Although EGONS was officially formed in 1966, the antecedents of the club go back to 1960 when Jeff Hague, a teacher at Highdale Secondary School, Clevedon, began to take his 11 to 15 year old pupils on introductory caving trips to Burrington Coombe. For many of these youngsters one trip was enough, but some enjoyed themselves and regularly came back for more. There were also walking and scrambling trips organised by the school to North Wales and the Lake District.
Over a period of some five years, Jeff Hague, assisted by various teachers and with transport supplied by parents, continued to organise occasional caving and weekend away trips, although by this time a number of the pupils had left school but were still joining in.
By the end of 1965 some of the regulars had become quite expert in their skills and wanted something more positive than the occasional trip. With this in mind, the scene was set and the conditions ripe for the formation of a proper club.
In late November 1965 a Sunday caving trip to Burrington was organised. Present on this trip were some of the regulars Guy Saxon, Mike Trow, John Penny, Paul Hillman, Colin Pym, Lynette Author and AN Other. Jeff Hague organised the trip and also present was a guest of Jeff’s, John Harris. After descending Goatchurch Cave in the morning and prior to negotiating Sidcot Swallet Cave, lunch was taken sitting on the manhole cover just upstream from the entrances of the two caves. It was during this lunch break that the discussion got around to the need for a proper club and it was agreed that a formal meeting should be held to formulate the requirements and inaugurate an adventure-type club.
The foundation meeting was held on 24 February 1966 in the library of Clevedon Secondary School, where the dozen people present decided to go ahead and organise a properly constituted club. The first item was to appoint a committee and this was agreed as follows :-
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Chairman :-
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Jeff Hague
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IC Transport :-
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John Penny
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Secretary :-
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Guy Saxon
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Tackle Warden :- | Colin Pym | |
| Treasurer :- | Mike Trow | Committee members :- | John Harris, Chris Bayliss |
The next item of business at this inaugural meeting was the selection of a name for the club. A number of suggestions were put forward, most of them containing some of the constituent words of what is now the club’s name. It was Jeff Hague who put those words into the order that is now used The Exploration Group of North Somerset (EGONS), which was unanimously adopted. It was further agreed at this meeting that a constitution would be prepared for approval at the club’s first Annual General Meeting, which was held later that year on Friday 30 September 1966.
At the first AGM the original committee was formally elected and the explorer and television personality, John Earle was appointed President of the club. Two Vice Presidents were appointed, Bill Body, Headmaster of Clevedon Secondary School; and Frank Collinson, the Area Youth Organiser. By the time of this first AGM there were some 47 members.
Caving, climbing and walking were the main activities of the club at this time and in November 1966 canoeing was introduced to the club’s activities.
For six years the club operated successfully with a varied programme and regular away trips to all parts of the UK and included also, two continental trips to Dinant in Belgium by over a dozen members each time. Membership fluctuated between 30 and 60 members and the club’s regular Thursday evening venue, which had originally been in Clevedon and Portishead, settled in Nailsea for a long period.
Today the club continues to thrive with an emphasis on walking, hill-walking, mountaineering and occasional other outdoor activities, such as cycling, mountain biking, climbing, caving, horse riding and canoeing.
It was at the seventh AGM at Nailsea in September 1972 that the differences between the cavers and climbers came to a head. During the 1971/72 period, the cavers had been less active than usual whilst still dominating the committee, causing resentment amongst the very active climbers. The personality clashes between the main protagonists allowed no compromise and the club split with a majority going off to form the Avon Mountaineering Club (AMC).
From 1972 up to the early 1980’s, the fortunes of EGONS were variable with membership fluctuating between 20 and 40, culminating in a move to a Bristol Thursday night venue in October 1977. The reason for this move to Bristol was to ease travelling problems for the majority of members who lived in Bristol and also in the hope of attracting younger members to the club.
During the mid 1980’s the club diminished to a handful of members and the club’s activities were effectively suspended. About six members who were also friends continued to meet in the Miner’s Rest each Thursday and an Extraordinary General Meeting was held to decide whether the club should be formally wound up and its assets disposed of. Fortunately, it was decided to mount a recruitment drive for new members and EGONS once again regained a larger membership of around 50. Following this revival the 1990’s saw foreign trips to the Ecrin Alps, Majorca and Eire and the affiliation of the club to the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) on 14 January 1994.
Today the club continues to thrive with an emphasis on walking, hill-walking, mountaineering and occasional other outdoor activities, such as cycling, mountain biking, climbing, caving, horse riding and canoeing. John Harris is now an Honorary Member of the club and Jeff Hague plays in a folk/skiffle group with Rick Coyne, another past member.