South Wales Caves

Ogof Daren Cilau Description

Daren Cilau is located in the base of the cliff face in one of the quarries 400m east of Chelsea Speleological Societies cottage - Whitewalls. The cave is approached from the car park following the path upwards and past some disused limekilns (map). The cave is one of the longest systems in the country (over 26km) and its long, tight and arduous entrance series makes trips to its further reaches a serious undertaking. Two camps underground allow for trips to the far reaches of the system and enable digging teams to explore deep into the cave and pursue the elusive link to Agen Allwedd which lies only 75m away at their closest points. The cave system is too complex for a full description here, so I have included just and overview. You may find this site useful with much more information on this system. The entrance series is over 600m long and has a fearsome reputation, and although it is tight in may places and has some formidable squeezes, most people will be through it in under an hour. The end of the crawl leads into a passage that ends in a chamber with an impressive dried crystal pool. To the right here leads to the old Main Chamber, but a careful inspection of the back wall will reveal the entrance to the boulder choke behind a large slab that has peeled way from the wall. You soon drop into the large and impressive Jigsaw Passage that can be followed for some distance to the Wriggle (a vertical squeeze randomly located in a large passage) and then on to the Big Chamber Nowhere Near the Entrance. A log book is located on a large boulder in the centre of this chamber. Climbing up the boulder slope takes you to Loop Route, a large descending passage that will take you round in a circle if you were to follow it. From the top of this passage, the left leads to Epocalypse Passage while up to the right leads to Eglwys Passage and crawls to Valentines Chamber, the Time Machine and the further reaches of the cave. Also at the top of this slope is the entrance to Man in the Roof which loops around to Urchin Oxbow. Epocalypse passage is large and in many places covered with beautiful gypsum crystals. On the left you will pass the White Company, a fine array of helictites and aragonite formations. Further along the entrance to Urchin Oxbow is seen, its entrance 2m up the wall. After passing this the Pagoda formation and a small stream at the Kitchen are met. At the nearby junction going left takes you into Antler Passage where the impressive Antler helictite formations and the other end of Urchin Oxbow is found. Continuing up Antler Passage several climbs are encountered until the boulder chokes that lead into Busman's Holiday are reached. Passing through these passages eventually leads to a connection with Ogof Cnwc (originally Price's Dig) that now connects with this cave. From Loop Route climbing up the slope on the right hand side leads to a Eglwys Passage a small crawl on the left. Following these passages takes you to the large Valentine's Chamber, from the bottom of which is a squeeze between boulders and a climb down into Preliminary Passage. It is from here that you will find the stainless steel ladder disappearing up into the blackness and the route on to the Time Machine. The Time Machine is the biggest passage in the UK and after 500m you drop into the Bonsai Streamway, and the route to the rest of the cave.