ON A BENDER: Recent fears amongst some North Sea divers that Irish stout could give them decompression sickness - the bends - while firmly on dry ground were proved groundless according to one of Ireland's leading breweries, Murphy's. The divers were worried that a few pints of Murphy's could give them the bends after they found that liquid nitrogen was used to pump draught Murphy's. It is the presence of nitrogen in the blood that gives divers the bends. A doctor experienced in both diving and diving medicine said after he had conducted what he termed "extensive practical research" he had noticed that "people who drank Murphy's would lose control of their limbs before they became mentally drunk." Although he didn't think that "there could be enough nitrogen in the beer to affect people that much, the nitrogen, however, was partly to blame." The management at the Murphy's brewery in Glasgow thought the entire notion was "ridiculous" and asked the Underwater Centre in Fort William to follow-up the research. This found that although there was some nitrogen getting from the stomach into the bloodstream, it was not in sufficient quantities to cause problems. The people that the doctor had observed were in fact "just pissed".
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Photos of Godre Pentre
When Godre Pentre first began to be converted for caving use, a photographic record was made of the work done. This album of colour photos now resides in the club library. Regretably, it has not been kept up to date for some time. In particular, it does not include any photos of either the front (1991) or back (1992) reroofings or the lining out inside the upstairs back room. If you have photos or slides of any of these activities from which copies can be made, I would be pleased to receive said copies so that I can update the album. If necessary, I will pay for copies, but please discuss with me what photos you have before getting them copied. Other photos of the more recent embelishment of the cottage (building the barbeque, or landscaping the garden, say) would also be gratefully received.