Ogof Pasg to Ogof Foel Fawr through trip

As the through trip was a little oversubscribed we decided to split the group and I took half into Pasg and Becca took the rest into Foel Fawr.

We found the entrance without too much issue and navigated our way over the sump and boulders to the ladder pitch. Rigging the ladder proved to be a bit of a challenge as we weren’t able to use the spits and had to use a natural belay backed up to a bolt further back from the pitch head. I belayed everybody down then started to climb down myself. When I was about half way down the awkward climb I heard Jess (who was belaying me) making squeaking noises to Mark. When I glanced down I saw the reason for her noises were because she was rapidly running out of rope! I managed to make it to 6ft above the ground before the rope ran out completely, at which point Jess had to start climbing up the wall to let me down, like a Victorian pair of weigh scales!

As we walked through the canal we could hear the other group ahead and stopped at the top of the calcite slope for an exchange of tales of the trip so far. After informing Brendan of the slightly economical length of the belay rope we continued on to the connection. Once through the rather unpleasant u-bend we were at the fallen slab squeeze. I went through first, closely followed by Amy who flew through. Ian went next and needed only a little help to get across. Now Mark had been previously defeated by this squeeze and after learning that Brendan had made it through he was determined to make it also. However he first wanted to make sure that if he were to get stuck, Andy and Jess would be able to get him back out, so they were asked to pull on his wellies as he breathed out. I guess they were expecting Mark to be a little more jammed than he actually was, as they yanked on his feet, shooting him backwards at high speed and bashing a delicate area of his anatomy on a nodule of rock. Oops! So after a few painful dummy runs and getting me to ‘passage size test’ to find the best route, Mark committed to the squeeze. There was a bit of puffing and hand holding but he got through with utter determination and even managed a little victory smile through the grimace of pain when he was stood back on his feet. After watching and listening to Mark going through Andy gave the squeeze a valiant effort but decided the bypass would be a better route. Now it turns out the bypass is not such an easy option when you are well in excess of 6ft tall with long legs like Andy, but he kept wriggling and bending his body into angles it naturally shouldn’t be at, until he popped through to join us. 

Everyone flew through the flat out crawls and up the muddy climb to find ourselves on the way out of the cave just in time to see the other group walking along lower down the quarry.

Trip report Chloe Burney

Present: Ian Millward, Andy Williams, Jess Burkey, Amy Sawyer, Chloe Burney & Mark Burkey.

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

Ogof Pasg and Ogof Foel Fawr, Herbert's Quarry, South Wales

Having found the entrance and then quickly finding the pitch, I rigged the life line off a nice piece of stal, and the ladders off a large flake of flowstone on the left hand wall very near the start of the slope. Now this isn't the best of ladder pitches as it slopes away from you and can't see the bottom, and when you climb down there is a section of about 5 rungs where you can't grip the ladder so you have to be very careful. If I go again I would use SRT - it would be easier. After a quick wade through the canal and a bit of crawling we arrived at a chamber where the survey says 'continue through a dig in the floor' well don't do what we did and go down the slope as it goes nowhere - just go straight on and you will come to what can best be described as a low tight duck, where I got a very wet ear. Just past here is the fallen slab which trust me isn't for larger people. You have to take your helmet off otherwise you can't see anything as your head is sideways. We were through into Ogof Foel Fawr. The exit from here is fairly straight forward and before we knew it we were out. All we had to do now was walk around the hill and retrieve the ladder.

Attended by: Andy G (report) & Mel