The Music Room | Chelsea Spelaeological Society

Summary

A visit to The Music Room and back is by far the most popular trip in Agen Allwedd. With its impressively large passages and chambers this is a very enjoyable trip without any real technical difficulties. This route is an ideal introduction to the cave system and much less strenuous than any of the streamway routes. It can also be enhanced with optional diversions into Erse Passage and Aven Series.

Route Description

Entrance Series

The log book is situated just inside the entrance, please use this to indicate your intended destination and time out. The Entrance Series is roughly 500m long and the key thing to remember while route finding through this section is always take the left-hand option when you reach a choice of routes. Following this golden rule you shouldn’t go too far wrong but be aware that some of these are low down so can be easily missed. The first section of the Entrance Series is a fun, sporting collection of wedged boulders to hop over, narrow rifts to squeeze through and short crawls and climbs, all of which are well trod so you can basically follow the caver-polished route. There are also a few high-level passages heading off along the way, these are bat roosting sites and should be avoided.

Beyond the initial rifty sections, approximately 360m from the entrance, the passage takes on a larger scale as you emerge from a slot alongside the right-hand wall. Keep straight ahead here and look for a climb up over the rocks a few metres further along on the left. This provides the easiest route of continuation (while taking the more obvious straight ahead route necessitates an awkward climb and squeeze to regain the way on). Continue along this high level route until you reach the end where a taped-off section and sign is visible ahead. Here take the smooth hole down through boulders on the right-hand side to reach the level 2m below. Don’t descend any further holes in this area, instead continue straight ahead to the end of the passage and down into Draught Passage on the right. Almost immediately after, take a side passage low down on the left (missing this will result in a fairly lengthy detour in the wrong direction leading only to a dig). A small streamway is met and from here on the route is straightforward and leads to a knobbly crawl over polished rocks. This ends with a short climb up into Baron’s Chamber, where you should take note of your location as it’s easily missed on the return. This leads directly onto Main Passage, where a blue sign attached to a boulder is an obvious landmark.

Entering larger passage in the Entrance Series

Main Passage to The Music Room

Take a moment to admire the scale of this magnificent part of the cave before continuing on down this mighty boulder-strewn passage. The easiest route is to keep to the left-hand side of the passage. Following this for 120m leads to a junction at the lowest point of the passage. Here our journey along Main Passage continues upslope on the left, while the obvious hole to the right descends into Main Stream Passage (leading to The Grand Circle, Inner and Outer Circle, Sand Caverns and Midnight Passage).

The next section of Main Passage is remarkably pleasant, with easy travelling over a smooth mud floor for much of the distance. After 40m the next junction is met with a large side passage heading upslope on the right. This is Erse Passage, which is a very worthy detour that shouldn’t add too much time to the trip. To add in this short diversion, ascend the slope to meet a low belly-crawl at the top. Don’t let this put you off as the crawl is only brief and quickly emerges into an attractive chamber with a ceiling flanked by coloured shale bands. The route beyond this soon leads to a second chamber which is equally well worth visiting. Erse Passage comes to an end here (the two digs at the far end only extending a short distance), so head back to Main Passage.

Continuing along Main Passage to the Music Room presents no route finding difficulties and is just a case of following the obvious trod paths along the large passage. Selenite crystals can be seen growing from the mud banks in some areas and care should be taken not to damage them or cross the conservation tapes. A number of minor side passages are passed on the left and right, but the next major junction is some 480m beyond the Erse Passage junction. Here the large and obvious passage on the right beyond a descending boulder slope is Southern Stream Passage, which although not part of this route is worth noting due to the fact that it leads to the other popular destinations of Grand Circle, Iles Inlet and Maytime, and also the lesser visited sites of Northern Stream Passage, Upper Southern Stream and Sandstone Passage.

Beyond this junction Main Passage continues with large proportions for some way, then begins to decrease in height until some crawling is required before reaching The Music Room. Around this point another large side passage is met heading off on the right; this is Trident Passage and is definitely not the way! The notable feature of Trident Passage is the famous 650m long flat-out crawl, known to take around 2 hours in each direction. However, the first part of the passage is quite nice and worth a short detour if you feel inclined.

The Music Room is soon reached after this junction, and you’ll know when you’ve got there by the music stand in the middle of the chamber. This is the final destination for most visitors to this part of the cave, but if you have time and energy in hand you may want to extend your trip to include North Wing and Aven Series too.

North Wing and Aven Series

North Wing is a very easy addition to the trip and can be reached by heading left at the music stand, keeping alongside the far wall. Then pass through a low arch and follow the crawl to the top of the Cliffs of Dover, multi-strata “cliffs” of sand and clay. The crawl follows a compacted sandbank before regaining walking height after a short distance. Continue following the main passage as it swings to the left (the canyon straight ahead leads to the narrow confines of the Ace of Spades Streamway), where a very large cairn is soon encountered. This marks the junction with Aven Series which is accessed via the crawl to right (while the maypole climb above leads to Route 63 which heads back towards the Cliffs of Dover). North Wing continues some 70m further before this sizeable passage diminishes in height and abruptly comes to an end, while a side passage nearby on the right likewise soon ends with infill.

To visit Aven Series follow the crawl next to the cairn to a flat-out section and short upwards squeeze. This emerges into a chamber with a grand selection of mud sculptures on display which are worth seeing. Heading to the right for a short tour of the passage beyond is an interesting addition to any trip to this part of the cave and shouldn’t take very long. The small passages beyond are confined and awkward and hence rarely visited, best saved for a dedicated trip to the area if desired.

Back at Main Passage a short variation of the return route can be made by taking the worn route down the sandbank into the streamway at the foot of the Cliffs of Dover. Then follow the stream back towards the Music Room and climb a boulder ramp to emerge a short distance from the music stand. From here follow the same route back as that taken on the way in, remembering of course to head right at each junction through the Entrance Series.