 Entrance Chamber - Cwm Dwr Two |
 Entrance Passage - Cwm Dwr Two |
 Entrance Passage - Cwm Dwr Two |
 Entrance Passage - Cwm Dwr Two |
 Approaching the duck - Cwm Dwr Two |
 Lower Streamway - Cwm Dwr Two |
Overview
Despite it's close proximity to the South Wales Caving Club this a little visited active stream cave that provides a quite interesting trip.Length 370m
Altitude 330m
Grid SN 85720 15627
History
The cave was first discovered in 1938 and then rediscovered in 1990 and extended by the SWCC.
Location
Cwm Dwr 2 is located in the centre off the same disused quarry as Cwm Dwr Cave beside the Headquarters of the South Wales Caving Club. The entrance is gated for safety reasons, the key being kept at the adjacent SWCC Headquarters.Swansea Valley map showing the location of Cwm Dwr Two
Access
There is a locked lid on the entrance shaft in the quarry. A key is available from the South Wales Caving Club.
Description
The entrance is in the floor of the Cwm Dwr quarry just past the Cwm Dwr entrance to OFD. The entrance is protected with a locked lid that opens onto the top of a 5m high shaft into a small chamber. A fixed steel ladder drops you into the rubble floored chamber where a descending rift passage leads off. The rift passage is well scalloped and there are areas of nice calcite flows on some of the walls. Beyond a dam the passage reduces in height to a crawl and stoop to reach a pool that was once a short sump. This sump has had some modification in 2010 to the roof producing a small airspace, now making it a short duck. Running through this wet section are two rubber hoses that allow the water to be pumped through to the passage beyond. Once pumping has started a flow through the hose, a syphon is set up and it can be left to drain. A small amount of water flows into the duck from the entrance chamber so the pool will refill while you are in the cave. When returning a good set of lungs will be able to set the syphon going again to drain the water for the return. The pool will drain in 30 minutes to an hour depending on the rate of flow of water into it.Beyond the duck the passage continues for a short distance as a sand and gravel floored crawl that leads to a T junction with a small stream issuing from the right. Upstream to the right leads to Ping Pong Passage named after the ping pong balls that were dropped down the borehole that was used to locate the cave in 1990. The way on is to follow the water in the passage to the left which gains height as you approach the head of the pitch. Two anchors of unknown age in the right hand wall allow the pitch to be descended. A 10m ladder drops you just short of the floor of Default Chamber to land on a pile of rocks that allows easy access to the lower rungs of the ladder. At the bottom of the pitch the boulder floor of the chamber rises to the right to reach a short dig and sump. The way on is to follow the flow of the water at the lower end of the chamber. A narrow streamway is followed, to start with at stream level, but after about 50m you will need to traverse until after about another 100m you can drop back into the stream. The passage continues to meander for another 100m with the passage height reducing until eventually you are wading in water as the roof drops to meet the sump. On returning the rubber hose that drops half way down the pitch can be primed to start the syphon to give you a relatively dry exit to the cave.
Tackle
Pitch into Default Chamber 11m
References
Cambrian Cave Registry for Cwm Dwr Two Caves of South Wales - Tim Stratford
Warnings
A small stream feeds the duck in the entrance series. In wet weather this will fill the pool faster than it can be syphoned.
Disclaimer
The photographs and information of this page has been provided to help cavers planning trips. Caving can be a dangerous activity, if you are interested in exploring caves please join a caving club so you can enjoy a safe introduction to this sport. Local caving clubs are listed on the links page or you can visit try caving for more options.If you feel that any of the information is incorrect or should be updated please contact us.
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