Ogof Pasg – Ogof Foel Fawr & Llygad Llwchwr Two

Ogof Pasg – Ogof Foel Fawr & Llygad Llwchwr Two

After meeting for a quick cuppa in the Co-op, Jess just had time to stock up her supply of cakes and Dairylea Dunkers before we headed off to Herbert’s Quarry. After changing we walked up the hill to an unstable rock face. Brendan indicated a hole at the top and Mark attempted to dive in. He had gone a matter of inches before the puffing, panting and shuffling as the entrance was much tighter than anticipated. After about 30 seconds Mark’s feet disappeared into the crack, to be followed by the sound of falling rocks and a little voice saying ‘it’s quite unstable in here….’. Brendan’s face turned from amusement to a slight look of confusion and guilt as he had no recollection of anyone finding the entrance tight before and upon peering around the rock face a little further, Brendan realised this was not the entrance to Pasg after all and Mark was redirected to the actual Ogof Pasg entrance.

Upon entering the cave, we passed through some walking and crawling passages at a reasonable speed until we came to the top of the 10m pitch. Once Mark had been the guinea pig, testing the integrity of the rope that was in-situ, we all followed down and were soon chilling in the canal whilst Brendan took a couple of photo’s.

Chloe exploring passage in Ogof Foel Fawr

A short time later the U-bend was reached which forms the connection to Ogof Foel Fawr. As the name suggests, this involved a back bending contortion through some water. Beyond this the trip came to a halt at a tight squeeze over a large fallen slab. Rather than getting nervous watching others attempt the squeeze, I decided to push myself forward and go first. Once I had removed my helmet and with a few hands to provide some grip for my feet I slid through far easier than I was expecting. Following my path, Jess popped through with a little assistance, leaving the guys on the far side. Brendan tried posting himself through in several places and gave up quite quickly, whilst Mark pushed himself a few feet into the squeeze before retreating. After proclaiming that he had been through previously and so didn’t need to go again, Brendan found a low by-pass on the right of the squeeze and made his way through with Mark following. Mark tried from the other side to fit and again made it a few feet in before admitting defeat. In true bragging fashion, I volunteered to pass back through the squeeze again for photos, just to make sure I had something with which to remind Mark of my victory. Before too long we had made it to the cave entrance and made our way back down the hillside.

Chloe squeezing over the block in Ogof Foel Fawr

Still grinning from my achievements, I proclaimed that it was too early to go back to the club and wanted to do another cave. So under some slight coercion, Brendan led us to Llygad Llwchwr. After Mark and I popped up into the original cave, we climbed down into the entrance of Llygad Llwchwr Two for a little wander around. These few short passages of cave were surprisingly well decorated and deserved to be photographed. After Mark had received a photography tutorial from Brendan, and Jess and I had become rather cold posing for shots, we headed back above ground.
Whilst Jess and I changed Brendan wanted to take a look at a dig in the shake hole near the cars and Mark followed him to 'Heavens Gate' after half an hour they both emerged covered from head to toe in thick mud.....apparently there was nothing heavenly about the dig at all!

All in all, three short but great little caves!

Jess in Llygad Llwchwr 2

Trip Report Chloe 'The Slim' Burney

Present: Chloe Burney, Jessica Harding, Brendan Marris & Mark Burkey