Before I go any further, I would like to apologise for any errors in the journal - the ones that look like spelling mistakes are typing errors; those that look like typing errors are spelling mistakes; accents, cedillas, and umlauts are missing from Jont's article because my typewriter doesn't know any languages except Pidgin English; factual errors are deliberate and are designed to test your general knowledge.

During the last year, there have been some changes in the club: one of then is the increase in private meets, with just a car-load of cavers going away for a weekend, enabling a far wider range of caves to be done; another change I have noticed is in the method of training novices. As a novice in my first year, I felt that the instruction given was not sufficient. We were not shown how to cave but rather were led down a pothole and then led back, learning very little in the process. It is all too easy for leaders to rig pitches, lifeline people and lead the way all the tine without showing the novices these techniques. Certainly you pick some things up as you go along just by seeing them done, but it is no substitute for being shown and being allowed to practice them.

This year, however, the system has changed. Novices have been taken down potholes for a few trips with experienced cavers and have then been allowed to do something fairly easy by themselves. Thus a group of novices can put to use the technique it has seen eg. rigging, DLs, etc. and because they are on their own they are extremely careful, checking everything thoroughly. In an article in Descent No. 22, entitled "A new approach to the training of novices in caving" Fred Davies says "the novice is tempted to relinquish all responsibility for his safety to the experienced leader when in fact everyone should feel strongly responsible for their own safety". By letting the novices go caving on their own it is hoped that they will learn the need for personal responsibility as well as more general techniques.

Unfortunately, as we are so far away from the nearest caving area, meets during term are limited and so training has to be done fairly quickly if the novice is to progress to potholes of any severity. Therefore, it isn't really convenient to train novices in exactly the way Fred Davies suggests but our way does at least combine some of the advantages and the need for training to be slightly quicker than perhaps is desirable.

You may have noticed that the printing has changed slightly this year (the line spacing is smaller). This is because we felt that it looked better and also because it enabled us to cut down on the cost of paper used for printing so that we could afford to print some surveys. Therefore, although the journal has fewer pages than last year it is even better value than ever.