The Dudley, Caving and Cakes - The Box Set

As the Yuletide offerings on TV are a little disappointing this year I thought I'd treat my fans and upload the full series in one easy to watch package complete with the added bonus of outtakes (or should it be outcakes?). So why not sit back, relax and hit the play button.

Caver Keith Goes In Search of the Real Santa Claus

X Certificate Rating

WARNING: This video contains highly disturbing images and should NOT be watched by children or anyone of a nervous disposition.

Before his big day Santa has to practice coming down chimneys. Recently The Dudley embarked on a highly covert mission with the aim of attempting to capture rare footage of Santa in his lair practicing his chimney climbing skills. The team were successful with their assignment but got a little more than they bargained for! They are all now receiving therapy and may eventually regain their sight.

The Dudley, Caving and Cakes - Episode 5

The 5th and final episode. Watch to find out who never makes it out of the cave and who has eaten all of the cakes.

The Dudley, Caving and Cakes - Episode 4

Here is part 4 of Dudley Caving Club's five-part subterranean serial. Last week we left Kayleigh battered, bruised and broken.
Is there anything cake can't do?

The Dudley, Caving and Cakes - Episode 3

How is Chunky going to get out of last weeks predicament? Who's going to end up in trouble this week? Watch episode 3 to find out.

The Dudley, Caving and Cakes - Episode 2

The next instalment of our caketastic adventures can now be viewed on YouTube.

The Dudley, Caving and Cakes - Episode 1

From the Caver Keith Film Studios comes this heart-warming tale from the underworld of triumph over adversity, where friendships are made and broken, adventures abound and cake rules supreme.

This is part one of a five part mini-series which ends when Mark ...... Sorry, you will have to watch to find out.
Episode two will be uploaded next Thursday - 24th November.

Reflections on a OFD2 Caving Trip

With yet another day of heavy rain ahead of us we had little choice but to plan a trip in Ogof Ffynnon Ddu Top Entrance. We headed up the mountain in driving rain and sleet, relieved to get ourselves underground. A short way in from the entrance we split the group, with the SRT party heading down to the Nave, while our group headed to Big Chamber Near The Entrance. We took a passage from the chamber that leads to the gate for the pitch down into Column Hall. Around this area are a maze of passages, much of it well shaped, scalloped and phreatic, with many shower inlets from avens which were flowing well. We spent over and hour in this area, taking a couple of photos before a slip by Brendan, broke a radio trigger and ended the photography (much o the others relief).

Phreatic passage reflected in a pool of water

Shower inlet in the passages near Big Chamber

We stashed the camera box and then headed up to the Mini Columns before heading to the Bedding Chambers where many impressive shower inlets were flowing down into the passages. Our next aim was to head deeper into the cave to meet up with the SRT party, and so we descended down the steep calcite slope of Speedy Caver. From here we headed to Gnome Passage, having a look all along it before dropping down the Corkscrew and heading down Salubrious Passage. After a brief look at the Trident and the Judge we headed to the top of the Nave where we found tackle bags, a rigged pitch but no sign of the cavers. We then headed back to the Crossroads and to President's Leap where Lucy headed across to have a look at Selenite tunnel. We then retraced our steps back to the Nave to find the other party engaged in a photo shoot lower down the pitches, and after making voice contact we headed out of the cave for hot showers, tea, cakes and medals.

Present: Lucy Collins, Ed Simkins and Brendan Marris

A Light Caving Trip in OFD Top Entrance

With the poor weather set to continue we decided that we would have a play with lighting techniques and practice setting up shots in a suitable location. Top Entrance to OFD provided a suitably dry location with the added bonus of several drippy inlets flowing quite nicely to add some atmosphere to the shots. During our six hours underground we were never more than 200 metres from the entrance. The aim of the day was to test out new flashguns, radio triggers, infra red triggers, light output of flashguns verses different types of flashbulbs and also to try out some experimental shots. With a dry location we could practice techniques that we would not otherwise risk on long trips in difficult locations. Some of our output is shown in the gallery below.

Cascades lit by light painting - Photo Mark Burkey

Cascade lit by Flashbulbs - Photo Brendan Marris

Inside Top Entrance - lit with flashguns - Photo Mark Burkey

Cascade lit by Flashguns - Photo Brendan Marris

Cascade lit by Flashbulb - Photo Brendan Marris

Cascade lit by light painting - Photo Brendan Marris

In conclusion Mark's new flashgun the Yongnuo YN560-III is a little more powerful than the Vivitar 285s. It has the benefit of much lower power output and although the infra red slave has poor range, the radio slave easily works underground for the quoted 100 metres in a straight line, although does not work far round corners.
Bulbs were giving much better results than flashguns when shooting falling water, and the much higher power output and all round soft light making them great for use in larger chambers and passage. The AG1B bulbs easily giving four times the light output from a Vivitar 285 with the M3B bulbs giving twice that of the AG1Bs.
Light painting was a revelation too and will come into play in suitable locations. Colour balance from the LED lights is a challenge as is the need for the camera to be tripod mounted and having people keep still in the shots.
We will continue to experiment and work to blend different lighting types in the same shots to enhance the overall lighting.

Present: Mark Burkey, Jess Burkey and Brendan Marris

OFD2 - It wasn't like this on the sofa last night !!

This was a trip to introduce Sharon to caving and planned by Rich to give him some navigational practice in OFD Top Entrance. Unfortunately Mark could not make it so the three of us met as is the custom in Luigis for breakfast before heading to South Wales Caving Club. The club was surprisingly busy after a few quite weeks and full of familiar accents as a large party of the Birmingham Cave and Crag were in residence. We only faffed a little before changing and heading up the hill on a fabulously sunny morning. Rich led the was and took a route under the Brickyard on the way into the cave to reach Gnome Passage to have a look around there before heading off to Chasm Passage and the first test for Sharon - The Corkscrew climb, this was passed without any hesitation and so we now headed off to the sand crawls and the route to the Swamp Creek area of the cave. The long flat-out crawls proved to be the only thing that phased Sharon all day, and these were passed with no trouble, just disliked. We headed down to Swamp Creek to view the formations there and take a quick photo before we headed past the Judge and then Trident.

Sharon viewing the formations in Swamp Creek

We then headed down Salubrious, headed straight across at the Crossroads and down to the top of Maypole Inlet. Sharon had no hesitation at the bold step and we took a look at the helictites in the area before taking a wrong turn on the way to Cross Rift. We ended up at a pretty crystal pool, so it was no loss and then we took the route to enter Cross Rift. At the point we could head to Shatter Pillar we had a discussion, Sharon was feeling fit and eager to do more, Richard also mentioned that Keith had taken him to the start of Lugubrious streamway on his last trip here. My suggestion was to head to Midnight Passage and then explore the whole of Lugubrious Passage, to reach Shatter Pillar via the longer route. This was agreed and so we headed the full length of Cross Rift. We had a look at Midnight Chamber before starting on the route to Lugubrious Passage. This was reached at a midway point, so we first headed downstream to view the fine formations in the oxbow that leads to the roof of the main streamway. This completed we were now making our way out as we headed upstream in Lugubrious, traversing and climbing as we went. After what felt like an age we emerged through the tight slot to the passage near Shatter Pillar. Once at the pillar we took a drinks break and had an explore of the passages that radiate off. We then headed down Selenite Tunnel to reach President's Leap. Rich led the way across and then Sharon followed, at which point she exclaimed

"It wasn't like this on the sofa last night !!"

Apparently Rich had her dressed up in the caving gear and practiced caving in the living room the evening before, the sofa pulled away from the wall, she practiced traversing across it, or so he says ;)

We now only faced the long slog uphill to the entrance, taking in Salubrious Passage to the Corkscrew and then from Gnome Passage we exited via the sand crawls that lead back to White Arch. We took a small detour through Big Chamber before emerging into brilliant sunshine.

A great tour of Top Entrance completed in under four hours, it looks like we have a new caver in the making.

Present: Rich Gibbons, Sharon Hussey and Brendan Marris

A gentle Sunday stroll around the mini - columns in OFD

Having promised the Southampton students that we would take them into Dan Yr Ogof
on the Sunday, we got up to find them still in various states of collapse after the effort of the previous day's through trip, with no desire to go caving at all. Some of the provisionals also decided not to cave, which left Brendan, Mark and myself without a group to lead.
We decided on a short refresher trip around the mini-columns and bedding planes, mainly for my benefit as I couldn't remember how everything fitted together, but also as an opportunity for Mark and Brendan to play with their cameras and test out different lighting effects etc. without having to carry them far. From the perspective of the model, it was wonderful not to be cold and wet for a change!
We explored just about every nook and cranny in the Bedding Planes, with Mark managing to insert himself into some very tight and gnarly spots while Brendan and I had more sense than to accept his invitations to follow.
Before we knew it, it was gone 4pm and time to head back out for tea and cake.

The Bedding Chambers

Chamber near Speedy Caver

The Mini Columns

?!?!?!?! Brendan and his massive Stalagmite ?!?!?!?

Present: Jess Burkey,  Mark Burkey, Brendan Marris,

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


 

Return to OFD Top

We met up at SWCC all raring to go me having to get my bearings and sign everybody in and grab the key...

oh well 2 hours later I was ready lol.

After a cold icy climb up the hill to the entrance we were all ready to get into the warmth with me leading for the first time . It wasn't long before we got lost - I mean made our way down to the Corkscrew.

We all passed through swiftly and didn't hesitate to enter the sandy crawls, from there we made our way to the Judge and the Trident which was a must see.

Rich looking for clues on the survey as to where we might be

We took a short break then forged on to Shatter Pillar and hit the traffic congestion from other groups exploring the area. To save waiting we decided to take a look at the entrance to Lugubrious stream way, where me, Mark and Dan popped in and out to see how tight and awkward it was.

Amy heading back to Shatter Pillar from Lugubrious

After Shatter we ventured onto Presidents Leap, again proving no difficulty to anyone and we were soon heading up Salubrious Passage back towards the Corkscrew.

Upon heading out we met up with the others from which I remember Keith dreaming about the teapot.

All in all was a successful trip. We enjoyed a few ice ball fights on the way down and of course a cup of tea with one of Mark's infamous almond caving cakes.

Trip report: Rich Gibbons

Present: Rich Gibbons, Amy Sawyer, Daniel Cowley, Anya Hall, Mark Burgess, Jess Burkey

SRT Trip To The Nave

Sunday saw a relaxed start to the day with Loz turning up at about half past ten.
She had requested an SRT trip to practice ready for our upcoming adventures in Majorca.
As Brendan and I had quite a tiring trip on the Saturday we decided on a short trip to The Nave.
This has 3 short pitches with a deviation for Loz to practice and slightly awkward pitch heads.
We finally got in to the cave around half past eleven and made short work of the 'tourist route' through to swamp creek.
Loz acquitted herself admirably on all the pitches, she is also becoming excellent at standing around whilst I practiced my photography ;)
We finished our outward bound trip with a quick run around the main stream way before heading back out via the same route we'd entered.

Loz on the entrance pitch

Loz on the 2nd pitch

Trip report and photos: Mark Burkey

Present: Brendan Marris, Loz Appleby & Mark Burkey