Caves of South Wales Dragon

Ogof Pasg

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Overview
Ogof Pasg also known as Easter Cave is located high up in the rock face of Herbert's Quarry and connects with Ogof Foel Fawr. The cave entrance is situated at the top of a climb up a shoulder in the centre of the quarry, with many loose rocks present.
Length 412m
Altitude 534m
Grid SN 73658 18821
History
Ogof Pasg will have been long known, but in 1946 Arthur Hill and Eddie Morgan located the cave and documented it. In 1988 after some resurveying of caves in the area, Hereford Caving Club realised the proximity of Ogof Pasg to Ogof Foel Fawr and over a period of several months a connection was dug through a calcite floor to connect the two caves with a total of 834 metres of passage.
Location
The cave is located in the top rock face of Herbert's Quarry and is reached by a dangerous climb up the rock face above a central shoulder of rock that remains in the quarry.
Black Mountain Central Google map showing the location of Ogof Pasg and other caves in the area.
Location map - click marker to show entrance photo
Access
No known access restrictions.
Description
At the top of a dangerous climb up a shoulder of rock in the centre of the top level of the quarry a traverse round to the left leads to the entrance to Ogof Pasg. Once past the fallen rocks near the entrance a fine passage leads off with liberal coating of calcite deposits on the walls and floor of the passage. In the left of this route are two passages, the first is a muddy crawl that ends after 30m. The second - Bunny Run Passage starts off walking size, but then reduces to a crawl ending after about 60m. The main passage veers to the right after this second side passage and then a route down through calcite covered boulders leads to a pool that sumps in wet weather. In dry weather this provides a route to a 25m long canal. Climbing up and going across the top of the calcited boulders, the passage height lowers in a straw covered section to lead to the top of a 10m pitch that bypasses the pool. A handline is useful to allow you to descend the slope to a point where a ladder can be rigged from two 8mm spits. Otherwise rig the ladder with 10m+ tether from natural belays higher up the slope. This drops onto calcited rocks, with the start of the waist deep canal heading off to the right, while to the left a descent down calcited rocks leads to the other side of the sump pool. The canal on the right continues for 20m to reach a climb up a calcite slope. At the top of the slope on the right the Pillar Chamber is found with no route on. Ahead and beyond this junction to Pillar Chamber the passage height decreases and the route continues as flat out crawls over calcite floors. Beyond the flat out crawl a short narrow passage leads to a further crawl that leads into a small chamber. From this chamber the connection through a hole in the calcite floor is made to Ogof Foel Fawr.
Tackle
Pitch 1 10m ladder plus long belay.
A handline is useful for the slope down to the head of the pitch.
References
Cambrian Cave Registry for Ogof Foel Fawr
UK Caving Wiki Entry for Ogof Pasg
Survey of Ogof Pasg
Descent 86 Article p31 Ogof Pasg - Ogof Foel Fawr Connection | Arthur Price
See also entry for Ogof Foel Fawr
Caves of South Wales | Tim Stratford | ISBN: 1-871890-03-9 | Published by Cordee
The Caves of Carmarthen | Tony Oldham
Warnings
The entrance is located in a disused quarry face. There is danger of falling rocks and care should be take on the approach as the climb up is over loose rocks.
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 the 'New To Caving' website for more options.
If you feel that any of the information is incorrect or should be updated please contact us.