Jim
Newton and the GG Winch
Participants:-
Andy Hall, Ray Duffy, Bill Osborne, Bill Holden, Sam Lieberman, Boz and son
Zac + non-member Hugh St Lawrence.
Sadly as many of you will know
Jackie Newton, Jim's wife died a few months ago. In the aftermath of this his
family were discussing ways to try to cheer Jim up and Fran Frankland a Red
Rose member came up with the idea of getting him down the Gaping Ghyll winch
during the August Craven Pothole Club winch meet. She approached me in June and
I started to make some enquiries, firstly with John Helm (CPC Secretary) and
Ric Halliwell who often comes as Craven guest to our club dinners and whom Jim
and I have known for many years. They said that it was fine for Jim to come up
during the first week of the GG meet as it was for CPC members only and would
not be too busy then. A four wheel drive would be needed to get Jim up to the
winch as he is not too steady on his feet at 86 years old. CPC informed us that
they only had permission to take their gear up there with the farmer's tractor and trailer as the site
is protected as a SSSI and as a Nature Reserve. We also approached the estate
and they came up with similar issues but were not against the idea. Fran and I
then contacted Jim Davis, as a leading light in CRO and also another Red Rose
member of many years. He was very optimistic about getting Jim up there in a
CRO land rover and said to leave it with him. I waited a couple of weeks and under
pressure from the family about whether it was going to happen I emailed Jim and
rang him up – no answer. I later found out he was on holiday in France.
Meanwhile Hazel Hewitt, Jim's step daughter had told him our plans and he was
very excited! I was worried it might not come off.
Eventually Jim got back to
me and said it was all sorted for Tuesday 7th August. Unfortunately
Fran and Charlie Frankland could not make that date as they were still on
holiday. We told Hazel to get Jim to the CRO Depot in Clapham for 10 a.m.
complete with fold up chair. A party of Red Rose helpers would walk also up
there, meeting at 9 a.m. in Clapham. We duly assembled at the pre-arranged time
complete with packed lunch, two bottles of Cava, ten glasses and assorted camera
and filming gear.
We set off promptly at 9
and picked up John Conway on the way. A pleasant one hour walk up past
Ingleborough Cave and Trow Ghyll brought us to Gaping Ghyll just after 10
o'clock. We were greeted warmly by the CPC, especially Ric and Pat Halliwell
and offered cups of tea in their kitchen tent. We were able to get changed in
the beer tent out of the misty drizzle. Forty Five minutes later a CRO land
rover duly appeared on the horizon complete with Jim, Hazel, Jim Davis and two
other CRO minders. After lots of greetings and banter we were all signed in and
one by one descended the winch.
It's a very smooth and
rapid descent and only takes one minute.
with a three minute turn round, so it was not long before we were all in the
Main Chamber. Not much water either after the very dry spell. Several of us
went down before Jim to prepare him a seat and make sure he did not run off!
Quite a lot of time was
spent taking group photographs (thanks Ray) and Boz had two Go-Pro cameras and
some video lights. The smile never left Jim's face all day. It was worth it
just for that. We took Jim for a wander round the Main Chamber and after an
hour or so most of us made out way back up the shaft, except for Sam and Zac
who set off for a wander round some passages.
Once most of us had
assembled back on the surface we had a picnic, courtesy of Hazel and cracked
open the two bottles of Cava, courtesy of Hugh and I. Jim seemed very happy
with the proceedings.
The party was eventually
over and Jim was escorted up the shakehole back to the CRO land rover, a bit
wobbly after two glasses of cava. He and Hazel were driven back and given a
guided tour round the Depot along with a brew. Some of the support party set
off back walking down while Ray, Boz and I waited for Sam and Zac to return.
They eventually arrived after a tourist trip around SE Pot, Sand Caverns and
East Passage to Mud Hall which Zac thoroughly enjoyed. We returned to Clapham
just in time to meet Jim Davis and Helen Sargent for a cup of tea outside the
cafe next to the Depot. A great day out! Thanks Ray for the photos included in
this article and Boz for the excellent video, which appeared on the club
Facebook page.
The
following comments were left on the Red Rose Facebook page:
From Jim Newton: about the video Boz produced: "Thanks
for this Boz. You captured all the best moments! It brings back all my caving
years (all 71 of them!) Best day and best laugh I've had in years. Fantastic
and memorable day - thanks to my amazing team from CRO and RRCPC!"
From Boz: “Our pleasure Jim glad you enjoyed it, my
thanks also to Andy Hall (second unit cameraman) Ray Duffy (stills
photographer) and a big thank you to Sam Lieberman for taking my lad Zak on a
3hr tour of bits of the system, he too had a fantastic day.”
From the CRO: It's nice to be
able to show our appreciation for the voluntary work done by our members, even
if it takes some time to happen! Today we had the pleasure of taking former
team member Jim Newton (21 years old, but a very hard paper round he says! He
is actually now 863/4 and having some problems with
arthritis) by team vehicle up to Gaping Gill to meet with former caving
colleagues from Craven Pothole Club and Red Rose Caving Club. Jim, accompanied
by his PA (sorry -
daughter!) also took advantage of the winch to
go down Gaping Gill one more time. As
you will have gathered, Jim still has a tremendous sense of humour, and took
full advantage of the opportunity to discuss past exploits with old friends,
who made him extremely welcome. An ad hoc picnic, and bubbly to celebrate, was
enjoyed by all before we returned Jim back to Clapham for his journey home.
13.
Andy Hall - photographs by Ray Duffy
Read Jim's own story next ....
