This is the most British thing I have ever seen. Men dressed like Wurzle Gummage cobbling together a life support system out of an old bike, to adventure into an life threatening underwater cave for no particular reason other than they wanted to see what was on the other side
lol... caving (whether under water or not), is for people who don't need that age old joke about Mt Everest explained to them. (The joke is: Why climb Mt Everest? Because it's there)
This is so great that you are sharing this project with the world now Sid- It is truly amazing. I will not forget how gracious you were in allowing me to use a bit in my project a few years back-- Thanks again and hope you are well!!
Balcombe was an absolute nutter. Remember this is before WW2 and the pioneering work done by the Italian Navy Gruppo Gamma and the human guinae pig experiments into oxygen hypoxia carried out at Portsmout by the Royal Navy in 1942. Even state of the art 'skin'diving kits were rebreathers that used potash to absorb CO2 and the diver had to top up using pure oxygen when they felt a bit 'iffy'. The casualty rate in training the men to use the human torpedoes, The Mialle (Pig) for the Italians and the Chariot for the British, the Italians severely damaged several capital ships in Alexandra harbour. Doing this in a cave with home made kit and no rebreather to absorb CO2... what a legend
That is an amazing document, great reconstructions! Thanks Sid for making it available online. I am still amazed how you did all of that on analog in pre-GoPro times :)
I was in Swildon's many years ago with DSS. We bailed out a sump then 'free dove' through; I like a dying salmon, the fella behind as unconcerned as a swan. Once through, I asked: "Who did this first?" "Braver men than you and I, Gunga Din!" was his cheerful reply. Ain't that the truth. God bless 'em.
Good Stuff. I am a Diver. But I am now Retired with Injuries. But end of the 80's I started Commercial Fishing & as my Son & I would get Hot we started Freediveing & then we're Certified. & Most of our Dives were Spearfishing. & Most of them were in the middle of the Night. I love Flounder & I would Dive Around the Shipwrecks 14 to 22 miles offshore from Daulphin Island Al. At Night with nothing but a Pole spear &2 lights. & Stack Flounder up as I spear them & slid them up on Pole spear. Lots of people called me Crazy for this but I LOVE IT. I JUST WISH MY BACK WOULD LET ME GO AGAIN. I still have 2 Boats & miss it much
I forgot to mention my son and I did our Certification Dives in Cyprus Springs & Vortex Springs & we did a little Cave Diving there. Nothing that Extreme. But you can View them both on here. Most of my Dives were at Night for Flounder with nothing but a Pole spear 2 lights. & Stack them up like pancakes. Miss it
Amazing reconstructions and documentary! I can't believe the insane things they did with such primitive kit. I also can't believe you got to interview one of the Wookey Hole explorers.
one of the most fascinating documentaries i have ever seen, thanks for making this available. what else would you recommend to watch? I have now watched all parts twice!
Looking forward watching you videos. Will you be up at Helwith Bridge again in June? I will be there for my birthday on the first Sunday of that month and probably there on the Saturday as well.
I've just seen that said by Rick Stanton in his new book as well. I'm a diver, who's potentially interested in getting into caving, so it sounds like I wouldn't be able to cut it at the top level!
Did they go into the cave with a suit? the equipment is simple but the cave and water still remain just wonder new technology nowadays... full of respect
Love the fact that they had the best possible equipment.. A modern day re-breather ( a old cycle pump from the newly formed company... GRANDADS SHE'D...Also ( Raleigh) cycles.. We're at the cutting edge,, and far ahead of the diving equipment companies of the day... There 26inch inertube.. Was miles ahead in oxy tank design.. And there tandem the 4x4 of the day.. But by far the best equipment of the day was that they had bigger BALLS in their long john wet suits
I think I've figured it out. Ppl from the European region basically landed there. They are not from earth. They are from a very hostile elaborate difficult place. That's why things like sky diving and cave diving and just diving and meddling in general come so easy for them. Without yt ppl, we wouldn't know what the top or bottom felt like because we stay in the middle where we can breathe 😂
World Wide. Although their were a few lone adventurous souls before hand, such as Martel* the oldest caving clubs in the world and also the first cave diving club, the CDG (Cave Diving Group) were all formed in England. It's where caving and cave diving were first established as an outdoor pursuit. These men were the Pioneers. I believe the BEC (Bristol Exploration Club) is the oldest caving club formed by students of Bristol University, closely followed by the Wessex, both based in the Mendips. Members of the Wessex also formed the SWCC (South Wales Caving Club) which is the 4th oldest caving club. Also known as 'Son of Wessex Caving Club' by Wessex Members!😁 The BEC's motto is 'The BEC get Everywhere'. The Wessex's motto is 'Ubiquitous Primus' (Everywhere first!). As you can tell there's a friendly rivalry between the clubs including various silly but fun competitions. *If you want to know more about Martel here's a link. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard-Alfred_Martel
@@speleokeir mostly good info but a couple of corrections the b.e.c (Bristol exploration club founded 1935) has partially been confused with the u.b.s.s (university of Bristol speleological society founded 1919) the first of the Mendip caving clubs was the m.n.r.c (Mendip nature research club/committee founded in 1906) unless you count the w.n.h.a.s (wells natural history and archaeological society founded a long time before) while not primarily a caving club in the 1890s did the first systematic scientific and sport based exploration of the caves of Mendip around the same time in Yorkshire groups like the Yorkshire ramblers and other mountaineering groups were making the first descents of Yorkshires potholes and caves again none of these were caving only but some did more caving than mountaineering during this period. apologies for the whole "umm aktually" i feel a bit pedantic typing this and yer i did have to check my copy of Mendip underground for some of those dates
what would be way more fun that this bullshit would be to take that yellow suit and hang out behind a bar and scare drunk people. now that's a good time!
This is the most British thing I have ever seen. Men dressed like Wurzle Gummage cobbling together a life support system out of an old bike, to adventure into an life threatening underwater cave for no particular reason other than they wanted to see what was on the other side
who the fuck wears semi-casual dress clothes to go diving? is this some kind of troll?
@@truescotsman4103 Get my dinner jacket. The water might be cold.
@@truescotsman4103 They wore similar clothing when climbing Everest in that period too lol.
Hands down the greatest comment ever written on UA-cam
lol... caving (whether under water or not), is for people who don't need that age old joke about Mt Everest explained to them. (The joke is: Why climb Mt Everest? Because it's there)
This is so great that you are sharing this project with the world now Sid- It is truly amazing. I will not forget how gracious you were in allowing me to use a bit in my project a few years back-- Thanks again and hope you are well!!
Its so important to tell their story. Great tribute. They won't be forgotten.
Incredible. Many Thanks.
Balcombe was an absolute nutter. Remember this is before WW2 and the pioneering work done by the Italian Navy Gruppo Gamma and the human guinae pig experiments into oxygen hypoxia carried out at Portsmout by the Royal Navy in 1942. Even state of the art 'skin'diving kits were rebreathers that used potash to absorb CO2 and the diver had to top up using pure oxygen when they felt a bit 'iffy'. The casualty rate in training the men to use the human torpedoes, The Mialle (Pig) for the Italians and the Chariot for the British, the Italians severely damaged several capital ships in Alexandra harbour.
Doing this in a cave with home made kit and no rebreather to absorb CO2... what a legend
That is an amazing document, great reconstructions! Thanks Sid for making it available online. I am still amazed how you did all of that on analog in pre-GoPro times :)
Thank you so much for uploading this. Such an interesting documentary. I can see I'm going to spend a couple of hours watching the whole series now.
Wookey hole, amazing cave complex. It is where the river Axe begins.. Doesn't get as much attention as Cheddar Gorge.
I was in Swildon's many years ago with DSS. We bailed out a sump then 'free dove' through; I like a dying salmon, the fella behind as unconcerned as a swan. Once through, I asked: "Who did this first?" "Braver men than you and I, Gunga Din!" was his cheerful reply. Ain't that the truth. God bless 'em.
Thanks for putting this up Sid. I first saw it on TV not long after I started caving at university. Just as good as I remember.
Good Stuff. I am a Diver. But I am now Retired with Injuries. But end of the 80's I started Commercial Fishing & as my Son & I would get Hot we started Freediveing & then we're Certified. & Most of our Dives were Spearfishing. & Most of them were in the middle of the Night. I love Flounder & I would Dive Around the Shipwrecks 14 to 22 miles offshore from Daulphin Island Al. At Night with nothing but a Pole spear &2 lights. & Stack Flounder up as I spear them & slid them up on Pole spear. Lots of people called me Crazy for this but I LOVE IT. I JUST WISH MY BACK WOULD LET ME GO AGAIN. I still have 2 Boats & miss it much
I forgot to mention my son and I did our Certification Dives in Cyprus Springs & Vortex Springs & we did a little Cave Diving there. Nothing that Extreme. But you can View them both on here. Most of my Dives were at Night for Flounder with nothing but a Pole spear 2 lights. & Stack them up like pancakes. Miss it
….and of course they’re wearing suit jackets to attempt their first ever cave dive - lol
I wish they had video cameras. Life would have been a lot easier than it was filming on 16mm film. Quality would have been a lot better too.
divers in our days are having hight tech equipment...but those first divers...were..creazy thinkers !...
As an Engineering student in the 60's I used to build some of their kit.
Brilliant film Sid - thankyou very much for posting as I had been trying to get a copy of this for years!!
Awesome!
Thank you for showing us your great work.
Absolute legends. I am in awe of this!
This is ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE!!!! I Cannot thank you enough for all the accurate historical videos.
Wow
What a fantastic series.
Absolutely magnificent stuff, thank you Sir!
Absolutely incredible. Thanks for this.
So Marriott was, quite possibly, the first cave diving death, ever.
I love this documentary.
This was an awesome production!
Cave divers are generally a bit bonkers but this lot were barking mad. Respect!
One of the best books I ever read.
It’s men like these who paved paths for those two British divers who ultimately found the Thai boys
Thank you Sid, Fantastic!
Amazing reconstructions and documentary! I can't believe the insane things they did with such primitive kit. I also can't believe you got to interview one of the Wookey Hole explorers.
Thank you Sid, will watch it with pleasure!
So nice that the narrator speaks without fuss or drama. Superb.
one of the most fascinating documentaries i have ever seen, thanks for making this available. what else would you recommend to watch? I have now watched all parts twice!
Check out "Touching the Void". It's a documentary/reenactment about a mountaineering expedition and it's excellent!
Is this an amateur production? It's superbly made and a fascinating subject, about some very brave and possibly crazy people!
I believe Sid worked freelance, but sold the idea to the BBC. I suspect he only had a tiny budget.
Very interesting series, enjoying it!
Incredible!
All four Parts are there Luke Silvan.
that's is a great series thanks Sid
All while wearing a blazer lol
Looking forward watching you videos. Will you be up at Helwith Bridge again in June? I will be there for my birthday on the first Sunday of that month and probably there on the Saturday as well.
You made this? This is great! Thank you, you did a really good job! :)
these fellows were absolutely bonkers back in the day with no gear
Thank you so much for sharing !
Man that rubberized mask is the stuff of nightmares haha
Brave men
Oliver Lloyd used to say that a Cave Diver should be a Caver that could dive , not a Diver that could cave.
I've just seen that said by Rick Stanton in his new book as well. I'm a diver, who's potentially interested in getting into caving, so it sounds like I wouldn't be able to cut it at the top level!
man this is we call present day is was legendary hero who die on such discovery adventure to explore deep cave freshwater
I'm late to the party, it's 2021, but this is awesome. Thanks.
Did they go into the cave with a suit? the equipment is simple but the cave and water still remain just wonder new technology nowadays... full of respect
They sure had great video cameras back in the day.
Brilliant
He has a long sleeve blazer on going into freezing water in a hole in the ground
Love the fact that they had the best possible equipment.. A modern day re-breather ( a old cycle pump from the newly formed company... GRANDADS SHE'D...Also ( Raleigh) cycles.. We're at the cutting edge,, and far ahead of the diving equipment companies of the day... There 26inch inertube.. Was miles ahead in oxy tank design.. And there tandem the 4x4 of the day.. But by far the best equipment of the day was that they had bigger BALLS in their long john wet suits
thanks for posting
Balcombe, a legend !
ha that first guy to cave dive was wearing like a suit and dress pants when he dove in.
Crazy.. But I think you were all amazing.
I think I've figured it out. Ppl from the European region basically landed there. They are not from earth. They are from a very hostile elaborate difficult place. That's why things like sky diving and cave diving and just diving and meddling in general come so easy for them. Without yt ppl, we wouldn't know what the top or bottom felt like because we stay in the middle where we can breathe 😂
I have question is this the beginning of cavediving worldwide or just in the uk. Me myself dond know a thing about caving let alone cave diving....
World Wide. Although their were a few lone adventurous souls before hand, such as Martel* the oldest caving clubs in the world and also the first cave diving club, the CDG (Cave Diving Group) were all formed in England. It's where caving and cave diving were first established as an outdoor pursuit. These men were the Pioneers.
I believe the BEC (Bristol Exploration Club) is the oldest caving club formed by students of Bristol University, closely followed by the Wessex, both based in the Mendips. Members of the Wessex also formed the SWCC (South Wales Caving Club) which is the 4th oldest caving club. Also known as 'Son of Wessex Caving Club' by Wessex Members!😁
The BEC's motto is 'The BEC get Everywhere'. The Wessex's motto is 'Ubiquitous Primus' (Everywhere first!). As you can tell there's a friendly rivalry between the clubs including various silly but fun competitions.
*If you want to know more about Martel here's a link.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard-Alfred_Martel
@@speleokeir mostly good info but a couple of corrections the b.e.c (Bristol exploration club founded 1935) has partially been confused with the u.b.s.s (university of Bristol speleological society founded 1919) the first of the Mendip caving clubs was the m.n.r.c (Mendip nature research club/committee founded in 1906) unless you count the w.n.h.a.s (wells natural history and archaeological society founded a long time before) while not primarily a caving club in the 1890s did the first systematic scientific and sport based exploration of the caves of Mendip around the same time in Yorkshire groups like the Yorkshire ramblers and other mountaineering groups were making the first descents of Yorkshires potholes and caves again none of these were caving only but some did more caving than mountaineering during this period.
apologies for the whole "umm aktually" i feel a bit pedantic typing this and yer i did have to check my copy of Mendip underground for some of those dates
Graham Balcombe... when MEN WERE MEN!
Ahh! Visibility. Lights. We had none of that in Vietnam. Solid black. Also, not a good idea to wear fins.
Very good！
Super watch....
My dudes down there in his best suite.watch that tie don’t get caught bro 😎
Thank you :-)
My mum grew up in Wookey hole my auntie n uncle live there such a nice place
Wow.
6:17 Keep pumping :-)))
100% oxygen at 20 foot deep is deadly. Good show.
Insane...lol
Some serious bollox on them lads
Ill stick to my mine exploring lol
I could do this shit on one breath hold
Nineteen 'freakin' forty five!
D red rrrrr
I knew this was England because they went cave diving in suits
what would be way more fun that this bullshit would be to take that yellow suit and hang out behind a bar and scare drunk people. now that's a good time!
Pump faster
So many other things to do in life that are so much better and SAFER than this stupid crap. NOT WORTH IT.
Endo Cannabinoid who are you to decide that for them?
True lol why do u wanna go under water? nothing new there it’s just water