Five caves and a 'classic' through trip

After visiting Little Neath River Cave last year Mike and Lucy suggested a visit to the other caves lower down the river, and so we planned our day along the Little Neath River. After the obligatory breakfast at Luigis (nearly brought back up by Lucy as we took a diversion along some precipitous roads to avoid the closed Clydach Gorge) we headed to Nedd Fechan and parked up close to Bridge Cave.

Town Drain

Our first cave of the day was Town Drain where we headed down to the squalid end, and then returned via the crawling entrance to emerge directly opposite our second cave of the day - White Lady Cave.

White Lady Cave

We entered via the main entrance and took some video as we went in. Some playing about in the sump pool followed before we headed up the higher branch to reach the duck. Mike made several passes through it for the video before we exited into the gorge where we chased the fleeting suns rays warm up.

Pwll Y Rhyd

A little time was spent exploring the different entrances to the dry cave and the not so dry passages close to the sumps. We found that the low passage into the Pwll Y Rhyd EXtensions was too slited up for us to get in. A few 'through' trips were completed between the many entrances before we headed back up towards Bridge Cave.

Pwll Y Rhyd - Nedd Fechan

Bridge Cave

A very ordinary visit to Bridge Cave which included exploring all dry passages to the sumps before a return to surface.

Ogof Dan Y Maes Y Parcio - Through Trip

The oh-so imaginatively named "Cave Under The Car-park" would be our finale for the days caving. A cave never visited by us before and one that may possibly have collapsed a little since it was dug out by the Westminster S.G, we entered with a little trepidation. Located in the the opposite side of the shakehole to Bridge Cave, it started off as a quite pleasant crawl, but soon degenerated to being flat out over cobbles. After a short distance a small chamber was entered and after poking our noses in the higher level leads it became clear that the only possible way on was the low flat out crawl through cobbles and boulders. This continued for a couple of body lengths before it turned left and another couple of body lengths took us into some larger passage. Now the roar of the Nedd Fechan sinking could be heard and we passed through some wider passage with sharp rock protrusions to a large flat slab that we slid over. On the other side we gained a small chamber where the Nedd Fechan entered and went down a steep passage to the sump on the right. The way on was clear as daylight streamed through an entrance blocked by driftwood and a multitude of spiders and their webs. We fought our way through the debris to emerge into daylight.

Mike emerges from Ogof Dan Y Maes Y Parcio

Present: Mike Bonner, Lucy Collins, Keith Edwards and Brendan Marris

Nedd Fechan Caves - A Bridge Too Far

Cave 1 - Bridge Cave
The first cave of the day was Bridge Cave, were we spent a little time exploring the small passages above the rock bridge at the end of the cave.

Loz in West Passage - Bridge Cave.

Cave 2 - Pwll Y Rhyd
A cave I had not visited before, but as it was dry we dropped down into the giant chasm that is Pwll Y Rhyd. From here we explored all the dry passages on each side of the pot. A cave that we will return to to take some photos including exploring the low gravel floored crawls that lead to the other side of the White Lady Sump.

Loz in north section of Pwll Y Rhyd.

Cave 3 - White Lady Cave
A quick trip into White Lady cave - heading down to the sump and then returning via the higher level passage.

Formations in White Lady Cave.

Cave 4 - Town Drain
A trip to the end of the cave, plus a little while spent exploring the inlet passage and then exiting via the smaller of the entrances that pops out directly opposite the main entrance to White Lady Cave.

Shower inlet in Town Drain Cave.

Loz exiting Town Drain Cave.

After leaving Town Drain we headed downstream along the gorge for some distance before heading up the bank and taking the footpath above back to the cars.

Present: Mark Burkey, Loz Appleby and Brendan Marris

Five cavers - Four caves - One day

The day started with a very brief rendez-vous in Asda cafe before heading to Ystradfellte and the caves. Some substantial repairs to the road allowed us to park the cars down at the bridge. We sent Wal off to the farm to pay the trespass fees, changed and made our way to our first cave..

Cave 1 Bridge Cave
Our first cave of the day was Bridge Cave, with a quick trip down to the sump and then back out again.

Martin in the Entrance Series - Bridge Cave

Some more photos of Bridge Cave Here

Cave 2 White Lady Cave
We headed down the Nedd Fechan past Cwm Pwll Y Rhyd and down to White Lady cave, it's large arched entrance enticing us in. The water was deeper than I remembered and caused much upset to Wal who as we all know doesn't like the wet stuff. A quick sploosh down to the sump and then a slow return taking photos followed.

Martin and Mel in the main passage - White Lady Cave

Martin and Wal near the entrance - White Lady Cave

Cave 3 Town Drain Cave
A hop skip and jump from the entrance to White Lady was Town Drain, and one by one we entered this linear and impressively scalloped cave. A dash to the end was followed by half an hour of photos taken in the most impressive section of passage near the entrance.

Martin and Andy near the entrance - Town Drain Cave

Martin near the entrance - Town Drain Cave

Cave 4 Little Neath River Cave.
Having ticked off the lesser caves of the valley we headed up to the true target of the day - Little Neath. Low water and warm weather ensured that journey into the cave was not too cold or off-putting. We headed downstream to look at the other side of the Bridge Cave sump before sticking our heads into the canal. Wal was urged to commit himself to the water, but after much coaxing he would not budge. It took Martin heading off down the canal in front to get Wal to follow. After our swim a short detour to Bouncing Boulder Hall was made before the return via the Canal bypass was made. We were all out for four o'clock and in the New Inn at Ystradfellte supping pints in the beer garden by five.

Some Little Neath River cave photos from previous trips here

Present: Brendan Marris, Steve Wallis, Mel Wakeman, Andy Grimes and Martin Saunders.

Bridge Cave - A Quick Photo Trip

Our primary aim for the day was to do some video with the new Scurion lights in Little Neath River Cave, but we first took a little excursion into Bridge Cave to take some photos for the South Wales Caves website. A quick crawl through cobble floored phreatic tubes took us to the boulder choke, where on the far side it has been re-engineered following some movement in the past. From there we dropped into the streamway and then entered the large trunk passage. We had a look at the Rock Bridge and also the sump before taking a set of photos, a few minutes of video and then headed out.

Rachel Dearden in a section of the impressive Main Stream Passage.

Keith Edwards and Rachel Dearden in a section of the impressive Main Stream Passage.

Richard and Rachel Dearden in a section of the impressive Main Stream Passage.

Rachel Dearden below the impressive rock bridge.

Richard Dearden in the entrance streamway.

See more Bridge Cave photos here

Present: Keith Edwards, Rachel Dearden, Richard Dearden and Brendan Marris