Half of the Draenen Round Trip

Today's trip involved George, Jas, Jonny, Bartek and Dave as well as multiple parts of Ogof Draenen. Although it involved fewer parts of Draenen than first planned, as will become apparent.

Anticipating that the Round Trip would take 10-12 hours with navigation and photography, it was an early-ish start into the cave. True to form, Bambi (aka Dave) took a very impressive slide on some mud by the cars, falling flat on his back before the caving had even begun. Suddenly those slippery Draenen boulders didn't seem like such a good idea…

Heading in through the new entrance that joins Upstream Passage, we made a strong start to the trip, making it to Elliptic Passage in just over two hours. This was despite post-Christmas lethargy in some members of the party, and Bambi’s nemesis: the horribly slippy boulders throughout much of Upstream and White Arch Passages.

Passing into Wyvern Hall, the way on was easy to find, not least because several members of the party had got totally lost in this section of cave a year or two ago, and thus lots of it looked very familiar! Armed with the description of the cave, we made rapid progress through the various tortuous rifts and passages to Isotonic Weirdways and from there to Ponderosa Chamber via more rifts, a tight upwards squeeze and a slightly sketchy traverse. (The traverse was fine in itself; it was getting onto it with all the loose rock that was the less pleasant part).

A quick photography shoot in Ponderosa Chamber was in order before we hunted around for the Didgeridoo Pitch. Having found this, we debated whether it was indeed the correct way on and not merely some horrible slither into an inescapable abyss. Despite the in-situ rope being described as a “handline” in the description (which incidentally is excellent) this was very clearly a full-on pitch, albeit one which could - with care - be down-climbed. Jas “The Beast” volunteered to do so, and having backed himself up with a prussik started the downwards slither.

After much shouting up and down the pitch, it was decided that it was indeed the Didgeridoo. However, with time passing and dropping the pitch being a point of no return, there was an opinion amongst some that it would be better to turn back. We briefly debated splitting the party, however it was decided that this wasn't a good idea, and Jas was required to struggle and fight his way back up the Didgeridoo, earning his moniker in the process. Note to future selves: perhaps it's best to decide that you're going to turn round before you send a member of the party down a strenuous climb. Judging by the annoyance in Jas’ voice when we asked him to come back up, I think he shares that opinion!

From here, we reversed our footsteps and made swift progress back along the Wyvern Extensions Main Route to rejoin Elliptic Passage. Here another photo was in order, and after packing up we made our way through Fault Chambers where we met a couple of cavers on their way to the Lucky Thirteen Extensions. The rest of the trip back to the entrance series went quickly, although Bartek managed to catch at least two of the party out with his vampire impression, causing some alarm (and Jonny to crawl faster than he had done at any other point of the trip!).

On a side note, Bartek took us back to Indiana Rift from Megadrive via Northern Loop instead of crawling along the ledges either side of the trench and dropping down the boulder pile. This added fifteen minutes or so onto the trip, but it took us through some beautiful passage, with no horrible boulders and no crawling. In fact, it was the nicest bit of caving on the trip; it's just a shame it was on a route that added time!

Before arriving back at the entrance (exit?) series, there was time for one more practical joke. Bartek (hereafter called “Tigger”) seemed to have found bundles of energy and decided that leap-frogging Jas, George and Jonny by taking Carpet Crawl why they continued to Tea Junction would be great fun. Bambi followed reluctantly, before Tigger shot off down Wonderbra Bypass to lay in wait as a vampire again…only to find that George and co were on the verge of turning back, worried that one of us had fallen. This extra effort seemed a little excessive to Bambi, who waited at Wonderbra Bypass, musing how most normal people seem to expend energy on caving trips instead of acquiring more…

Arriving at Cairn Chamber, all that remained was the entrance series. A bit of photography at the top of the four meter climb allowed time to look around and spot Strawberry Passage, which - always being in a rush to get out on previous trips - is something I’d never looked for before. Before long, the awkwardness began, but as always, it was relatively short-lived. Although by this point, Jonny (who christened himself Eyeore) had had more than enough of Draenen and was despairing of ever seeing the outside world again. After a final struggle, we exited the cave and all that remained was the trudge to the car, getting changed and a delicious meal at a Turkish Restaurant in Abergavenny.

Cavers:
George ("gorgeous")
Jonny ("Eyeore")
Jas ("The Beast")
Bartek ("Tigger")
Dave ("Bambi")


Trip report: Bambi
Photos:Tigger

Notts Pot

A quick trip to Yorkshire for some post Christmas caving, to work off all the Christmas puddings.
I had a little look at Notts pot a few weeks ago and rigged down to the lower stream way. A few messages later and myself, Jonny and Chris had come up with a plan.
Chris wanted to do a dive from the bottom of Notts pot so we rigged it on his ropes and helped deliver some cylinders to the sump at the bottom, and left it rigged for a future dive.

A short walk getting blown sideways across leck fell. The wind was measured in Hektor(the dog) ear flaps, it was precisely 10 flaps a minute. We soon found the entrance. A short descent saw us into the entrance crawl and down the little climb. Another short pitch put us into three ways chamber. Where we decided to take the centre route.

Rigging this off the bolts in the ceiling we dropped down to the next pitch, that starts with a large natural stone pillar, to start your traverse line. A descent to the lower stream way, being wary to drop on the right side of the hole to avoid a sumped duck.

This is where the fun started, we were looking for the bolts and on spotting one we climbed up, an exposed rift on looking back we had missed a few of the bolts that were hidden by the ledges, the y hang for the pitch dropped us through a small slot then into a larger chamber this was fine on the way down…

The last of the pitches was rigged by Jonny a nice descent in a circular chamber, with a small waterfall drumming away. Then finally a small pitch to the final sump.

We departed with the dive bottles after looking at the fine Yorkshire tea. And started on our journey upwards. Stopping off at the balcony on the way back up the big pitch, a careful walk around the edge to have a look at the Ireby fell sump.

We continued our journey on up, until we reached the small slot at the top of the pitch head. This involved some groaning and some swearing from Jonny. Who then waited to watch/laugh at me struggle my way through. Chris took the easier option which we had both missed a slightly larger spot a little bit further back.

We then encountered a bit of tight rigging, I don’t know who put that in… a bit more slack in future would make this a lot easier to ascend. I’m sure Jonny described it as a piano string.

An excellent trip with lots of laughter. A trip I would definitely go back and do again and maybe even leave a bit more slack next time …

George Tolley, Jonny Bellman, Chris Curry.
Trip Report & Photos: George Tolley

Alderley Edge Mine

What’s wanted for a Christmas Caving trip? Something not too serious, ideally well decorated and most importantly: it cannot be excessively wet and muddy. The Alderley Edge Mines fitted the bill perfectly!

After battling unsuccessfully with the parking app (and sending George on a diversion to find enough change to pay for all of our cars) we met up with Ollie and a few other members of the Cheshire Branch of Derbyshire Caving Club who were our leaders for the day. They gave us a quick tour of the Mine Museum where we learnt that the mines below Alderley Edge are the oldest metal-mining sites in England. Disconcertingly we also discovered that it holds the record for most number of deaths. Lorelle and Wayne, who had foolish agreed to accompany George again, were looking slightly paler at this point! (Throughout our tour Ollie would stop and tell a tragic tale of someone who had come to a sticky in Alderley).

It was a quick walk up to the Engine Vein. Even outside the mine there is a hint in the colours of the rock as to the blue-green copper lurking below. The original entrance has been blocked up and sealed with concrete slabs making for an unusual ceiling in the high chambers. Near here we were shown a Roman altar (possibly an offering to compensate the god Vulcan for raiding his unground treasures). The Engine Vein lived up to it’s reputation as incredibly beautiful. There are many sections of wonderful bluey-green formations where the copper veins have oxidised in dripping cascades. Absolutely stunning.

To get across to Wood Mine, instead of coming back to the surface, there was a much more fun alternative: a flooded connection. Most of this was only knee deep but there was at least one very deep shaft hidden in the water so we crossed in a jumbled flotilla of old canoes and two bathtubs. Piloting a bathtub is as challenging as it sounds, particularly when there are no oars – the idea was to push off using the walls. Imagine floating pinball crossed with dodgems.

We had a pootle around Wood Mine, admiring the Halloween decorations and playing around in some more floating bathtubs. On our way out we found several frogs and a whole family of newts who had probably been washed into the mine during the recent heavy rains. A rescue operation proceeded and all the casualties were safely released near a pond on the surface.

Next we had a look in West Mine: a very impressive, cavernous mine – much more like a cave in character. Here there were some more turquoise, toothpaste-esque formations. There was even a section that smelt as minty fresh as it looked (although this was apparently a curious form of iron, not copper).

Even more intriguing were the fungi in this mine. There was one large chamber where the remains of a strange purple fungus carpeted the rockfalls and walls. Apparently when this section of the mine was first discovered the floor was also covered in these purple growths, however most of this has now been disturbed.

On the way out (with a second batch of rescued amphibians) we passed through a tunnel where flies clearly came in to lay their eggs – there were many resting passively on the walls. What we didn’t expect to see were little tufts of white fungus with the tips of fly wings poking out: this was a carnivorous fungus which had infected and eaten many of the flies. We were assured that the fungus hasn’t transferred to humans yet (although this may explain Alderley Edge’s death statistics!)

All in all a fantastic and fun, if slightly unnerving trip. A Christmas to remember. 😊

Cavers: Ollie, Jamie, Dorota, Jennifer, George, Wayne, Lorrelle, Mel, Dave & Anne
Photos: Dave & George
Trip Report: Anne

To Squirm like a Worm...(or not)

The original plan for today was to visit The Score in Ogof Draenen and try and force our way through what sounds like a very unpleasant squeeze to see the White Wormery. However, as this trip involves 70m of flat out crawling in Back Passage and the possibility of flooding (thanks to Storm Claudia), we decided that the more sensible option would be an easy bimble through Gilwern Passage to Galeria Garimpeiros. This decision having been made, it was remarkable how much my mood lifted and I started to look forward to the trip! As Jas commented when I told him that part of me always feels that a trip isn't worth it unless it involves challenge, suffering and misery, sometimes you just have to tell that part of yourself to shut up!

With the thoughts of arduous and unpleasant flat-out crawls and doing an impersonation of a worm firmly banished from mind, we nonetheless decided that a high level of caution and conservative decision-making would be necessary given the very high water levels. It boggles the mind that we could even consider going into Draenen (which is - in the main - highly flood resistant) when just up the road a critical incident was declared in Monmouth due to flooding. Driving past and seeing the damage from flooding really does make you feel for people whose lives have been turned upside down overnight.

Cautiously we made our way into the new entrance: Ogof Tarddiad Pwll Du, where we could hear running water bubbling loudly. Making our way through, it was clear that water levels were high and the stream was flowing quickly and making some impressive cascades. Nonetheless, the passage clearly hadn’t flooded recently and given the improving weather forecast and the large outflow for the stream, we made the decision that water levels couldn't really rise and it was safe to proceed. And if the worst came to the worst, the original entrance series is reported to always be passable, if somewhat intimidating.

Having dropped into the cave, we made swift progress through Cairn Junction, Wonderbra Bypass and Tea Junction to the start of Gilwern Passage. The stream that flows between Wonderbra and Tea Junction was very high compared to normal and in much of the passage big pools of standing water had formed. These didn't impede progress, but as similar pools can form in White Arch Passage we thought this was additional justification for not entering the flat-out crawls which lead from it to the Score.

We made rapid progress along Gilwern Passage past a remarkably beautiful calcite flow. Soon the pleasant walking gave way to typical Draenen boulder-hopping and we reached a junction where the way on was to the left. This immediately led into a wet crawl and a tight-ish squeeze all within a choke, and from there to the start of Galeria Garimpeiros. However, Loz and Jas decided that the crawl didn't appeal and having gone through first I spent several minutes waiting for them to join me. Eventually I gave up as they were evidently dead-set against getting wet (an effort which, as it was later to turn out, was completely in vain).

Crawling back through the choke, it turned out that they had climbed up it into a passage above. This climb sounded very spicy due to navigating a “boulder of death”. Having joined together again, we followed the start of Morgannwyg Passage and climbed up to Old Illtydian’s Chamber, which was worth a quick look around.

From here, we made our way back down Gilwern Passage to Tea Junction and then opted to exit through the original entrance. Here we anticipated a somewhat intimidating amount of water; indeed I had visions of partially waterboarding myself. As it turned out, although there was certainly a lot of water the waterboarding never materialised. In fact, the exit was great fun! It was very sporting and involved a thorough drenching without ever being difficult. Definitely the best part of the trip!

After exiting, all that remained was the trudge up to the car and getting changed. The Score - and more specifically the White Wormery - remain firmly on the agenda for a future trip!

Cavers: Loz, Jas and Dave
Photos: Jas
Trip report: Dave

Nearly given the Cold Shoulder by the Coldfinger

A trip into Draenen to see the Coldfinger had been on my radar for some time, and after a quick message out to the Dudley, three of us (Jonny, Anne and myself) found ourselves squirreling around Draenen’s labyrinthine passages. Having heard that the Coldfinger was quite difficult to find, we were unsure whether our trip would be a success; nonetheless we were determined to give it a go.

None of us knew the nav from Wyvern Hall; fortunately we were equipped with Tarquin’s description which helped greatly. This led us through walking passages, tight squeezes, over traverses and along various crawls to reach Ponderosa Chamber having successfully navigated through Isotonic Weird Ways. Up to Ponderosa Chamber, the route for the Coldfinger follows that of the Long Round Trip (a bonus, as learning the nav for this is something I'd wanted to do). From here on in, however, the routes diverged. Before long, we had picked up Pond Life which led us - after some unpleasant crawling over rocks - to a taped off section of cryostal. Here the description told us that the route to the Blue Room / Yanto’s Grotto could be accessed by a very tight crawl at the bottom of a hole in the floor.

Dropping down this, I poked my head into the crawl to find that it immediately went through a very tight squeeze into a passage that looked ridiculously narrow, and which evidently had to be travelled whilst lying flat out on one side. I couldn't fit my helmet through this squeeze, and the thought of traveling through this passage for 20 metres and becoming wedged part way along it was extremely unappealing. Deciding that caution was the better part of valour, I backed off and got Anne to have a look. After she turned a remarkable shade of white just looking at it, we decided that the so-called “Easier Route” would be the option to take.

This decision initiated about an hour and a half of hunting around trying to find its entrance, and led us into some rather unpleasant places. At one point, Anne shot down what was clearly a dig, and after a few minutes we decided this couldn’t possibly be right. Coming back up through a tight-ish squeeze, I reached up to pull on a rock to help me get through, only to find that it - and a small section of the wall - decided to come down on top of me. No harm done, fortunately, and it had the bonus of making the squeeze larger for Jonny! However, I've decided that I prefer not being buried by the cave.

More hunting around found me sliding down a sandy slope through a small, tight hole into a chamber. It was immediately obvious that this wasn't the way on (which should have been obvious by the fact that the route wasn't at all travelled!) and I spent a few anxious minutes trying to get back up the sandy slope. A bit of digging and a stiff struggle were required, but eventually I was out.

After this, we decided that time was up and we wouldn't see the elusive Coldfinger. Jonny started the return crawl down Pond Life with Anne and myself following, and quickly said “there's a passage on the right, here”. Sure enough, this passage (which was about as obvious as the sun) turned out to be the “Easier Route”, and after carefully crawling flat out under its shattered roof, we found ourselves at a traverse over a deep pit into the Blue Room. With a lack of confidence-inspiring footholds, this was a bit of a “squeaky-bum” moment for Anne and myself, though Jonny didn't even bat an eyelid.

The Blue Room itself was very beautiful, with big swathes of calcite on one wall and a collection of small, blue formations. To the left of this chamber, a route through a very loose boulder choke led via a hole in the wall into a dig. At this point, we were on the verge of having to turn around, but Anne spotted what she thought was the “awkward climb” up into a passage at roof height. Scrambling up this, she poked her head around the corner into the passage, before exclaiming “I can see it!”. Jonny and I had a quick butchers, and on seeing how bright blue it was, decided that the trip was certainly worthwhile.

After that, all that remained was finding our way back out. So it was back over the traverse above the pit, where the one inviting foothold decided to snap off as I put my weight on it (leading to double squeaky-bum time). Having successfully navigated the traverse, we passed through Pond Life (where time didn't permit us to visit any other beautiful formations) and on into Ponderosa Chamber and the maze of passages that led us back to Wyvern Hall. I was very grateful for Jonny marking the way with rocks at key junctions as it turns out that following the description in reverse is much harder than I anticipated!

All-in-all, this trip was well worth it, even if the Coldfinger certainly made us work hard for the privilege of seeing it.

Cavers: Dave, Anne and Jonny
Photos: Jonny
Trip report: Dave

Simpson Pot Pull Through Training

I was very much looking forward to today's trip, as I had booked onto a CNCC underground workshop on pull-throughs. Despite high water levels, given the improving weather forecast the decision was made that it was safe to proceed and after some initial instruction overground, the three of us (Ian (CNCC trainer), Charlie (another participant) and myself) wandered up the hill to the entrance of Simpson Pot.

Taking it in turns to rig the pitches, we made quick progress through the cave which involved a fun mixture of stooping, crawling, squeezing and scrambling, as well as a fun little duck before we reached the head of Great Aven. This was a superb pitch, with a tight abseil down a rift to the pitch head and then a wide open void dropping down 30 metres. This wasn't a pitch to be rushed, but one to abseil slowly so the fine position could be thoroughly enjoyed.

Having all arrived at the base of the aven, all that remained was to make our way down the Simpson / Swinsto stream to the Kingsdale master cave. I'd been wanting to visit the master cave for a long time, having only ever been to the head of the pitch in Valley Entrance before. It didn't disappoint and high-ish water levels added some spice to splashing downstream through the rapids.

Around 5 ½ hours after setting off, we emerged out of Valley Entrance having had a great trip and having practised some new skills. All credit to CNCC for putting on such excellent training workshops.

Cavers: Ian, Charlie & Dave
Photos: Ian
Trip Report: Dave

OFD: Return to the Tourist Trail

On Saturday 18th November the Dudley met at South Wales Caving Club. One CDG member was taking a trainee around OFD for the weekend, another photography trip was delayed due to a puncture. The rest of us went on a nice amble around the classic tourist route to reintroduce a lapsed caver into the swing of things.

We started off trying to sniff out the mini columns. Finding these turned out very successfully however we had difficulty locating Speedy Caver. After Jas heroically made the down climb near the entrance proving we'd gone the wrong way, we decided to press on and retrace our steps. We went into the Brickyard and past the Wedding Cake where we joined a queue of student groups all taking their freshers through the Corkscrew. We had planned to do the Sandy Crawls, but as the students were going this way we went straight down to Salubrious Streamway and then to Crossroads.

After this, we took a vote on whether we should find the beginning of the Midnight Traverses or Frozen River, the appeal of pretty helictites indesputably winning out. After sniffing around Cross Rift we found the right way and spent some time enjoying the beautiful decorations in Frozen River. This was even more enjoyable as the slippy slope back up wasn't anywhere near as difficult as we thought it might be.

Our route back took us by an orange crystal pool and then it was a gentle route back up via Shatter Pillar, President’s Leap, etc. The Sandy Crawls lived up to their name, and after some effort negotiating a big hole in the middle of the crawls it was nice to get back to walking passage. All in all, a great little bumble and it was nice to revisit the familiar top entrance landmarks.

Cavers: Becca, Jane, Jas, Dave & Anne
Photos: Jas
Trip Report: Anne