© Chelsea Spelaeological Society - Updated June 2022
CHELSEA
SPELÆOLOGICAL
SOCIETY
Caving in Wales,
the South of England,
and beyond
CLUB EVENTS AND MEET REPORTS 2018
Jan 26-28: Whitewalls
with Annual Dinner and
AGM
A number of trips took place on Saturday,
including Draenen Streamway to Rifleman’s,
Aggy Outer Circle, and the Annual Aggy Bat
Count. This was followed by an excellent
Annual Dinner at The Bear, Crickhowell, and
the club AGM on Sunday.
Feb 23-25: Whitewalls
Meet and Gin Night
We had a couple of different trips in OFD on
Saturday. One team experienced the very
“interesting” traverses found in the Prokofiev
Series and Nyth Bran, while the other
explored the highlights to be found in a
general wander around OFD 2. This was
followed by an evening of Gin tasting and
Trevor’s fantastic tapas feast.
March 16-18: Whitewalls
We had another unusual trip on a home club
weekend, this time visiting The Realm of
Baron Von Carno in Draenen.
April 20-22: Whitewalls
This weekend included a foray into The Forest
of Dean for a trip to Slaughter Stream Cave.
May 4-7: Mendip Cave
Fest
May 18-21: ODSS Working
Weekend
A productive weekend including huge amounts
of digging and cementing, as well as drinking
beer in the sunshine. Fitting of a new septic
tank, pumping station and rising main pipe, as
well as some demolition of internal parts of the
Old Daren Sunday School.
June 1-4: NAMHO, Forest
of Dean
There were many interesting trip into the
mines of the area, and a number of members
attended the event. Helen was inspired and
intends to arrange some CSS trips to some of
the highlights sometime in the future…
June 29-July 1: CSS
Summer BBQ
A fantastic weekend of top-notch caving,
radiant sunshine, and barbequed food was
had. There were caving trips to Aggy and
OFD on Saturday, with 3 teams heading into
OFD 1. Two of which did the through trip,
while the other exited through Cwm Dwr.
July 27-29: North Wales
Staying at the Cave & Crag hut in Tremadog.
Heavy rain and gusty wind failed to dampen
our spirits and we had a brilliant excursion to
Parys Mountain for the Parys/Mona through
trip, followed by a BBQ feast and a roaring
fire in the ruined barn at the hut. This was
followed by an excellent trip into Cwmorthin
courtesy of Matt and the Go Below team.
May 25-28: Yorkshire
Staying at CPC’s Ivy Cottage. For once the
weather was far nicer up North than it was
down in the South, so a hardy bunch of
cavers got to walk in blistering heat to do a
Gaping Gill through-trip from Marilyn to Flood
Entrance Saturday, Little Hull Pot and Hunt
Pot on Sunday and a gentle scenic trip to
Illusion Pot on the B/H Monday.
August 10-12: Helen’s
Hen Party in Daren Cilau
A weekend staying at the HRC camp in Daren
Cilau. We entered the cave Friday, exited
Sunday, and had a jolly day of varied
activities Saturday. One team progressing the
dig at Beyond Time, and another visiting the
Blue-Greenies. Followed by a feast of Curry
and a Hen Party on the Shores of St David's
Sump.
August 24-27: Whitewalls
Weekend and South
Wales Cave Fest
This was a part caving, part working
weekend. Various members led trips for the
CaveFest South Wales event based in
Crickhowell and generally messed about
underground, while a hardy bunch of workers
did some sterling rebuilding work on the
Sunday School porch roof.
September 8: SMWCRT
Rescue Practice
Whitewalls was the base for this event, with
the rescue scenario taking place in Agen
Allwedd. The practice covered a spectrum of
rescue aspects ranging from dealing with
injuries, stretcher carrying, searching for lost
cavers and assembling and using the comms.
This was followed by a kit auction.
September 21-23: Hidden
Earth 2018
This year saw a return to Churchill for the
usual medley of caving based talks,
workshops, films, photo gallery and trade hall.
A good caving social, with a CSS dinner at a
local curry house and plenty of drinking and
banter back at the cavers bar.
October 5-7: Working
Weekend
A small team assembled for this additional
working weekend to finish work on the Sunday
School porch before the onset of winter
weather. Lots of useful tasks were completed
including the demolition and re-supporting of
the wall within.
October 14-21: Mallorca
Unprecedented amounts of rain and stormy
weather on our week in the sunshine island of
Mallorca failed to deter us from enjoying a
hearty mix of caving, walking, wine drinking,
and luxury Jacuzzis. The caves we visited
were all very varied, interesting, well
decorated and good fun to visit. View photos.
Nov 2-4: Whitewalls
Bonfire Weekend
A massive bonfire, fireworks and a fine feast
was had at Whitewalls on Saturday night,
preceded by an intrepid journey around Agen
Allwedd taking in the sights of the
“Spectacles/Bra” route. More building work
was also undertaken in the ODSS during the
weekend.
Nov 30-Dec 2: Whitewalls
Curry Weekend
Multiple trips took place on Saturday, including
Epocalypse Chokes in Daren, caving and
digging in various parts of Aggy, and rescue
practice in OFD. Followed by a bonanza of
home-made curry, spicy side-dishes and a
barrel of beer back at Whitewalls. Sunday saw
more work on the ODSS and a digging trip to
Ogof Dwy Sir (pictured).