CSS Activities 2018

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).