Gray (discoveries).