A sporting days play in OFD 1

For Sunday Brendan, myself and Mike were joined by Carl and Magdalena for an OFD I round trip.

As I had never popped my head in to Powell's Cave, Brendan led us on a slight diversion through this short, but impressively proportioned cave before continuing on to OFD I.

We had been unsure if water levels would be ok for this trip, and arriving at The Step we were pleasantly surprised. Although high we were happy that the sporting stream way would not be a danger.

This was Magdalena's first experience of a UK cave and she certainly seemed to enjoy herself, her smile never leaving her face, even when up to her neck in icy water!

The high water levels gave the chance to take some dramatic photo's on the way in and after a couple of shots we continued over the pots on on to Boulder chamber before doubling back to climb up at Lowe's chain. Carl did an impressive job of showing why round'a'bout chamber is so aptly named and Magdalena made all the right noises as we took in the pretty formations.
At the bolt traverse we again took a little time for a quick photo before continuing on and bumped in to Les and Co who were doing the escape route in reverse. This was just before the dug out and as they were stood in the passage I missed the turn and headed toward the Maypole series before Brendan called be back....DoH!

On our way out Brendan had a quick play with flash bulbs at Pluto's bath and we had a quick scout around for a future shoot location. The intimidating flat out squeeze go the better of me and only Brendan and Magdalena actually pushed through..... looks like I'm back on the diet if we're going to get a shot of the deep lake which loomed the other side!

After this we headed out and up the hill for warm showers and our customary cuppa before heading off.

Mike in the impressively sporting stream way (Photo Mark Burkey)

Magdalena at the bolt traverse (Photo Mark Burkey)

Carl at Pluto's Bath (Photo Brendan Marris)

Present: Brendan, Mike, Carl, Mark & Magdalena

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

SRT practice day at the Nave.

Having headed up the mountain in foul weather it was good to be out of the rain and in the cave. We headed a short way in before Brendan's group split off for their trip and Mike, Rich and myself headed to the Nave for ours.

Mike was to rig the three pitches and as this was his first attempt I first showed him a few variations he could use. As we went through these we heard the thunderous roar of a flood pulse ahead of us and within five minutes a second inlet near the pitch head begun to flow.

We took a couple of minutes to photograph this unusual phenomena before Mike continued with his rope work and led the way down the first pitch.

At the bottom Rich and I took a couple of pictures of the huge volume of water coming in whilst Mike continued on to rig the second pitch. Again Mike did a great job with the rigging and we were soon at the third pitch head which would lead us down to the 2nd oxbow. 

Mike headed down first with myself and Rich following. At the bottom we had a quick at the upstream end of the oxbow which I remember as being completely dry in normal conditions and this was just above the knee. We were soon chest deep in water and the force of the flow meant we could venture no further. We retreated back taking yet another photo of the unusual water conditions as we went and reversed our route with Mike and Rich de-rigging as we went.

As Mike had done all the rigging Rich, who had carried the tackle in to the cave, offered to carry the heavy bag of wet rope back out again... I think there may have been a couple of points during our exit when he may have slightly regretted his decision, but did a sterling job and didn't collapse until we were back at the hut!

An inlet releases at the head of the first pitch

Flood pulse releases just after the Nave formation

The 2nd Chamber

The 2nd Oxbow OFD II Main Streamy

Present: Mark Burkey, Rich Gibbons & Mike Bonner.

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

Cwm Dwr II - The Wrong Dig

Regular rain showers had kept the Brickworks Dig topped up with water, and with only enough people available for one days digging we had sought out an alternative site to work on, as most of our time would be spent dealing with the water at the Brickworks. We chose an old site in Cwm Dwr II, and after arranging permissions with the OFD Management Committee and Natural Resources Wales we were able to give this location some attention. There had once been a short sump in the entrance series to this cave - Helen's Horror which had to be syphoned to gain access, but this was removed some time ago and now is no more than a short wet crawl.

We entered the cave and rigged the 10m pitch down into Default Chamber. It is here that a slope leads up to a 20m long sandy passage that leads to the Sand Sump. The sand had previously been dug and only a small access crawl led through to what was once a body sized sump which had now silted up somewhat.

Keith in the sandy passage that approaches the Sand Sump

A view of the sump at the start of the dig with bucket for scale

A close-up view of the sump at the start of the dig

To work the dig efficiently we removed the sand fill on the approach to the sump, clearing it from the sides and lowering the floor by 30-50cm. After a couple of hours and 40 buckets of spoil removed we had good access to the sump and we could now start draining it. Only a small part was visible of this perched reservoir, we expected to drain it fairly quickly, bailing it with buckets. After 100 buckets of water had been removed and the water level only dropping a few inches we decided on a Plan B. Brendan went back up the ladder and to Helen's Horror where a long firehose that was once used to syphon off the water could be found. This 40 metre heavy duty hose was brought back to the pitch and then lowered so it could be used to syphon the sump. At first we attempted to start the syphon by sucking on the pipe, but this failed, so Mark headed back up the ladder, the bottom end of the hose hauled up and the 10m head of water was used to fill the hose. Once the hose was full of water, it was dropped to the floor of the chamber where it began to syphon off the water immediately. The flow of water was directed to join the stream and then we returned to the sump. At this point most people went off to explore the cave while Mark and Brendan returned to the sump to monitor progress. It became clear that there was a large volume of water in the passage beyond as the water level very slowly fell. Rather than wait we continued to drop the floor of the approach to the sump. With everyone back at the dig over the next three hours we were able to clear about 40cm depth of sediment from the bottom of the passage over a 4 metre length, following the water as it slowly receded, until after three hours an airspace appeared. A short while later the hose broke the surface of the water and the syphon stopped. The passage is still too silted up to get through at the lowest point. At this point we had removed a further 60 buckets of spoil and were all exhausted and cold and so after all having a look through the airspace to the passage beyond we headed out of the cave knowing that on our next visit we would be in some interesting territory.

Keith at the sump at the end of the days dig

On our next visit we plan to set up the syphon again and drain as much water from the sump as possible. We will continue to remove the infill from the bottom of the sump to give easy access to the passage beyond, where we will be able to assess the future possibilities.

More information on Cwm Dwr II on this link.

Present: Mark Burkey, Keith Edwards, Chloe Burney, Mark Burgess, Ian Millward and Brendan Marris

The Extraordinary League of Gentlemen Cavers

Motivation was low on Sunday morning so after a marathon faffing and procrastination session we decided to visit some of the smaller caves in the vicinity of SWCC. We first went to assess the water levels in the Brickwork's Dig as we had planned a Club dig for the following weekend. We were surprised to find the water level above the cross rift, which would mean it would take a long time to empty the dig and be able to start work. We then headed off to look for a suitable alternative.

Cwm Dwr II

We headed into the Cwm Dwr Quarry to look at Cwm Dwr II a cave that was once difficult to visit as a short sump not far from the entrance had to be emptied to allow visits. About three years ago the sump was removed and so we were able to get in with little more than a crawl through shallow water. We arrived at the pitch into Default Chamber and rigged the 10m ladder and descended the 11m pitch. We looked at a sandy dig at the top of the chamber before heading downstream over long traversing sections to reach the sump. On our way out we went upstream and followed Ping Pong Passage to reach the choke that marks the end of the cave.

Twll Gwynt Oer

We were encouraged by Ian and Peter at the SWCC to go and have a look at Twll Gwynt Oer, a cave dug by Jopo that intersected a streamway that later feeds Cwm Dwr II. We lifted the covers off the cave and dropped down the 3m deep section of lined shaft to reach a concrete plinth. We then dropped through the hatch to reach the top of an 8m deep shaft which we rigged with a ladder to assist the climb down. At the bottom we first headed downstream to eventually reach the sump before retracing our steps and headed upstream to reach a choke with calcite formations. We then made our way out taking photos as we went.

Brendan in Twll Gwynt Oer - Photo Mark Burkey

Brendan in Twll Gwynt Oer - Photo Mark Burkey

Mark in Twll Gwynt Oer - Photo Brendan Marris

Ogof Y Dynion - Gent's Dig

We then walked across to Gents Dig - Ogof Dynion, passing the site of Zach's Dig as we went. The entrance to Zach's Dig has now been filled over as it was connected with Gent's Dig in 2006. After some trouble with the lock on the entrance to Gent's, we lifted the lid and descended the large concrete lined shaft to enter the cave. At the bottom a railway line led off, tempting us to follow, but it came to an abrupt end just around a corner. We then headed down a small descending passage just below the entrance which passed round a tight corner to emerge at the top of a short free climb with handline in-situ. We were now greeted with clean washed rock in the bottom of a wet weather inlet and overlooking a 6m pitch down into large passage below. We rigged the ladder and lifeline before descending and exploring the passages in the lower level. After exploring all the passages, apart from a tight awkward section that leads and connects to the passages of Zach's Dig we then returned taking some photos as we went.

Mark in Ogof Y Dynion - Gent's Dig - Photo Brendan Marris

Mark in Ogof Y Dynion - Gent's Dig - Photo Brendan Marris

Brendan in Ogof Y Dynion - Gent's Dig - Photo Mark Burkey

We emerged after 6pm to find the South Wales Caving Club deserted.

Present: Mark Burkey 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

A Pretty Good Trip In OFD Top

After the appropriate amount of faff around the teapot our group headed up to top entrance and made our way in via the normal route to Salubrious. Here we went right before the Crossroads toward the climb up to Peter’s Pretty Passage. I was so busy explaining the route to Daz that I missed it completely and had to be called back by Keith! After rigging a hand line, which is only of use for the first twelve feet before becoming more of a hindrance, Becca and Daz followed me up. Chloe spent some time on the slippery climb before joining us and then Keith followed. We spent a little time taking some photographs of the passage and helictites before negotiating the tricky climb down to the end of Edwards Shortcut and entering the Northern Canyon. The route through with its various awkward climbs proved no problem and we were soon entering the Labyrinth. Again we had surprisingly little navigational issues as we made our way back to Salubrious and up the corkscrew where we joined the other group by the Wedding Cake formation before heading out for a pot of tea and hot showers.

Daz in Peter's Pretty Passage

Keith in Peter's Pretty Passage

 Present: Chloe Burney, Becca Kirkpatrick, Daz Long, Keith Edwards & Mark Burkey.

Swimming with the fishes, a classic OFD through trip.

For the second trip of the weekend it was decided we would do a trip we had been planning for the week before, the through trip from OFD 1 to Top.

As we had arrived back quite late after grabbing a meal on the Saturday, Chloe decided rather than pitch her tent she would stop in the bunk house.....this turned out to be something of a mistake as she didn't quite manage two full hours of sleep with people popping in and out of her room till 6am!

After seeing the state of her, Jess and I asked if she wanted to change plans, but Chloe had been looking forward to having another go at this classic trip.

Chloe again led the way in and stormed through the OFD 1 stream way to the connecting choke. After the choke and through the connection her memory began to fail her a little navigationally. But we still made good time through OFD 1.5 to the Letter box connection where fatigue began to slow her down a little so we took a break for some photo's before continuing.
Again tiredness took over on the divers pitch climb so I took full advantage of this and instead of assisting her down took lots of photographs whilst she clung to the rock! ;)
After again having offered to cut the trip down and exit via Cwm Dwr, Chloe declined and we continued through to the main stream way.
For Chloe it's climbs, for me its squeezes, for Jess it has always been stream way that has been her Kryptonite, but it seems having a Scurrion and a couple of years more experience she has overcome her nemesis and I found myself struggling to keep up with her new found confidence!
The girls spotted some albino fish swimming in the stream way before joining them swimming across the pots whilst I did my best to traverse them. At Marble showers I set up my flash guns, with Chloe backlighting, and Jess modelling I balanced my front flash gun on a rock and.........splash! The flash gun was also swimming with the fishes :(
By the time we reached Maypole inlet I think it is fair to say that Chloe's criteria for her caving weekend had been met. She barely had the energy for the climb and was very happy to see sunlight as we exited after 5hrs of fun and photos!

Jess and Chloe at the letterbox

Jess and Chloe at the Divers Pitch

Jess in Marble Showers

Present: Jess Burkey, Mark Burkey & Chloe Burney

Northern Lights Series OFD II

Jess and I were joined by a poorly sounding Brendan on Saturday morning for the drive down to South Wales.
We had a brief stop to pick up an 'on the road breakfast' at a garage on the way and were at the club and ready to head underground for just before 11am.
Jess chose the trip and John (an SWCC member looking for something to do) decided to join us.

As we made our way through  to the cross rift it became obvious that Brendan was a little more under the weather than he'd realised. With nose running and bloodshot eyes he headed slowly out to go and nurse both himself and the teapot back at the club.
John had last been to the Northern Lights series over a decade before and Jess and I had been a few years ago. Because Brendan knew the route we hadn't bothered to bring any survey with us, but before departing Brendan had given us a quick description of the route in and we were pretty confident that we could find our way.
Jess led us through to midnight passage where John and I took over the route finding past the pull through to the upper oxbow series, through wet crawls, Mudlust hall, Moonmilk revelry, across an awkward exposed climb, sand crawls and down a body sized tube until we were at the very wet dogleg crawl which would lead us in to the rest of the series.
Here John decided he would need to start heading out as he'd promised to play taxi driver for his daughter. After saying our goodbyes Jess and I continued through the cold water to a rope climb up in to a roof tube. Although we were pretty sure the way on was straight ahead we wanted to explore every passageway as we went, so followed the passage in to opposite direction down a slippery climb in to a water filled tube.....
"I'm pretty sure we've just done a round trip", I called to Jess and soon emerged at the foot of the rope climb we had just done! ;)
On we went exploring as we went all of the passage in the area through to 'The Blockhouse' Where we heard another party coming through. Together we explored the furthest reaches until the other group began heading out and Jess and I took a few photo's as we retraced our route.
Brendan had explained there were two routes in to the system, the one we had taken and a tight rift. He had advised we try the tight route on the way out as if I didn't fit on the way in it was a long way to retrace our steps. Finding the rift I headed down first and found it not too bad at all.
Route finding became more interesting on the way out until we found the body sized tube we'd come in through. Picking up the Moonmilk Revelry we were back in familiar territory and after grabbing a few more photographs we headed out to meet up with Brendan for a good dinner in Abercrave.

Jess in Moonmilk Revelry

Jess in Keyhole passage

Jess entering through the wet dogleg

Present: Mark Burkey, Jess Burkey, Brendan Marris and John SWCC

Dudley South Wales Weekend OFD 1 Round Trip

Our original plan had been a through trip for Sunday, but after our adventures the previous day and because of the water levels, a slightly less demanding trip was called for.

We decided on an OFD – 1 round trip with a visit to Column Passage and The Eagle’s Nest thrown in.

We took the usual route and dropped in to the steam way at the step where the water level was just a few inches over.

We proceeded up the stream way through to boulder chamber before returning to Lowe’s chain to climb up to Lowe’s passage.

Keith had some fun, getting Loz to lead the way through roundabout chamber….Oh wow what lovely formations, much better than the one's we saw a moment ago, wow what lovely passageway, look another crawl......Keith could help himself no longer, it had been played to perfection, she had no idea she was now retracing her steps back the way she'd come ;) …and then the girls had further fun rolling through the roll over crawl ‘till Chloe got a smack in the chops from a closely following Loz.

Continuing on through Pi Chamber and over the Bolt Traverse and out the escape route before climbing up to take a look at the Column.  Keith found The Eagles Nest in a passage we had missed on the way through and I couldn’t resist having a quick round trip dropping down from the eagles nest to the stream way. 
All that was left was a quick play at the water slide before heading out over Pluto’s Bath, where Loz and Crystal had some fun in the pot.

We finished the weekend in style with a good meal at the Beefeater before completing our drives home.

Crystal at Gypsum Corner - OFD 1 Round Trip

Loz in the Rawl Series OFD 1 Round Trip

Present: Crystal, Mel, Chloe, Keith, Matt and Mark

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

Swinging in Pembrokeshire, A day at the seaside but still no ice-cream!!!

Saturday saw Jess and I having a little play in OFD Top to try out my new toys and provide a stop over a little closer for our planned outing on the west coastline on Sunday.
Brendan and Keith also decided this would be a good plan and joined us Saturday night at the SWCC.
As many know Jess and I do like a lie in when we do our camping trips, but this time I was just too excited to stay in bed later than 7.30am. I have been lucky to tick off many of my bucket list trips of late and Sunday's trip has been at the top for some time.
I have been pestering Keith and Brendan for a trip to Ogof Gofan for over a year and my constant nagging finally paid off. We made an early start from the SWCC at 8am and didn't reach our breakfast stop at St Clears till gone 9am. The only option open to us for our traditional start to a caving trip was a Little Chef which had just had a coach party descend on them.
With all our delays it was near midday before we found ourselves changing on the MOD live fire range. The tranquil coastline setting was almost unspoilt aside from the numerous warning signs and the helicopter gunship circling above us. Undaunted we made our way to the cliff face above the entrance to Ogof Gofan.
We took no chances with the rigging, using two natural anchors as well as the two rusted stakes and several rope protectors over the sharp rock. The abseil is only short but feels quite exposed as the waves crash in to the cliff face below.
I waited at the entrance to take a couple of shots whilst Jess went off to begin exploring.  Once Keith and Brendan had joined me we all begun thrutching through the short crawls to join Jess at the 2nd Window. From here again we crawled and squeezed up through the chambers until we popped through in to the impressive 5th Chamber. This has a very continental feel to the formations and I took a good while taking pictures here.
From the 5th Chamber we climbed up and squeezed through to the 6th Chamber. Keith wormed his way down an inviting body sized hole in to a boulder choke only to find the ceiling above him looking rather delicate, so carefully he made his way back to us.
Again we explored, filmed and photographed the final chamber of this short but beautiful cave.
Finally it was time to make our way back. We were soon back at the entrance pitch and each made our way carefully back to the surface. Walking back to the car park we all agreed it had been an excellent days caving and to top it off there was even an ice-cream van waiting for us.......at least until we reached the gate, at which point he decided to drive off........Typical!

The video from our day out at the seaside

(Saturday) Jess in Big Chamber Near The Entrance OFD II. Photo Mark Burkey

Keith on the entrance pitch. Photo Mark Burkey

Mark admires the view from the second window of Ogof Gofan. Photo Brendan Marris

Jess in the 5th Chamber. Photo Mark Burkey

Jess in the 5th Chamber. Photo Mark Burkey

Jess in the 5th chamber. Photo Mark Burkey

Present: Jess Burkey, Brendan Marris, Keith Edwards & Mark Burkey