South Wales Caves: Porth yr Ogof Blog Post. A very British day out....

Chris kits up at Top Entrance
Photo Steve Thomas

Following our morning's efforts, we were doing well and took a spot of lunch in the car park at Porth Yr Ogof.
It was bitterly cold with excruciating gusts. Getting changed was a masterclass in speed and efficiency, exposing the least amount of flesh possible.
We set up the compressor and it ran happily, re-filling our 7 litre cylinders for the afternoon.
We changed into dry clothes and put our undersuits on the van heater to dry of a bit. Wrapped in duvet jackets, fleece hats, gloves, neck warmers and still shivering, we unpacked our lunch.

Jarvist sets off into Top Entrance
Photo Steve Thomas

First, the quiche I had been looking forward to had frozen solid. The sandwiches had made it unscathed though. Rich shoveled down a pasty and Jarvist ate some vegetables or something. I always wonder how vegetarians survive the winter...anyway...
There were a few school groups having their first underground experiences in the main 'dry' part of the cave. The water was 4 degrees centigrade and they looked far from warm when they emerged, but spirits were not dampened.

Cylinders filled, divers fed, our next objective was to re-line Cobbets Loop, which was in dire need of attention on my last visit. The line was followable, but one line soon became three - loose and floaty and part buried. The objective was for Jarvist and I to enter Top Entrance and dive the short distance to the start of Cobbets Loop at Fourways junction (which is inaptly named as it actually only has 3 exits....but anyway....).

Rich was superfluous to requirement, much to his delight and he helped carry our gear up the river bed to Top entrance, which is a small hole in the riverbank which after a few metres drops into a muddy looking sump pool.

Jarvist and I kitted up while Rich hopped around with wet feet, having left his wellies at the caving hut....
As we were getting our gear together, a chap appeared on the far river bank with a camera bag.
He called over to us "Are you diving?"
"Yes" I replied.
"Well I'm very sorry, but diving's not allowed here" in a very convincing Welsh-ish accent.
I paused and wondered for a moment if it was Steve Thomas, as it looked a bit like him and we had been conversing on Facebook for a while but not actually met. He had been involved in a lot of exploration in a nearby cave called Ogof Ffynnon Ddu with my CDG mentor, Clive Westlake.
Still unsure, I replied, "Er, yes we are..."
Quite possibly thinking I was a bit dumb, he began laughing and introduced himself as Steve. But not in person just yet as he too had forgotten his wellies!
He popped back to not find them and returned to take some photos of Jarvist and I getting into the sump pool.

Jarvist sets off into the sump with line reel
Photo Steve Thomas

Entering the pool is best done in reverse. It is steeply downhill in zero visibility in a body sized tube.

The first obstacle encountered is a squeeze, with back and front pressed up against the floor and the roof. Jarvist went first and was heard shifting some cobbles around before his bubbles stopped coming, so I knew it was Ok for me to get in. He had very kindly had a good go at digging the squeeze a bit bigger for me and I went through without even touching the roof.

I met up with him at the Fourways junction and he was tying the new line into the large iron railway shoe, which acts as a significant belay point.
Jarvist did a good job of laying thick, heavy duty sinking plastic line through the elegant but not large passage. I bumbled along behind surveying, to get more accurate data on this part of the cave, including left, right and up shots with the sonar device.

Chris backs into Top Entrance sump
Photo Steve Thomas

We negotiated the low bedding plane before surfacing in Upper Cave Water Chamber - a handsome dry section of passage which I was keen to photograph the next day.
We tied the line off to a solid belay - the old line, worryingly, came away from its belay as Jarvist surfaced, confirming that it had had its day and needed to come out.
Luckily I had loaded just the right amount of line onto the reel, so empty reel in hand, Jarvist set about reeling in the old line while I went ahead chopping away snoopies, old bits of tatt and gathering it up and stuffing it in a small caving tackle bag to transport it out of the cave.

Chris emerges from Top Entrance
Photo Steve Thomas

Job done, we surfaced in Top entrance and Rich and Steve helped us carry in one journey back to the van.
We headed back to the caving hut which was just as cold inside as it was outside and the log burner seemed to be very good at burning wood - but not a lot else. I stood in a very hot shower for ages just to get warm - and we ate dinner still in our duvet jackets and fleece hats.
Fortunately, although the hut doesn't have heating, it does have wifi - so we pre-occupied ourselves with food and internet and planned the next days diving.