I was sad to read of the death of my old classmate Bob Gannicott (Other lives, 29 October) but not surprised to learn about his eventful life. As a teenager, Bob had amazing nerve, shown in various scrapes at Bristol grammar school and in his obsessive interest in the sport of caving. He accompanied parties from Bristol University, while he was still taking his O-levels, to deep caves in France, having exhausted those of his native Mendips, though he took a small group of us down Swildon’s Hole, through two sumps, without adult supervision, but with absolute confidence and competence.
