Headbanging trip to Moonlight Chamber Area

After a recent trip to the passages at the top of the pitch down into Moonlight Chamber we realised there was still quite an extensive area of passages that we had still not visited. Rich was joining the trip and wanted to learn some more routes in OFD and so we set off on a not very direct route to our destination of choice. We first headed up to the climb up to the Mini Columns, from where we headed to Speedy Caver and then slid down to enter Gnome Passage. A short jaunt down took us to the start of Edwards Shortcut, where easy work was made of the slippy climb down. A short while later Brendan missed his footing on a short section of easy traverse and ended up falling and head-butting a boulder with the side of his head. The helmet saved him from serious damage, but his ear was cut and bleeding. After some proficient first aid by Mark, the ear was dressed and we continued to the main traverses and the rest of the trip. We went to Shatter Pillar and then down to Cross Rift before heading to the end of the passage and then the climb up into the series of passages around Moonlight Chamber. We followed a route through the passages that we had not previously visited and then reached a climb down where a hand-line was required. This took us into a maze of passages where we located the other side of a pretty crystal pool that we plan to return to to photograph at a later date. In our exploration of these passages we ended up arriving at the start of Lugubrious Passage. This was a connection that we had not anticipated and we may use this simpler route on a future trip.

Rich in passages near Moonlight Chamber - Photo by Brendan

Rich in passages near Moonlight Chamber - Photo by Mark

Rich in passages near Moonlight Chamber - Photo by Mark

The route out of the cave was via Selenite Tunnel up Salubrious, taking a short cut to the bottom of the Corkscrew Climb and then via the sandy crawls from Gnome Passage and out via White Arch Series. All above ground for 4pm.

First Aid by Mark Burkey

Present: Rich Gibbons, Mark Burkey and Brendan Marris

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

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

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

4 out of 6 ain't bad...

The Dig Weekend at the Brickworks Dig was so popular that the exercise needed some careful planning. It was decided that while one team was down the dig, I would take one group into Top Entrance for a quick trip, then we would return to take our turn at digging, while Brendan would take a group into Pant Mawr and return later to take over digging from our team.

In spite of having been caving for the last 9 years, this was my first try at leading a trip into OFD (something to do with being navigationally challenged) so I decided to keep thing simple by doing a short 'tourist trip' to the Trident and Judge, taking in the Corkscrew, Swamp Creek, Shatter Pillar, President's Leap, Selenite Tunnel and Salubrious Streamway. With a group comprised of Helen, Phil, Becca, Loz and Darren, we soon found ourselves at the Corkscrew climb down. Phil's shoulder had been playing up as soon as we got into the entrance, and he felt that relying on his dodgy shoulder to support him through the Corkscrew would not be sensible, so he decided to head back. As Helen knows Top Entrance well, I asked her to accompany him back to the entrance while the rest of us made our way slowly down the sand crawls towards Swamp Creek.

We met up with Helen again at the Trident and Judge and continued with the trip. All went well - 9 years of Keith and Brendan tutting in despair every time I failed to identify areas of the cave was finally vindicated. The most difficult part was tearing Darren away from all the 'pretties' - stals, curtains, helictites, and the roof of Selenite Tunnel being just a few. It's so lovely to go caving with people who are overwhelmed by how beautiful the caves are!

Once back at the entrance Helen left us and went off to squirrel around down a muddy tunnel and the rest of us went back to the club ready for our turn to dig.

Keith was waiting for us at the club, and for some reason didn't seem too impressed that I had set off with a group of 6, and come back with 4! I later found out that Phil and I had our wires crossed earlier, and that he had thought Helen was taking him an alternative route to join up with us, so had waited at the entrance and even wandered around some of the passages looking for us, before he gave up and went back to the club! Just goes to show how important it is to make sure we all understand the same thing.

Helen wasn't long in joining us, and although we were all ready to dig, there was no digging to be had, as one of the pumps had failed and there was a problem with bad air, so we were forced to drink tea in the sunshine for the rest of the afternoon.

Present: Jess B., Becca K., Loz A., Phil L. Darren, Helen N.