OFD1 - 2nd December

            After all the rain we had over the past couple of days we knew that the stream way would not be passable, so after meeting up at SWCC we split into two groups, one went into OFD2 while the rest of us went into OFD1. So with the tickets filled in we walked down to the bottom entrance, once inside the cave it was not long before we could here the roar of the stream.

Left - Michael descending the entrance ladder. Right - Kingsley on the traverse line.

At Pluto’s Bath we crossed over so that we could get a closer look at the stream which was flowing well, we then continued onwards as is we were doing the normal round trip, but we stopped at where the step is (although the step was about 18ins under water, with the water all very bubbly). From here we retraced our steps and then entered the dryescape route, crawling through the puddles and then onto the traverse lines over the streamway. We then had a couple of climbs before getting into the big stuff, which is where we did quite a bit of exploring. Anyway we continued onwards past all the nice pretty sections and then started our descent down to Lowes Passage and eventually back to the streamway which was still looking a bit wild. From here we retraced our steps back out making a nice enjoyable trip, once back outside the weather had improved no end for our walk back up to the vehicles where we met up with the other group who had also had a nice trip.

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Cwm Dwr - 4th November
            Today's trip proved to be very popular, so we had to make up two groups. We then slipped down the entrance pipes and were soon at the crawl, which again I had to clear a bit before pushing through, we then eventually popped up into larger passage. Our next obstacle was the choke, it was now easy walking and climbing with the traverses chucked in for good measure. We got down to where the Maypole stands and then continued down to the Confluence where both streamways meet.

Left - Having a rest. Right - Jan emerging from the entrance.

From here we did a bit of exploring trying to find another way back which looks possible on the survey, but could not quite work the passages out, so we returned the same route as we came in, but explored a bit more just before the choke which is where we though that we should have popped out if we had found the missing passage. Anyway from here we continued on out where we caught up with the other group in the crawl just before the entrance, so we all exited the cave together.

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Agen Allwedd Breakthrough Anniversary trip 13th October
            This trip was organised to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the breakthrough into Main Passage of Agen Allwedd. The day started with our walk up to the entrance where we were to have a small celebration with cake and champagne, this was slightly delayed due to the fact that Kingsley had to return back to the vehicles to pick up the entrance key. Anyway once he had returned, Kingsley cut the cake while Adrian opened the champagne (if only all caving trips started like this) then it was time for the serious stuff (caving).

Left - Resting at Main Passage. Right - Adrian pouring out the champange.

The first group went in and managed to get some videoing done of the trip plus a few photos. When we had managed to get to the breakthrough point (Barons Chamber) the second group had caught us up, so we were able to take a group photo at the start of Main Passage and listen to a interview of what it was like to have broken through into this vast passage 50 year ago. We then broke down into small groups and continued onto the Music Stand when again we regrouped and had a chat with photo shoot. From here we broke up into our smaller groups and leaving a good gap between us we started our way back out. Once outside the daylight had started to disappear giving a fine end to this calibration day.

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Dan yr Ogof 7th October

            Today trip should have been Tunnel cave, but as the through trip cannot be done as yet (it should be doable within a couple of weeks) and we did not fancy going in through Tunnel top entrance and back out again through the top, we decided to give Dan-yr-Ogof a go. Just the four of us on this trip and with the weather being dry, we had no worries about rising water. We met up at 10.00am and slipped into our wetsuits (or pushed ourselves in should I say), and then headed up to the cave entrance and through the showcave.

Left - Flabbergasm Passage. Right - Michael in the Cattle Trough.

The lakes were low, although we could see foam on the roof where the water had been up to, we then made our way up to Straw Chamber and onto the Long Crawl, passing a group who were digging. We then dropped down into Gerard Platten Hall, skirting the Crystal Pool, then some of us visited Flabbergasm before continuing down the Grand Canyon with its fine display of Helictites, through Monk Hall and into Cloud Chamber with its fantastic array of straws. Next came the Green Canal and luckily enough all of the floatation aids were at this end, so once we were all kitted up, in we went and the water felt very cold making the canal seem longer than normal, anyway we all made it over and we got moving again in order to get warm. At the Abyss, there is now a new stainless steel ladder which aids the descent down the tube, we were then in Thixotropic Passage with all of its worm casts and we could actually see the worms crawling around, next we dropped down into the Bakerloo Stright past the Washing Machine and popped back out into Gerard Platten Hall completing the round trip, it was then just a case of nipping back along the Long Crawl, back through the lakes and into the showcave where there was no general public to spot our lamps appearing from the darkness. Once back outside we could really noticed the rise in temperature, well we all enjoyed this trip and wondered why it had been so long since visiting this great cave, we will be back very soon.

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French Expedition to Vercors
After  leaving damp UK and crossing misty channel we arrived  in France, where it was still raining (very hard in places, even double speed wipers could not clear windscreen). Anyway we continued heading south and eventually came to blue skies and sunshine. Once we were in the Vercors area our first stop had to be a cave (a showcave for starters). We then went and found ourselves a campsite as the one we had planned to use was very busy. We camped at the top of the Borne Gorge which proved to be ideal as  there was more  space and far better  views. During our  stay here we went out  for quite a  few  nice walks. Our  first was  to  find the Berger which was  a  pleasant walk  through  the  forest,  looking  at  other  cave  entrances en route. Another fine walk was a high level walk skirting the high peaks that are visible from the top end of the Borne Gorge. Others walks took  place  that  involved  looking  for  cave  entrances while  soaking  up  all those sun rays. Another day was spent doing some Via Ferrata up a very exposed rock face with fantastic views and vultures flying below (awaiting the remains of a fallen climber for lunch). This was very much enjoyed by all of us, especially when we had made to the top and we could eventually rest our arms.

Left - Jan looking at formations in Grotte  de Bournillon. Right - Pauline abseiling into Reseau Christian Gathier

As for the caving we  had  some  very  good  trips  including Grotte  de Bournillon which  has  the  largest  cave  entrance in France. Some of the caves we did involved some rope work and SRT. Another cave that we would have loved to have done required a boat to get across the lake first, so next time we come down here we will be bringing a boat. Well this turned out to be a superb expedition for our club, with a nice clean camp site, plenty of walking and caving opportunities. The fine weather except for one day when we had a few showers with thunder rumbling around the mountains but very warm. The only downside was that Paul and Jo were unable to join us, especially after all the planning and that Paul was so looking forward to joining up with us down there. A full write up on this event will be published in the next Newsletter.

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OFD2 5th August 2007

Whilst some of us were away in France, club trip was a bit thin on the ground. But Kingsley, Ann and Jennifer (first time caving with us) had a nice easy day exploring around the OFD2 area. Not much more that I can write about as I was not on the trip.

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Cwm Dwr 1st July 2007

Another change in caving trip locations due to adverse weather conditions. We were suppose to be doing Little Neath River Cave but with the heavy rain over the past week and especially yesterday we changed location to meeting up at SWCC. Once everyone had arrived we had a quick discussion on where we wanted to go and Cwr Dwr was decided upon. So with the ticket filled in, we headed off to the entrance. We went straight down the pipe with a steady stream following so were getting wet straight away. The first three of our group headed straight into the crawl while the rest of us had to dig out the beginning so that we could follow on through.

Left - Pauline under one of the many waterfalls. Right - Ann, Jan, Pauline and Kingsley crossing a stream.

Next challenge was the boulder choke and the stream was flowing well where we had to crawled through it before emerging out at a higher level. At the traverse we had a bit of a discussion as to whether this was the correct way on, so after a few other passages were explored we then decided that the traverse was the way on. After crossing we were then into bigger passage which we followed all the way down to the stream-way. This was emitting plenty on noise and looked un-inviting. From here we explored a few more passages and walked under some impressive waterfalls, which would normally be only a trickle in normal weather conditions. There were also plenty of photographs taken trying to catch the power of the water falling. From here we then retraced our steps back as we were not 100% sure of the round trip and we had to keep a eye on the time as last call-out to-day was 4 o’clock. It took us 1.5 hours to get from the stream-way  to the gate, which meant that we got out in plenty of time.
            We then heard that while we had been caving, Paul Hartwright had been down walking around the Little Neath area. He reported that the Little Neath River Cave entrance was totally under water and that the grass alongside the river had been flatted by the river not too long ago.

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OFD1 24th June 2007

This trip should have been Dan-yr-Ogof, but with all the rain that we have had over the past week we thought that we would give it a miss. So instead we headed up to SWCC and filled in a ticket for OFD1, we then walked down to the entrance as there was already a group parked in the lower lay-by. As we opened the gate, the first thing that hit us was the strong draught. So onwards to Pluto’s bath where we could now here the streamway, but we continued around until we got to the step. The water level was just below the step, so we headed up stream, water was flowing well and we could still see the scaffold tubes over the pots.

Left - Rupert, Jan and Pauline in streamway. Right - Rupert on Bolt Traverse.

At Lowes chain, the chain is no more, instead we now have a knotted rope, once I was up we were then able to make use of our new stepped slings. From here it was just a matter of following the dry escape route back, looking at the well known Bees Knees followed by the flat out crawl and the slide down the tube before making use of our cows tails for the bolted traverse. A few of us looked at the Airy Fairy traverse before continuing out along the normal route back to where we started. A enjoyable trip, as had been a while since caving in OFD1 plus it was Rupert's first trip in this part of the cave.

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Ogof Capel 3rd June 2007

            We met up by the lime kilns as if we were caving in Craig a Ffynnon. Our caving team were Ann, Jan, Pauline and myself.  Paul had intended to cave but unfortunately he had left his light on charge at home, so he and Kingsley went exploring the Clydach Gorge. Once changed into caving kit, we all walked down past the Drum and Monkey and over to the otherside of the A465. We then climbed the ladder up into Ogof Gelynnen where the water was flowing at a very steady pace so we did not get wet. From here we crawled our way through the dig and eventually popped out the other side of the sump in Ogof Capel. Next we crawled under the main road hoping that a heavy lorry was not about to drop through.

Left - Straws backlit in Ogof Capel Right - More fine formations in Ogof Capel

I quickly opened the gate and then we were all in. After carefully locking the gate behind us we continued past many fine straws and formations following the well taped path which kept us mostly in a small stream-way. The further we progressed in the better the formations were. Stopping every now and then to take photographs you could see a lot more finer formations in between the straws. On one corner we saw blue helectites which must had dissolved a bit of copper ore. To continue on we had to crawl through a couple of low sections where we had to lie down in the stream-way which was flowing towards us, and yes the water was very cold! This whole cave is very finely decorated with formations and especially straws. In fact, after a while we would be just walking past straws which if they were in another cave we would have stopped to admire them, but there were so many in here it would take all day to do this trip if we stopped at every bunch of straws. After a while we eventually came to what looked like a very low duck, or the start of one of the sumps, so it was at this point that we turned around. This point was also marked by another cluster of formations including some that looked like ferns. Exiting the cave was a lot quicker due to the fact that I was not stopping every five minutes to take photos.  I would very much want to do a return trip here as the possibilities in this cave for really nice photos are endless, with all the formations and a stream-way. Once outside we started our walk back to the vehicles where we met up with Kingsley and Paul. After having something to eat we all went for a walk back into the Clydach Gorge looking at various digs and caves, which proved to be quite a interesting afternoon.

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Ogof Draenen 1st April 2007
Kingsley, Julia, Wolf , Alan and I (Jan) all met up in the car park on a fine sunny day, just the sort of day we usually decide to go caving! "I hope somebody knows the gate number I exclaimed". After a lot of random numbers were put forward, together with some worried expressions, I declared it was April !st after all! Yup of course I knew the number.We slithered down the entrance, and despite the grunts and groans coming from behind me, we all arrived safely at the top of the pitch. Meandering up Gilwern Passage (we usually leg it up here en route to places far afield) but today we studied the formations and the crystals more intensely. Arriving at St Illtyds Chamber it was established that Alan was not a happy bunny, and keen to see the light of day we headed back to the sunshine.

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OFD2 4th March 2007
After driving through heavy rain to get to Penwyllt we were surprised to see just how low the rivers were both from Dan-yr-Ogof and OFD1. We expected them to be in full flood. Anyway we all met up, filled tickets out and got kitted up in this heavy rain. The plan for today was to try and do some videoing so that we could have a go at making a short film.  Paul was in charge of camera and I provided the flood lighting. As it was raining so hard outside we had no chance of filming the walk up to the cave which was a bit of a shame but once inside filming started straight away. We then moved down the passage a bit further to where the water falls at a major junction. Here we lit the passage up and everyone walked through from behind the water.

Left - River flowing well at bottom of road leading up to Penwyllt, this river was flowing at normal levels only 6 hours ago. Right - Paul filming us as we had a rest.

The next section was the Brickyard. Again Paul filmed us entering, then followed one person all the way through and up the climb to the  higher level. Some filming was also done around the Wedding Cake area and then the climb down into Salubrious. Here we did quite a bit of filming with the sound of the water flowing as we progressed slowly down Salubrious. We came to the waterfall where you have to traverse this was filmed from above and below. A few more shots were done en route. Next came the Trident and Judge which were both filmed before we moving into Swamp Creek. Here we noticed that the water levels seemed quite high but we kept filming as the sound effects were good with cold flowing water and people getting wet. Afterwards we headed up towards the pitch down the Nave. It was along this passage that we saw the effects of heavy rain outside, as what is normally a bit of a dripping water flow from the roof was streaming giving excellent sound. We spent a little while up here looking at the formations and fossils before making our way back to Salubrious. Here we noticed that the water had risen at least six inches since we left it about 3/4 of an hour ago. So we started to head back out now. No filming was done going back up Salubrious as the camera battery was getting a bit low now. Once we got back to Gnome Passage we starting to get warm again. We had a quick eating stop here as Paul wanted this as part of the film. As we got back into the main entrance passage, Paul set himself up again with the camera and I floodlit the passage. We filmed everyone walking past the camera with the formations in the background and out of the cave. As the last person passed I followed with the light while Paul kept filming, so hopefully this will produce a good ending to the film. I kept the light on in front of me and just kept walking until we were all out of sight of the camera. When Allen opened the gate he got drenched by a gush of water which had built up behind it. Once outside the rain was still poring down. It is hoped to show this film at our Annual Dinner in just over a weeks time. If it comes out ok then we will have another go at a longer film with a story line to it as this will give it more interest. Today’s efforts were just to see what could be produced using a handheld video camera and a single flood light. We all enjoyed today and had a good laugh. At least we choose the right day to be underground (not much fun walking in this heavy rain).

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Agen Allwedd 4th February 2007
Today’s trip was planned at our last committee meeting as we wanted to return to have a look at our old dig in Erse Passage to see if there was any enthusiasm to restart it again. We also had a new person come along to meet us and do a trip with us. We met up in Crickhowell as normal we where left some vehicles, only taking the minimum up to the escarpment. Once kitted up we started our walk up to the entrance on this nice warm sunny morning. Kingsley filled the book in as we all entered. We took this entrance series at a nice steady pace. En route we noticed plenty of bats plus another group on the way out. At Main Passage we stopped for a while, then we made our way down this passage passing the entrance to Main Streamway until we got to the Erse turning.

Left - relaxing in Erse Passage. Right - Paul testing for any draught.

This is where we started our exploration of this area. There was no draught detected as we crawled through the tight entrance series into Erse. Many little cracks and holes were checked but there was no sign of a draught. In the caves defence, the air temperature outside would have been very close to cave temperature. However we did detect a small movement of air between the second and final chamber. We decided to investigate this on the way back so we then continued into the final chamber which contained the two digs. Both of these digs were digging into solid material with no air gaps to detect any draught. This meant that digging here is a game of chance. We may break through into another chamber/passage within a hour or so or we could keep digging for a long time and eventually pop out in the Clydach Gorge!!!! We then turned around and spent quite a while trying to detect the source of this small movement of air, including a rather dodgy climb up into another chamber above. When I had climbed up I found that this linked to another high level chamber but with no way on. We decided that this small movement of air was probably caused by our own body heat rising into these two higher chambers and then dropping back down the other side before doing the circle again. With this we then headed back out into Main Passage and explored some other passages above the streamway but below Erse. Some of these will require a bit of kit to be able to enter, so as with many other caving trips we do, this one will have to wait for another day. After regrouping in Main Passage we then started our way out. This is where Julia’s light started to fade in the Boulder Choke so a back up LED Petzl was brought out. Again this entrance series was taken at a steady pace. We then caught up with another group exiting the cave (and we thought we were going steady). At a convenient spot we were able to overtake and from here there was no holding us back and daylight was awaiting us. After a few photos to mark our achievement, we started the walk back down to our vehicles with hot flasks and food awaiting. This was not one of our most taxing caving trips but it was enjoyed by all, including Adrian Fray who had not been serious caving for ?????? years. Hopefully it won’t be another ????? years before we see you underground again.

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Craig a Ffynnon—6th January
            Not breaking with tradition, our first club trip of the year was Craig a Ffynnon. However, traditionally the  weather has been a bit drier. Anyway we decided to meet as normal by the limekilns in the pouring rain. Knowing that we would not get very far into the cave we thought that as we were there anyway that we would go in and just see what it is like under flood conditions. As we walked up towards the entrance we passed a couple of places where water was forced out of the ground. At the entrance there was a lot of water emitting from the base of the cliff to the right of the entrance. Inside the cave seemed so much more pleasurable compared to outside . Anyway we continued in to the first chamber, filled in the book and continued onwards again. We could hear the flow of water in the distance. Then we climbed up the calcited slope into the nice chamber with the fine displayed of straws in the roof. From here we could then see the flow of water so we headed down and steadily entered this flow. Following the stream to the first boulder choke we found the water was falling at great speed down the two so called fixed ladders. These ladders were fun to climb as you could not look up when changing from one ladder to the other. Once up it was all calm again in this chamber. We then went over to look at the way on which is normally a quiet little stream. Well this stream was still reasonably quiet but not so little.

Left - Jan firing flash in front of herself. Right - Water flowing down first boulder choke.

We could see that there was still some air space in the first section which is normally just a stoop but the next low bit would have been filled to the roof. So at this point I climbed back down through the first boulder choke to take pictures while Jan and Pauline went exploring another passage leading off this chamber. We re-grouped at the chamber with the straws and then steadily made our way back out with Kingsley. Back outside the rain was still pouring down so we walked back down to the vehicles, past the Drum and Monkey pub and through underpass to the other side of the dual carriageway. We then went down to the Ogof Capel entrances. The first route we took was the so called dry route. This involved climbing the fixed ladder nicely located under a waterfall. At least it cleaned our suits before entering the cave. Then after a short stooped section it was crawling for a while before emerging into a chamber which is the other side of the sump. At the top of a slope in this chamber there were some very strong roof supports, put in as we are now only a couple of metres underneath the dual carriageway. To the left is the way on though a unstable boulder choke. We did not enter this choke as there is now a gate in position and we did not have the key. So we returned to the entrance where some of us enjoyed a quick shower under the waterfall. We then went up the other original Ogof Capel entrance where the water was shooting out. Once inside things were a bit quieter. We then visited this side of the sump.
            So we did not manage to do our original intended club trip today due to adverse weather conditions but we all enjoyed just poking around the very first bits of Craig a Ffynnon and seeing it in flood. Plus it was interesting to see the sump by-pass in Ogof Capel. We have now decided that we will organise a key for this cave so that we can visit it before the proposed road works probably block the access altogether. 

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