Agen Allwedd - Priory Road Exploration

[marsrat]

Will be posting any reports/logs we wish to be public detailing the continued exploration of Priory Road in Agen Allwedd in this thread from now on.

GLEVUM HALL AVEN ASCENDED

Afternoon all.
Just for public knowledge, the aven in Glevum Hall has been re-ascended by David Kinzett CSS and Alex Stacey CSS on 06/04/2024. A bolt at the top of the aven exists, but rusted over (and nobody knows who originally ascended up or that it was ascended so full credit to whoever that may be). Suspect it may have been the Willerups.
The aven is interesting for the pure reason that it supports the theory that priory road onwards is the lower level of 2 levels, with glevum hall being the possible continuation of the higher level passage from Ribbed Vault, Cathedral and onwards. There's an interesting possible dig site marked as 2 on the survey, but whether the draught is simply the air making a loop I do not know. A possible dig at 1 is also interesting due to the coarse sand, and seems to head towards Severn Beach.

I have attached a Grade 1b (note no compass, so orientation is not North) survey of the passages above Glevum Hall alongside photos (marked with a number on both survey and caption to signify what feature it is picturing)

Yours aye,
Marsrat.



SURVEY:

LOCATION 1:

LOCATION 2:

LOCATION (TT rift):

 

[Duncan Price]

..

GLEVUM HALL AVEN ASCENDED

Afternoon all.
Just for public knowledge, the aven in Glevum Hall has been re-ascended by David Kinzett CSS and Alex Stacey CSS on 06/04/2024. A bolt at the top of the aven exists, but rusted over (and nobody knows who originally ascended up or that it was ascended so full credit to whoever that may be). Suspect it may have been the Willerups.

It was originally climbed by the original GSS diggers, Simon Witt, Mike Green & the late Steve Tomalin. I went up there in the late '80s.

 

[marsrat]

It was originally climbed by the original GSS diggers, Simon Witt, Mike Green & the late Steve Tomalin. I went up there in the late '80s.

Thanks! Will add it to the log.

Any idea on why the draughting scalloped tube wasn't dug?

 

[Tritim230]

If you can give me a rough date I'll see if I can find any write-up. Sadly, none of the team are currently active, with GSS anyway.

 

[JohnMCooper]

A list of trips to the Gothic extensions between 15-11-1986 and 03-09-1987 can be found in Chelsea Spelaeological Records Volume 19, An Exploration journal of Llangattwg Mountain, Appendix 2 ppII-III to II-IV (ie App 2 pp 3-4)

 

[marsrat]

A list of trips to the Gothic extensions between 15-11-1986 and 03-09-1987 can be found in Chelsea Spelaeological Records Volume 19, An Exploration journal of Llangattwg Mountain, Appendix 2 ppII-III to II-IV (ie App 2 pp 3-4)

Will check out this weekend. Cheers John

 

[Martin Laverty]

There are a few more references in here: https://www.cambriancavingcouncil.org.uk/registry/ccr_registry_view.php?ID=809
The Gloucester Newsletters were available online for download when I last looked...

 

[Tritim230]

There are a few more references in here: https://www.cambriancavingcouncil.org.uk/registry/ccr_registry_view.php?ID=809
The Gloucester Newsletters were available online for download when I last looked...

They are indeed, I was just trying to narrow the search.

 

[marsrat]

12/04/2024 - 14/04/2024: Cathedral Continuation + Grade 5, Priory hole descended, Trafalgar digging and yet another aven ascended.

Evening all.

With another weekend over the horizon comes yet another digging camp at Priory Road. Relatively fruitful weekend with a provisional figure of 42.7 metres of virgin passage found (this is likely to increase), with very interesting leads appearing. So much to do, so little time...
This digging camp consisted of: Alex Stacey CSS, Paul Stacey CSS, Attis Fielden GUCA, Alex Parker GUCA. Brilliant efforts by all, but particularly from Attis + Alex P with their, "first proper 'ard caving trip" in Llangatwg and overnight camp underground. A lot of data here is provisional, will be solidified in the coming weeks.

For public knowledge (unfortunately one particular discovery will be obscured until we finish pushing it, but rest assured you'll find about it soon!). The team has surveyed the Cathedral to grade 5, uncovered and descended a 4.5m hole in priory road leading to provisional find of 9 metres, continued digging in trafalgar, ascended yet another aven and most interestingly uncovered a possible continuation to the cathedral giving us 30m of virgin passage.

Will go into the details below:

1. Grade 5 Cathedral Survey - This was surveyed by Alex Stacey and Paul Stacey. Current provisional figure is expected to add an additional 150m to Agen Allwedd. The data and survey will be made public shortly. For context, this chamber is a remarkable landmark in priory road for the sole reason of how large it is compared to the rest of priory road and indicates a significant amount of passage beyond the choke.
2. Priory Road Hole 1 - A drop of 5m in the form of a phreatic tube was uncovered and descended in priory road. This was descended by Alex Stacey. A grade 2 survey of this was created. One particular interesting feature is the possible continuation aswell as a noticable draft from one section. This discovery further highlights the theory of priory road being a multilayered part of Agen Allwedd. The flooring would be extremely easy to dig, and it looks like the too tight section can be bypassed. Perhaps if we dig enough, it'll drop down to another level?
   
3. Cathedral Continuation - While surveying the Cathedral, a possible continuation with a preliminary length of 30m has been found. This possible continuation was first footed by Alex Stacey. To add context, this continuation may bypass the choke which has made exploration past this point unattainable. It was only preliminarily explored, but remains very promising and may yield rapidly to a crowbar and elbow grease. Details of this continuation have been omitted for the time being, my apologies!
4. Trafalgar - It wouldn't be a priory road camp without a Trafalgar dig. We have pushed the dig by a further provisional 1-2 metres. The dig is now appearing to be now going up. Dig still remains to be sand and sediment, although we've hit the left wall. Rather interestingly we've uncovered 2 small stalactites which still have water hanging off them, so the passage was active as some point. Digging this weekend was undertaken by Alex S, Paul S, Attis F and Alex P.
5. Aven ascended - This aven is likely to have been climbed by previous explorers, though still was interesting enough to check out ourselves. This aven is located in the small opening on the way to Glevum. This was ascended by Attis Fielden. The interesting feature of this dig was a slight draught heading up into the aven. A grade 1 survey has been provided. To reach the rest of the aven, bolting is likely required.
   
   
6. State of camp - Six 2l bottles are situated at the top of the rope climb alongside camp equipment just for your awareness. A communual daren drum has been created with tea, coffee, fuel etc. This drum is available for any campers to use, it is clearly marked as communual. There are now 5 rollmats available for use in the sleeping area. All are welcome to sleep at our camp (assuming you don't make a mess or take our stuff!), happy digging.

All in all, I will list the numbers (bare in mind these are provisional and may change):

Total - 42.7 metres, consisting of:

• Trafalgar - 1.6 metres.
• Priory Road Hole 1 - 11.1 metres.
• Cathedral - 30 metres.

More to come shortly!

Yours aye,
Marsrat.

 

[Moonrat]

They are indeed, I was just trying to narrow the search.

Looks like they're offline at present... I got this !

Newsletters (searchable)
⚠ This content is not available at this moment unfortunately. Contact the administrators of this site so they can check the plugin involved. ⚠ This content is not available at this moment unfortunately. Contact the administrators of this site so they can check the plugin involved.

 

[asheshouse]

Great report. Looking forward to more

 

[Tritim230]

Looks like they're offline at present... I got this !

Newsletters (searchable)
⚠ This content is not available at this moment unfortunately. Contact the administrators of this site so they can check the plugin involved. ⚠ This content is not available at this moment unfortunately. Contact the administrators of this site so they can check the plugin involved.

Just let me know the issues or years and I'll get them for you. A perk of being librarian 😉

 

[marsrat]

Afternoon all.
Please see attached Grade 5d image of Cathedral + survex.

Full copyright held by Chelsea Speleological Society.

Yours aye,
Marsrat.