alastairgott
Well-known member
I had a very rewarding saturday spent in in the hills of north east wales between llandegla and wrexham in the south and Greenfield in the north.
I left throughly enthused about the potential of these caves for exploration and cave science in the form of hydrology, biology and many other disciplines.
But unfortunately i also left deflated at a perceived wall of no digging allowed for the caves on the clwydian range, i feel this is a travesty! I left hearing stories of diggers who had been digging a cave for 7years and then were told to stop by the local SSSI police, who do not allow any digging under any circumstance.
One look at a small portion of a website about north wales caves is a case in point about the sheer potential for science in these caves and mines https://sites.google.com/site/cavesofnorthwales/20-cave-life
When reading this page you realise that there are unique species of cave life that are still being found, the strange one with the wing things is a case in point.
It is the close link of these caves to the sea which will prove to make a significant difference to the cave life which survives and thrives in the conditions unlike any other in the country or probably the world.
It is also this link with the sea which will prove to be interesting when it comes to the depth potential of these caves. Recent and future work in an underground lake will further illuminate the depth potential and may well point to some resurgences in the sea.
Without probing the caves on the clwydian range, we may never know what the most fantastic natural resource of north wales has to offer. It would be ludicrous if there is a cure for an ailment in the bacteria of these caves, not yet entered, if the reason for not being allowed to dig them is the impact on the surface!
Conclusion:
We (as cavers) need to work constuctively with natural resources wales to ensure that the voids beneath the clwydian range are extensively documented and that any organisms are properly documented.
I left throughly enthused about the potential of these caves for exploration and cave science in the form of hydrology, biology and many other disciplines.
But unfortunately i also left deflated at a perceived wall of no digging allowed for the caves on the clwydian range, i feel this is a travesty! I left hearing stories of diggers who had been digging a cave for 7years and then were told to stop by the local SSSI police, who do not allow any digging under any circumstance.
One look at a small portion of a website about north wales caves is a case in point about the sheer potential for science in these caves and mines https://sites.google.com/site/cavesofnorthwales/20-cave-life
When reading this page you realise that there are unique species of cave life that are still being found, the strange one with the wing things is a case in point.
It is the close link of these caves to the sea which will prove to make a significant difference to the cave life which survives and thrives in the conditions unlike any other in the country or probably the world.
It is also this link with the sea which will prove to be interesting when it comes to the depth potential of these caves. Recent and future work in an underground lake will further illuminate the depth potential and may well point to some resurgences in the sea.
Without probing the caves on the clwydian range, we may never know what the most fantastic natural resource of north wales has to offer. It would be ludicrous if there is a cure for an ailment in the bacteria of these caves, not yet entered, if the reason for not being allowed to dig them is the impact on the surface!
Conclusion:
We (as cavers) need to work constuctively with natural resources wales to ensure that the voids beneath the clwydian range are extensively documented and that any organisms are properly documented.