More caving in Ogof Ffynnon Ddu (OFD), South Wales

OFD cave at Penwyllt, near Abercrave in South Wales.

These pictures were taken in the 'Escape Route' of OFD 1 which is the lowest of three entrances into the cave system, the entrance being at the base of a very steep hill.

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Please note these photographs are copyright Annette Price and cannot be used without permission.



The flat, wet floor seen here, is called 'flowstone'. It looks like a rough concrete floor, but is actually stone. It has been formed this way by sheets of water flowing down the rock walls and washing over the floor, smoothing the surface over thousands of years, washing particles over the rock 'sanding' it down and depositing minerals.







Annie Wakeham looking down through a hole in the cave chamber roof, which is also the floor of the passage above.

Caving in Ogof Ffynnon Ddu (OFD), South Wales

OFD at Penwyllt, near Abercrave in South Wales, is one of the UK's major cave systems. It's name Ogof Ffynnon Ddu means 'Cave of the Black Spring’ and was first discovered in 1946.

Above is caver James Thorn in Selenite Way, OFD.

Cave formations are called speleothems although often known as 'pretties' by cavers. The creation, type and colouration of pretties depends upon the amount of surface water entering the cave, minerals dissolved in the water, the type of rocks in and around the cave and the cave environment such as air flow through the cave, humidity and temperature.


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Please note these photographs are copyright Annette Price and cannot be used without permission.

Below is a selection of cave pretties, mostly stalactites hanging down from the cave roof




The above stalactite is known as a 'straw' as it is the same width as a drinking straw and hollow. The water drop at the end of this straw, is about to fall having traveled through the straw rather than over it. Straws are formed from drops of water containing dissolved minerals; calcium carbonate and calcite dripping from the cave roof, leaving behind a minute deposit in the shape of a ring. Over time, more minerals are deposited on the ring and gradually a hollow tube forms hanging from the ceiling. Typically straw formation takes around a hundred and fifty years per inch. Straws are incredibly delicate and fragile, great care is needed while moving around the cave and photographing them to not touch or break them.

















Here we see typical 'Cave Life' to be found in OFD cave. These cavers are from Croydon Caving Club, of which I am also a member. www.croydoncavingclub.org.uk

Porth yr Ogof cave resurgence

These photographs show the resurgence of Porth yr Ogof cave in the Brecon Beacons, South Wales. A resurgence is where water returns to the surface after traveling underground through a cave. These were further test shots using a D80 camera in an Ikelite underwater camera housing. Some utilise split level photography, where the camera is partly submerged, while others look towards the surface from below through 'Snell's Window', an optical phenomena, in which the world above water can be seen from below.

Porth yr Ogof cave entrance

Experiments with split level photography at the entrance of Porth yr Ogof, a cave on the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales. It was a very dull, rainy day. Dressed in a 7mm wetsuit with a hood, mask and snorkel I spent the afternoon swimming around the cold pool at the cave entrance with my digital SLR in its underwater housing. The housing was attached to a tripod and sank quite well - unlike me. I had a 4-kilo weight belt but it wasn't really enough to be able to sink easily and look through the viewfinder - my underwater handstands amused the local cavers....










Inside the entrance of Porth yr Ogof cave.

Sailing the English Channel

A week aboard the Frigate of Cowes, a lovely 32ft sailing boat, which we sailed from Southampton across the English Channel to Cherbourg, Guernsey and the Channel Islands, back to the mainland and around the Isle of Weight.

This was my first sailing trip and was super cool ☺ special thanks to Adrian for organising it, Matt, Loz, Neil and Chris for fun, songs and teaching me a bit about sailing.

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Please note these photographs are copyright Annette Price and cannot be used without permission.




























Sark, channel Islands




















Lighthouse at mouth at St Peter Port Guernsey Harbor, Channel Islands














Cherbourg harbour




Cherbourg harbour




St Peter Port Guernsey Harbor, Channel Islands