Saturday 7 March 2009

Llanelly Quarry Pot, Clydach Gorge, South Wales

Well our first obstacle was to remove all the boulders from the entrance so that we could get in, even with the boulders removed I knew I was going to struggle to get in, but I rigged a hand line and eased my way down the rift followed by Mel. Then we came to a chamber with a large shaft which is where I was sure we had to go, but the guide book confused us a little and we decided the way on was around a tricky traverse on the left hand wall, which isn’t for the faint hearted and Mel was heard saying she needed longer arms and legs. Well we got it wrong, and the way on isn’t to follow the traverse, but to go down the large shaft as you enter the chamber, but it isn’t obvious, as you can't easily see the P hangers to rig from. Once at the bottom of the pitch we went upstream to Midsummer Nights Dream, which is well decorated before continuing on until we came to the Ryan's Duck where we turned back to go down stream as far as we could, before turning around to head out. Now getting out for me was a bit of a challenge to say the least, and take my advice – don’t try to climb up the rift wearing your SRT kit as you will only get stuck, and trying to remove it in the rift is somewhat awkward!!! 

See photos of Llanelly Quarry Pot here 

The Team: AnGr & MeWa

Ogof Capel, Clydach Gorge, South Wales

A return to Ogof Capel. Last time torrential rain was falling and sensibly the team turned back at the duck. This time we were able to get to the end of the system and take photos of the amazing formations near Tuppenny Ha'Penny choke.

Del crawls under a false calcite floor.

Keith views formations ion Slalom Passage.

Del views formations near the end of the cave

Del views formations near the end of the cave


See more Ogof Capel photos here 

The Team: KeEd & BrMa & DeRo