Well, it's nice to see that the journal has finally been produced, so thanks to all those who contributed.

As a group of people dedicated to caving we have had a very successful year. There have been more trips, the meets have been generally full and the club has tackled many of the more challenging holes, such as Quaking, King, Penyghent, Daren Cilau and Spectacle/Vespers. Meets continued to be arranged over the summer vacation of 1987 and look set to do the same this year. Ten of us went to Austria in August/September to explore the Loser Plateau, reported in detail in this journal. Suffice to say that although no great underground discoveries were made, much valuable surface work was carried out. Almost all of us are returning this year on what will be a much larger expedition. It is intended that we will explore a new area of the plateau so there are high hopes for new finds.

The increase in membership has caused problems with accommodation and transport, especially in the first term. This problem is likely to recur next year as very few of us are leaving. Unless there is either plenty of extra accommodation booked for the Yorks 1 and 2 meets or extra meets organised, many people could be disappointed and not be able to go on trips. A rather more drastic alternative might be to introduce some kind of painful initiation ceremony which novices have to endure before they can join!

Having two one-day novice meets was found to be a workable proposition and will probably become the norm if demand merits it. Although it had been intended to do P8, the weather on both days meant "Carlswark was the place" as per usual. Contrary to the words of the club song we didn't lose any without trace and many of the 48 people took up caving properly.

No serious accidents have occurred this year; most of the hazards experienced seem to be related to loose rocks, notably in Austria. I'd just like to warn everyone who is going to Austria for the first time to be extremely cautious of the unstable boulders which are abundant in unexplored caves.

Our relations with SWCC hit a snag this year when they suspected us of being responsible for vandalising the Trident stal in OFD, as we were the only club issued with a permit on the day of the incident. To my knowledge SWCC now accept that we were not involved which presumably implies that the cave was pirated by another party. I should like to take this opportunity to state categorically that the CUCC has no knowledge of who was responsible for this wanton act.

That's about all, I hope you enjoy the Journal.

Jared West