A potholer (m) was reported to have displaced a loose boulder which trapped his leg and broke it in two places on the slope into what was then the final chamber of Gingling Hole. His companions made splints from a camera tripod and a wooden ladder rung before trying to move him. Meanwhile, it was about three and a quarter hours before their club-mate who had gone out for help could raise the alarm. Gradually, potholers from the few other clubs caving at the time became aware and turned up to help. Eventually, a local (non-caving) doctor was allowed underground and he applied a plaster cast while in a low passage (3′ at most) with water flowing through. The casualty was ‘stretchered’ out of the hole on a plank (supplied by the farmer at Rainscar), transferred to Skipton’s (SJAB) motor ambulance and arrived at Skipton Hospital some 30 hours after his accident.
Footnote: An account of the incident which sparked the conception of CRO as a potholers’ mutual aid organisation appears on the Yorkshire Ramblers’ Club website at The Gingling Hole Accident – The Yorkshire Ramblers’ Club (yrc.org.uk), although timings seem to vary on different accounts. The YRC is Britain’s oldest caving club and was also involved, later, in the setting up the the Joint Stretcher Committee, predecessor of Mountain Rescue (England & Wales).