On a laid-back Sunday morning we arranged to meet in Crickhowell for some light refreshments before heading off to the cave. As I was the first there I scouted around for a suitable place to eat and knowing Ken's upmarket tastes we settled for a small cafe where we sat down for a leisurely lunch. Two full breakfasts, some scrambled eggs on toast and some clean teeth later
(slightly on the obsessive-compulsive side if you ask me) we finally set off for the cave.
We arrived in the carpark at LLangattock and got changed, had a quick chat with one of the local cavers who was out for a walk with his wife and then set off in search of the cave. We had a quick scout around the quarry cliffs and soon found the cave entrance and now keen to get on with the trip, we headed in.
We had been warned that the entrance series was extremely hard work with about an hour crawl ahead of us. With that in mind I was beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about as we had been going for about 10 minutes with no real difficulties. Yes, there were a couple of squeezy bits, but generally it wasn't any harder than any of the Mendip caves. We kept heading deeper into the cave, with the odd comment from each of us that the passage didn't seem very like the description. Doubts were starting to seep into our heads - were we in the right cave? About 40 minutes into the trip we entered a small chamber and looking around came across a radon meter labelled Ogof Pen Eryr. Doh!
Several 'I told you so's' later we emerged from the cave so we could attempt what we came to do in the first place. Only after we'd gained daylight did both Ken and Andy admit that they'd been there before. After a bit of general abuse and a few expletives, we went in search of the right cave entrance.
A quick poke inside confirmed that it was the horrible wet, muddy crawl we were expecting, so off we went. An hour later we emerged into the old rift passage and had a quick look at the dried up crystal pool.
Ken 'let's shift it' Passant was keen to keep moving, so we (much to my dismay) had another crawl to get into Jigsaw Passage. We had a pleasant stroll along here, before the cold started to get to the 'hard me of caving'. Unfortunately, due to prior engagements and our jaunt around Ogof Pen Eryr we didn't have time to go any further, so turned around to head out.
Ken, deciding he hadn't been challenged enough, wanted to see how quickly he could escape, so led out, setting his stopwatch as he left. Andy and I followed at a more leisurely pace (in the loosest sense of the word). For those of you that are a bit competitive and need to prove how macho you are, Ken got through in 31 minutes 55 seconds - consider the gauntlet thrown! Twenty five minutes later, just as I was starting to plan my savings for knee replacement surgery, Andy and I regained the surface.
So was it as bad as everybody says? To be honest, it was a bit knackering on the way back and I still can't kneel down (I could say something rude here but I won't), but it hasn't put me off so much that I wouldn't go again. Anyway, someone's got to show Ken how it's done :wink: On your marks ...........
