Took my son today on what has more-or-less become our annual trip to Ogof Pasg - Ogof Foel Fawr.
It was by far the driest I've seen it in 30 years of very occasional visits:
* there were no puddles at all in the entrance and main passage of Ogof Pasg,
* the Canal in Ogof Pasg was down about 6in to 9in on its usual level (though the duck/sump hadn't opened),
* the wet tube side passage in Ogof Pasg just before the connection dig between the two caves was virtually dry to the bottom - there was only 6in of standing water in the bottom enabling me to confirm for the first time that it did indeed have a bottom,
* the two wet grovels in the connection dig between the two caves were dry, with only a little damp mud sitting in them (there's rather less mud sitting in them now as most of it adhered to us :
).
As we were in no rush, I took the opportunity to poke around some of the side passages off the through trip, not having done so since I did some surveying in 1984:
* there is bang wire going up the Rabbit Hole (small rift on left hand side of Ogof Pasg entrance passage) - I grovelled up a fair way but couldn't be arsed going to the end :-[ Does anyone know when this was was being dug and with what results?
* the bang wire going up the tight rifts off Column Chamber in Ogof Pasg (on the right just after the Canal) looks to be untouched since I first saw in in the mid 1980s. Does anyone know who dug there? I imagined that they were seeking to connect to the head of he pitch - but on reflection today, I gained the impression that the rifts are at a slightly lower level than the pitch head.
* Going left after the squeeze over the big block (just after the connection dig) ends, eventually in an area that looks to have been slightly dug. To my surprise there was a mass of polythene sheeting in the final pool. Does anyone know what was attempted with it? (I certainly couldn't fathom out what might have been planned)
* About 10m before the polythene is a side passage (on the right on the way back out). I had the old Hereford survey with me; this passage seemed to have many more dog legs in it than the almost straight and possibly shorter passage shown on the survey - was it extended after the old survey was carried out?
We found four gloves (including one pair ) and a gaiter scattered through the cave, all of which we removed :ang: .
Since our last visit, a fixed line (old SRT rope) has been rigged around the 'bad step' on the arette approach to the entrance to Ogof Pasg, and continued up the slope from the 'bad step' all the way to the entrance. This line is somewhat visible from the quarry floor (but maybe I was automatically lookin g in the direction of the entrance and hence saw it more readily than a non-caver would...) and might encourage casual visitors to climb the loose arette and to enter the cave. I can't be certain (fading memory, etc. :-[ ) but I felt that the entrance had possibly had some loose blocks gardened away, making it easier to enter?
This was our first visit since converting from Oldhams to LEDs (Roy Fellows super-bright 'bat friers') - it honestly seemed like a completely differet cave with decent lighting. I saw many more very nice formations that previously and could really appreciate the cave in a new way Also, with the connection grovels being dry, I did not emerge from them with wet, condensation-coated glasses and so for once I could see the passage for the second half of the cave
A nice faternoon out
It was by far the driest I've seen it in 30 years of very occasional visits:
* there were no puddles at all in the entrance and main passage of Ogof Pasg,
* the Canal in Ogof Pasg was down about 6in to 9in on its usual level (though the duck/sump hadn't opened),
* the wet tube side passage in Ogof Pasg just before the connection dig between the two caves was virtually dry to the bottom - there was only 6in of standing water in the bottom enabling me to confirm for the first time that it did indeed have a bottom,
* the two wet grovels in the connection dig between the two caves were dry, with only a little damp mud sitting in them (there's rather less mud sitting in them now as most of it adhered to us :
).As we were in no rush, I took the opportunity to poke around some of the side passages off the through trip, not having done so since I did some surveying in 1984:
* there is bang wire going up the Rabbit Hole (small rift on left hand side of Ogof Pasg entrance passage) - I grovelled up a fair way but couldn't be arsed going to the end :-[ Does anyone know when this was was being dug and with what results?
* the bang wire going up the tight rifts off Column Chamber in Ogof Pasg (on the right just after the Canal) looks to be untouched since I first saw in in the mid 1980s. Does anyone know who dug there? I imagined that they were seeking to connect to the head of he pitch - but on reflection today, I gained the impression that the rifts are at a slightly lower level than the pitch head.
* Going left after the squeeze over the big block (just after the connection dig) ends, eventually in an area that looks to have been slightly dug. To my surprise there was a mass of polythene sheeting in the final pool. Does anyone know what was attempted with it? (I certainly couldn't fathom out what might have been planned)
* About 10m before the polythene is a side passage (on the right on the way back out). I had the old Hereford survey with me; this passage seemed to have many more dog legs in it than the almost straight and possibly shorter passage shown on the survey - was it extended after the old survey was carried out?
We found four gloves (including one pair
) and a gaiter scattered through the cave, all of which we removed :ang: .Since our last visit, a fixed line (old SRT rope) has been rigged around the 'bad step' on the arette approach to the entrance to Ogof Pasg, and continued up the slope from the 'bad step' all the way to the entrance. This line is somewhat visible from the quarry floor (but maybe I was automatically lookin g in the direction of the entrance and hence saw it more readily than a non-caver would...) and might encourage casual visitors to climb the loose arette and to enter the cave. I can't be certain (fading memory, etc. :-[ ) but I felt that the entrance had possibly had some loose blocks gardened away, making it easier to enter?
This was our first visit since converting from Oldhams to LEDs (Roy Fellows super-bright 'bat friers') - it honestly seemed like a completely differet cave with decent lighting. I saw many more very nice formations that previously and could really appreciate the cave in a new way
Also, with the connection grovels being dry, I did not emerge from them with wet, condensation-coated glasses and so for once I could see the passage for the second half of the cave A nice faternoon out
