Depth through thought

Editor: guilford@ermine.ox.ac.uk

Editorial

Sorry for the lack of Depth last week. Not much to report this week (I guess most of you will have received the TGM minutes by separate cover so to speak). Except, that is, to say that yesterday I decided, with much regret, to resign as co-editor of Proc 14. Unfortunately although other solutions were considered they did not seem favoured by all parties, so from today Pauline Rigby will take over as sole editor. I'm quite sure she will do an excellent job, but she will need your support and fast. She has a few weeks only to work hard on it, so if you get to her the material she needs then the club will have a Proc 14 before the BCRA. Her e-mail is: <pauline@c4barter.freeserve.co.uk>

So, I'd like to say sorry to the club for contributing to the Proc's delay for so long, and thanks to those of you who have worked to provide some excellent stories and reports (many of which are pretty much finished). I trust it will have been worth it in the end.

I don't believe DTT is the right place to discuss my reasons behind this decision, though some of you will of course have an idea. Lets just say it was not an easy one.
Tim Guilford

Dales This Weekend

This weekend, the club is meeting at the Ingleton Caravan Site. Let me know if you are coming! After a lot of hassle, I've finally managed to get a copy of our lost constitution from the Proctors. However, I don't think it's the most recent edition, seeing as annual membership apparently costs one pound, or 7/6 for students. Hey Paul, I want a refund!
Rich Doyle

Chelsea Flower Show

On Sunday morning a select handful of landscape gardening enthusiasts assembled on the slopes of Pwll Du to seal the second entrance of Ogof Draenen. The Ground Force crew comprised Ali, Ben, a new MCC recruit, Ian W-J, and muggins here. The main problem was that the entire slope was becoming eroded. Most of the day was spent building a series of grassed terraces, graced with a ring of small hawthorn trees. In a few years, and providing it is undisturbed, it should make a fine shrubbery. One side of the shaft was also collapsing, and this was filled with some rolled up wire fencing and capped with rocks and turf. Making the entire shaft safe would have been quite an undertaking, which we were too undermanned to attempt.

The sealing of the man hole cover, which had been agreed at the last PDCMG meeting, did not take long. A layer of grease on the cover was removed, a new lock was placed, and the recess containing the door was filled with cement, leaving a hole for bats. The entire area was then turfed over.

Of course this work will be very easy to vandalise. The unstable nature of the slope means that anyone with a little determination could break into this entrance again. I hope no-one does.
Chris 'tropical fruit all round' Densham