Clydach Gorge trip 02/11/2003

Caves of Clydach

Pictures by Chris Poole and Tarquin Wilton-Jones. Pictures are shown in the order of location, not the order they were taken. Click the thumbnails for the full sized pictures.

1. At the start of the gorge, the river cuts into the Dowlais limestone.
2. First are the three brick enclosures of Ffynnon Gisfaen, the resurgence for Ogof Carno, and many Mynydd Llangynidr caves
3. A waterfall enters from Mynydd Llangatwg and is joined by the sewage treatment works outflow - mmmmm, yummy!
4. Next is Ogof Nant Rhin, with the tripple squeeze original entrance to the right, and a new entrance being dug on the left
5. After a week of rain, the gorge is running very high - normally the water here is just ankle deep and flowing gently
6. Trademan's Entrance is the next cave in the gorge, but was completely covered by the water in the river.
7. Next we can see the wide Bynmawr Old Dig entrances, but we dare not cross the river
8. Opposite Brynmawr Old Dig is Scorched Earth Rift
9. Just downstream (and 5 metres lower) is Tucks Rift, but with the river too high for us to reach it
10. Further downstream is Overhang Cave, but the river was too dangerous for us to get near enough even for a photograph.
11. Now on the north side of the river is Blackrock Quarry, where the next set of caves are located.
12. Just to make you feel happy about leaving your car, this one was stolen and dumped in the quarry ...
13. Water pours from several parts of the quarry that are normally dry
14. Quarries may damage the landscape, but they do help you see the geology of the area - including this large fold
15. At the north edge of the quarry is the entrance to the arduous Ogof Rhaeadr Ddu
16. With the main part removed by the quarry, only a small fragment of Ogof Craig Ddu now remains
17. Once connected to Ogof Rhaeadr Ddu, but with the connecting passage now quarried away, the spider infested entrance to Waterfall Cave now lies almost burried by landfill
18. Waterfall cave resurges in the Gorge, and opposite it are a few caves that used to take the water from Waterfall Cave, but have now become resurgences of their own.
19. We park on the south side of the gorge and head down through the beech trees to the river
20. First is a small cave fragment called Pylon Cave, which is a bat roost
21. Just downstream is a small climb into the Ogof Clogwyn entrance
22. The entrance passage starts low but soon increases in size
23. The cave displays phreatic shelves made of chert, not limestone - at times these become promenant enough to divide the passage
24. The passage is generally walking sized with the phreatic shelves providing a way to keep your feet dry
25. The shelves now divide the passage into two distinct passages - an upper crawl and a lower walk
26. The roof then climbs and the passage becomes a tall(ish) rift
27. The roof then drops quickly and lowers into the gloomy terminal sump
28. Where the roof drops, a low side passage leads to a silted sump
29. Taking an earlier side passage through some low crawls, a larger section of passage is reached
30. The large passage only lasts a short distance before it suddenly shrinks to a muddy dig
31. We then take a tight side passage past spiders and moths
32. An awkward dismount then leaves us standing in the gorge again
33. Finally, the river drops through the Llanelly Shales, and all further caves are in the Gilwern Oolite.
34. We walk down a steep path beside a stream gully to reach the river again, having bypassed a dangerous corner in the river.
35. Part way down the gully is a short wet cave full of rotting leaves; Beech Tree Cave
36. Once at the river, the obvious pool is the 14 metre deep Pwll-Y-Cwm, the resurgence for Agen Alwedd and Daren Cilau
37. Just downstream is the tight secondary resurgence; Elm Hole
38. Beside Elm Hole, a short fragment of cave lies hidden under a pile of leaves; Devil's Bridge Cave
39. Just downstream, the Devil's bridge crosses the Devil's Waterfall, where the swolen river thunders into a 10 metre deep gully
40. We take the south bank path round the top of the gully.
41. Unlike its name, Shakespere's Neighbour Cave is only short, passing through a butress
42. In a side gully (Cwm Pwca), opposite the other entrances to Shakespere's Neighbour Cave is the fairy castle entrance to Shakespere's Cave (apparently Shakespere also thought it looked like a Fairy Castle, as he used this area as the basis for the fairies' home in A Midsummer Night's Dream)
43. As with many of the caves in the area, the entrance to Shakespere's cave is inhabited by a large collection of spiders
44. The large entrance passage stops suddenly and continues as a narrow rift
45. The water in the rift is normally just a trickle, but was high enough for the first duck to be completely sumped
46. Further up the gully, just upstream of the old railway line, is the entrance to the elusive Church Cave, perched above a tricky slope
47. Hardly worth a visit (in fact, these pictures were taken in 2008, after the cave was finally located)
48. Around the mountain to Llanelly Quarry, and protected from quarry debris by a car bonet (!) is the extremely awkward entrance to Llanelly Quarry Pot, which feeds Shakespere's
49. Ogof Wrth Y Rheilffordd is a fragment of cave near Llanelly Quarry - there are several others in the area, the highest of which are in the upper Dowlais Limestone
50. Above the Dowlais limestone is the sink that feeds one of the Llanelly Quarry Pot inlets, passing all the way through the shale band
51. We then take the north bank path round the top of the gully.
52. A hole in a cliff is the entrance to Ogof Capel
53. The passage becomes larger having passed a bat and several spiders, before ending in a gloomy sump
54. The cliff contains several other small cave entrances
55. One of the entrances actually has a short cave; Ogof Gelynnen (since connected as the dry entrance to Ogof Capel)
56. We then head further up the north side, passing UB40 cave, to a scenic overlook on a dismantled tramroad
57. We head into Pope's Hole - remember the floor here ...
58. The floor suddenly drops into a loose rift, where a hole in the floor leads into a passage through part of the choke
59. The rift roof - and hence the upper passage floor - is frighteningly unstable, being contructed of rocks held together by dried mud
60. Further along the tramroad, a climb up a gully leads into the gaping entrance of Ogof Craig A Ffynnon
61. After all of that, it was getting late, so we will leave Gilwern Hill and Pwll Du, and the Llangatwg escarpment for another day.