MCG Occasional Publication No. 5A Momentous Meetingwritten by Tony CrawfordI was there when Malcolm first raised the idea of forming a caving group, but the idea was his alone. By pure chance I had ridden my 350cc side-valve ex-army motorbike via Norton St Philip when a torrential burst of rain swept across Mendip. Reaching the crossroads at Green Ore I turned right, then left, on the road to Priddy and Main's Barn. In those days farmer Albert Main of Manor Farm, Priddy, was blessed in the sight of cavers as he offered the only haven for miles around.
As I puttered along the straight road to Priddy I noticed a figure trudging along the road ahead of me, bowed under a huge loaded rucsack and covered by a rain cape. I just stopped, as any human being would do, and stated tersely that I was going to Main's Barn in Priddy and offered him a lift. He answered that he was going there himself and would be glad of a lift. "Hop on," I instructed; and he did. When we arrived at Manor Farm and dismounted, I started to carefully cover my motorbike against the driving rain. A firm voice spoke urgently in my ear, "If you have any food, hand it over and I'll start a meal while you unpack." When I eventually got up into the hayloft of the barn I could see that my new friend Malcolm was cooking us up a meal of sausages, eggs, toast and bacon in a large frying pan over a paraffin stove perched on a long wooden bench seat. Suddenly the whole meal tumbled onto the dry straw-strewn floor. Quickly Malcolm scooped the whole lot back into the pan. He laughed saying, "You will eat a peck of dirt before you die." We were so tired that the odd bit of hay seemed to enhance the meal. That then, was our first meeting
The following day we descended Swildon's Hole via the Wet Way. The second day we went to Burrington Combe. We got on very well indeed. I had never met a fellow so enthusiastic about caving. Needless to say he travelled home with me on the back of "old faithful". Thankfully the journey was in better weather. Nobody is perfect and Malcolm was as subject to this truism as the rest of us. He had an annoying habit of never being up when I called for him in Southall and his dear mum gave me permission to wake him up. First I went up and shook him - no response. So I grabbed the mattress and turned it and him over. Instant awakening! I should explain that I used to travel between 11.00pm and 01.00 am - the only time the roads were clear. Malcolm and I travelled to Mendip at least another six times before he bought his own motorbike, a 350cc single-cylinder Panther. By now he had learnt to get up and travel early, finding it was the best way. He soon collected a large group of like-minded young people around him. His character was like a magnet.
It was not long before we began to need equipment. Although money was scarce for a group of young people, some serving apprenticeships, we gathered enough money for me to buy the materials to start building the frail-looking "electron" ladders designed by Lewis Railton of SWCC who gave us permission to copy his design, as long as it was not for commercial gain. Pete Goddard was my mainstay in those days, often coming to my workshop in Harefield, Middlesex, to assemble the ladders. Malcolm had to be told how much work was involved. He had the annoying habit of wanting endlessly to check on progress. This infuriated me since Pete and I left nothing to chance and missed very little. I was not accustomed to being checked up on!
Among numerous amusing things that happened in those early days was the incident concerning the Group's generator unit at Netherwood Cottage. This was a petrol-driven device in an outhouse. To start it you had to switch on the petrol supply and then wind up the inertia magneto. On the side of the magneto was written "Do not touch". However this proved to be but another challenge for Malcolm who duly touched it and got (literally) the shock of his life.
We didn't agree on everything, which I think was the basis of our friendship. At a certain point in the early days I wanted to limit membership to an agreed number of between 60 and 70 members. However, Tony Knibbs vigorously opposed this in committee. With hindsight he was right and my view was too limiting, but as already noted none of us is perfect; Malcolm had this and other problems to contend with while he strove to keep the Group a close-knit unit - in this he achieved his aim. As do many others, I mourn his passing. Tony Crawford Continue to 'A Caver's Ramblings into the Past '
Mendip Caving Group. UK Charity Number 270088. The object of the Group is, for the benefit of the public, the furtherance of all aspects of the exploration, scientific study and conservation of caves and related features. Membership shall be open to anyone over the age of 18 years with an interest in the objects of the Group. |
