CSS Newsletters 2020 - Volume 62
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Nos. 1-3, January-March 2020
- CSS Annual Dinner 2020 - An brief write up of the CSS Annual Dinner held at The Manor Hotel in Jan 2020.
- Storm Dennis Destroys HRC - A report of the flooding that occurred at the Hard Rock Café, Daren Cilau in Feb 2020 while a team of 14 were using the camp.
- Storm Dennis vs Draenen - An account of how the cave reacted to the heavy rains from Storm Dennis with observations of how this differed from other known times of flooding in the system.
- Swan Mine - Write up from a trip to Swan Mine, Mendip. An interesting stone mine with a number of artefacts still in situ.
- Brief Encounter - An amusing peek into the world of caving underwear and wardrobe malfunctions.
- Reminiscences of Trevor Leslie Frederick Morris (Tich) - A tribute to Tich Morris who died Nov 2019, with tales of his various caving adventures in the early days of CSS.
- More Tich Tales - More tales from the life of Tich Morris, who died Nov 2019.
- Bos Swallet 'The Jewel in Burrington's Crown' - Write up from a trip to this interesting and under-visited cave in Burrington Combe, Mendip.
- St Dunstan's Well - I didn’t know he was ill - Trip report from this short but sporty collectors piece on Mendip, including details of a major rescue that took place there Nov 1983.
- Old Daren Sunday School Elecrickery - Our handy CSS electrician tells of his weekend of heavy drinking and installing electrics at the ODSS.
- My Path to Speleology - Geo Fletcher recounts his introduction to caving and his first caving trip to Speedwell Mine in 1961.
- Why I am a Caver - Joe Duxbury tells of what inspired him to take up caving.
- Digging Beyond the Crystals - Write up of a digging trip at the Crystal Gallery, Agen Allwedd.
- Castlemartin Range West - Summary of a weekend of exploration in the military firing range and information about the access there.
- Upper Southern Stream - Dig report from the passage marked 'BNS 1964' in Upper Southern Stream, Agen Allwedd.
- Sandstone Passage Dig - Update from the dig site at the end of Sandstone Passage, Agen Allwedd.
- Paul Hartwright's Digging Update - A round up of the various digs that Paul has partaken in over the last number of years, with details of each site and lots of info of interest to Llangattock diggers.
- Daren Cilau, Digging from the Comforts of Hark Rock Café - A short round up digging projects currently being pursued by the HRC digging team.
- Carrion Update - An update of Andy's digging exploits in Carrion Slocker, Mendip.
- Three Mendip Digs - Dig reports from Geoff's current Mendip digging projects at Viaduct Sink, Rock Farm Cave, and Snake Pit Hole.
- Digging Update - Reports from Dave Mitchell's Dig and Spider Hole in Mendip.
- Digging at Quarter Way Up Hole - Digging in a recently discovered extension in Fairy Cave Quarry, Mendip.
- Dog Hole - A brief introduction to a new dig site in Dog Hole, Devon.
Nos. 4-6, April-June 2020
- SMWCRT Update - Fundraising and changes to rescue team operations.
- Ogof Ffynnon Ddu II - CSS caving trip to OFD.
- Caving Hot Pants - A humorous tale of Charles' first camping experience in Daren Cilau.
- Caving Replacement Therapy - A tale of replacing caving with exploits in the woods and wetlands during the Covid 19 pandemic.
- The Secret Extension to Ogof Dan y Lleuad Wen - Reminiscences of the early days of exploration and digging in an extension that remained unpublicised for many years.
- My Visit to Wawulpane Cave in 2010 - A recollection of an interesting trip to this "tourist" Cave in Sri Lanka.
- Isolation Cocktail Recipes - A collection of cocktail recipes to help the booze loving caver survive the Covid 19 pandemic.
- Cave Air Replacement Equipment - How to use an air bed inflator to solve the problem of a stuffy airless dig.
- A Speleo Quiz to Alleviate Corona boredom - 20 caving based questions to test your speleo knowledge.
- Flooding in Crickhowell - Historical reminiscences and photos of the flooding of Crickhowell in 1979.
- Tale for the Bog Wall - Caving poem from the past with blanks to insert your own words.
- Quarter Way Up Hole Update - An update of digging new extensions in Fairy Cave Quarry, Mendip.
- Blast from the Past - A tale of a breakthrough that didn’t quite go to plan…
- Fred Davies - Obituary to renowned caver and digger Fred Davies who had notable achievements in both South Wales and Mendip and died June 2020.
- Quantification of Separation - A scientific/humorous take on social distancing and CSS cavers during the Covid 19 pandemic.
- Daren Cilau, HRC Update - A report from the clean up trip to HRC after the Feb 2020 flooding at the camp.
- Caving with Trevor - Reminiscences of Nick's time caving in Llangattock with fellow CSS member Trevor Knief in the 1980s and 90s.
Nos. 7-9, July-September 2020
- Farewell Billy Watkins - Obituary to Billy Watkins, the local shepherd who owned most of the sheep roaming free on the Llangattock escarpment.
- Shattered Passage - Write up of a trip to Shattered Passage in Agen Allwedd, an interesting and under-visited part of the system.
- Single Way Mine - Trip to Single Way Mine, an old stone mine situated under a golf course in Bathampton.
- Nearly Stung Twice - An exploratory visit to 6X Cave and two swallets in Tisbury with details of how to find the caves.
- Kirkdale Cave - Family caving trip to Kirkdale Cave in the North York Moors.
- Richard Travers Laurence - A collection of stories and reminiscences of 'Dick' Laurence who died in June 2020.
- Old Daren Sunday School - Progress Report - Update on work completed so far on the ODSS.
- Sea Cave Adventures - Part 1 - Tales from seaside adventures in Piper's Hole (Scilly Isles), Holywell Cave (Cornwall) and Ariel Cave/Sandy Hole (Dorset).
- Pwll Estrys - The ODSS working team relocate to Pwll Estrys and take their tools with them.
- Wookey Hole: Land of Hope and Glory - Digging in Wookey Hole and the breakthrough into the impressive 'Land of Hope and Glory' discovered in September 2020. Survey included.
- Online Newsletter Archive - News of recent updates to the CSS website making the CSS Newsletter more easily searchable.
- Lockdown Boredom Busting Bat Detecting - Lots of useful info about bats, their habits and how to detect them using spectrograms.
- Trapped in a Showcave - A caving trip in Dan yr Ogof that lasted somewhat longer than expected…
- Edward Foley's Hole - An update on the new Devon 'cave' reported by Andy last issue.
Nos. 10-12, October-December 2020
- Caver Art - A look at the caving themed artwork of Taraneh Khaleghi.
- Pots and Pans - The discovery of Prestige Pot (Pwll Bri), in Mynydd Llangynidr and the digging activities that followed in this interesting site.
- Agen Allwedd - 5th Choke - Results of hydrology tests conducted in the vicinity of 5th Choke in Aggy Main Streamway, and the possible prospects of digging in this area. Plus a hydrological survey of Llangattock caves.
- Maze Cave Adventures - Trip reports from Devis Hole Mine Cave and Knock Fell Caverns, two very different maze caves in North Yorkshire and Cumbria.
- Persil Rift - The connection of Persil Rift to Ariel Cave, creating a new sporting through trip in Portland, Dorset. Contains grade 4 survey of Persil Rift.
- Ogof Capel Faen - Dig Update - Update on the progress achieved at Ogof Capel Faen and the termination of digging efforts here.
- Ogof Pont Gam to Ogof Nant Rhin - Write up of a recent CSS SRT through-trip from Ogof Pont Gam to Ogof Nant Rhin in the Clydach Gorge.
- Xmas Food - An observational snippet involving bat sausages.
- Aggy Memories - Mac Ayton recounts a memorable trip he experienced in Agen Allwedd back in 1958 when the leader of his trip suffered a strange medical mishap.
- Au Pays Du Grand Silence Noir - Evocative and meaningful quotes taken from this classic book written by Andre Glory (available from the CSS library).
- Carrion Slocker - Update on Andy’s progress at Carrion Slocker in Mendip. Second place winner of the J’Rat digging awards 2021.
- Trident Passage, Aggy - Logbook entry from a trip to the notorious Trident Passage in Agen Allwedd.
- Daren Cilau Clean-Up News - An update on the progress made on the mission to clean up the Hard Rock and Western Flyover camps.
- A-Z of Caves Part 2 - Part 2 of Andy Watson's A-Z of Caves, this instalment takes us from Milliar's Quarry Cave to Rana Hole (M-R).
- Index to Volume 63 - Subject index for the four issues comprising Vol. 63 of the CSS Newsletter.