Club History And Who We Are
Club History
2008 Celebrating 10 Years of Cheddar Caving Club
Cheddar Caving Club was formed in 1998 by nine local cavers who had been thinking of joining a club and were astonished to find that, despite its famous Showcaves, Cheddar had never had a caving organization of any sort! This seemed reason enough in itself to start one and a constitution was duly drawn up and committee positions filled.
Since then we have expanded slowly but surely and we currently have around 40 members ranging from novices and occasional cavers to the very experienced and fanatical. Here are some of the characters you may chance across, but, be warned, not everything you read may be true!
Who We Are
Chris Lank- ChCC Secretary.
To put it simply, I like caving. I like digging, receiving training, giving training, social trips, hard trips, rope work, leading, solo trips and free diving sumps - I don't mind so long as it
is in a cave.
Tricia Denning Kendall- ChCC Treasurer.
Tricia lives in a cottage in Draycott. During the day she teaches the gory bits about blood transfusion and transplants to postgraduate students in the new blood centre at Filton. Her hobbies apart from caving include growing flowers and veg, building restoration, photography, walking, camping, swimming and kayaking.
Chris Castle- ChCC President/ Training Officer.
The only living founding member unable to smile except by mistake, Mr. C is a part-time poker player and full-time caver, owning a clandestine set of keys to all the showcaves in the world. An eager digger of nightmarish hanging death, Mr. C is a prolific finder of dead ends and potential maybes; in his free time he writes excestential novels.
Brendan Hanley- ChCC Membership Secretary.
Former SAS Instructor, Brendan is now a world famous raconteur, writer of dictionaries and collector of ancient folk songs; he and the chairman can often be seen practising celtic dance routines while chanting in three different languages simultaneously. Brendan likes tea, cake, salads and fluffy toys. He also has a comprehensive collection of illicit weaponry.
Sam Denning Kendall- ChCC New Member CoOrdinator.
Having fled from the responsibility of a desk job, Sam is an Outdoor Instructor by day, and a caving fiend by night. He is often found in CaveClimb, as his alter-ego Shop Boy! A distant relation of a caving legend, he is as much at home underground as he is in a tent. A real outdoor enthusiast, he has never seen the point of working inside. Not that his job is working anyway, he gets paid to play. However it is thought that he will not cope with ‘retirement’.
Anna Peters- ChCC Webmaster.
Graphic designer and all round mac (computer not rain mac) fanatic!
Robin Gray- ChCC Chairman.
Internationally famous curry & chips officianado, Robin is rarely seen mixing socially with plebian types preferring instead to lounge with beatniks, writers and quaffers of the finest wines. Although best known for painting caves - and presently on his third coat at Goughs - he has plans to install a gallery restaurant in Thrupe Lane Swallet.
Steve Pointon- ChCC Equipment Officer.
Steve serves in the Royal Navy. When he is not on the other side of the world fighting terrorists, gun-runners, pirates and jelly-fish he meticulously scrubs the club kit with a toothbrush and irons creases down the legs and arms of the boiler suits. He's got a big piece of tackle too.
Martin Lee- ChCC Journal Editor.
Graphic designer and all round creative type, editor of the club journal. Specialities include professional sock modeling. Enjoys rock climbing, running and walking when not down a tight, muddy hole!
Andy and Rachel Sparrow- ChCC Trip Info and Equipment Hire.
Andy is most famous for inventing wooden caving trousers and the chocolate acetylene lamp! His other achievements include books, instructional videos, films and being personally insulted about his dress sense by David Bowie. Andy is presently banned from Derbyshire after attempting to start a pleasant online conversation.