Ogof Craig a Ffynnon North West Inlet trip 02/07/2020

Unless otherwise stated, camera, setups, lighting, edits and gallery effects by Tarquin. Modelling and lighting at various points will be Pete Bolt.

This passage is less visited than other parts of the cave. In part, this is because it starts with an offputting canal. It forms the modern drainage for the cave, running directly beneath the grand Travertine Passage for its entire length. The formations, while lovely and worthy of attention, are not in the superb continental style of those in the upper passages.

1. Fly tipping at the parking area by the limekilns, which is also adorned with glass from car windows. It always feels a little uncomfortable leaving anything in your car here (and yes, I have every right to say bad things about it, as I grew up in the village on the right side of this picture, and experienced this area's reputation first hand).
2. Inside the gate at the entrance to the cave. Most of this passage was dug open. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin, Pete and Sol
3. Before the chambers. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
4. The first place where you can stand is the original breakthrough; a chamber where there is a logbook. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
5. Crystal pool in the logbook chamber.
6. The next chamber is well decorated with some short straws. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
7. Detail of the straws.
8. Stalagmites below the straws.
9. The next chamber is much more substantial, with an aven. Though almost devoid of straws, it is dominated by a large stal flow. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
10. Stalagmites in the chamber.
11. Large stalagmite boss covering most of the chamber floor. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
12. The passage then drops down to stream level. The stream sinks in the floor, and is next seen at both the Limekiln Resurgences, and within Ogof Capel. The formations here look very unusual, like they have formed underwater, or with regular submersion during flooding. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
13. In current floods, the water never reaches this high, but it is quite sobering being in a passage with stal that looks this way. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
14. The next chamber is one of the best straw decorated chambers in the cave. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
15. The straw chamber. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
16. The straw chamber. Modelling and lighting by Pete
17. The straw chamber. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
18. The straw chamber. Lighting by Pete
19. Large crystal pool in the straw chamber. Lighting by Pete
20. Beyond the straw chamber, the stal is more normal, with no signs of being formed underwater. The passage does flood, however, with the water backing up against the flowstone in the straw chamber. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
21. This section of the streamway shows evidence of recent severe flooding. The flood scum, still flexible and therefore probably within a decade old, is as much as 2 metres up. However, the most recent scum is below head height. I have seen this section in a mild flood, and the water was rushing around our thighs. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
22. Mini grotto. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
23. Before the first choke. This section of passage floods to the ceiling. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
24. Top of the first choke, which was dug vertically upwards.
25. The breakthrough chamber is enormous, climbing high up to an aven. A few small passages lead off the upper part of the chamber. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
26. Looking down from the top of the chamber. The First Choke is in the floor on the left, and Gasoline Alley is in the alcove ahead. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
27. An obvious rift leads off the top of the chamber but it ends immediately in mud fill.
28. The main side passage splits into two. To the left is a crawl. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
29. This ends in a small chamber with flowstone. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
30. The floor of the chamber. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
31. Flowstone on the wall of the chamber. This flows down from a side passage that connects to the top of the aven in the previous chamber. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
32. Curtains at the top of the flowstone.
33. Crystal pool in the flowstone.
34. The right branch of the side passage starts off much more substantial, reaching a small aven. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
35. Climbing up past flowstone.
36. Climbing the aven. Modelling by Pete
37. Getting a bit smaller. Modelling by Pete
38. Getting really rubbish. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
39. The aven ends at a choke. Almost the entire aven has been excavated by the diggers who found the cave, and true to form, they put in an awful lot of effort, chasing the strong draught. This almost certainly is a surface draught, as the aven has climbed up a very long way at this point.
40. After the wet crawl through Gasoline Alley, North West Inlet starts as this canal. The shape looks very unnatural, almost like a mine passage. It takes about 5 minutes to walk from here to the far end of the canal, or 15 minutes if you have someone with a camera stopping you every few metres for another picture. I have seen this once in flood conditions, and the airspace was reduced but still enough to get through. In high flood, it can sump, like Gasoline Alley. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
41. Square canal section. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
42. The canal is not only the main source of water for Gasoline Alley and the entrance passage, it also has a separate outlet, to the left at a junction. This reaches a narrow rift and aven, with the water flowing out to the Limekiln Resurgences and Ogof Capel.
43. The way on is to the right at the junction. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
44. The roof lifts so it is possible to walk upright. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
45. The deepest section of the canal, which is up to our armpits, with a few rocks to stand on or trip over occasionally. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
46. Arched section. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
47. Stalactites above the canal. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
48. Immature helictites above the canal. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
49. Small curtain above the canal.
50. Nearly at the end of the canal, and the water is now only ankle deep. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
51. In the mud at the end of the canal. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
52. Straws in the ceiling. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
53. Mud formations.
54. The taped route follows an undercut to avoid damaging the mud formations. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
55. Wet mud layer.
56. Mud hoodoos, where a little pebble has protected the mud from falling drips.
57. Translucent curtains. Lighting by Pete
58. The typical profile of North West Inlet; a tall, triangular rift with extensive mudbanks. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
59. A decomposing stalactite that has decided to regrow as a straw.
60. Flowstone column. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
61. Stal boss formation. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
62. Calcited mud.
63. Formations in the ceiling. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
64. Formations on the boulders Modelling and lighting by Pete
65. Streaming curtains on the wall. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
66. A profusion of columns. Lighting by Pete
67. A window of formations. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
68. Grotto behind the window boulders.
69. Flowstone on the wall. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
70. Detail at the base of the flowstone. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
71. One of the best decorated pieces of the passage. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
72. Coloured stal.
73. Mixed calcite and mud formations, with some calcite and mud hoodoos, and a false floor. Hidden behind this is an inlet tucked into the wall, which appears to come from the blind pitch in Travertine Passage. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
74. A line of stalagmites, like a series of mountains around Rio de Janeiro. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
75. Tiny curtains. Lighting by Pete
76. The most impressive flowstone formation, and one of my favourites in the whole passage. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
77. Nearing the end of the big stuff. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
78. The formations here look like some of them might have formed underwater, like the ones in the entrance passage.
79. The straws, however, are clearly normal straws, so if there used to be any regular ponding here, that is now a thing of the past.
80. The final big piece of passage. By now, we are underneath the wide section of Travertine Passage before Hall Of The Mountain King, but turning to head across the passage, pointing towards the side passage of The Small Side Passage Near The Entrance. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
81. Straws behind a boulder.
82. Straws in the final big passage. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
83. Straws and flowstone in the final undercut. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
84. The end of the passage is dominated by a huge spoil ramp, much like a coal tip on the mountains. Some major digging went on here, starting in the 1980s. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
85. The dig is all the more impressive for its railway system. Not a basic railway, but complete with points and a siding, for swapping trucks around. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
86. The railway heads into the dig. The trucks have regular railway wheels, with a flange on the wheels. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
87. The siding, which allowed full and empty trucks to pass each other. Here, the dig swings to the left, following the edge of a massive choke, somewhere beneath the wall of Travertine Passage. Meanwhile there is a side passage - the only side passage - to the right in a rift. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
88. This goes far beyond normal cave dig engineering.
89. Heading into the dig. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
90. Rock fall covering the track. This is a little uncomfortable, since it has happened relatively recently. Lighting by Tarquin and Pete
91. The ceiling here is not shored, and is just a mix of mud and rocks, waiting to fall. This is almost certainly the floor of Travertine Passage.
92. Continuing over the rocks. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
93. Shoring starts. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
94. Scaffolded section. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
95. An insane amount of spoil has been removed from here, some stacked into a wall, some taken all the way back. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
96. The railway ends after about 60 metres. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
97. The final dig, where the stream can be heard below. At this point, it should be beneath the start of Hall Of The Mountain King. The stream does not come from Hall Of The Mountain King, so it presumably comes from Promised Land, Lower Series and Blaen Elin, and perhaps also the nearby Pwll Coedog sink. The nearest stream in the cave, Blaen Elin, is 350 metres away, and Pwll Coedog is 300 metres away. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
98. The side passage begins with a very slippery climb up into a steep rift.
99. The boulder here are loose and quite horrifying, but the way up is to climb up them.
100. Looking back down the rift to the junction. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
101. Above the boulders is a small roof tube heading back around in a loop.
102. The roof tube rejoins the passage at the junction.
103. Building the elevated deck for the new road lanes, as the road is being converted to a dual carriageway. Those are going to be some very deep pilings.
104. The lanes have been constructed already for most of it. The Drum And Monkey pub - one of the best gastropubs in the valley - used to be where the white container is, but was demolished to make way for the road. Ogof Capel lies under the white van, and although it is supposed to be preserved, the normal Ogof Gelynnen entrance passes through a choke beneath the road. We don't yet know if it will have survived all of the roadworks.
105. Replacement bridge providing access to the valley.
106. Pwll y Cwm in the valley, the main resurgence for the other Llangatwg caves. This is the one that can swallow river water in drought. Modelling by Pete
107. Elm Hole, another part of the Pwll y Cwm resurgence, with its own outlets. Modelling by Pete, lighting by Tarquin and Pete
108. Risings from the river bed outside Elm Hole. Even when Pwll y Cwm is swallowing the filthy river water, these run clean, so the water sinking into Pwll y Cwm must reappear elsewhere.
109. Devil's Bridge Cave, a dry fragment of Elm Hole.
110. Stacked rock art in front of the Devil's Bridge.