I humbly submit that it was I, who in 1959, collected the names and addresses of those who would become the original members of the WMCEG. In October and November of that year I invited them all to meet at a pub in Park Street, Birmingham, and at the second meeting the WMCEG was formed.
I was the only person who knew everyone present. The first meeting was for everyone to get to know each other. It worked! At the end of that meeting I asked if those present had enjoyed the evening. I was amazed at the enthusiasm shown. I asked if they would like to meet again in 2 weeks, and got a solid affirmative.
At that second meeting the group was formed. We had all had the similar experience of not being able to find anyone prepared to properly train us as novices. We also were very keen to pursue any opportunity to upgrade our caving. That meant equipment, particularly ladders, which were expensive. A simple subscription was voted into the rules as a way of collecting the funds necessary to obtain the equipment.
I was only 17 years old. I had no experience of running meetings, and yet, I knew it had to be done properly. I invited my father, Jack Fell, who died in 1975, to run the meetings for us. He agreed to do that, but said he would not come caving. That was OK by me. However, hearing our stories got the better of him, and he joined us underground not too long afterwards.
Bob Pulford always believed that it was my father who founded the group. I tried to put the matter straight, but I don’t think he believed me. When I told my mother this, she wrote to Bob, confirming that my account was true.
I have done a number of things in my life for which I have good feelings, and one of the best I ever did was bringing the WMCEG into reality. It ran for about 50 years! If you had told me that on the second Wednesday of November 1959, I would not have believed you!
My son, Jonathan, found an account of your 2017 meet-up in Derbyshire on the internet, which has prompted this contact.
I hope you will be able to include me in any further get-togethers you arrange. I have lots of paper cuttings and photos I am sure you would find of interest. I live at Curdworth, Sutton Coldfield.
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