CSS Newsletters 2025 - Volume 67
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Nos. 1-3, January-March 2025
- Llanelly Quarry Pot Collapse - News of a recent collapse of the Llanelly Quarry Pot entrance.
- The Big Daren Clean-Up – Sharp End Report - After the epic clear out of the HRC and Western Flyover camps, all that remained was to get the rubbish out of the cave…
- The Big Daren Clean-Up – So where did all the rubbish come from? - A background summary of the Daren Clean-Up project.
- CSS Meets List - Upcoming club events April-December 2025.
- Aggy Mug News - New mugs in Southern Stream and Main Stream Passage.
- Tunnel Cave - An SRT trip to Tunnel Cave, which took place on the February Whitewalls Meet.
- CSS Hoodies and Sweatshirts - Details of how to look as cool as Tom Cruise in a new CSS Hoodie.
- Return to Vietnam - Four days of caving adventure in Vietnam on the Oxalis Hang Ba tour, including excellent photos by Martyn Farr.
- Recollections of Early Days in CSS - Reminiscences of caving, expeditions and hut building in the early years of CSS.
- Clive Calder - A tribute to Clive Calder, an active member of CSS in the 60s and 70s who passed away in November.
- Daren Cilau – Ovaltinees Flood Discovery - A report of recent flooding at the Hard Rock Café camp, which left the Hard Rock extensions sumped.
- HRC Extensions Flooding Update - With water levels receded, the first attempt was made to reopen the Hard Rock Extensions.
- Retro Gear Review – MyCoal Body Warmer Heat Pads - A test of the effectiveness of 30 year old heat pads discovered on a Daren camp.
- The History of the Carrion Slocker Cave Dig - The excavation and extension of Carrion Slocker in East Mendip from 2016 to 2024.
- Extending Krem Amarsang – Meghalaya 2025 - An expedition report from the explorations of the Krem Amarsang system, Meghalaya in January 2025.
- Trevor Kneif - A tribute to Trevor Kneif, including an extract of his discovery of Pwll y Gwynt.
Nos. 4-6, April-June 2025
- Old Daren Sunday School - News of the opening of the Old Daren Sunday School, now available for use by club members.
- Darenathon - A multi-challenge event in the Daren entrance series, raising funds for the SMWCRT and helping the Daren Clean-Up project.
- Hard Rock Extensions - Flooding Update - News of the re-opening of the route to the Hard Rock Extensions.
- St Cuthbert’s Swallet, September Series - A Friday evening trip to some lesser-visited wonders of St Cuthbert’s Swallet on the Mendip Meet.
- Wookey Hole, Land of Hope and Glory - Dog-tooth crystals and large caverns in the Land of Hope and Glory extensions in Wookey Hole.
- Upper Flood Swallet - Report from one the of the big Saturday trips of the Mendip Meet, a visit to the wonders of Neverland in Upper Flood Swallet.
- Home Close Hole - An SRT trip to Home Close Hole in Mendip.
- G.B. Cave - The fourth trip taking place on the Saturday of the Mendip Meet, a journey around the ever-popular G.B. Cave.
- Shatter Cave - A caving trip to this well-decorated cave in Fairy Cave Quarry, Mendip.
- Wookey 24 - The second caving trip to Wookey Hole during the Mendip Meet, a sporting descent to Wookey 24.
- Withyhill Cave - A second team visited Fairy Cave Quarry with a trip to the equally well-decorated Withyhill Cave.
- Swildon’s Hole - No visit to Mendip would be complete without a visit to Swildon’s.
- CSS Meets 2025 - Upcoming CSS Meets July to December 2025.
- A Prospecting Visit to Dudwell Farm Shaft - An exploration of this minor shaft in Mendip.
- A Plea for the Humble Pencil - An article full of cave art and ideas on how you can create your own masterpiece evoking scenes of subterranea.
- Recent Work at Whitewalls - Many improvements have been made to the members’ bunkroom and kitchen recently, but what has been done and why did we do it
- Mystery Pot - A New Cave in Wales - Check out what's been going on in Mystery Pot in this YouTube video.
- Return to Quarter Way Up Hole - Digging activities, geology and the discovery of a woolly rhino skull in Quarter Way Up Hole, in Fairy Cave Quarry, Mendip.
- If You Go Down To The Woods Today - Animal activities captured on camera in the woodlands by Ogof Tarddiad Pwll Du.
- Friends Reunited - A chance encounter leads to a trio reunited and a tour of cave entrances on a weekend at Whitewalls.
- My Easter Weekend - A weekend of caving in Draenen and digging in Mendip.
- Self Draining Caving Wellies - The ultimate fashion accessory for all cool cavers.
- Quarter Way Up Hole Part 2 - The Dig - Digging progress at Boycott’s Bonnet in Quarter Way Up Hole, Mendip.
- Library News - Recent additions to the CSS library.
- A Tribute to Trevor Knief - Obituary for Trevor Knief who passed away February 2025.
- Windrush, An Underground Cotswold Stone Quarry - A new book about this interesting underground site in Gloucestershire.
- CSS Western Section Annual Dinner 2025 - The annual dinner of the CSS Western Section and a look back at its formation 50 years ago.
- Caving in the Outer Hebrides - A tour of minor caves on the Scottish isles of Barra, South Uist and Vatersay.
Nos. 7-9, July-September 2025
- Llanelly Quarry Pot - News of major work recently performed to improve and safeguard the entrance to this cave, which has frequently been buried by quarry collapse.
- Craig A Ffynnon - Visiting an old bolt-climbed route in the OCAF Lower Series to push an aven climb looking for possible new leads.
- North West Inlet Aven Climb - Bolt-climbing the hidden aven at the start of NW Inlet in Craig a Ffynnon to explore and survey the extension passages at the top.
- Note on North West Inlet Water Level - A report on the exceptionally low water level in NW Inlet passage, Craig a Ffynnon in August 2025, including a photo comparison with typical conditions.
- Whitewalls Working Week - A report of the tasks accomplished during the hut maintenance week in June.
- Library Acquisitions - Recent additions to the Whitewalls library collection.
- Boxhead Pot to It’s a Cracker - The first trip of the CSS Yorkshire away meet, an exchange trip between two neighbouring potholes on Leck Fell.
- Mayday Hole - An SRT trip to this recently discovered pothole on Dowlass Moss.
- Ease Gill: Top Sink to Cow Pot - An entertaining and varied exchange trip between two entrances to the Ease Gill system, not without some challenges.
- Juniper Gulf - A two person excursion to bottom the mighty depths of Juniper Gulf.
- Dow Cave - Exploring the extent of Dow Cave including the mined and natural extensions.
- Cherry Tree Hole - A trip to explore this interesting Yorkshire stream cave with a surprisingly large chamber.
- Caving Prints For Sale - An opportunity to purchase prints of some of Gonzo’s fine artwork of the Llangattock landscape and the caves below, with proceeds donated to cave rescue.
- Ogof Newport - A passing visit to this small shakehole cave on top of the Llangattock escarpment unexpectedly yielded a minor new extension.
- Pwll y Pasg - Exploring Pwll y Pasg, including the surprising delights of the Parsnip Palace and the through-connection to neighbouring Ogof Llungwyn, plus accounts of their original discovery.
- Daren Cilau: A Special Era - Charles Bailey looks back on his 35 years of exploration, digging and camping in Daren Cilau, with highlights, lowlights and developments over the time. Part one of two.
- Dan-yr-Ogof Caving Telemetry Service - Detailing the development of the water depth gauge logger installed in Pot Sump, Dan yr Ogof which is now providing near-live online stream level readings for cavers.
- If You Go Down To The Woods Today - Wildlife visitors captured on camera in the woodland near Ogof Tarddiad Pwll Du.
- The Chartists Cave Black Hole Fiasco - A breakthrough into a ‘new’ extension that could have been made considerably sooner and an awful lot more easily than it was!
- BNS 62 Dig Update - A survey of the dig off Upper Southern Stream passage in Aggy, and confirmation of a sound connection to Sandstone Passage.
- Caving Whales - A new grouping has emerged on the Welsh caving scene.
- Report from the last Daren Camp - Logbook entry from the Daren HRC digging camp which took place in October 2025, describing ongoing work at Diggers Day Off and the Breakout Room digs.
- CSS Meets 2025 - Upcoming CSS Meets Oct 2025 to Jan 2026.