Rescue Practice, Huglith Mine, Shropshire

An evening/night time search and recovery operation to practice communications which in spite of the dense woodland, trip wires, pitch black and pouring rain went very successfully.

Present: PAn, MCl, KEd, AGr, MNo, EPo, GSm, JSm & ASt + Loads of members of SMCG

OFD 1, South Wales

The usual round trip with the addition of a visit to the Railton-Wilde Series.

Present: KEd & BMa + Colin Hayward and Dave Hounslow from WMCEG

Cwm Dwr, Penwyllt, South Wales

A trip to the Upper Smithy Series, a new location for all members of the team.  There is still one area left to visit but it was decided that a hand line would be useful to protect the climb, so a return visit is planned.  During the trip Brendan (Rockefeller) Marris got up to his usual tricks.

Keith in a section of well decorated passage.

See more Cwm Dwr photos here

Present: KEd & BMa + Colin Hayward and Dave Hounslow from WMCEG

Ogof Tarddiad Rhymney, South Wales

A relatively recent discovery (1996) so you won't find this one in the South Wales guide book.  It is situated in a disused quarry, a three-mile hike across the mountains.

The cave has 1.5km of mainly walking sided passage with low interconnecting crawls.  It ends in a low muddy streamway.  It was well worth us popping our heads into and is another one to tick off.

Mike Clayton in the main passage.

Emma Porter in the main passage.

Emma Porter viewing formations.

See more Ogof Tarddiad Rhymney photos here

Present: MCl, KEd, BMa & EPo

Mines near Lavrio

We accepted an invitation by our Greek hosts to a visit of the abandoned mines near Lavrio on the southern tip of Greece. We saw only a fraction of the 500+ km of passages rich in a variety of mineral deposits.

Emma in Lavrio Mine.

Emma in Lavrio Mine.

Present: MCl, BMa & EPo + 4 members of the Helenic Spelelogical Society

Lord Byron's Cave

Route finding in this large chamber cave was made difficult by the amount of formations. This is a cave with a long history of exploration and habitation including Lord Byron who was reputed to have become lost in the cave for 3 days.

Emma and Rene in Lord Byron's Cave.

Present: MCl, BMa & EPo + Cara Allinson (SMCC), members of Spelo Club Du Liban & Georgos our Greek guide

Kapsia Cave

A trip by the Greek Ministry of Tourism to a showcave under construction. A cave that was once used for the committal of human remains, allowing the annual floods to wash the remains deep into the system. Human bones are found in several places in this upper well decorated chamber now being transformed into a show cave.

Work in progress to turn this into a showcave.

Present: MCl, BMa & EPo