My workplace annual leave is a precious resource, and I try to use it sparingly and wisely. In respect of this year’s NAMHO Conference, I think I made a good decision, extending the weekend on which the conference presentations took place by three days, so I could also attend some field trips. The organisers, the…
Following recent reports of the opening of a new entrance to Ogof Draenen and the statement from the Trustees of the Pwll Dhu Cave Management Committee, additional information has been received from Cadw who have confirmed that the hole that was excavated to open a new entrance to Ogof Draenen has been dug through, and…
Ogof Draenen in South Wales has once again been plunged into an entrance-related controversy following a connection made to the surface from inside the cave. This leads to the main cave via a series of short pitches equipped with fixed ladders, and there is also a rope traverse and a free-hanging pitch to negotiate. Rumours…
The July edition of Wales Underground, the Newsletter of the Cambrian Caving Council is now available. The newsletter contains details of the Welsh Government’s consultation on improving recreational access to the countryside and urges cavers to make their views on this known and to attend an open meeting on Sunday 23rd July 2017. In other…
Roy Fellows reports another completed stage in the stabilisation program in Cwmystwyth Mine. The underground works phase 1, support of the stull above the skipway, is now completed and the area cleared. Normal access to Roman Level is now open, the path has been widened at the bottom as the work has encroached on this…
Roy Fellows reports that his hard work stabilising Allt-y-Crib (Talybont) Mine is now completed. This project featured briefly on Darkness Below in January this year. Roy has been working on this for about 12 months, visiting the site about once a week. A log of the progress on this impressive project over the past year can be…
The following letter has been circulated by Natural Resources Wales for the attention af all cavers and caving clubs active in North Wales, specifically the Alyn Gorge Caves: Alyn Valley Woods and Alyn Gorge Caves, Site of Special Scientific interest (SSSI) As you may be aware, a swallow hole has opened up within a…
Can everyone please stay clear of Talybont shaft to deep adit, please, until further notice. Heavy rain plus ongoing work has caused some movement at the bottom of the shaft. The ongoing work involves the stripping out of timber originally installed when the access shaft to the deep adit was sunk by members of the…
The landowners who own access to the UK’s second longest cave, Ogof Draenan, have made it clear that they won’t be bullied by threats of legal action made by cavers Stuart France and Nigel Rogers In a post on UK Caving yesterday the landowners who between them own the land on which the entrances to Drws Cefn…
We reported on 24 November 2015 about the legal action threatened by cavers Stuart France and Nigel Rogers against Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and the landowner concerning their claim to have access rights to Drws Cefn under the CRoW legislation. In the latest development in this long-running issue, their solicitors have now been sent a…
A new cave has been found in Carmarthenshire by a team of ten cavers from South Wales. The cave was dug throughout much of 2015, and the new cave passages did not come easily. An account on the South Wales Caving Club blog describes tight squeezes, awkward drops and boulder blockages. Added to this, flowing…
Cavers Stuart France and Nigel Rogers are involved in the on-going dispute over closing or gating the Drws Cefn entrance to Ogof Draenen in South Wales. On the 20th November 2015 their solicitors, Richard Buxton of Cambridge, wrote to Natural Resources Wales, sending copies to the Pwll Du Management Group and also to the landowner….
