Intention to leave cave rescue

When the schism happened between the Thursdaynighters and me, on the basis of a difference in opinion of how to deal with misogyny in the mine exploration community, I didn't stop going underground. I did, however, cut it down considerably. Obviously! I had been going every week, and if I wasn't digging with Miles I was with the Thursdaynighters. The dig already died a silent death before things went wrong, for reasons of Miles being too busy with other things. So from the falling-out onwards, there were some ad hoc trips, and then the rescue trainings and callouts. That's not much. In 5 years, I went underground 22 times outside a rescue context. 

The people I went underground with since then were a bit of a mix. There are Kate and Lydia, who have both since moved to England. There is Sharon, who still sometimes drops me a line to see if I am available. There is Miles, who most of the time has more urgent things to do. Then there are the visitors from elsewhere, like the Cornish, the Devonian and the Yorkshire bunch. But these only come up once a year. So I clearly had no regular crew, and no regular habit. And I was starting to feel very much out of it.

If we had a training I often wondered what I would have forgotten. I lost my routine in packing my kit! And I had to really think about rigging. And I probably can barely remember the venue, because I haven’t been in it for years.

Another thing is my kit. You should regularly replace everything except the metalware (and also the metalware if it wears out), like helmets and harnesses. My gear is very old by now! And that could get me (and others) in trouble, in case we ever have to deal with insurers. And I am not keen on spending a lot on kit I rarely need. I am also not keen on trouble with insurers, for either myself or others. And I’m not keen on being personally liable (which I am, as a committee member) for actions by a team I am partly a member of because I don’t trust it. There’s Thursdaynighters in there, after all. 

They won’t be keen to lose a committee member. More people are interested in doing the glamorous work of actually rescuing people than in doing the behind-the-scene admin. But they could have tried harder to keep me. The committee knows about the Thursdaynighter debacle, and that the TN’s approach to that is ostracism. They also think that the team works better if there is no animosity between the members. And it has the power to make both parties sit together and work things out, but never used that power. So no start was ever made at rebuilding trust. And that’s not inspiring me very much to stay. 

So this is the end of an era. I was in Cave Rescue in Devon between April 2010 and May 2013. And then here in Wales since May 2015 again. Thirteen years! In the greater scheme of things, not much. Our team is considering awards for people who have been serving in the team for 40 years or more. But still considerable I would say! But everything ends somewhere. And this will end this June, at our AGM.

Pic from a training in 2023