Dudley North Wales Mines Weekend. Day1....The Croesor / Rhosydd Through Trip.

Kay, myself and Jess travelled to Llandudno on the Friday night to avoid the bank holiday traffic.

Saturday morning after a walk on the pier and donuts for breakfast we went to meet Kay at her bed and breakfast before collecting Loz at a nearby Mcdonalds and heading on to Tanygrisiau where we had arranged to hook up with Mike and Lucy for midday.

The long walk to the Croesor entrance was as much fun as ever, Kay particularly enjoyed it after having had a 4 course breakfast!

At the entrance we met some European hikers who poked their nose in the entrance before declaring us mad and going on their way.

This would be Lucy's first real SRT and so we had brought enough rope to rig a tandem abseil and so I descended beside her to keep an eye on her, though it really wasn't needed as she had no problems at all.
Whilst the usual fun was had on the Zip line I took advantage of the others playing back and forth to get a planned shot of the rickety suspension bridge before we continued on through the other various obstacles.
I had been a little worried about getting Lucy across the traverse, but a second zip line is now in place making the traverse redundant. We had another play with photo's, this time getting Kay to use her Vape to create a smokey effect, intact creating so much smoke I couldn't see across the chamber!
We eventually got the hang of how much would create the right effect and grabbed the shot before moving on.
Lucy and Kay were nervous of the new rigging at the bridge of death, but both had no problems at all when it came their turn to cross.
As we reached the canoe we realised we were going to be close to our call out time. Jess suggested I go ahead with Mike and Lucy to ensure we would make it out on time until I pointed out I was the only one who knew the way out and so we stayed as a group navigating through Rhosydd.

Once out Loz did her thing and jogged down to the cars. She arrived with only 5 minutes to spare before Keith was actually going to initiate the call out.

After a proper scolding by Mr. Edwards we headed to Betws Y Coed for a good meal and then back to Llandudno.

View from the bedroom, LlandudnoPier

Lucy on the wobbly suspension bridge

Kay on the 2nd Abseil

Mike & Jess at the 2nd Zip Line

Hungy cavers!

Present: Kay Wood, Loz Appleby, Mike Bonner, Lucy Collins, Jess Burkey & Mark Burkey

Zipping along for Milwr Time

Paul Fairman of the BEC had arranged a weekends play in North Wales and had kindly invited Jess and I along. 

So although not officially a Dudley trip we did have a presence!

Our first days play turned in to a fun day of the blind leading the blind as our 'leader' was still nowhere to be seen at midday and so a team of ten of us headed in undeterred and adventured around the various zip lines and climbs.
We managed a full six hours play before heading back to our base at Tremadog for a good meal and a few beers.

After a day of fun and games, Paul mentioned we may be able to join him on a trip in to the Milwr Tunnel on the Sunday.
We both jumped at the chance as we'd never been before and had heard all about the trip from some of our older club members.
We met up about on time and although we were a large group of eight plus four leaders, we moved reasonably swiftly through Rhyd Alyn and down the 24 ladders to emerge at the train.
After a little tinkering the guys managed to get the engine going and we all jumped aboard. Unfortunately there were still problems and we were soon dismounted and had to take shanks pony to the Lime Stone caverns.

Here we took a couple of photos before Doug and Steven headed back to take another look at the train whilst Mike and Steve continued the tour to take in the huge shaft which was used for entering the system before being condemned and around the upper series from the limestone caverns before we plodded back upstream to see how the guys were getting on.
The consensus was that more work was needed and so we headed back out and up the ladders pausing for a photo on the way out.

A mention of thanks should go to UCET members Doug, Mike, Steven & Paul who were very knowledgeable, able, and patient leaders.....even when I kept calling Paul by the wrong name the entire trip!

'Walk the plank' Zipline in Cwmorthin

Ladder climbs in the lower levels. Cwmorthin

The guys tinkering in Milwr Tunnel

Limestone Cavern Milwr Tunnel

Huge rock bridge in the Limestone Caverns. Milwr Tunnel

Just on of the 24 ladders to enter the Milwr Tunnel.

Present: Mark Burkey, Jess Burkey & a ton of BEC members!

Croesor-Rhosydd A Shockingly Wet Adventure

After our adventures in Lanzarote, it was something of a shock to the system to come back to the UK.....even more so when our first trip back was decided to be North Wales in January!

Myself, Jess, Loz, Chloe and Mark met up at the car park at 10am. As we did so another group of eight arrived and came over to ask where we were planning on going. It turned out we were both intending on the Croesor to Rhosydd through trip, but as our group were planning on spending some time taking photos we decided that it shouldn't cause any issues.

We let the other group head up the hill before us and begun our amble up ourselves.

At the entrance window the first group were just heading in, so we took our time kitting up and had a bite of our sandwiches before entering ourselves.

We caught the other party at the first abseil so I got out the camera and wasted some time taking a few shots and wound up doing the same again at the next pitch.

The last of their members were just crossing the zip line as we arrived but as this was my main objective for a photograph we wouldn't catch them again.
I begun unpacking the 15kg of camera kit I'd lugged up the hill for the shot. Jess unpacked the boat she had carried for me and the three girls begun blowing it up whilst I gave Mark a flash gun to take to the other side.

With the boat inflated Chloe begun bouncing around asking if she could be the one in the boat. She took the inflated dingy to the waters edge and Loz tried to steady things. Unfortunately this proved a little more awkward than anticipated and with a splosh Chloe went head first in to the deep, icy water. She scrambled to get back out with the cold taking her breath away and had another go. This time she managed to get in safely and I handed her a dry bag with a few flash guns in. I'd tested a similar set up around the corner and had to put some rocks in to get it to submerge.

After a couple of shots Chloe squealed from the boat saying the rocks I'd put in had pierced the bag and it was filling with water. She just made it back to shore when the flash gun which was  shrieking  in the pool of water went bang and emitted a rather unpleasant electrical burning smell.

We popped the batteries out of the wet equipment, dried it off as best we could and continued on.

Chloe's least favourite part of the trip is the traverse which she finds hugely awkward and this time was no exception. After 20 minutes of fighting with it she finally dragged herself up the slope, but with all her adrenaline gone, being soaked to the skin, and the howling draught coming through the mine she was soon turning a rather unflattering shade of blue. We begun a quick game of strip caver and each donated some dry clothing for her to get her warmed back up and continued our way over the bridges of death, abseiled down in to the waiting boat and out via Rhosydd to a damp and windy night sky.

Although Jess and I were quite looking forward to a cosy evening in the van with our gas heating and 15 tog duvet, listening to the patter of rain on the roof, for some reason Chloe wasn't as keen on setting up her tent in the pouring rain and so it was decided we'd call it a day and retreat back to the Midlands where it almost never rains and its a nice constant twenty degree's all year round ;)

A dry Chloe on the 1st abseil

2nd abseil

Zip line after the 2nd abseil

Chloe struggles on the awkward traverse

Loz on the Bridge of Death

Jess exits Rhosydd to a wet and windy night

Present:

Mark Burkey, Mark Burgess, Chloe Burney, Jess Burkey & Loz Appleby

Cwmorthin Slate Mine..It's My Birthday & I'll Cry If I Want To.....For Chloe Mining Hell

After a good meal and a couple of of Birthday drinks Chloe returned to find her blow up mattress had sprung a leak, and so she managed very little sleep, even with the aid of a bottle of sambuca she and Mark2 had night capped with.

We tried to wake her with a good breakfast at Betws-y-Coed before heading to Go Below to pick up a key for Cwmorthin.

Mark2 would lead us today as he was the only one who knew his way around and a sterling job he did too.
Mark rigged a 50m rope in dropping us down an impressive chamber to level D. From here we went up a level to our first zip wire. This had a single plank in to nothingness and was a rather intimidating start to our fun. After this the zip wires became more fun as we begun to trust in the well installed underground playground which Go Below have created. Again we played on bridges, traverses and further zip lines for a couple of hours.

After descending a particularly awkward and slippery traverse and bold pull through we reached a via ferrata route. Mark and I headed up to find a further Zip line and awaited the girls. After a while we realised that Chloe seemed to be taking rather a long time and returned to find her damp eyed and quivering lipped clinging to a metal rung. She had found the spacing a little too reachy for her and was really struggling to get off at the head of the pitch. Mark2 gallantly came to her rescue and assisted her up the last part. Well it isn't a 'proper' birthday trip without a tear from the birthday girl!

All that was left was to head for daylight. Chloe and Jess exited via the normal entrance whilst Mark and I went to take a look at the smoke flue.

Many thanks to Mark Burgess who was an excellent leader, also our thanks to all at Go Below who were very friendly and helpful, they have spent an awful lot of time and money on their routes and they are indeed very impressive.

Hopefully next time Chloe will get more sleep before such a physical adventure as at one point she was heard to exclaim.....'This IS mining hell!


Present Mark Burgess, Chloe Burney, Jess Burkey, Mark Burkey

Croesor Rhosydd Through Trip.....Mining Heaven.....Batteries not included

As is now our annual tradition Jess and I arranged to take Chloe on a birthday adventure. An email was sent out to see if anyone else fancied a play in North Wales and Mark B...U...R...G decided to join us.
 We met at the car park above Tanygrisiau and were soon surrounded by 20 familiar faces from South Wales Caving Club who were off to Cwmorthin Slate Mine.
We had a quick chat, with Mark2 giving some route advice, before we kitted up and headed up the valley.

 After some huffing and puffing we arrived at the Croesor entrance and took a minute to pop SRT kits on. At this point I realised I'd left my gloves back at the van, If only this turned out to be my only faux pas of the day.
After an amble down the entrance series I began positioning my 5 flash guns for the first of many exciting shots of this fun through trip.... 'Click!'... I got a feel for how I would take my shot so called Jess to hold a flash gun.....after this my camera refused to play and upon closer investigation it turned out I hadn't charged the batteries....Doh! 

We continued down the first abseil and on to the 2nd. Here the in-situ rope looked rather glazed and so we decided to use the rope Mark2 had hauled up the hill and set a pull through, but upon trying to pull the rope through it snagged on the in-situ line and I had to prussic back up to free it (fortunately this was my 3rd thing to go wrong and so the circle of bad luck was complete)

 The rest of the trip went without issue with lots of fun had at the various zip wire, bridges, traverses and boat rides. An excellent choice for a birthday trip and definitely a piece of mining heaven.

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

North Wales Weekend - Dudley goes 'Carry on Camping' - Day 3, ODB

Well we are a caving club after all and it can't all be fun and merriment, so day 3 was our proper caving trip into ODB with a local leader, Marc.
After the tents were down and the obligatory breakfast had been consumed, Mark, I, Chloe and Brendan met up with Keith, who had driven up for the day, and we descended on the quarry with Marc and his helper Mark. (Chloe was chuffed to discover that if she ran into difficulties there'd likely be a Mark close to hand.)
ODB starts off as a mine but soon breaks into natural cave, with tight rifts, huge chambers, very pretty formations, flat out crawls and climbs.
Marc took us through the impressively dug connection into Llyn Du 2, which the North Wales members dug by hand over many months. The sump was not open enough to go through, which Keith was relieved about, so Chloe insisted on getting soaked through exploring a little streamway instead, taking the 3 Marks with her.
Mark had been a little nervous about getting through the Lobster Pot choke  as he had got stuck there as a novice caver, but to Keith's disappointment he slipped through easily.
A great caving trip was rounded off with a drink at the pub and promises of reciprocal trips for Marc and Mark.

Present: Jess B., Mark B., Brendan M., Chloe B., Keith E.

North Wales Weekend - Dudley goes 'Carry on Camping' , Day 2 - Cwmorthin, Zip Wires and Trampolines

Having decided we were all going to leave camp at 9am and go for breakfast, Mark and I were rudely awakened by thumping on the van at quarter past 9.
A proper caving breakfast having been consumed, the majority of the group set off to meet Carl and his girlfriend Abby, who had offered to lead a trip into Cwmorthin.
Carl led the group on a really enjoyable round trip with lots of  ladders and traverses and impressive chambers, while Amy, Daniel and I went to Llechwydd Slate Caverns to throw ourselves down the zip wires there, which was great fun!
Once the others arrived, with glowing reports of Carl's trip, it was time to Bounce Below - 3 levels of trampolines with slides and climbs, inside the mountain itself. For an hour we all became 6 years old again, and emerged hot and sweaty and ready for a nice pub meal in Betys y Coed.
This was followed by an evening looking out at the campfire and the rain, from the shelter of the mess tent, where Loz proudly displayed her leopard print legs covered in 'caving' bruises from Crib Goch, and we told each other scary caving stories till bedtime.

Chloe climbing in Cwmorthin

Chloe climbing in Cwmorthin

Matthew in Cwmorthin

Matthew jumping down in Cwmorthin

Present: Jess B., Mark. B., Chloe B., Brendan M., Matt M., Amy S., Daniel, Laura A., Richard, Carl K., Abbey.

North Wales Weekend - Dudley goes 'Carry on Camping' - Day 1, Snowden

After a month of multiple emailings in which every possible permutation of events had been covered in minute detail, including contingency plans,  I got home from work on Friday to a flurry of emails and texts asking when, where, how, and if.
Such a simple plan - drive to North Wales,  and meet up at the camp site,  what could possibly go wrong?
We arrived at the camp site at 10.30pm. It was pitch dark, the site was packed, and we had no phone signal. Enquiries at the gate about dodgy looking people from Dudley Caving Club drew a blank.
After driving round a bit looking for the others we gave up and found a parking space. Suddenly Amy pulled up next to us, followed by Brendan, followed by Chloe! The only one we mislaid was Matt, who we found asleep in his car next morning.
After pitching the tents and a cuppa in the mess tent lent by Ian, we retired to bed,  Mark and I having to slum it in our 4-poster-bedded van.
Next morning Loz and her better half joined us and we all set off to walk from the site up to the summit of Snowden. Half an hour from camp the rain started. We also discovered our route took us across several streams, so by the time we arrived at the Pen Y Pass cafe we were all slightly moist, and Amy was saying "I'd rather have paid the £10 parking fee and driven up!!" Not as much as she wished she had later though...
We didn't actually leave the cafe till about 1pm, suitably fortified, and the rain held off for the rest of the day, which was helpful. We set off up the PYG track and then some of us split off to climb over Crib Goch. Loz and Chloe particularly enjoyed the scramble up and over the knife edge arete - Loz enjoying it so much she was fairly hugging the rock in places - and we arrived at the summit to find Brendan and the others turning a fetching shade of blue in the minus temperatures.
Fortified again in the cafe we set off down the Watkins path towards the campsite,  with promises of on-site pizzas and drinks around the campfire. It was actually quite a long way back to camp. A really, really long way. Chloe, Matt, Loz and Richard sped on ahead, and the rest of us weren't far behind, until a few things happened -
a) the soles of Daniels boots, which had been loose all day, finally turned into flip flops and had to be bound up with tape and bits of cord.
b) it started getting dark
c) we took a short cut back to the camp.
We really don't need to go into details of the muddy track that went on deeper and deeper into the woods, not enough torches, Mark slipping down a bank...suffice to say that by the time we reached the campsite there were no pizzas and the others had been combing the countryside for us! Anyhow, we just managed to catch a Balti house in Llanberis before it shut and finally dropped into bed about 1am.

Present: Jess B., Mark B., Brendan M., Chloe B., Amy S., Daniel, Laura A., Richard, Matt M.

Another Croesor Rhosydd Through Trip!

As Andy drove us toward North Wales on Saturday morning he asked how much further than the lake the walk in  to Croesor was, to which I replied......what lake?...so we knew that the trip could be interesting, we just didn't realise how interesting it would become!

Aside from only a minor navigational blip, the walk to Croesor was straight forward. Andy struggled a little with the steep sections and sat himself down at one point declaring he would go no further! After a little persuasion, promising him the mine was only over the next rise, we had him back on his way and were soon kitting up ready for our adventure.

Our first problem came at the bottom of the first pitch where I couldn't for the life of me remember where the second pitch was and a 20 minute scout around the chamber ensued before Mel spotted the rope coiled at the top of the pitch. Andy and I glanced at each other knowing that if it was coiled there was likely a problem and, after checking, found there was indeed a cut in the rope that had been isolated with an alpine. We had brought a 30m rope that could be used to drag people out of the water if needed, but if we were to continue it would mean using the rope in situ.
After re-checking the rope I was happy enough with the condition to use it and do a mid rope change over to pass the knot. After doing this I saw the last party had obviously ignored the mid section rope protection and could see where the rope was going to rub, so shouted up to Andy and Mel that after passing the knot they would need to remove and then replace the protection as they went past it.
 Mel was next and managed to get herself hung up as her foot loop turned out to be just a little too long which in turn left her hand jumar just out of  her reach. Cursing like a navvy she finally managed to free herself and came smoothly down.
Andy was next and as we watched his light come in to view a sizable piece of slate hit the floor beside us, so we quickly backed off. As we did Andy shouted "Below!" and another piece came down hitting Mel in the hand! Nothing looked to be broken, there seemed to be no swelling so Mel decided to push on.
There were no further issues as we took on the zip wire, traverses and bridges (even with half of the last bridge of death now gone!) and we were soon at the last abseil. Andy and I pulled the boats across and Andy descended first, moving backward to allow room for Mel next and sat in a nice pool of water :) Mel was next and half way down the pitch her hand spasmed and let go of the thin 9mm rope for just a second and plummeted the final 10 feet to land half in / half out of the boat! After this last scare the final prussik and exit went smoothly and we were soon in the sun making our way back to the car, happy we had managed to take on the dangerous trip, with the only fatality being Andy's kit bag which had commited Hara-Kiri between the first two absiels!

Present: Andy Grimes, Mel Wakeman & Mark Burkey

Croesor Rhosydd Through Trip

This wasn't a Dudley Caving Club Trip. We cave quite often with Richard and Rachel from WMCEG and they blog their trips on Sterling Adventures where incidentally you can read Rachel's account of the trip which is illustrated with some of Brendan's excellent photos. The Sterling Adventures bloggers meet up annually to have adventures. This year Brendan and I were asked to lead this adventure. The video tells the story of the trip.

Present: Brendan and Keith + Ian, Rachel, Richard, Pete, Tish and Dave.

Croesor to Rhosydd Through Trip

Keith and Brendan had blogged on a through trip they had done from Croesor to Rhosydd when I first joined the club, and after reading their account it became one of those wish list trips that I have wanted to tick off ever since. So when the lads (Ben, Carl & Grant) offered up a trip I jumped at the chance.

Jess and I had stopped the night before in the van and the boys had stayed in a bothy en route so we arranged to meet up at a car park in Tanygrisiau. Having become accustomed to the tradition of a hearty breakfast before a trip I had to smile (I’m not sure where you find a hotdog vendor on a Sunday morning in North Wales, but the boys had managed it! )
Jess and I had a quick cuppa whilst the lads finished their hotdogs and then it was off up Cwm Croesor. The boys had managed to convince us that full caving gear was overkill for the trip, so we went with walking gear and waterproofs rather than furry and over suit and after an hour and a half of trekking over the hills I was quite grateful that I was in the lighter weight gear!
Climbing in through the half barred window with the guys leading the way we were soon arriving at the head of the first pitch. Not knowing what to expect I was pleasantly surprised at quality of the fixed aids in place. For the lads this was their seventh through trip this year & using Fig 8’s they were at the bottom of the 80ft pitch in seconds. Myself and jess in full SRT gear took it a little easier, carefully making sure that the ropes were hitting their protection.
At the second pitch even the guys took a little more time making their way down over the sharp slate edges. Ben had caught a shin on the first abseil & not to be outdone I slipped over an edge and took a little skin off mine too, just a gentle reminder that although a terrific amount of fun, this disused mine should not be taken lightly. At the bottom of the pitch I paused to take in just how vast the place is, as well as just how much of the ceiling is now shattered on the floor!
 At the bottom of the huge gallery we arrived at the zip wire. Grant was the first to go & told us you needed to get a bit of a run up to make it across in one go as they were using traxions. Arriving safely on the other side he called across to say that there was now a fixed pulley that could be pulled back over. As mentioned their pulleys drag a little and a big leap is required to get across in a single go. With the larger fixed pulley this was no longer needed and a simple step was more than enough to get you across, a fact that Carl nearly found out the hard way as he hurtled toward the opposite wall.

Everyone across safely, our next obstacle was a very rickety ladder bridge which literally had you walking on water as you swayed at its center. It was also our first good look at the deep, clear blue waters. It was hard to tell the actual depth but It certainly wasn’t something I was in any hurry to check first hand! The first of the bridges was next and although not much of a bridge it didn’t cause  an obstacle as we each skipped across the decaying wooden beams. We were then on to some interesting traverses and through to the second bridge of death, with only a bent single rail and shattered wooden beam on the other side Jess made her way to the mid-section, only to find that the short cows tail she was attached to had become so short that she was unable to move any further. Standing on tiptoe and removing all protection she carefully made her way over the half-way point and safely to the other side. With everyone safely across it was on to my personal favorite…a 20ft abseil over ice cold deep black water, (hopefully) landing in an inflatable to paddle across the underground lake. As we made our way across the still water Ben pointed out where he had previously explored by boat across the other side. Looking over with my Scurrion, you could see the huge cracked slate roof just waiting to fail in to the cold waters and shivered at the thought of paddling beneath it. On the other side all that was left was a short prusik and a walk out through the flooded passage to daylight.

Ben, Carl & Jess at the Traverses

This is a trip I had wanted to do for a long time and it didn’t disappoint. I would just like to say a big thank you to Ben, Carl & Grant who were great guides and helped make the trip something to remember.

Present:
Carl Knott, Ben Marklew and Grant Wilkes, Jessica Harding & Mark Burkey

North Wales Digging

Another Sunday spent in the company of Heather and friends of North Wales Caving Club. A great volume of dry sand was dug, bagged up, hauled up to the chamber above the dig and made into sandcastles. This continued until we were exhausted, the oxygen had run out at the dig face, the fan to pump fresh air to the diggers had packed up and and one member stabbed himself trying to repair the connector to the fan. The connection between cave X and cave Y is now 4m closer, unless of course we are going in the wrong direction and we are now 4m further away.

Photo taken on a previous digging trip

Present: Heather Simpson, Keith Edwards, Brendan Marris, Rebecca, Julian, Dave and Patrick

Dancing on Ice

With all this snowy stuff lying about it was time for another trip uphill. In fact they are getting that regular I fear it's time I shall have to find a new excuse to avoid the caving excuse trips!!  Usual ungodly start etc. etc. to arrive in Snowdonia at 07:50 to tackle Moel Siabod.  The trio was now down to just myself and Rob (global warming is clearly affecting the elderly). To keep things concise we went up the hard way and came down the long way.  Turkey, mince pies and nuts alas do not make one fitter and so things seemed all rather harder and longer than normal.... the walk was a pig too!!  But it was all done and Robert dragged me off to the shops under protest for 3pm.  Another cracking day with brilliant visibility, away from the crowds and Rob stepping those post walk shiny clean boots of his into a pile of dog poop.  Such inconsideration from a fellow mutt owner......... how could I defend our corner?  I couldn't too busy laughing that's how!! Some things in life do make the suffering worthwhile after all!!!!

Oh Mother

Lurking at Snowdon!

Moel Siabod

by Graham Smith

But up North it's Beautiful, really Beautiful!

After last weekends foggy foray we decided this weekend it was the turn of North Wales to get trampled on and oh boy what a difference a week makes!!!  Sunday 28th had the Freelander slithering to Ogwen, Snowdonia  in temperatures of minus 150C. Y Garn was the chosen objective for the day and what a day it was!  Dad, Robert and myself had a fantastic day in glorious sunshine romping through powder snow. It was more like the Alps than Wales and made up for the early flea pit departure.  Faith restored that there is indeed a viable alternative to grovelling in cold wet mud ... cold dry snow! And this weekends car mystery ......... despite dad and Robert being in the Freelander filling it with copious quantities of hot air the ice on the inside of the side windows never melted at all, figure that!

Y Garn - the objective

On the way up

Top of Y Garn

by Graham Smith

A Digging Trip to ODB in which Mark gets into a tight place – with apologies to A. A. Milne

While Jessica was away in foreign climes, Mark wanted to get a few “classic trips” under his belt. This coincided with an invitation to assist with the dig at the end of OBD.
We met up for breakfast at the Little Chef near Oswestry and then met up with Alan (NWCC) at the car park near the cave, and everything went smoothly until we got to the boulder choke when ……

So Mark started to climb into the choke. He pulled with his hands, and pushed with his legs, and in a little while his feet were through . . . and then his ankles . . . and then his legs . . . and then his hips . . . and then —
"Oh, help!" said Mark. "I'd better go back."
"Oh, bother!" said Mark. "I shall have to go on."
"I can't do either!" said Mark. "Oh, help and bother!"
Now, by this time Keith wanted to go through the choke too, and finding the choke full, he moved towards Mark, and looked at him.
"Hallo, are you stuck?" he asked.
"N-no," said Mark carelessly. "Just resting and thinking and humming to myself."
"Here, give us a hand."
Keith stretched out a hand, and Mark pulled and pulled and pulled. . . .
"Ow!" cried Mark. "You're hurting!"
"The fact is," said Keith, "you're stuck."
"It all comes," said Mark crossly, "of not having caves big enough."
"It all comes," said Keith sternly, "of eating too much. I thought at the time," said Keith, "only I didn't like to say anything," said Keith, "that one of us was eating too much," said Keith, "and I knew it wasn't me," he said. "Well, well, I shall go and shout for Brendan."
Brendan was on the other side of the choke, and when he came back with Heather, and saw the bottom half of Mark, he said, "Silly old Mark," in such a loving voice that everybody felt quite hopeful again.
"I was just beginning to think," said Mark, sniffing slightly, "that Heather and Alan might never be able to use this cave again. And I should hate that," he said.
"So should I," said Alan.
"Use the cave again?" said Brendan. "Of course he'll use this cave again."
"Good," said Mark.
"If we can't pull you out, Mark, we might push you back."
Keith scratched his whiskers thoughtfully, and pointed out that, when once Mark was pushed back, he was back, and of course nobody was more glad to see Mark than he was, still there it was, some lived in trees and some lived underground, and —
"You mean I'd never get out?" said Mark.
"I mean," said Keith, "that having got so far, it seems a pity to waste it."
Brendan nodded.
"Then there's only one thing to be done," he said. "We shall have to wait for you to get thin again.”
“How long does getting thin take?” asked Mark anxiously.
“About a week I should think.”

So we had no alternative but to make our way back out and spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the Minera “Hoffman” Lime Kiln.

The Team: Mark (Pooh) Burkey, Keith (Rabbit) Edwards, Brendan (Christopher Robin) Marris and Rabbit’s friends-and-relations, Heather Simpson and Alan from NWCC

Ogof Dydd Byraf

Saturday 21st November 2009

Brendan and I were invited by Heather to join a NWCC dig in ODB.  It's a good caving trip just getting to the dig site via ladder pitches, traverses, boulder chokes and crawls.

The dig is in the roof of a large phreatic tube which descends steeply and then levels out.  It is currently approximately 30 metres long.

Unfortunately there is no air flow in the dig and carbon dioxide accumulates in the bottom and after about 3 hours digging and 2 metres of progress we had to abandon operations.

The dig team:  Brendan, Heather and Keith + members of NWCC, CCPC and Craven PC.

Ogof Hesp Alyn, North Wales

An 8 hour trip to the first sump and back. This was the first visit to this system by Brendan and myself. I was a cave I had wanted to visit ever since I started caving when on one of my first visits to the WMCEG I heard people talking about it. Heather very kindly arranged it and Alan was our guide. The deal being that I would rig the 80' pitch which I agreed to as it would be more good training for Titan the following week.
Well after waiting for 20 years what was my opinion? It is another Welsh classic, that is one likes mud, crawls, muddy crawls, pitches, muddy pitches, and yet more mud. The mud is of varying consistency but near to the end of the trip it is thick and sticky and clogs ascenders, making the return more than a little sporting. Definitely one for the mud aficionados in the club.

Attended by: Keith (report), Brendan & Heather + Alan (NWCC)

Ogof Dydd Byraf, North Wales

A well-attended club trip courtesy of Heather. ODB is a compact but interesting and well decorated system. Everyone agreed this was an excellent trip.

The team: Cara, Keith, Jessica, Brendan, Heather, Lewis & Chris

Parys Copper Mine, Anglesey

One of the largest turnout of members in recent years undertook an extensive tour of this fascinating and unusual system lasting nearly 5 hours.

Heather admiring some of the snotite formations.

Heather beneath a wall of stacked deads.

Heather, Keith and Rob by a flooded stope.

Team A: KeEd, BrMa, RoOl & HeSi + our guide Allan

Team B: MiCl, EmPo, GrSm, JoSm & DeWi + guides

Ogof Llyn Parc, North Wales

First of all I have to congratulate Heather for arranging this trip and say a special thanks to the lads from NWCC for manning the winch as with out them this trip wouldn't of been possible. The cave is entered via a 300 foot shaft for which we were all attached to a winch line (one at a time) to make it easier and quicker to descend. The cave itself is actually accessed via a mined level which has broken into natural passage and this is where the best bits are. There are plenty of formations for which Brendan got has camera out, and photographed anything that stayed still long enough. There's a stream way, a small amount of crawling, a few short climbs, a bit of mud to crawl through and roll about in, but best of all lots of fun, and to be honest no matter what I say it wont do this cave justice. I think I can say without contradiction that all of us enjoyed Lynn Parc.

Del views the miner's inscriptions.

Mel in the main streamway.

Jessica viewing a calcite splash pool.

Del in the Main Streamway.

The Team: KeEd, AnGr, JeHa, BrMa, DeRo, HeSi & MeWa + lads from NWCC