Titan

 

Titan

It was a long-awaited trip to Titan for the four of us who had never visited it before. Since we weren’t planning to go far into the system but were only doing a bounce trip with a potential look into the connection, we weren’t in a rush to get going first thing in the morning.

After separating with the group that went to Moss Chamber, we made our way to the entrance via Cave Dale and were underground within an hour. Apart from a few moments of hesitation, the rigging went smoothly, and once we had all bottomed out, we began the exit slog on very bouncy ropes. Since we had taken the camera, we also decided for a couple of dangly shots on the way up. We established a rough plan for where to stop for the shot beforehand and came up with a whistling signal system to confirm readiness in position. Due to the distance and enormous echo, we didn’t really manage to communicate much up and down the pitches, so final micro-adjustments of positioning weren’t really possible (radios would have worked much better, but someone never thought about bringing them).

Considering the difficulties of the environment, exposure, and lack of planning, we still managed to get a couple of shots and all really enjoyed the cave, especially George. 

Cavers: Bartek, George T, Paulina, Pheobe 

A Weekend Trip To Parys

Anyone who heard that the Dudley were planning a weekend trip to “Parys” might have envisaged us all drinking wine by the Seine. No such luck this time: this was an excursion to “Parys” not “Paris”. But what an amazing trip it was!

A handful of Dudley members plus one extra, met at the surface workings of Parys copper mine on Anglesey. Before setting off, we spent a moment admiring the surface landscape which is a beautiful surreal place; full of heaps of multi-coloured rocks and minerals.Very fascinating and well worth a look.

We were ably guided by Tim, a member of the Parys Underground Group. The plan was to do the through trip from Mona mine back through to Parys.

Having changed, we went through the hidden entrance into Mona. Once underground we quickly came upon formations that gave us a taster of the unusual decorations to come.. Here, what looked like black calcite was actually formed from fragile rust. Tim explained that the mine is on a volcanic plug and contains just about every mineral going. This meant we were treated to the most amazingly coloured formations, from bright pink through to yellow and greens, and even bright blues (more of that later).

Naturally this resulted in much stopping for photos. The lighting crew and models were mostly very tolerant of this, although you can see evidence of the beginnings of a protest movement if you look carefully...

The route went up and down through different levels. Due caution was a necessity as much of the structure supporting the mine is in an advanced state of decay. Some of the water was also very acidic - as illustrated by these stainless steel bolts and a karabiner that have been left in a puddle. One particularly blood coloured pool also had arsenic and other nasties in it - not the best spot for a swim…

We learnt that much more of the mine used to be flooded, but because of the acidity of the water a concrete dam holding much of the water in, had gone worryingly mushy so the Environment Agency had to pump it out. This has opened up more levels of the mine for exploration and also resulted in a very beautiful geological phenomena:

As the minerals leached through into the newly drained chambers they started to form these bright blue crystals. They have formed over about 20 years and as the mineral all leaches out they start to disintegrate again. Or at least that’s how my non-geologically trained brain understood it. Tim said other areas in the mine have had these blue formations in the past but now they have vanished.

If that wasn’t enough scientific curiosity, we were also treated to a pipe growing iron-eating fungi...

...plenty of snottites...

...bits of non-corroded pink copper...

...iron formations that look like dragon eyes and a bronze age section of mine complete with the hammer stones that the miners had brought from some distance to help them extract the copper.

All in all an amazing mine exploration. I don’t think I’ve heard “Wow!” quite so often on a a Dudley exploit before.

Cavers: Bartek & Paulina, Dave & Anne, Firas and John
Trip Report: Anne
Photos: Bartek

Gaping Gill

An early start was in order to start the walk up ingleborough to the GG winch meet.

On reaching the makeshift town, we started to form a plan. My mom and dad would be descending the winch at 12:30 so the plan was to meet them in the main chamber for that time. We decided to go in via stream pot and out via flood pot.

Just before we set off we gained another member to the team. This took us to 4. Myself, bartek, Paulina and Craig. We set of down the entrance pitch, at the bottom there’s an awkward rock to squeeze yourself through to start your way down the second pitch. The way on was fairly easy going another two pitches with some deviations, saw us to the bottom. We started off with me leading to the main chamber where I lead us off into some tight crawly passage, missing the big black hole in front which was the correct way on.

After a little back track we were back on the correct route and soon found our way to the sand caverns and onto a balcony in the main chamber.

My mom and dad soon joined us and had a good look around. I think we may make cavers out of them yet…

We was soon joined by loz and we started out via flood pot, a little traffic Jam at the bottom give us a rest before the prusic up. The first pitch being the largest one. We then had a few smaller pitches and some crawling we soon surfaced to some sunshine.

Loz went off to pack her tent down and we decided to tackle another entrance, loz suggested that we do corkys pot.

A short entrance pitch put us into a crawl, and then a small pitch which is rather snug but free climbable. Then you keep crawling and it’s keeps getting tighter and tighter and tighter. Then you reach another pitch. I was head first and with no way of turning around I started reversing back to a place where I could squeeze my legs underneath me. This pitch was snug and a real pain to open your stop as it was jammed in your chest. On reaching the bottom of this pitch. Guess what…

More CRAWLING. It got tighter again with every bit of protruding rock grabbing at my srt kit if it didn’t Hook my cowstails it would get my metalware suck. I can say that there was a lot of swearing going on. Then I arrived at the head of pitch and slid my way between the slabs of rock pinching me from both sides. We then went into nemesis crawl. The swearing continued.

I then descended another pitch Into what seems to be a spacious pot, this was soon let down by a small opening at the foot of the pot. More crawling… the elephants arse into colon crawl. I think this needs no explanation.

Squeezing our way along we reached another short pitch,onto a very loose bolder slope where a rock was knocked off and clattered down, and then silence for a few seconds until it clattered on the cave floor below. A large black void lay ahead the final pitch.

Vindication pitch, a fantastic descent looking out over mud hall. On reaching the floor a scramble over the boulders put us on the side of a big drop the way on lay to some very slippery mud traverses. Once these was behind us we could see the glow of lights in the main chamber and a short iron ladder put us there.

We decided to go out via Barr pot which we tackled swiftly, and soon we found ourself in the makeshift pub clutching a pint. The heavens had opened up and it was time to tackle the walk back to the cars.

It was an excellent day of caving and look forward to attending another winch meet.

Trip Report & Photos: George

Thrown in at the Deep End: My First Time in Long Churn

When your son tells you he’s taking you on a “gentle introduction to caving”, you imagine something along the lines of a casual wander underground, perhaps a bit of scrambling, nothing too dramatic. What I didn’t expect was to find myself soaked to the bone and laughing like a maniac at the sheer absurdity of it all.

Welcome to Long Churn.

My son George is an enthusiastic caver. He talks about potholes and pitches the way most people talk about pub lunches—fondly and often. Over time, I’d listened with interest (and the occasional raised eyebrow) as he recounted tales of subterranean escapades, tight squeezes, icy pools and the peculiar joy of crawling around in the dark. I never quite got it. Not really. But then came the offer: “Come with me. Just once. You’ll love it.”

Reader, I think I was set up!

Long Churn is, I now understand, a classic beginner’s trip in the Yorkshire Dales. Classic, however, doesn’t mean easy. Within minutes of stepping into the cave, I was hit by a cold, wet reality—this wasn’t going to be a sunny stroll I’d planned. Slipping and sliding, ducking through passages. I began to wonder what I’d signed up for. And then something shifted.

Somewhere between clambering darkness, the mesmerising water fall and the wonder of finding a fish in the pool I began to see what George sees. The silence. The timelessness. The otherworldliness of it all. It’s a different realm down there—peaceful, challenging, humbling.

I wasn’t alone, of course. Alongside George was a brilliant little team: Paulina, Bartek and Roo—cavers through and through, each one endlessly patient, encouraging, and cheerful. Their camaraderie and love for the underground world were infectious. They never made me feel like the novice I so clearly was. Thanks to them, and to George, I wasn’t just surviving the experience—I was enjoying it.

By the time we emerged into the daylight, something had changed in me. I wasn’t just proud of getting through it—I wanted to go back. I got it now. The draw of the dark, the call of the unknown, the thrill of pushing yourself just that little bit further.

To Paulina, Bartek, Roo, and my lovely son George: thank you. I suspect you knew exactly what you were doing when you invited me. I’m glad you did.

Trip Report: Lorelle Tolley
Photos: George Tolley
Cavers: Paulina, Bartek, Roo, George & Lorelle

Moss Chamber

Four Dudley members joined forces with Grace and Jenny from Crewe Climbing and Potholing Club for a short, but sporting and fun trip to Moss Chamber. A couple of club members were keen to do a trip that helped them build confidence after not being underground for a while.

We slid down the slide beyond the show cave into Five Arches Passage, before wading through the Wallows and ducking through the Mucky Ducks to arrive in Upper Gallery. After a short while we climbed up into Pickering's Passage, which led to a good variety of different types of caving: some crawls, some squeezes and some simple climbs, all of which were coated or interspersed with liberal coatings of slippery mud to keep us on our toes (or off them!).

A final chest-deep wade through very cold water brought us into Moss Chamber. The formations are truly stunning, if overshadowed by the tragic history of the chamber. We spent a little while playing around with photography before deciding that we were getting cold and heading back.

On our return we deviated to the streamway to get some film footage for another Dudley member and enjoyed the dramatic phreatic passage - and the rib like structures on the floor. All in all a very photogenic bit of cave.

Moss Chamber was a fun little trip and well worth revisiting.

Cavers: Mike B., Firas F., Anne B., and Dave B., with Grace and Jenny from CPCC
Trip report: Anne B.
Photos: Dave B.

Lost John's

Monday 21st April 2025.

Lost johns & George.

We decided on an ambitious plan to do the centipede route and try and make it to the final pitch and having a crack at battle axe traverse.

We started by sorting the ropes this was a task in itself with two tackle sacks bursting with ropes and 42 carabiners.

We started off down the stream following our description we took the first left we seen which turned out to be a long rift with a few climbs up and down, battling with the tackle sacks at every obstruction. This soon turned out to be choked we explored all off shoots on the way back to the first junction with no luck in a way on.

We decided to go straight on at the junction, this soon brought us to some cascades that we traversed across and a large hole the foot and hand holds were large and plentiful. This was starting to line up with the description. Great news.

We soon arrived at the top of a pitch head, I rigged the first short pitch and we carried on soon reaching the head of a large pitch was this centipede. Jonny took over the rigging and started rigging the traverse line where the bolts are high up in the rift, I couldn’t work out why the bolts wasn’t lining up with the toppo but we carried on. Soon we had dropped the y-hang and into a little alcove onto a false floor, this definitely doesn’t line up with the toppo. This is when we realised we were actually at the monastery pitch. We checked the toppo now knowing where we were and realised we had enough tackle to make it to the bottom so we descended.

On reaching the bottom we had a nice spray coming off the waterfall we slid down a tight passage into a stream way and followed it down a few small, climbs and wet legs saw us at the top of the piscine pitch. I rigged this down and we had a short cave to the next pitch head pinnacle where we didn’t have the correct rope lengths to carry on. We turned and headed back out.

We reached the top of the Hampstead Heath pitch and had a study of the description to see if we could find the top of hammer which will give us the way on to centipede. We traversed over the top of Hampstead Heath where I thought it carried on due to polishing but couldn’t find my way on. We backtracked along the passage on the way out exploring any holes we missed on the way in but couldn’t find our way on.

We started our way out trying to keep our spirits high by saying we now know the way down monastery for a future exchange trip.

We need to revisit lost John and find our way on we are missing it somewhere… and take extra people to split the tackle sacks down as they got considerably heavier when they was wet.

An excellent trip nonetheless. With some unfinished business.

Cavers: George T and Jonny B
Trip report: George T

Aquamole

A quick jaunt down Aquamole by George and Jonny, after diving Joint Hole.

Cavers: George T. and Jonny B.
Photo: Jonny B.

Eldon Hole

Friday's Eldon Hole trip started with an uphill walk (including a short detour). Once we found the cave, Dave and George rigged two of the four pitches, North and South Gully. The descent was quite enjoyable as the weather was fair. Once we reached the bottom of the first pitch, we climbed down the ladder in the cave. Before heading up to Damocles Rift, we decided to explore the boulder choke just off the main chamber, which was too small for any of us to fit in and quickly completely closed off.

The pull through was fine and the up pitches were pretty. Once we reached Damocles Rift, we paused to take photos and then started to head back. Descending the pull through posed a few challenges as the ropes had twisted which resulted in some time going up and down the ropes and some detangling from Dave before I could finally descend. We learnt that it is maybe not the best idea to leave a tackle sack hanging off the end to the rope as the swinging had caused this issue. We then headed out into the sunlight to ascend out of the entrance pitch and de-rig.

Cavers: George T, Phoebe G, and Dave B
Trip report: Phoebe G
Photos: Dave B

DYO

DYO

It was Loz's trip to get familiar with the Dali's Delight series of the cave. Water level in the Lake 2 & 3 were lower than usual, barely a belly level. Getting through the cave was straight forward following fairly know route. On the way there Loz had a look into the entrance pool to the Mazeways only to realise that it was completely open, but we proceeded to our objective. We found the climb to the Dali's Delight more of an SRT that the anticipated handline but we were geared up for it so once we were all up there the exploration begun. We proceeded left passed the Mini Pinnacles to the Chamber Pot where we turned around and went looking for the Tubeways. We also looked into another side passage that spat us out half way up an aven with the 12m drop below (unrigged) and slightly suspiciously looking rope hanging from the ceiling (some 15m above us), not knowing the age of this rigging we decided to leave it until next time. The Tubeway passage also presented us with more ''active'' leads, ropes hanging from above and another one going down few small pitches. We explored what was sensible and turned around with enough time to visit the Mazeways - what a spectacular part of the cave, scalloping even better then the in the Bakerloo Straight. 

Cavers: Loz, Mel, Paulina, Bartek

Ogof Draenen

After finding myself with a free day, I sent out a message to The Dudley to see if anyone was available for a caving trip. Loz "the machine" Appleby replied that she was, and after discounting the Far North in DYO (for reasons of time and less familiar nav) we opted for a trip in Draenen. This was great, as I've been wanting to learn the nav from the Main Entrance to Elliptic Passage, for a future trip to the Geryon and Circus Maximus.

We didn't actually use the main entrance, however, and opted for the newly-dug entrance (Ogof Tarddiad Pwll Du) instead. Despite Loz telling me to fill in the sign-in book that was on the right just on the way in, I managed to miss this totally, and carried on caving through the entrance. (Incidentally, this involved passing through a very civilised plastic tunnel put in to stop water trickling over you in a tight crawl; I was most impressed). A few minutes later, Loz joined me in a little chamber and asked me why I hadn't signed the book and why I was so daft. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of a convincing or realistic answer, so I just told her to brace herself for a trying trip caving with a wally.

This came in the form of the song “Daddy Cool” by Boney M. Now that Clara has arrived, I have become that loathsome creature - the smitten father - who for unfathomable reasons thinks it's a good idea to sing to his daughter, particularly while changing her. As I do this exactly 437 times a day, this song tends to come out whether I intend it to or not, although the lyrics have somehow morphed into “Daddy, I did a poo”. (As Loz said, I should probably be mindful of where I sing that). Anyway, after humming it for the umpteenth time, Loz understandably threw a (verbal) rock at my head, and that shut me up.

In terms of caving, from the new entrance we quickly arrived at Cairn Junction before heading through Wonderbra bypass into White Arch Passage and Lamb and Fox Chamber. After this, we followed Indiana Highway, with its traverse over the 22m pitch into Destiny adding a bit of spice. We then spent the next hour and a half getting confused and trying to find the way to Megadrive. We explored Canyon East and other tight bits of passage before eventually realising we needed to climb up a pile of boulders and crawl along a ledge above a deep trench. Problem solved, we stomped along Megadrive to the Nunnery, where we picked up Perseverance 1.

This was a pleasant sandy crawl, which before long terminated at an abrupt drop down into passage below. There was a steep hole bypassing the precipice, however, and shimmying down this, Loz found where we were on the survey. Before long we had picked up Elliptic Passage, so it was mission accomplished, and all that remained was caving out to daylight. Hopefully Loz enjoyed the trip and company as much as I did. All in all, it was a great day's caving

Cavers: Loz and Dave
Trip report: Dave

P8

Today’s trip needed to be a quick, short trip, partly because I was sleep and energy-deprived and partly because George needed to be back for work at 3.30pm. We settled on P8 (Jackpot) which was new to both of us, and which has the reputation of being fun and a little sporting.

Finding the cave was the first challenge, as the description we had very helpfully said “follow the path to the cave entrance”. It turns out that the path we needed was a faint one off the main track into the field. After a few minutes of head-scratching, George got us back on track and we could quickly count off the shakeholes until we found the final one with the entrance nestling in it.

Water levels were very low, and only a dribble of water went down our necks as we dropped into Cascade Chamber. From here, it was quick work to follow the stream down Idiot’s Leap to the head of the first pitch. Here George did a sterling job of rigging the route around the corner and onto the Traverse. I think we now have another leader for future club trips to Yorkshire.

Having polished off the first pitch, we continued via Stalagmite Passage and the High Level Route to Mud Hall. Following this route to its conclusion, we reached a short climb down and traverse along the main streamway, before dropping down into it and splashing along until we came to the sump. This section of stream passage was very well decorated and it's a shame we didn't have time or the kit to take some photos.

Retracing our steps to the bottom of the first pitch, we opted to follow the stream down this to the second pitch. Again, George rigged this efficiently and we started to follow the water down a rather tight passage. This involved a few contortions and grovels in the water before we arrived at a tight, gravel squeeze. Once through this, we quickly reached a sump and it became obvious that much of the passage we had come through would sump completely in higher water levels.

Passing back through the passage, we noted a tight crawl off to our right and decided to have a quick explore. Inching through on your side with rock pressed into your back and chest and your lower leg getting stuck reminded me somewhat of coming out through the Vice in Daren Cilau. Before long it popped out into more passage which sumped to the right but which to the left connected with the streamway opposite the climb going down from the Upper Level Route.

Learning that - despite its small size - P8 is a quite complex cave, we decided to retrace our steps to pitch two and then out via pitch one. Looking at a description of the cave, I’ve ended up quite confused about which areas we visited and which we didn't. Although we had a good root around, there's evidently more to discover in P8.

Cavers: George T and Dave B
Trip report: Dave B
Photos: Mark B (from an earlier trip)

Derbyshire Weekend

Saturday.

The club weekend started with me and Jonny heading up to Bakewell Saturday afternoon for a dive in Holme bank chert mine.

The drive was lovely until I reached the Peak District which is where the rain started, at the entrance of the mine I encountered a rather wet Jonny who had ran back from the town after being misled by the earlier sunshine.

We entered the mine and after a short walk we submerged into the water, having a look in all the nooks and cranny’s of Holme bank. After bumbling around for 75minutes we resurfaced and headed for the pub!

Sunday.

Sunday started with a drive to oxlow house farm, where we were joined by bartek and Paulina.

The tackle was organised and stowed away into tackle sacks ready for the exchange trip from oxlow cavern to maskhill mine.

It was decided bartek and me would tackle maskhill, and Jonny would rig oxlow with Paulina meeting us half way.

A short but steep walk put us at the entrance to maskhill, we started our decent down the first pitch and soon reached trebuchet corner on the second pitch. I was looking over a drop on murmuring churn when bartek announced we had run out of rope a short way from the floor. A change over was made and after a short discussion it was decided to tie onto the rope. This made things interesting to pass the knot.

Small problem sorted we carried on, soon sliding along with our cows tail whilst abseiling sees you across waterfall chamber and into west chamber.

We could now see the lights of Jonny and Paulina. One short abseil left, saw us at the exchange point. Summary of maskhill, lots of Rebelays.

A short break with some videography and photography by bartek, testing out some new gear. We all had a go at modelling… however something makes me think we’re not going to make vogue magazine.

Jonny and Bartek headed back out of maskhill.

Me and Paulina headed out of oxlow. A series of short pitches and slopes saw us out into daylight.

Our day didn’t end here tho after we all reunited it was decided to go and have a look at Poole’s cavern in Buxton. John showed us around the cave, pointing out the different items of equipment that is being used to monitor the cave for scientific research.

A very beautiful cave with some interesting formations, the one formation has got an orange tip on them and they can’t find out why… a huge formation, Snow White in colour signalled the end of the show-cave.

The last stop a Thai restaurant in Buxton a bite to eat finished this weekend off just right.

Cavers: George Tolley, Jonny Bellman, Bartek Beila, and Paulina Beila.
Trip report: George Tolley
Photos: Bartek Biela

 OFD 1-3-1 Attempt

After the OFD 3 trip back in December 2024, an idea was sparkling in Dave's' head, a super adventurous traverse of the Ogof FFynnon Ddu, starting from the bottom, the OFD 1 entrance, visiting the Smith's Armoury in OFD 3, and turning back the same way. Early in the year the planning started and the date was set for the International Women's' Day 2025 (8th March). Four of us met up in Penwylt the night before and decided for an early start at 7am. We weren't far behind the timings but the nightly disturbance at SWCC hut didn't allow for easy sleep for some of us. 

We marched into the cave at 7.45am and within first half an hour we learned that Jas decides not to continue. After emotional 'good bye' three of us remaining manage to keep fairly good pace all the way to the Traverses before OFD 3. To get there we have taken the traditional well known by us route following the steamway to the Maypole Inlet, through the Arette Chamber and Poached Eggs. We reach Smith's Armoury in just under 6hrs, which was really decent since we have allocated 16hrs for the whole trip. After quick refuel we turn around and get back to Maypole Inlet where we come across another group of cavers going opposite direction. The tiredness is about to kick in, for some more then for the others but we bravely march on since it is all downhill now (mostly) and being propelled by water (kind of). There is a brief moment (that probably lasted one hour) were we stopped talking to each other but another refuel helped to lift the mood and obviously energy levels. We exited the cave after 12hours and 30 minutes of caving and since it was in a shorter time then originally planned and we weren't gonna cave next day anyway we all decided to drive back home. 

Short video from the trip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6dZnJIA7KU

Cavers: Bartek B, Dave B, Jas S, George T

Nettle Pot: Muddy and (sometimes) tight

The club's February trip was arranged for the Peaks, and specifically a trip to Derbyshire Hall in Nettle Pot was the objective. Much has been said about the entrance pitches and how difficult they are due to being so tight. In reality, though, they really weren't that bad. George said that parts of Mayday Hole were tighter and I reckon he's right. That doesn't mean that it wasn't a bit of a struggle - particularly going back up - but progress wasn't that minimal, nor that hard to make. 

Having dropped down to the Flats, we crawled along these past a few deep pots. This crawl is absolutely covered in thick mud that gets everywhere. By the time we reached the next pitch down, we were covered in it. There's no point trying to avoid a complete covering, nor any point trying to remove it. In fact, a particularly large piece got stuck under my nose and - not having any part of my body that wasn't also covered - I couldn't wipe it off. Instead I simply ended up smearing it across my face. The only other cave that comes close to being so muddy (in my experience) is Otter Hole. And at least there you can have a good scrub in a streamway after you've negotiated the entrance series.

Anyhow, at the end of the Flats, there were a few more pitches: down, up, up, down (if I've remembered correctly), all of which continued the theme of being muddy. Before long we arrived at the infamous Freeze Squeeze. Dave J. was the first to give this a go. Being behind George in a narrow passage, I couldn't see how much progress he was making. However, the grunting, groaning, and puffing told me that he wasn’t finding it that easy. Before long, he admitted defeat and it was George’s turn to have a go.

George also made a valiant effort, and was determined not to be beaten easily. Despite his best attempts, however, he just couldn't fit under the low bulge that makes up the roof of the squeeze. Finally, it was my turn to give it a go.

The best way looked to be on your front, over to the right of the squeeze, where the roof was a little higher. However, the floor also sloped up here, which meant that I tended to slide back towards (and under) the low bulge. What made things worse was that my left shoulder got progressively bent back against itself as I tried to enter the squeeze. As I didn't like the idea of a dislocated / fractured shoulder, I decided to back out and try on my back.

This time, I realised it was impossible to avoid the large bulge, and ended up going more or less directly underneath it. I had to back out fairly quickly when I realised the zippers on my over and under suits were getting pressed painfully into my ribcage. Having rectified this, I gave it another go, but it was clear I wasn't getting through. The roof was pressed tight onto the upper part of my ribcage, and I couldn't make any progress. With difficulty, I wriggled my way out and acknowledged defeat. 

After this, all that remained was to complete the journey back out, negotiating the liberal coatings of mud on the way. We emerged after five-ish hours underground to the satisfaction of competing another classic caving trip. Although George is already planning a return to Freeze Squeeze, this time with a wetsuit and a slim companion to show him how it's done!

Cavers: Dave, Dave & George
Trip Report: Dave
Photo: Mark B

I Hate You Edwards!

Cwm  Dwr Quarry Cave in South Wales is entered via a vertical rift which has been stabilised by lining it with sewer pipes. Getting in is easy, but for some cavers getting back out can prove more than a little challenging.

OFD 1.5: Confusing and Tight

One of the downsides of getting older, is that it really doesn't take much to get confused. This is probably why I like things to be simple, but I'm fast realising that OFD isn't simple in any way!

Take OFD1.5, for example. I thought this was the maze of passages to the east of the Connection, and north of the Letterbox. This is what is on the survey, and being a simple sort of chap, I tend to believe what I see with my eyes. So when we bumped into someone by the Letterbox who told us that we were in OFD1.5, this stretched my poor little mind. Because it meant that OFD1.5 isn't where I thought it was, and we weren't where I thought we were; rather we were where I thought we weren't and we weren’t going where we wanted because we were already there.

Confused? Evidently, so was I. One thing I did know, however, is why we were where we were. (Which is some consolation, as the why of a matter is normally more important than the what of a matter. Or I like to think it is, anyway.)

We were there because I watched a video by the wily cave wizard all about OFD1.5, and it looked like an interesting place to visit. Unfortunately, we didn't have a ladder and therefore we couldn't sample the delights of the Knackeracker Pitch, however we did take a couple of SRT kits so we could go down the pitch into Falcon Chamber. But back to that in a bit.

We started our trip in Cwm Dwr, where - despite not being confident in the navigation - Phoebe’s knowledge of the cave and Jas’/George’s ability to follow their noses saw us make good progress. Eventually, another group of cavers appeared behind us and confirmed that we were on the right route, and were just shy of Piccadilly.

On past the Flood Bypass, up the Divers' Pitch, and through the tight tube towards the Letterbox we went. I remember finding the passages here to be a complex maze on an earlier trip, and having remembered the key navigational decisions from the other direction, I found myself facing more confusion: what was the opposite of left, right, left, left, right, right, left, right, left?

Whatever it was, it wasn't what I thought it was, so I ended up leading everyone round back to where we'd exited the low tunnel from the Divers’ Pitch. A quick look at the survey showed me that my original sequence of lefts and rights was utter rubbish. However, the tortuous (and circular) route we followed did mirror the tortuous (and circular!) pattern of thoughts in my head, which seemed apt.

Well, after the Letterbox, we trudged on to the mud slope leading up to OFD 1.5. Here we quickly found ourselves in a tight passage. It didn't look very nice, so I asked Phoebe if she'd like to have a look. After a few seconds, the words “um, it's getting very small,” floated back to us. “Ok, see if you can get a bit further,” I replied. “Well there's a rock in the way; I might be able to get past it.” “Oh good, keep going,” I said, reflecting how pleasant it is to have a ferret in the team whose superpower is small spaces. At this point, Jas’ sensible streak intervened, and he called out to Phoebe to come back before she got stuck. (After all, what can successfully rescue a ferret?)

After this, Jas took point and before long said: “It's a bit tight.” “That's ok,” I said, just keep going,” thinking for a second time how pleasant it is when other people test the tight bits. Before long we were through into yet more crawling passage. This time George set off in the lead, and after ten minutes or so, he called out - you guessed it! - “this is quite tight.” Despite being less of a ferret than Phoebe, he persisted until it became impossibly small.

Turning around, we decided to look for a connection with a higher passage. Peering up into a jumble of boulders, I was surprised to spot it. Twisting into it, it quickly became clear that it was another tight section, and was indeed the hole which Mark can be seen squeezing through in Keith’s OFD 1.5 video. This led to an unstable rock / sandy slope, and one by one, we made our way up through the hole. Here, some of my confusion rubbed off on Phoebe, who got the order of shouting “climb free” and kicking a rock down the hole the wrong way around. (I'm sure it was accidental!). Fortunately, the rock missed Jas, and I was left to reflect on many such occasions when I have knocked things down pitches...

A short while later we came across a beautiful crystal pool which we traversed over to arrive at a bridge of boulders (imaginatively called Boulder Bridge). From here, a steep, loose slope led down to the head of the 8m pitch that takes you to Falcon Chamber. Keen to look at this and possible rigging options, George and I started wandering backwards and forwards over the bridge. In his new-found role of sensible caver, Jas told us that perhaps both of us stomping over a load of boulders jammed together and suspended over a big drop wasn’t such a great idea…

In any case, it turned out that the rope we had wasn't going to be long enough to rig an approach line and the pitch. I was sorely tempted to rig only off the one bolt, until Jas and George sensibly pointed out that the bolt was of unknown age, and that this was an absurd idea. (Evidently, the progression from confusion to abject stupidity can be quite swift).

Destined to see neither the Knackeracker Pitch nor Falcon Chamber, we turned round, exiting the series down a 4m climb into the passages leading towards the Connection. Once through this and the boulder choke, we took the escape route out, with a quick diversion up Column Passage. Here, Jas put his lassoing skills to good use by throwing the rope up and around a small stump of rock before we climbed up. It was well worth seeing the column, which was certainly very impressive.

Another fun caving trip under the belt, all that remained was the trudge up the hill to Penwyllt to get showered and changed, and to reflect back on yet another enjoyable caving trip with members of the Dudley.

Cavers: Phoebe, George, Jas, and Dave.
Trip report: Dave.
Photos: Jas.