Welsh Journals

Cave-hunting in Qower WE, THAT is my two sisters and I, took up caving quite un- expectedly in middle age. We had, and still have, no intention of doing things on a grand scale. We know our limitations. Intrepid exploits such as Norbert Casteret's descents of Gouffre de Pierre St. Martin, though undoubtedly inspiring, would not appeal to us, neither would subterranean excursions involving many hours or even days of underground activity. No, our caving is strictly on a not-too-energetic and a do-as-much-as-you-feel-like-and-then-stop basis. We are slow we take our time we take (possibly) excessive care we spend simply ages getting the lighting just right for our underground photo- graphs no doubt we would prove utterly and completely exasperating to any young and enthusuastic professional cavers. Yet we enjoy ourselves. Yes, that's the point. We really do have a grand time. I shudder to think how void our lives would be without this hobby. Gower caves are, of course, famous-even we knew that- famous, that is, archaeologically and not for their extent or for any stalactite formations, and we naturally decided to visit, if not all, at least some of the most accessible. Minchin Hole and Bacon Hole as being the largest and probably most important palaeolithically were our first choice. We went. True-both are large true-both have provided an almost inexhaustible supply of evidence of pre-histcry animal life and past civilisation, but would it be rank heresy to say (I'd better whisper it) that we found them rather disappointing and dull ? Apart, naturally, from their archaeological associations. No, I must admit in all honesty that however absorbing the actual discovery and unearthing of bones and such must be yet the empty shell of the cave is too often quite the reverse. So, as one supposes that there are few, if any, bone caves yet to be discovered and excavated, we decided to forget Gower as a Bone- cave area and to concentrate our energies on lesser-known inland caves, with the ultimate aim of the actual discovery of a new cave somewhere. This may seem to have been a somewhat ambitious, if laudable, hope, yet in a minor way-and rather surprisingly-we have already had some success, for we and our friends have dug down some twenty-five feet and located an underground passage through which water flows at certain times to gush out at Tree-cavern at Llanrhidian. And three small caves have been opened up at Llethrid and a larger, if somewhat dilapidated, cave found at Llanrhidian. As far as the latter is concerned, it may interest you to know exactly what happened. We do a great deal of snooping around in the Llanrhidian area (to be quite truthful I have a sneaking suspicion that the local residents