Pwll Y Gwynt - Mud, Sweat and Tears

We headed out to photograph and video a cave that has little record of visitation. Over the next few hours we were to find out why so few venture to this cave. With a good description, an accurate grid reference, a GPS and the benefit of seeing photos of the cave entrance from a previous group's visit we headed along the tramroad with a certain degree of confidence.
Beyond Eglwys Fean we left the tramroad and headed up the slope and gradually veered right until we were above the cliff beside the tramroad that contains the entrance to Agen Allwedd. From this point onwards the ascent was very steep, following the edge of a scree slope as we climbed to a gully nearly 80m above the tramroad. Once the gully was reached the climb became steeper and our search for the cave began as the GPS now indicated we were less than 30m from the entrance. We split up and combed the escarpment looking for the entrance. For the next two hours we traversed, climbed and looked at every possibility. Mark headed high, while Keith traversed along the escarpment at a lower level. It was at this point that Mark made his bid to appear in the Dudley Caving Club Hall Of Fame for loosing his SRT kit. Previously SRT kits have been lost in the Green Canal, dropped into a 20m deep sump and today's entry was to drop it into a tree. As Mark descended from the top of the escarpment, it was clear that he could not stop himself slipping off and keep hold of the tackle bag at the same time. He cried out it's going to be me or the tackle bag, a few seconds of clinging on before a cry of 'below' came and the bag bounced down the slope then over the top cliff. Keith was below and shouted frantically not knowing wether it was a bag or person who had come down. Mark could just make his way down now and we headed to the bottom of the cliff where the bag should have been and to meet Keith. No sign of the bag though, Had it gone all the way down to the tramroad? Just then Keith spotted it stuck up in the tree. Keith climbed up the tree that grew out of the cliff face above the perilous scree slope 80m above the tramroad. We held our breath. It was retrieved and after picking up a few items that had fallen out we continued our search. Two hours forty five minutes after setting out Mark found the entrance, we had all been within 10 feet of it earlier in the day.

Looking up at the escarpment from the tramroad

Keith at the entrance to Pwll Y Gwynt

A flat out crawl through the body sized entrance led to the head of the first pitch. Mark rigged from the two scaffold bars at the top of the pitch. The second one giving the best hang, although we are not sure how long it will last as it is well corroded. Once we are all down our next challenge awaits as we find a squeeze links the First and Second Avens. Mark quickly decides it is to be done without SRT kit on so once de kitted tried again and after some thrutching made it through. Brendan followed next and took three attempts to make it through and the finally came Keith, but unfortunately leaving the Gopro behind.

Keith in the squeeze from Second to First Aven - Pwll Y Gwynt

A short crawl led us into the Third Aven where we traversed around a ledge to take us into a crawl heading to the Fourth Aven.

Keith in the Third Aven - Pwll Y Gwynt

A climb up and then along a short rift took us to a point 5m above the floor of the Fourth Aven. A climb down a slippy rope took us into this impressive chamber.

Keith and Mark in the Fourth Aven - Pwll Y Gwynt

From the Fourth Aven the way on was a low crawl leading off from the opposite side from the climb down. From here the cave becomes muddier and muddier as we crawl towards the Fifth Aven. The progress is slow as the mud is very sticky and the passage low and tight in places. We missed the climb up to the Fifth Aven on the way in as it is in a rift in the roof, but on reaching the 'Quick Way' we returned to find it.

Keith approaching the Fifth Aven - Pwll Y Gwynt

We attempted the 'Quick Way' on the way out, but turned back after a couple of body lengths. The squeeze proved easier on the way out, unfortunately the scree slope was more tricky going down than on the way up to the cave.

Present: Keith Edwards, Mark Burkey and Brendan Marris

Tight Cave Larger Caver - the 10 Box challenge

As many of Keith's Youtube fans will know, Mark has attempted the Daren Cilau entrance crawl in the past, only to get turned back at the Vice. A couple of trips into Daren via Cnwc (Price's Dig) proved more successful, enabling us to view the amazing formations, but the entrance crawl remained unconquered...

Chloe had been angling for an easy Sunday caving trip that wouldn't leave her covered with bruises (she's going to be a bridesmaid), so Mark decided that the Daren entrance crawl, 550 m of crawling over stones, thrutching through rifts and over boulders and several tight squeezes would fit the bill exactly! Determined to make it to the end this time, and figuring that the 'squeezy' bits in the crawl may be a matter of technique, he roped Andy in as our guide for the day.

With more than a little trepidation the 4 of us met up at the car park and were at the entrance just after 10am. Daren Cilau has a series of emergency telephone boxes (not the sort you put coins in) which we planned to count on our way in, so that we could check our progress. Box 10 was our goal, and Box 0 was just by the entrance. And we're off!

The crawl as far as the Vice was deceptively easy, and the Vice itself definitely a matter of technique; with Andy leading the way (ON YOUR LEFT SIDE!! ON YOUR RIGHT SIDE!! ONE ARM FORWARD!! ) we soon popped through. Box 1! The going got a little harder...Box 2! And yet harder...Box 3! Just when we thought we surely should be at the end...Box 4! Only half way! Then the crawl got really awkward, with many tight rifty thrutches in cold water...Box 5! And then it got even worse...Box 6! At last we got some respite as we were able to get to our feet - stooping mostly though and tight rifts, nothing too easy...Goodness knows where Box 7 was! Now we knew we were approaching the crux of the crawl; the calcite squeezes. Would we get through? Or would all our efforts be in vain and would we have to turn back?

Well...the calcite 'squeezes' turned out to be one of the easier parts of the crawl! We all slipped through with no fuss, technique definitely helping, but none of us found them tight at all. Fantastic! Box 8!

Quite happy with the 1 1/2 hours it had taken us to get in, we made our way onwards, through the  boulder choke (Box 9), and Jigsaw passage (Box 10). A quick wiggle through the Wriggle and a stomp along big passageway brought us to Big Chamber Nowhere Near The Entrance, the chosen destination for our trip.

Oh the ecstasy, the smiles and congratulations! And how quickly they faded as we realised we now had to do it all again! (Except for Mark, of course, who was bouncing like a puppy.)

The reverse trip was uneventful but arduous, especially when we got back to the Vice. Andy and Mark seemed to slip through fairly easily, but Chloe and myself found going out on our left side a lot harder than coming in on our right side. With a lot of heavy breathing and a few squeaks we finally both got through, and then it was just a short crawl to the exit. We had gone a little slower on the way back and so were really starting to feel the cold when we popped out into glorious sunshine.

Mark's now planning a 'proper' trip into Daren... I may be washing my hair that day. Chloe?? Andy??...Keith??

Present: Andy G. Mark B. Jess H. Chloe B.  

A quick run around Cwm Dwr

As the dig was taking a little longer than anticipated to pump out, Jess and I took Chloe, Ian and Becca for a quick trip in to Cwm Dwr.
Jess had been kind enough to sort out the caving gear as I had been working non stop with late nights the week before. Reaching the entrance shaft I realised Jess hadn't actually put a battery in my helmet and after snapping at her (sorry honey!) she kindly swapped helmets and went off to sort the battery issue.
I dropped down first followed by Becca, Chloe and Ian, then poor old Jess arrived after running back to the van.
After seeing Becca and Chloe to the beginning of the crawls I set them loose and continued in with Ian and Jess to re-group in Cwm Dwr Jammer.
We made our way through to the choke to find a couple of lost cavers trying to find their way in to the choke for a through trip, so letting them tag along we took them through and explained their route before we continued on through to The Smithy and Picadilly.
On our return we found our lost cavers.....lost again, after checking they knew their way from The Confluence we again set them on their path before making our way out and re-joining the dig team.

Present: Ian Millward, Becca Kirkpatrick, Chloe Burney, Jessica Harding & Mark Burkey

A gentle Sunday stroll around St. Cuthbert's Swallet

Having enjoyed the trip into Swildons on the Saturday, we split into 2 groups again on the Sunday. With Chloe leading a party into GB, Brendan, Keith, Mark and myself were booked to go into St. Cuthberts. On the day however, Brendan decided to join Chloe and co. as he had hurt his leg the day before, so only the 3 of us met with Estelle our guide.  

 

Estelle pointed out the valve which cuts water flow off from the entrance of the cave, and we descended the shaft to the head of the entrance rift. “There’s lots of hand and footholds, just watch what I do” she said, and then proceeded to slither down the rift faster than the eye could follow! After we had also wriggled down (not as gracefully or speedily) Estelle proceeded to show us around the cave.

We were led down a series of fixed ladders into ‘Wire Rift’ (a steeply descending tight rift which was easier than it looked – at least on the way down. Once in the main cave we were overwhelmed by several things;

•  the variety and number of fabulous formations, such as the Pillar, the Cascades, the Curtains, the Octopus, the Beehive…

• the diversity of “challenges” the cave threw at us in the way of climbs, wriggles, slides and thrutches…

• the array of passages and chambers in the cave (about 7km of passage in a 3-dimensional maze)

• our guide Estelle, who outcaved us completely! Keith described her as ‘like watching a time-lapse video – don’t blink or you’ll miss her!’

We regained a little of our dignity (and puff) when we stopped for a quick break and Estelle offered to show us more of the cave than is normally seen on tourist trips, as we were caving so fast!!! Dignity went straight out the window for me however as the first challenge was climbing a vertical water chute which looked impossible from the bottom and I squeaked like a girl. 

The ‘extra’ tour completed, we arrived back at the entrance series, where I made very heavy work of ‘Wire Rift’, tiring myself out completely before even attempting the tricky final rift upwards. Estelle went first (fairly slowly!) showing me where the holds were, and I wriggled up slowly. At no time did I feel scared of falling, as the rift is so narrow that you only have to bend your knees and you’re not going anywhere. In fact that was the problem near the top – no matter how I wriggled, I wasn’t going anywhere! A final thrust and pull on the arms however and I was up and out, hurray! 

While Mark and Keith easily followed me up the rift, Estelle and I climbed out of the shaft. I didn’t quite get to the valve in time to soak the boys unfortunately, but maybe next time – I’d definitely love to go back to this cave and explore it with a little more time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mendip Weekend - Team GB

I had been told it was time for me to fly the nest, stop being the baby caver, and lead a trip of my own. So following a request from Becca, we arranged to go into GB.
After I had a little last minute studying of the survey, Ian arrived at the Shepton and we headed off to Charterhouse. Once parked and changed, there was a short walk to the cave. From the entrance passage, we took a flat out crawl to enter into Mud Passage. The group popped down two climbs to arrive in The Gorge, where we crossed The Bridge for a little jaunt around White Passage and Rift Chamber. The plan from here was to go down the Oxbow to the Ladder Dig Extension and so I led the group through a crawl on the right. After about 50m of squeezing and contorting ourselves, the passage opened into a 20ft hole which I dropped myself into. When about half way down I realised there were no further hand or foot holds. At about this point, I heard Brendan call from the back of the group that he didn’t remember there being any crawling or a drop in the oxbow, and it soon dawned on us that I was in fact half way down the 20ft ladder pitch heading into Bertie’s Pot. I was going to need some assistance getting back out! So with Brendan gripping my belt, I had to perform a series of belly flops to propel myself back up to the passage floor as graceful as a seal getting out of the sea. After our little navigational mishap, we quickly found the actual Oxbow and Brendan gave a demonstration of how to rig the ladder pitch from the bottom. Unfortunately we had run out of time to explore beyond the ladder and headed back straight along the Main Chamber. Before exiting the cave we briefly explored the top end of the Gorge in search of the car. Although we saw various pieces of car shaped metal fragments, we were unable to find the car in the thick slippery mud on the steep slope.
It had been a very enjoyable trip with a team that communicated fantastically and with a great feeling of camaraderie. Most importantly I managed to not kill, injure, or lose any of my team!

Report Chloe Burney

Present: Chloe Burney, Becca, Ian Millward, Loz Appleby and Brendan Marris

Swildons Hole; Too greasy for Chloe and a close shave for me!

With Team 1 heading down to take a look at sump 2, Mel, Jess, Keith, Chloe and myself headed off to do the round trip.

It had been some years since Keith had done the route and I had been a little preoccupied worrying if I’d get through the squeeze the last time I did it to take much notice so wanted to use the trip to learn the route.

Allowing the others a head start, we ambled down the lane and followed in at a leisurely pace until we could hear the unmistakable shouts from Mr Grimes as he verbally assisted his team down the pitch.

I’d remembered Steve finding a bypass to the rift on a previous trip, so at this point Keith and I popped over the top whilst the girls took the lower more awkward route.

Soon we arrived at Tratman’s Temple and on to the Greasy Chimney where Jess managed to defeat her nemesis and got up without issue. Mel and Keith followed with Chloe playing snakes and ladders before finally admitting defeat and treading all over me…….again!

Soon we were at the first of the troubles, which was nothing more than a damp crawl. Continuing on we were offered a number of alternatives. Splitting up we each took a route to see if anyone recognised anything and after going a short way up and down some slippery slopes I turned around, sure I hadn’t been there before. Re-grouping we continued to retrace and search for the way on ‘till Keith took a look at the way I had been and announced that he had us back on track…Doh!

Down the slippery slope and around the corner we found the drop down to Blue Pencil passage. I had heard tales of this awkward, tight route and fancied giving it a go. We all made our way down the steep climb to the head of the rift where Keith dropped down first explaining the way through was on your side, legs first, then once around the tight dog leg bend you needed the turn face down and make your way on to a tight ledge (on Keith’s first visit he had gone head first through the rift and had a very scary moment having to lean out in to thin air over a 15ft sheer drop, hence the advice of doing the passage backward)

After a little grunting Keith was through. I followed shuffling my way down the passage until firmly wedged with my kneecaps bent slightly the wrong way. Fortunately I’m getting a little more used to this type of predicament and so little by little I wriggled this way and that, shaving a little here and there until eventually my legs released and I was around the corner. The aforementioned ledge proved too tight for me to get fully on top, but I managed to get one half of my bulk on the ledge and one leg in the tight rift, then shuffle backward till Keith called out that I was at the precipice of the drop. Fortunately there is a chain to assist to the stream way at this point.

Mel followed; as usual skipping through spaces that I had struggled and making the obstacles look easy!

Once in the stream way we ran up and down to take in Sumps 3 and 4, as well as the aptly named Cowsh Aven before making our way back to re-group with Chloe and Jess.

At this point it was decided that with the lost time navigating and the time spent doing Blue Pencil Passage, the other team may be concerned if we continued on and exit late. Happy we had learnt the route to the main ducks, and having ticked off Blue Pencil we made our way out to be greeted by the rest of the team, who were indeed not far from worrying about our timings.

Present: Keith Edwards, Chloe Burney, Mel Wakeman, Jessica Harding & Mark Burkey

Dan Yr Ogof Round Trip

Dan Yr Ogof Round Trip

Chloe had been dying to get in to Dan Yr Ogof ever since she’d discovered a love for water in White Scar on our Yorkshire club outing, so when Brendan suggested it as an option for Sunday she jumped at the chance. Jess and I needed one more trip to cement navigation of some of the main routes and so tagged along as model and lighting donkey respectively.

Jess took the lead and did a sterling job leading through the lakes, a short stop in to take a look at the impressive Straw chamber before shuffling our way through the Long Crawl. After traversing around the Chrystal Pool we popped up to Flabbergasm Oxbow where Chloe and Jess had a little fun with the slippery slope. On we trekked through the Grand Canyon and Monk Hall before spending some time taking in the beauty of Cloud Chamber.

Next up was probably Chloe’s favourite, the Green Canal. Donning a jacket and ring she was soon in her element sploshing along through the canal with us trying to keep up. We took a quick detour to The Rising and paused for a few pictures on the return before making our way down The Abyss and under the Camels Hump. We were soon making our way through the impressively formed Bakerloo Straight, past the Washing Machine and retraced our steps through the long crawl and out. A fantastic cave which Jess managed to navigate without issue and a great way to finish the weekend!

Jess in Go Faster Passage

 

 

 

 

 

Jess just past Go Slower Passage

Present: Mark Burkey, Jessica Harding, Chloe Burney & Brendan Marris