I recorded these audio files at Robert 'Dalek' Bialek's recent 60th Birthday party and I thought I'd share them.
Dalek may not be a household name in caving circles but he's truly one of the hardest cavers I've ever come across, having done some incredible trips and feats. He is also well known as being the person who assisted Mike Cooper whilst writing 'Not for the Fainthearted'
In these very amusing files, Dalek recollects on some of the near scrapes he's been involved (and fortunately survived)

Dalek explaining how he dived the wrong Rowten sump
https://youtu.be/TGLaQCpbZb8

Dalek recounting his greatest caving achievements (Penyghent Pot and BU56)
https://youtu.be/hQkaa3JJq0M

Dalek's King Pot mishap
https://youtu.be/QpgTg1wOjgc

Dalek getting flooded in down Penyghent Pot
https://youtu.be/qqYNipaacb8

Fantastic. Great to listen to Dalek's dulcet tones again.

Glad you liked them
I forgot to mention that Neil Pacey (another caving legend) is asking the questions.

I met Dalek a long way underground in December 1989, on my way to the end of Spade Runner in Daren Cilau. He was coming back from the end of the cave to La Plaza, where a party was due to be held later in the evening, attended by a good 20 cavers. This is what happened:

"The going varied between stooping, walking, occasional hands-and-knees crawls and very occasional flat-out bits, taking 2 hours travelling time (solo) from La Plaza. It wasn?t an entirely solitary trip since Dalek and three others were met, making their way back to La Plaza, just beyond Friday 13th Choke. Later on, back at camp, the party to celebrate the 4th anniversary of the formation of the Rock Steady Crew was starting to rock, with the cocktail bar open and Dalek soon performing one-arm pull-ups on a climb as his legs folded away beneath him."

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As the proceedings gathered zest, Dalek became so 'merry' that on his way up to the high-level sleeping area he basically fell off the climb and was left hanging in space by a single arm, completely unperturbed. This would have been quite alarming to watch, except, with the strength he possessed, there was no way his arm was going to let go and eventually, after much flailing of limbs which made virtually no purchase at all on any holds, he either reached the top or slid back down to La Plaza chamber again - magically no worse for wear!

I have a very important question for Dalek if he should happen to read this or someone else does who is in touch with him:

"When Dalek was digging the Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (D.A.D.E.S.) Choke in Daren Cilau on Saturday 1st April 1989 and broke through to a small chamber within the boulders, was there any use of a CB radio transmitter going on during the afternoon? Was he there for the duration of the digging, or did he depart before the others moved on?"

Clive - just seen Dalek. He says that he was there for the duration of the digging. He cannot remember the use of a cb radio.  He remembers that mark lumley (gonzo) was there and may remember more.  Regards Beardy

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

Beardy said:

Clive - just seen Dalek. He says that he was there for the duration of the digging. He cannot remember the use of a cb radio.  He remembers that mark lumley (gonzo) was there and may remember more.  Regards Beardy

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

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Many thanks for your reply Beardy!

From the entry I've got in the Daren Cilau section of the Llangattock book, the only two names I have for the D.A.D.E.S. dig when Dalek broke through are Dalek's and Mark's. So, Dalek's recollection here is very helpful indeed - especially in relation to the likely Agen Allwedd to Daren Cilau connection in the vicinity of where Dalek was digging . . . !

There are other places, too, where the two caves are highly likely to be connected, but the issue over gated caves v non-gated caves and control of access, which is currently exemplified by the struggle over alternative entrances to Ogof Draenen at Pwll Du, and the lack of any workable proposal in advance for what to do in the event of the two caves being connected for human through trips, has put a dampener on the will to actually make the connection - which spans 25+ years.

Hi Clive,
I've just sent you a scanned copy of Dalek's diary for Daren. Saw your name a couple of times so it should hopefully help a bit.