South Wales Caves

Blaen Onneu Quarry Pot Description

Blaen Onneu Quarry Pot is located in the floor of a abandoned quarry on Mynydd Llangynidr (map). The quarry is located just off the Beaufort to Llangynidr road and the few feet of tarmac at the start of the disused track that leads up to it make a good parking spot for a couple of cars. The track can be followed up to the quarry, where you will see the large entrance to Blaen Onneu Quarry Cave in the far wall. Blaen Onneu Quarry Cave 1 starts large but quickly reduces in height to a bedding crawl that ends at a dig after about 30m. Above and to the right is the entrance to Blaen Onneu Quarry Cave 2, the small entrance opens out into a fairly large boulder floored chamber that has no routes on. Two further rifts in the quarry wall (Quarry Caves 3 and 4) draught strongly, but no passage has been entered.
Blaen Onneu Quarry Pot is found in the floor to the right of the quarry and a 3.6m pitch that can be rigged from an 8mm spit located in the adjacent quarry wall drops you between the boulders and down onto the top of a large pile of debris. The bottom of the pitch is a tall rift, now very much infilled with rock and rubbish that has found its way down the entrance and the rift extends to the north and the south. Heading north in the narrow rift passage an iron bar is found wedged in a crack on the approach to the top of a narrow 10m pitch. Three 8mm spits are located in the rock face above the pitch head and a second metal bar is located across the rift above the pitch head. The top of the pitch is quite cosy, but it opens out as you approach the bottom of the rift. The passage continues northwards with occasional climbs and crawls through breakdown to reach a small chamber with a choke at the end. To the left is a climb down into the passage below that almost doubles back on itself for a short distance. From the bottom of this passage you now enter the 1990 extensions discovered by the Llanelly Diggers, this is a section of tight crawls through breakdown to eventually enter a chamber. Here a passage leads off to the right, but closes down. The way on is a 2.2m pitch that drops you into a second chamber.
From the entrance pitch a descent down a loose boulder slope takes you into the southern section of the cave. At the bottom of the slope a squeeze through a restriction takes you into a small but clear passage, this continues until a junction is reached. Ahead the passage continues until it eventually closes down. Following the draught through the slot to the right you enter and unstable area dug through in 1991/2 by the Llanelly Diggers. The strong draught is followed to a point where the route is down through a vertical scaffolded section. From here a squeeze leads you to the approach to the top of Twin Peaks pitch. Care should be taken as you step across the first hole to approach a short rift passage that descends to a small ledge at the top of the main pitch. A scaffold bar at the start of this short rift section allows you to rig some protection as you approach the pitch. A ring and a plate hanger are located in the walls of the rift over the pitch, these are no doubt now nearly 20 years old so care should be taken. The pitch descends into a roomy chamber with two large ledges on the way down. As you descend you are aware of two large boulders perched precariously in the wall of this chamber. From the bottom of this chamber a passage leads off to the south, but closes down after about 30m. The way on is to take the tight crawl to the north which leads via a tight descent into a chamber of stacked rocks. The passage ahead can be followed for another 20m but closes down. The way on is to carefully climb down the scaffolded shaft this leads to a tight squeeze into an unpleasant and tight passage. This leads to the top of a 5m pitch that leads into a chamber to meet a small stream. This stream can be followed in a small passage for about 100m before becoming too tight.