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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

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Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Richard Tooley (TSG), Ann Soulsby (TSG), Clive Westlake

Titan had been rigged earlier in the day by the TSG so we enjoyed a straightforward and speedy descent to the bottom. Once at the bottom RT found that he was unable to undo his central maillon so didn't go any futher. AS was keen to scoot back up the rope so did that. JB dropped down into AE passage in search of Clive Westlake, finding CDW propping up the wall waiting for someone to turn up. Clive was actually expecting us to turn up from Peak Cavern so was understandably surprised when I fell out of the bottom of the Titan choke and into AE passage. An efficient exit was followed by a pleasant walk down Cave Dale to the TSG hut. We didn't de-rig Titan as there was the possibility that the TSG lot may need to exit back this way if the Speedwell Streamway was giving it both barrels. In the end they didn't so we had to return the following day for the ropes.

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

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Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Bob Toogood (EPC), Dave Gledhill (EPC)

I'd heard about the work that the Friends of Cwmorthin had been doing in Cwmorthin Mine and fancied having a look for myself. Since we were in the area having done the Croesor-Rhosydd Through Trip a visit to Cwmorthin Mine was the obvious choice for a Sunday trip. Darkplaces and Miles from 'Friends of Cwmorthin' had kindly supplied me with the code for the gate so we could get in. In the '60s the Eldon Pothole Club used to have a club hut on the shore of Llyn Cwmorthin so would be interesting to see that too. Bob Toogood used to visit the hut to climb and explore the mines so was nice to visit the place with him. After the customary breakfast at Jenny's in Porthmadog we drove to Blaenau Ffestiniog and then onto the car park above the village of Tanygrisiau. We got changed into dry caving kit here and walked up the track which leads to Llyn Cwmorthin. Soon, the old club hut came into view. It appears to be abandoned these days with windows boarded up and no sign of life. The Lake Level Adit entrance to Cwmorthin was easy to find in a significant cutting quite close to the buildings. Near the entrance a large, rusty steel cable lies snapped on the ground. Apparently in the '60s one end of this cable was anchored well above the adit entrance and fast descents hanging on to a U-bolt with sparks flying were common. Two blokes at the bottom stopped you with a dynamic belay before you hit the ground! We opened the substantial gate and walked along the adit into the mine. First of all we headed down an incline ('Back Vein North Sink Incline') to where a couple of trucks have crashed. From here we explored down the incline a little way, then came back and had a look at the large chambers near to the entrance. Cwmorthin is a great mine with loads to see and these first chambers have an impressive staircase made of stone and timber which the miners used to access the workings. After a good look around here we headed back to the Lake Level Adit and continued further into the mine. There is a little round trip that you can do and we thought we'd try to find our way around that. Route-finding was easy enough with the help of a description that we found on mine-explorer.co.uk and the first place we visited was the area around the 'Old Vein South Sink'. Here some substantial timbers are wedged across the passage and between the floor and the roof and the area has a slightly loose feel to it. Continued on through a short crawl and past largish chambers to descend some nice stone stairs and then past an old dam. Before long we were climbing down an aluminium ladder and on down to the site of 'Compressor 1935'. From here we made our way to 'Lefel Ffrench' and into a level containing knee deep water. Splashed along this a little way to reach the bottom of the 'Back Vein North Sink Incline'. On the way out we took a detour to cross a well-preserved bridge and exited as the miners would have exited up the old stairs to the Lake Level Adit. We had an excellent trip but there is obviously a lot more to see in Cwmorthin Mine. Cwmorthin connects with Oakley Mine and I've heard rumours of a through trip which would be nice to do.

Cwmorthin is a lovely place with superb scenery both above and below ground. The Friends of Cwmorthin have done excellent work keeping the entrance open and deserve the thanks and support of everyone interested in underground exploration. More information available from: http://www.cwmorthin.co.uk/

The route that we followed is available on the internet at: http://www.mine-explorer.co.uk/mines/Cwmorthin_226/Cwmorthin_1633.pdf

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 4689

Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Bob Toogood (EPC), Dave Gledhill (EPC)

None of us had done the trip before but Sam Townsend had provided us with some good info on the route and tactics. We stayed at Eric Jones' Bunkhouse near Tremadog on the Friday evening. The bunkhouse is very spacious, being a barn but there's no heating so it you're going to stay there in January take a big sleeping bag or an extra duvet! On Saturday morning we headed into Porthmadog for breakfast at Jenny's Diner which is a bit like a North Wales version of the diner in 'Happy Days'. Drove up to the Cwm Croesor car park and got changed.

We all wore wetsuits and had an SRT kit each plus one inner tube, pump, buoyancy aid, pulley, 50m static rope, some krabs and 40m of thin cord between us. Followed a good track up the hill to the Croesor workings and went through the bars and into the adit entrance. A pleasant walk along led to a short scramble, traverse, scramble onto an incline which we followed upwards alongside a big ceramic pipe. At the top we found the top of the first abseil and descended into the huge chamber below. This is the one where a very large block fell out of the roof when someone shouted too loud so we kept the noise down in here! Crossed the chamber to a window on the far side where ropes are anchored to boulders. Plenty of rope protection on the rope around the boulders which was nice and we abseiled down into the next chamber. There's still a fair bit of rope rub on this abseil so go carefully! From here we walked down to the water in the bottom of the chamber to find a tyrolean rigged with wire rope which led to a short tunnel on the far side. Enjoyed a pleasant tyrolean traverse across to the tunnel on the far side. At the end of the tunnel is another area of water to be crossed; a half-inflated dinghy was moored there so rather than unpack our inner tube we tested the in-situ dinghy. Although it sat a little low in the water it did the job and saw us and kit safely across. A shiny suspension bridge lies in the water here which may have been removed by a roof fall. On the other side we had a look up a couple of side passages and then found the main drag which has rails in the floor and passes through a number of large chambers.

A bit of walking leads to the first old bridge which spans a greeny-blue pool and is excellent fun. There are good traverse lines alongside the bridge and there's plenty of the bridge left. A short walk leads to the second old bridge which is also over a pool. Here the whole bridge has gone except for the support in the middle. However, there's another wire rope tyrolean in-situ so we zipped across. Apparently years ago this section was negotiated by a tricky traverse around the pool below. Next we reached the so-called 'Bridge of Death'. A couple of traverse lines protect the wobbly walk out along truck rails which only go half way across. The second half of the span is accomplished with another wire rope tyrolean. Once at the other side it's a short walk to arrive at a point in the wall overlooking the 'Chamber of Horrors' - a wide, deep pool that needs to be crossed. Looking down we could see a perfectly good dinghy sitting right at the bottom of the abseil rope. One at a time we abseiled into the dinghy, paddled across to the other side, got out and sent the dinghy back with the return loop. All worked very well and eventually we were stood at the bottom of the fixed rope that leads up into Rhosydd.

Here we prussiked up the rope, removed SRT kits and then continued along through a gap with the remains of some reinforced concrete. Heading straight on we arrived at a dead-end. Retraced steps back to find a slope leading up. Followed that to climb over a low wall and arrive at the bottom of a large incline. At the bottom of the incline is a huge sledge which would have been used to move trucks up and down. Dave had a look up the incline at a crashed counterweight truck complete with iron bricks before we continued east through more chambers to reach a large chamber where we could see daylight coming in through a slope at the top. This was the West Twll and a short scramble out led to the floor of the quarry. It was still light so we chose the easiest line and climbed out of the quarry and onto the hillside above. Once on the hillside we walked back to the old Croesor mine buildings where we had entered and then on down to the car.

The Croesor-Rhosydd Through Trip is a tremendous and memorable day out. The whole thing is great fun and some of the underground scenery is superb. It's important to go well-equipped and to be able to manage a retreat back to the Croesor entrance if necessary. We were underground for four hours.