Post by Kelly Jessop on Sept 6, 2007 2:29:16 GMT -5
A Glimmering in Darkness. Graham Balcombe. Cave Diving Group
The title of this book is a takeoff on Martyn Farr's history of cave diving
The Darkness Beckons (second edition 1991). It is a book publication of
something assembled in 1987, but given very little circulation then. Graham
Balcombe (1907-2000) was England's pioneer cave diver and the founder of the
Cave Diving Group. The group has published this collection in
print-on-demand book form on th e hundredth anniversary of Balcombe's birth.
It contains descriptions of many of Balcombe's cave dives during the years
1934 to 1950. There are several old black-and-white photographs.
In 1935, there was a major Wookey Hole project involving diving in Siebe
Gorman hardhat diving suits. Most of the description of it in this book is
by Penelope "Mossy" Powell and taken from the very rare Log of the Wookey
Hole Exploration Expedition, the first cave-diving book (see Underwater
Speleology September 1993 and two following issues). Later the divers
graduated to self-contained breathing apparatus. Near the end of the Second
World War, Graham, evacuated from London to the fringe of the Yorkshire
caving area, was diving in sumps in that area. Transportation to them
consisted of a tandem bicycle pulling a trailer-load of equipment up to
thirty miles. After the war, diving activities in Wookey Hole resumed, with
numerous "operations" con ducted at night, when the show-cave was closed.
Eventually Balcombe and crew reached a distance of about 400 feet from base,
before being stopped where the passage descended below the depth limits of
their gear, 25 feet. As they were cavers and this was sump diving, they were
disappointed not to have come up in extensive dry-cave passages there.
The more unlettered among you may be surprised to hear that this wartime and
postwar diving was done with drysuits and rebreathers. Wetsuits and
Aqua-Lungs came much later. The book consists mainly of unedited extracts
from personal notebooks, with a bit of commentary added by Balcombe in 1987,
and some things are left unclear, such as the nature of Aflo, a major part
of their equipment. A 1950 sketch map of Wookey Hole at the end of the book
helps, and chapter 4 of Farr might help fill you in. Nevertheless, the
writing is entertaining and describes well the trials and tribulations of
cave diving sixty years ago.--Bill Mixon
The title of this book is a takeoff on Martyn Farr's history of cave diving
The Darkness Beckons (second edition 1991). It is a book publication of
something assembled in 1987, but given very little circulation then. Graham
Balcombe (1907-2000) was England's pioneer cave diver and the founder of the
Cave Diving Group. The group has published this collection in
print-on-demand book form on th e hundredth anniversary of Balcombe's birth.
It contains descriptions of many of Balcombe's cave dives during the years
1934 to 1950. There are several old black-and-white photographs.
In 1935, there was a major Wookey Hole project involving diving in Siebe
Gorman hardhat diving suits. Most of the description of it in this book is
by Penelope "Mossy" Powell and taken from the very rare Log of the Wookey
Hole Exploration Expedition, the first cave-diving book (see Underwater
Speleology September 1993 and two following issues). Later the divers
graduated to self-contained breathing apparatus. Near the end of the Second
World War, Graham, evacuated from London to the fringe of the Yorkshire
caving area, was diving in sumps in that area. Transportation to them
consisted of a tandem bicycle pulling a trailer-load of equipment up to
thirty miles. After the war, diving activities in Wookey Hole resumed, with
numerous "operations" con ducted at night, when the show-cave was closed.
Eventually Balcombe and crew reached a distance of about 400 feet from base,
before being stopped where the passage descended below the depth limits of
their gear, 25 feet. As they were cavers and this was sump diving, they were
disappointed not to have come up in extensive dry-cave passages there.
The more unlettered among you may be surprised to hear that this wartime and
postwar diving was done with drysuits and rebreathers. Wetsuits and
Aqua-Lungs came much later. The book consists mainly of unedited extracts
from personal notebooks, with a bit of commentary added by Balcombe in 1987,
and some things are left unclear, such as the nature of Aflo, a major part
of their equipment. A 1950 sketch map of Wookey Hole at the end of the book
helps, and chapter 4 of Farr might help fill you in. Nevertheless, the
writing is entertaining and describes well the trials and tribulations of
cave diving sixty years ago.--Bill Mixon