Through to Cwm Dwr was a bit of a stretch for Mel!

Mel arrived to a wet Welsh morning on time at 10am. We waited half an hour or so to see if Los was going to make it, but decided she was probably still in bed when the clock reached twenty to eleven and so headed up the hill for a through trip to Cwm Dwr.
No camera today so the going was quick and we were soon dropping in to the main stream way. After the first half dozen pots Mel decided it would be easier just to jump in them, and as we were moving at a reasonable pace she didn't get a chance to chill down.
After an hour and a half of caving we exited the stream way in to Cwm Dwr and as we had made such good time we decided to do a couple of add on's. First we popped up Heol Eira, which was prettier than I'd remembered. We then headed up in to the Upper Smithy for a poke around.
Mel found a couple of the climbs rather strenuous and by the time we had reached the exit crawls her legs were cramping up every time she bent them.
We slowed the pace and took breaks for her to stretch out and still exited at a very reasonable half past 3.  A good fast paced trip which offered the chance to refresh my navigational skills in some of the less explored area's of the system.

Looking like she's posing, Mel grimaces as she tries to stretch out her legs ;)

Present: Mel Bell & Mark Burkey

OFD to Cwm Dwr Through Trip

For Sunday we were joined by Ian who had requested a through trip. Jess and I were feeling somewhat better rested after a good meal and nights sleep.
We were in good spirits as we sauntered down the hill and in to the bottom entrance. We set an easy pace to ensure Ian enjoyed rather than endured his trip and even made time for a couple of photo's as we made our way through.
At the letter box Ian was pleased to find the climb and manoeuvre in to the slot was easier than he feared and again at the divers pitch he had worried it would be tougher than it was.
Infact at 70 this year Ian did a sterling job tackling each obstacle and even shot through the exit crawls at such speed that I had trouble keeping up with him!

Chloe traversing the stream way.

Ian and Mark just after the sump

Ian Admires the formations in the connection

Mark at the letterbox

Present: Ian Millward, Mark Burgess, Jess Burkey, Chloe Burney & Mark Burkey

A dry dive through OFD1 to Cwm Dwr

With my original plan to go diving at the weekend getting cancelled earlier in the week a backup plan to go caving instead was quickly agreed upon

Having been in bottom entrance only a few weeks earlier and with a couple of visits to Cwm Dwr now under my belt our plan for Saturday was a through trip to connect the two.

With plenty of time between us and our call out we entered the system via the ladder and headed off up towards the step, where surprisingly, after all the recent heavy rain was actually looking low. With signs that things were safe we worked our way up stream over the deep pots before turning off into a taller passage toward the boulder chamber. With good route descriptions being read out by Mark S at the rear, we made easy work of the choke and were soon in the crawly passage above, admiring the unusual mud formations.

Continuing down through a squeeze and a crawl we entered a larger passage where we had a good explore trying to find the correct route on. With only Anita being able to squeeze through what seemed to be the only way forward, but with no obvious route, we turned around to retrace our steps. With us all scurrying off in different directions we soon spotted an opening above us. Back on track the passage sent us up and down through a number of collapsed boulder chokes until we immerged into a chamber with straws and a flat, sloping wall at the end. At this point lunchtime was announced and my fellow cavers produced tasty snacks from their bags! There were sandwiches, crisps and the all important pork pie – in the moment of such unusual delights I had soon consumed a whole sandwich, a handful of sweets and two delicious pies, only to then realise we were dining at the foot of The Letter Box! Luckily nobody had eaten too much and we all slid through the opening with ease, working our way down the passages to the sloping slab that leads to the diver’s rope. Not convinced the small opening on the right was the correct route on we volunteered Anita for a second time to go on ahead and check things out. With the green light we all pushed our way up the tight squeeze to be faced with a huge drop into the abyss! After slight deliberation Chris opened up his tackle bag and began setting up a prusik knot for each of us, and one by one we made the safe decent to the passage below.

Knowing we were now not too far away from Piccadilly Circus (and for me slightly more familiar ground); we relaxed and enjoyed playing around with a few photos. Once we were all suitably cold and with empty lunch boxes we picked up the pace and made easy work through the Smithy. From here we moved over the transverses leading to Big Shacks and we were soon ready to enter the Cwm Dwr Choke. After a few interesting manoeuvres through the maze of boulders we popped out into the final main passage and made our way up the Cwm Dwr Jama to reach the notorious crawl. The rest of the group had done their homework and questioned some footage from a ‘Keith Caver Production’ video which showed what appeared to be a tricky crawl about to unfold. I reassured them that the crawl wasn’t difficult and in fact the drain pipes leading out the system were far trickier to negotiate. As expected the crawl was met with ease and with everyone emerging into the quarry directly one after the other, it seems to be that I was the only one to struggle with the pipes!!

Present: Mike, Chris Redman, Mark & Anita Sherwood

Trip report Mike Bonner

Shacked Up In Cwm Dwr

After a night under the stars, hail, rain and high winds, Mark and Chloe were both feeling a little under the weather and so a lighter trip was planned to pop in to Cwm Dwr to take a couple of photo's in Big Shacks 2.
Only Brendan had been before so it would be nice to visit a part of the system we hadn't previously done.
We headed in through the damp crawls, paused for a quick photo in Cwm Dwr Jamma and then continued through the boulder choke and in to Big Shacks 2.
We started by climbing Boudica's Chariot Wheel Aven to have a poke around and then squeezed through to take a peek at the end passage before heading back to our main objective, photographing the Big Shacks 2 main chamber.
After this we offered Chloe and Mark more of a trip but they were happy with what we'd done and so we headed back out for a welcome cuppa before heading back.

Cwm Dwr Jamma (Photo M.Burkey)

Big Shacks 2 (Photo M.Burkey)

Big Shacks 2 (Photo B.Marris)

Big Shacks 2 (Photo B.Marris)

Present: Brendan, Mark, Mark2, Chloe and Jess

Poles apart in Cwm Dwr

We’ve often mentioned visiting the short passage above Piccadilly waterfall and so decided that would be our main objective for Saturday.

 After much tea drinking and procrastinating we eventually made our way in a rather wet Cwm Dwr entrance series.

 Our plan was to use the Upper Piccadilly maypole to access the inlet. This proved to be a lot heavier than it looked. After attaching a ladder and line it took three of us to move it in to position.

 I climbed first, soaked and blinded by the water as I ascended.

 The pole only just reached the sloping muddy ledge and getting off at the top was one of the scarier experiences of my caving career. The water and slippery mud offered no assistance at all, I lunged on to the slope and as I did so the pole began to slide. With all the grace of an elephant I managed to pull myself to safety and heave a sigh of relief.

 After looking around the rather splendid passage it was obvious there was nothing to belay from and so as Loz and Jess made their way up I held the top of the Maypole to steady it. Neither of them was able to get off the ladder under their own steam and required me to drag them up the slope to safety.

 We switched the belay to the top of the pitch and Brendan climbed through the water to the top. Unfortunately at over 6ft I couldn’t man handle him off the maypole the way I had with the girls and after a couple of attempts he unfortunately lost strength and had to concede defeat.

 With the climb down playing on our minds we took some of photographs of the short passageway before attempting our descent.

A nervous and uncharacteristically quiet Loz went first. It took all my strength to keep the top of the maypole steady as she swung on to the ladder, but as soon as she did the pole steadied.
A rather tearful Jess repeated the procedure and again it was quite strenuous to ensure the maypole stayed in position.
For my descent I attached a guide rope to the pole so Brendan and Jess could hold it steady whilst Loz belayed me.
The whole thing went swimmingly and I didn’t die or Naffing!

With much relief we spent a little time photographing the waterfall using flash bulbs before going off to explore some of the lesser visited passage behind the skyhook pitch before heading out for a well earned meal.

 A Fantastic finish to 2015 and already I’m looking forward to the adventures 2016 has in store!

Piccadilly Inlet (Photo Mark Burkey)

Passage near 'The Smithy' (Photo Mark Burkey)

Passage near 'The Smithy' (Photo Brendan Marris)

Piccadilly Waterfall, lit with flash bulb (Photo Brendan Marris)

Present: Brendan, Loz, Mark & Jess

A wet days play in Cwm Dwr

Loz joined Brendan and I Sunday for a trip in to Cwm Dwr.
We had planned to visit a part of the cave we hadn't visited before but once we arrived at the foot of the divers pitch the torrent of water made it almost impassable.
Plan B was devised and instead we took a couple of photo's of the wet cascade and headed off to show Loz some of the rest of the cave.
First we headed up Heol Eira and then on past the pull through to Upper Piccadilly and in to a maze of interesting crawls. These emerged near to the 'Tapioca' formations area of the cave. Loz and I went off to take a look whilst Brendan continued poking around the passages near by. Re-grouped we headed out via a loop route which brought us back in to Big Shacks and from here Loz led the way out. An interesting trip which has opened up a few more area's that we shall have to go back and explore on a slightly drier day :)

Brendan and Loz in Big Shacks after the choke

Loz checks out a rather wet divers pitch (Photo Brendan Marris)

Present Mark Burkey, Loz Appleby & Brendan Marris

The Fault with an OFD through trip

For Sunday we had batted around a few ideas, but eventually settled on a through trip from OFD1 to Cwm Dwr with a divertion up to Fault Aven.

There was a note on the board at Penwyllt warning that there had been an issue with the OFD 1 lock lately and so we decided to take Loz’s car down the hill in case we couldn’t get in that way. As it turned out the problem was that the lock splits into two parts when unlocked, rather than an issue opening it.

Because of our planned trip we were each loaded with a kit bag as we headed in. Jess took the lead for the trip to cement the route in her head. OFD1 proved easy going with the water levels very low and we were soon past the stream way, up the choke and making our way through the connection before we knew it. At the Letterbox we tried grabbing the chain and walking up the wall to post ourselves in feet first staring at the ceiling and this worked extremely well. On we went through the crawls, down the Divers Pitch and to the Confluence where again we met a very low main stream way.

At the first river chamber Jess went up first to get the ladder rigged at the pull through. I went up the pitch first and re-rigged to belay the girls up and then off we went to the photographic objective of the day, Fault Aven.

After navigating a rather intimidating traverse around a big hole in the floor I sent the girls off to have a look at the sand blocked rift passage whilst I set up flash guns. We spent a good 20 minutes trying to get a shot before eventually deciding to call it a day and continue with the through trip. We decided to turn right after the confluence and head out via the waterfall, but at some point we took a wrong turn, perhaps climbing out at the wrong point, and eventually exited via a squeeze in boulders about 30m from the Smithy.

Back on route we had no further problems making our way out aside from an incident where my balanced camera box slipped off a rock above me giving me a black eye!

Loz at Fault Aven

Jess and Loz at Fault Aven

Present: Loz Appleby, Jess Burkey & Mark Burkey

Four Musketeers in Cwm Dwr

We arrived at SWCC to find it almost abandoned a kind of missed the boat feeling.

I did think that we wouldn't be able to get underground but fortunately Brendan had arrived and was able to get us sorted out.

We headed off for Cwm Dwr well I did the other guys headed down the wrong path and I stood n watched with amusment until the penny dropped.

Once in we quickly dencended the pipe and headed on to the boulder choke. From hearing that this is the infamous place where most cavers get lost we
brought a secret weapon with us.....plant labels an idea Jess gave me beforehand all in all this proved invaluable.

Once through the choke and into big shacks it was a case of route finding from here on and with the help of the survey we split up into twos
and got our bearings of the system as there are many passages and levels to navigate. After meeting back up we made our way down the main passage across the traverse
until we decided to head back as time was getting on. We quickly headed back out through the choke collecting the labels and without hesitation made our way back out to the surface to enjoy
tea and Brendan's malt loaf.

Yet another successful route finding trip with all of us taking it in turns to lead the way.

Trip report: Rich Gibbons

Present. Rich Gibbons Mike Bonner Rob Campbell and Tony Farrell

Swept off my feet on Valentine's Day

As members of not just Dudley CC but also SWCC, Brendan, Mark and myself had been asked to help out on one of their 'Provisionals' weekends.
Mark was unsure whether I'd be keen on spending Valentine's Day caving with unknown newbies, particularly as Brendan had already asked him out for a meal on Valentine's evening, but as we spent last year's Valentine's camped in a popular dogging spot near Abergavenny (accidentally!!) I figured this year's could only be an improvement.
Claire Vivian of SWCC had done a tremendous amount of preparation for the weekend and groups were soon organised to go underground. We were asked to take two groups from Southampton Uni - not strictly novices but inexperienced cavers who wanted to go further afield in the cave systems. I envisaged a romp around Top Entrance route-finding and was looking forward to the day.
One of the groups wanted to go and find cave entrances in the more general area, such as Clydach Gorge, so that they could plan future trips, and it made sense that Brendan should show them where to look. The other group wanted to do something more demanding - a through trip from OFD1 to Top Entrance. Much as I tried to persuade them that the Marble Showers Traverses were the best way to do the through trip, they were determined to experience the delights of the streamway, and it was with a heavy heart that I waved Brendan off in his nice, warm car, and plodded down the hill to get wet.
The water was well over the step when we got to OFD1, but not at a dangerous level so off we set. All went well for the first section and we quickly passed Lowe's climb and went through the boulder choke. OFD 1 1/2 through to the junction with Cwm Dwr posed no problems and we were even shown a new way to enter the Letterbox feet first, which works really well.



"I think it's this way"

Once through the Confluence the streamway became really hard work. As I find the streamway hard at the best of times, I went first. The water was flowing so strongly that we had to fight our way up each cascade and find new ways to climb up the mini waterfalls. Then we arrived at the first pot. Whereas in the past I have happily skimmed across the surface of each pot and wriggled up the other side, now I was faced with a whirlpool. Following the swirl of the water it was easy to be swept around to the other side of the pot, but dragging yourself back out of the water against the flow was really strenuous, with the water trying to peel your fingers off the smooth rock. The last pot was the worst. I launched myself at the far edge but could not get a grip, and the water swept me straight round the pot back to where I started. Again I dived across and again the water pulled my desperate fingers off the rock. This time I was going under as I came back around the pot and two students pulled me out. One of them had a go at getting across the pot but ended up back at the start like me, and then finally the other managed to get across and pull himself out. I passed him a sling and he aided the rest of us across and out of the water. When it came to the last one in the group, he had no strength left to pull himself out, and Mark had to dive into the pot and push him out, dolphin-style. The water was also extremely cold, and by the time we reached the Oxbow and came out of the water our teeth were chattering.



Fighting against the flow in the streamway
 

The students started emptying their wellies and Mark looked at them, "You do know we have to get back into the steamway, don't you?" he asked. I think I heard whimpering; it could have been me.
Back in the streamway, we eventually reached the climb up towards Maypole Inlet. There was a fair amount of water coming down, and one of the students looked up at it.
"Just what I wanted after all that" he said "was to have to climb up a f***ing waterfall!"
The climb up Maypole Inlet itself proved a challenge for the weary group but soon we were all up into dry passage at last. Taking a short detour to take in the Trident, Judge and Swamp Creek on the way out, I elected to take the sandy crawls to the Corkscrew, in an effort to warm up, and took two of the group with me, while Mark continued up Salubrious with the rest.
Once out of the cave we were thanked profusely by the students, who then had their dinner and went straight to bed, broken! Brendan had not long been back after a leisurely potter around the countryside, so he graciously allowed me to accompany him and Mark for a curry to round off the day. Definitely a better Valentine's than last year!

Present: Jessica Burkey, Mark Burkey, Southampton University Caving Club


 

Getting Stuck In To The Crystal Maze

Keith and I are unsure how exactly the weekends trips were decided upon, but for Mark-2 and Crystal’s first trips with Dudley, an adventure in to the maze like passages through the Sand Banks in Cwm Dwr Quarry Cave was decided upon. We were both a little wary of taking two ‘unknowns’ on a trip that we wouldn’t have normally considered novice, but figured we could always amend plans as we went to suit the capabilities of the group.

As ever we began the day with all but Mark-2 meeting at Luigi’s for breakfast. Unusually for us we actually arrived at the SWCC on time and after 'collecting' Mark-2 we were kitted and ready to go under ground by 11am. Our fears proved unfounded as our groups made swift progress through the entrance series of shafts, crawls, walking passage and boulder choke to emerge in Big Shacks 1. To this point Matt, Chloe and Loz had been leading the way in to the system, but here was where Keith would take over the navigation. The route we were to take Keith had not visited in over a decade and is a maze of passageway.

With not a single senior moment arising, Mr Edwards swiftly led us through the passageway to a tightening route that would take us through to the Sand Banks and connection to the route to Upper Smithy. Keith had warned this route would be snug and awkward for both the larger of us and the taller, so it was decided we would keep the ‘Big Boys’ at the front of the group so they could help each other if they became stuck at any point, the girls would bring up the rear.

Soon Keith was calling back……’Right, I’m now at the tight, awkward bit’…….Bugger I thought and pushed through a slightly awkward bit of passage. As I emerged Keith called back……’Actually now I’m at the tight awkward bit!’………Bugger I thought as I reached an awkward thrutch up a level to post myself in to a tight piece of keyhole passage. Jamming myself in the larger top half I thrutched forward until through and then called back to Rob that it was more awkward than tight.

Soon Keith and I were joined by Rob, Matt and Mark-2. Keith had just begun to explain where we were in relation to the route to the Upper Smithy when a call came from the girls that Crystal was having a little bother. Keith and I called our usual stock words of encouragement down the tube to them, but when there was still only grunting coming back after a minute or two I decided I’d better go investigate. Crystal, being far smaller than the rest of us, had trouble staying up in the wider part of the keyhole and had slid down in to the slot and could not move forward or backward, nor could she push up to free her hips.

We first put a sling through her belt and Mel tried to pull her up whilst I did the same with her arms, but it quickly became apparent this was not going to work. The leverage had to come from Mel’s side as there just wasn’t room my side and I couldn’t see how I could get over Crystal without trampling her, so I called to Mr Edwards to come join us. I covered Crystals Head and torso with my upper body and Keith scrambled over me toward Mel.

It’s hard to describe just how delicate an operation this was as at one point the 3 of us were sandwiched between each other in a passage which was only really big enough for one person! The next problem was that there was not enough room even on Mel’s side of the passage for Keith to turn around. He called for Chloe to move back, but she was at the point past the first ‘tight awkward’ manoeuvre and was unable to either reverse or turnaround herself. Fortunately Mel managed to squeeze herself backward just enough that Keith was able to contort himself and turn back to face me. Again we tried to heave Crystal, but there seemed to be no movement at all no matter what we tried. It was becoming obvious we would need to get more strength on the far side. The problem was that the girls behind Keith could not turn around and could not reverse, so the only option was for everyone to continue. As Keith clambered back over Crystal he found some purchase for his knees and at an angle directly above her decided to have another go at lifting her. Grabbing her by the belt he put everything he had in to it and Crystal moved upward by a quarter of an inch. So as not to lose this advantage Keith grabbed a leg before she could slip back down, apologising as he did so.

“You can grab whatever you like as long as you get me out of here!” came Crystals reply.

With her hips free it was then straightforward to assist her back in to the keyhole. I have to just say that if it had been me who had just gotten wedged on any caving trip let alone my first; I would have been a quivering wreck!
Crystal had remained calm throughout and said afterward that she had completely trusted us……the mad fool!

Asked if she wanted to head out after her adventure she replied No Way! So after a short diversion to show me the route to connect toward the Upper Smithy, Keith led us through the sand crawls and down to take a look at the confluence and sump.

After this he passed the route finding reigns over to me to lead out a route that Brendan, Jess and I had discovered on a previous trip. Keith had led us faultlessly through a route he had done 12 years before, unfortunately I managed a couple of wrong turns before I recognised a route I’d only done 12 months before!

After this the exit went smoothly and we were soon gathered around the tea pot telling tales of our adventures - Miss-adventures! and planning our next days trip.

Mark at Piccadilly Waterfall

Crystal near Big Shacks

Present: Matt, Chloe, Loz, Crystal, Mel, Rob, Keith, Mark1 & Mark 2

OFD 1 to Cwm Dwr for the Burney Clan

When I first started caving and reported home with stories of terrors and tears, my eldest brother brushed off my tales and informed me he went caving once when he was young and it was pretty easy. Determined to show Paul that what I get up to most weekends was not quite the same as the ‘caving’ he did as a 10 year old boy, I kindly signed him up to the club as a special Christmas present. On receiving the gift, Paul told me he didn’t want ‘just a normal novice trip’ and fancied something a little tastier, so a through trip from OFD 1 to Cwm Dwr was proposed.

The first achievement of the day was managing to get Paul awake in time for Brendan arriving (who himself was a little late as a result of sleeping through his alarm). We met Jess and Mark at South Wales Caving Club and introduced Paul to the tradition of tea drinking and pre-trip faffing. Once changed, we walked down the hill to OFD 1, by which time Paul was looking rather apprehensive. We headed straight to the streamway to find the water levels were high but just about acceptable to continue, which made for a sporting start to the trip as we wadded our way upstream. Upon leaving the water we went to boulder chamber and through the choke followed by The Connection. The Letterbox proved a bit of a challenge for me, as even with the assistance of a sling to stand in, it was almost at shoulder height and I required a pull on the arms from Brendan and made a wellie shaped imprint on Mark stood below, to get up and through the slot. Once through the crawls we arrived at the top of the Diver’s Pitch where it was revealed that a dislike of heights was a Burney family trait. With some assistance from Mark we made it down the climb, although Paul’s legs were doing a bit of an Elvis shake which he conveniently blamed on low blood sugar!

Our route took us past Piccadilly, along Upper Piccadilly Streamway, through the boulder choke and Cmw Dwr Jama to the crawls. Paul was beginning to tire but kept pushing through the crawls and out to the climb. With a final little shove from Mark below, out he popped out from the concrete pipes and back into the daylight.

Chloe on a traverse in Cwm Dwr

Chloe and Paul at our alternative route out of Cwm Dwr

Chloe and Paul at our alternative route out of Cwm Dwr

Everyone enjoyed the trip although Paul admitted he felt a little too battered and bruised to return underground for a while. Most importantly for me, he has a new found respect of what his little sister does at the weekend!

Present: Paul Burney, Jessica Burkey, Mark Burkey, Brendan Marris with report by Chloe Burney

Collective Amnesia in the Upper Smithy

The Upper Smithy is a remote and rarely visited high level area of Cwm Dwr that we last visited seven years ago. Our return trip was planned so we could explore all areas, using the fab new Cwm Dwr survey, to video and to take photographs of this area of the cave. The Upper Smithy is divided into two sections with the southern part accessed by scaling a steep calcite slope that rises above the route from The Smithy to Nether Rawl. From the top of the slope a passage can be seen in a wall opposite, which is reached later in the trip. The calcite slope heads up into a lofty calcite covered passage to reach a junction where ahead the passage lowers through some decorated sections to reach a choke after 100m. Heading right at the junction reaches a section of taped off passage containing a crystal pool. We then headed to the northern section of the Upper Smithy where one route took us via some low sandy crawls into a section of magnificent phreatic tube. This is beautifully decorated and meanders until it starts to form a keyhole passage and descends steeply. We followed this to the bottom, where it turns sharp right and becomes a rift passage, before ending on a balcony overlooking the calcite climb that we used to access the southern end of the Upper Smithy. We photographed and videoed the passages back to a point where a climb up leads to a series of even higher passages can be entered. Climbing up to this higher level we reached a fork in the passage, with one branch taking us to a point where we looked down on a floor of loose boulders that formed the roof of a passage we had visited earlier. We did not wish to risk following this branch as is was shown to quickly close down on the survey. Mark and Keith went up a climb just before the point we looked down on the loose boulders to reach an even higher level. Jess and myself followed the other branch to reach a climb up loose boulders to reach the passage that Mark and Keith were in. We decided that the first climb was the safer and headed back to climb it and join Keith and Mark who were now at the traverse above the climb that we chose not to take. We followed passages with breakdown to reach another climb up loose boulders and a traverse to reach a continuation of the passage. Keith and myself were convinced we had not been to this area before and we followed Mark along a phreatic tube in more stable rock. Eventually we reach a window over a gaping chasm. Instantly Keith and myself had total recall - we had indeed been here before. A muddy balcony a few feet below the window allowed us to drop down and then traverse along to a steep boulder and slippy mud floored chamber. Mark and Keith descended as far as they dare to view what is labelled on the survey as "Deep Shaft", while Jess and myself headed up the chamber to reach the choke at the top of the passage. Reviewing the time we decided to head out, taking a couple of photos in this highest level of the passages. Our exit was uneventful, the climb out of the chamber in the northern section providing the only fun and games.

Jessica Burkey - Upper Smithy - Cwm Dwr

Jessica Burkey - Upper Smithy - Cwm Dwr

Jessica Burkey - Upper Smithy - Cwm Dwr

Jessica Burkey - Upper Smithy - Cwm Dwr

Jessica Burkey - Upper Smithy - Cwm Dwr

Mark Burkey - Upper Smithy - Cwm Dwr

A long trip to explore, photograph and video this remote area of the cave. We will return to complete the video segments needed.

Present: Jessica Burkey, Mark Burkey, Keith Edwards and Brendan Marris

Side Splitting Fun In Cwm Dwr

Carl sent out an email to the club with a hit list of caves, so when he asked for a trip on the Sunday I thought we'd offer him Cwm Dwr, as because of weather it was about the only viable option on his list.

Arriving a mere 20 minutes late a tired looking Carl arrived and in traditional caving style went straight for the kettle.

Carl had apparently only chosen Cwm Dwr because it is gated and he wants to get in as many difficult access caves as he can this year…..not because he was aware of it's long entrance crawl, awkward boulder choke or sometimes wet / tight passageway.

Oblivious of the pleasures to come he exclaimed, "Well the sooner we get in the cave the sooner we can get back out!" …you gotta love his enthusiasm.

The entrance pipe was flowing nicely and ensured you got a good trickle down the back going in. Carl seemed to enjoy this and was in good spirits as we made our way down an awkward climb and on to the crawls.
Popping out in to Cwm Dwr Jamma we paused to catch our breath…..Carl asking if we had to do all that bloody crawling to get out again ;)

We were soon through the passage and on to the choke where again Carl got a good taste of what Cwm Dwr is all about slithering and contorting through wet slippery boulders and then on in to Big Shacks. At this point Brendan offered up an alternative entrance to the system so we turned right, heading toward the upper Piccadilly end of the cave via a route that would miss out the main route and Smithy altogether. Again getting in to some restricted crawling we made our way through 'till we popped out out under some pretty formations. I recognised them but still couldn't orientate myself 'till Brendan pointed out that I had gone in to the crawl from this end on a previous trip. Chuffed that we had found a completely new alternative route in, we continued on to our first objective, the very pretty Tapioca formations.
I popped my ribs through the squeeze in to the area before getting my belt caught. I couldn't reverse and couldn't go forward so decided on a tactic of brute force pushing forward so hard that I began to exit the squeeze, but unfortunately my belt and over suit stayed put….doing an incredible Hulk impression I had split the shoulders of my suit before my belt broke free and the rest followed. Carl also enjoyed the snug calcite, though with far more grace than myself and Brendan barely noticed it!
The reward was worth the effort though and we stopped for a couple of pictures before heading on through the cave to see what kind of level the stream way had risen to at the confluence. Pausing again to take a few pictures we began to wonder what the time was. Carl noticed my camera had a time and date display and although it wasn't something I had set, the date was correct, so we assumed the time to also be. With only an hour left to beat our call out, we made our back with Carl enjoying the crawls almost as much as on the way in.
Upon our exit Jess looked a little confused as it turned out my camera time wasn't correct after all and we had exited a good hour and a half ahead of schedule! doh :)

Carl pausing to admire some formations

Carl posing at the Confluence

A quick run around Cwm Dwr

As the dig was taking a little longer than anticipated to pump out, Jess and I took Chloe, Ian and Becca for a quick trip in to Cwm Dwr.
Jess had been kind enough to sort out the caving gear as I had been working non stop with late nights the week before. Reaching the entrance shaft I realised Jess hadn't actually put a battery in my helmet and after snapping at her (sorry honey!) she kindly swapped helmets and went off to sort the battery issue.
I dropped down first followed by Becca, Chloe and Ian, then poor old Jess arrived after running back to the van.
After seeing Becca and Chloe to the beginning of the crawls I set them loose and continued in with Ian and Jess to re-group in Cwm Dwr Jammer.
We made our way through to the choke to find a couple of lost cavers trying to find their way in to the choke for a through trip, so letting them tag along we took them through and explained their route before we continued on through to The Smithy and Picadilly.
On our return we found our lost cavers.....lost again, after checking they knew their way from The Confluence we again set them on their path before making our way out and re-joining the dig team.

Present: Ian Millward, Becca Kirkpatrick, Chloe Burney, Jessica Harding & Mark Burkey

Cwm Dwr - Return to Fault Aven

The Fault Aven series had proved more complex than we had anticipated on our previous visit and so we returned with camera and video equipment, with the aim of finding the other side of the Fault Aven and to photograph the Pom Pom.

We headed into the cave avoiding loosing the tackle bag in the choke this time, but having the misfortune of both straps on the bag coming off enroute. We climbed up into the Fault Aven Series with no hiccups and headed straight to H Junction and the start of Pom Pom Passage.

Jess in Pom Pom Passage.

Mark views a crystal pool in Pom Pom Passage.

The climb up into Pom Pom Passage proved more tricky that expected, but soon we were looking down to the lower level. Treading very carefully in this delicate area we viewed dry crystal pools before traversing to the Pom Pom.

Jess views the Pom Pom Formation.

A close-up of the Pom Pom Formation.

Photos were taken of the Pom Pom before heading back over the traverses to H Junction. From here we then set out to find and explore passages that had not been included on the previous trip. This area of the cave is a 3D maze with passages at many different levels, often one above the other. We found a lower entrance into Fault Aven, but turned back at an exposed rope climb on the route that we believe takes you to the uppermost level in Fault Aven. We will return with tackle to protect the climb on a future trip. A tricky but fascinating area of the cave.

The Video

Present: Mark Burkey, Jessica Harding, Keith Edwards and Brendan Marris

Fault Aven Series - Playing Hide and Seek

We headed off with tackle, camera and video gear to the Fault Aven Series in Cwm Dwr. On the way in we played a game of hide and seek with the tackle bag in the Cwm Dwr Choke. After Half an hour Keith was declared the winner of the game and so we headed off to our target. We split and headed to regroup an the confluence before making our way to the First River Chamber and then the climb up to the Fault Aven Series.

The pull through worked well and we are soon up in the high level passages. Not being able to make sense of where we were in relation to the survey we headed off following our noses until we had some notion of our whereabouts. Mark and Keith crossed a very large hole to inspect the Fault Aven itself while Jess and Brendan too some photos of the impressive false floor.

We then retraced our steps and headed in the opposite direction to find H Junction and explore the passages that radiate off it. Mark and Keith found the Pom Pom after a long section of traverses and took some video before returning.

We will return with some additional tackle and photograph Fault Aven and Pom Pom Passage on a future trip.

Magnificent False floor in the Fault Aven Series.

H Junction - Fault Aven Series.

Formations - Fault Aven Series.

Formations - Fault Aven Series.

Formations - Fault Aven Series.

Present: Keith Edwards, Mark Burkey, Jessica Harding and Brendan Marris

A Weekends Play in OFD II & Cwm Dwr

Having played in top entrance and the Labyrinth we exited in to a very windy and wet Saturday evening. After a hot shower and warm meal we discussed options for Sunday and came up with a route finding day in Cwm dwr.

Sunday morning we gathered our kit and were soon plodding over a wet quarry to the entrance. The sewer pipe had a flow of water running in and ensured we got a little damp right from the start.
We were quickly through the crawls and popping out a very wet exit in to Cwm Dwr Jama where we re-grouped.
Half way down the passage, after exploring all possible routes off, Brendan announced he had lost a contact lens. After 5 minutes spent searching we eventually gave up. This proved an interesting handicap at times as it left him with quite a blind spot only being able to see out of the one eye!
At the boulder choke although there was evidence of recent flooding through the choke, the water levels were fine to continue and we were soon at the Smithy and heading through to an upper series.
Having passed a couple of awkward climbs I decided it was time to test my new toys once more and was horrified to find the container which held my new flash guns had at some point cracked and let in water so was unable to use them on this trip (fortunately after a couple of days in the airing cupboard they are now fully functional and a new peli case is on order ;)
After an hour of poking around every possible route in the higher series I came across a very short traverse which led back down toward the Maypole. Still baffled as to where exactly we had been looking down upon we begun a search of the lower passageway until we found a cascade Brendan had previously photographed Jess at on an earlier trip and realised this was the passageway we had been looking down upon.
Poking around all routes Brendan and I found that two of the climbs up intersected and continued on through an awkward squeeze to a very well decorated chamber, which again Brendan realised he had visited a couple of years ago with Keith. We spent a while exploring before deciding that we'd better re-group with Jess who had gone off to look down some lower level passage.
Checking the time Brendan was shocked to see we only had an hour before our call out, so at full steam we headed out, making it back to the hut with only a few minutes to spare......that is until Brendan found out his watch was set an hour fast!

Pictures below from our Saturday trip in to top.

Jess admiring formations en route through the Labyrinth

Rare chance to see the man behind the lens in Gnome Passage

Present: Jessica Harding, Mark Burkey & Brendan(One eye)Marris

Cwm Dwr....Easy Squeezy

Having arranged to meet up with Wal and Chloe at South Wales for half ten on Sunday morning, & as we were camping over the weekend, when my alarm went off I snuggled  back in to my duvet hitting the snooze button, ready for another half hour before venturing out of my nice warm bed. Alas this was not to be. Wal began banging on the side of the van at half nine… a full hour early!

Dragging myself from the comfort of my toasty bed, in to the drizzling rain, we headed to the hut for a cuppa and a quick breakfast before heading off.

Chloe was most impressed with the fact the entrance was virtually on the doorstep, though not as impressed with the climb down the entrance itself.

We were soon well on our way. Chloe took the cwm dwr squeeze and crawls in her stride and in no time we were in larger passage making our way down Cwm Dwr Jama and in to the boulder choke. Again this was navigated without issue and we were soon past the Smithy, through Piccadilly and at our objective of Heol Eira where we stopped for some photos.

Chloe admiring formations in Heol Eira

Helping Chloe up and down some of the climbs as we made our way back, Steve amused Chloe with tales of our previous exploits, telling her about a particular time in Giants when I used Steve as a set of steps to climb over some tighter passage and how his back hadn’t been the same since.

We were making our way toward main route when I decided it would be a great idea to dive in to a particularly tight and inviting set of boulders to explore. Head first, popping my ribs over the rocks as I dropped in to a small chamber, which didn’t actually go anywhere, I decided the only thing to do was turn around and pop back out. Unfortunately the chamber was just a little too small for me to turn and my helmet wedged with my left leg somewhere around my right ear. Cursing I realised the only way I was going to get out was to reverse, doing a hand stand and try to push up and squeeze through backward. Each time I tried this gravity got the better of me. Steve saw his chance to both assist and get his own back and dived on my exposed legs to stop me slipping back in the hole. Every time I got my hands in position I pushed up, squeezing myself backward and Steve would let off pressure to allow me to move and then pin down my legs to stop me sliding forward. Now I realise I probably left him with more bruises when I used him as a climbing frame, but for a small guy my legs can testify he definitely isn’t light!!!

With no further dramas we made our way back to the entrance which Chloe had been dreading. As it happened she needn’t have worried, it turned out her legs are the perfect length for the entrance tube and she had no trouble making her way out.

Present: Steve Wallis, Chloe Burney, Jessica Harding & Mark Burkey

Cwm Dwr Quarry Cave

A reasonable amount of rain fell on Saturday making the proposed trip into Dan Yr Ogof look quite risky, so instead we decided to change the plan and head to Cwm Dwr as a safer alternative.
Messages were left on answer phones and we headed down to South Wales, four of use meeting at the breakfast van, but no sign of Ben or Grant. Ben had missed the phone message and after a night on the beer was waiting on the DYO carpark. Keith headed into the cave with Heather and Mark, while Brendan waited for Ben and Grant to arrive and change.
Keith was trying out some new video lighting and set to work filming Heather and Mark in the entrance series. With Ben and Grant changed the final group entered the cave and met up with Keith in the entrance series and then made steady progress into the cave taking some video as we went.
We headed to The Smithy and then via Sand Banks to Piccadilly, where Keith headed off with Mark to see if he could post Mark through The Letterbox. The rest of the group headed down to the sump and then along Flood Bypass to the Confluence. From here we headed up the Cwm Dwr Stream to emerge into the bottom of The Smithy, our agreed rendez-vous point with Keith and Mark. Keith returned with Mark confirming that although classed as a Large Letter by the Royal Mail, it was possible for Mark to pass through the Letterbox.
From The Smithy we headed out taking a couple of photos and some video on the way.

Heather, Ben and Grant near Big Shacks in Cwm Dwr.

Grant near the sump in Cwm Dwr Quarry Cave.

Ben near the sump in Cwm Dwr Quarry Cave.

See more photos of Cwm Dwr Quarry Cave here

Present: Brendan Marris, Mark Burkey, Grant Wilkes, Ben Marklew, Heather Simpson and Keith Edwards