Brinchcombe Limestone Level Dry/Wet Sink Old Ham (Iron Ore Mine) Otter Hole

Seymour's Swallet Swildon's Hole Westbury Brook (Iron Ore Mine) Wigpool (Iron Ore Mine)

Brinchcombe Limestone Level

Brinchcombe Limestone Level is a small system near Ruspidge in the Forest of Dean and is perfectly suited for 'first-time' and young cavers with a complete exploration taking a maximum of an hour and a half. The small entrance opens into a short tunnel ending in a squeeze leading into the main system which consists of 1 main tunnel between 1 and 2 metres high and approximately 400m long. There is a 100m section of parallel passageway towards the far end of the system which has 3 entry points but is has a sizeable amount of spoil left from the mining operation. There is a vertical shaft leading up to the surface about halfway along the system which the miners could have used to access the mine and which would also have provided some ventilation. It is possible to abseil down into the system via the shaft but climbing up it is not recommended without ropes from the surface as some parts are very loose. Care should be taken not to cross any taped sections and avoid any loose material on the walls/ceilings.
 
The photos show Chris Horton in the entrance and Chris Whitehead (at back) with a party of Scouts at the far end of the system. Since the photos were taken, the entrance has been (very poorly) surrounded with fences/barbed wire by the Forestry Commission, making entry a slightly tricky affair. There are also plans to gate the entrance.

I have only been on a few trips into this huge cave system. The entrance system is a huge affair, descending fixed ladders before abseiling/electron laddering through a hole in the floor for the final 25m pitch. Helpfully, there are permanent anchor points for ladders and ropes. Once inside there is a fair sized cavern, which leads into the main streamway. This is quite impressive with the walls a couple of metres apart and about 10 metres high with a substantial volume of water flowing through. There are some beautiful formations and features further in with 14km of surveyed passages and the potential for a lot more. The photo shows James stood under a waterfall, from a trip with John Linford and Anthony Copeland.

The only minus point of this system is that there has been pollution present in the main streamway originating from a sewerage pumping station a short way up the valley. The local council decided that Dry Sink would make an ideal dumping point for excess flows and a pipeline was constructed in the mid 1970's with the message that it was only for use as an "emergency storm water and sewerage overflow facility". Unfortunately it became very clear that the system was being abused and in 1991, after many complaints, the NRA admitted "Malpractice at the pumping station" and promised that it wouldn't happen again. In early 1997 the discharge was particularly bad and Central TV covered the story as a lead item in a May bulletin. Local cavers contacted the Environment Agency, Welsh Water and their local MP. The situation is much better these days but there remains a need monitor the situation.

Old Ham Iron Ore Mine is situated in between Milkwall and Sling to the South of Coleford in the Forest of Dean. The entrance is gated and one used to be able to obtain a key for approximately £5 a trip from the main office of the Clearwell Caverns show cave just across the road. It provided an excellent trip for novices until it was discovered that contamination, caused by chemical and waste dumping down the main shaft by Watkins Ltd. (a local transport company) over many years, had reached critical levels in the lower levels of the mine. This forced mine safety inspectors to temporarily close the mine. Greenpeace have been involved and there have been many discussions around how to solve the problem, including drilling bore holes down to ventilate the lower levels. The upper levels are now accessible again, subject to access agreement via Clearwell Caves, but so far there doesn't seem to be a solution in sight. Click here to see the latest progress in the ongoing process of understanding and rectifying the problem.

The entrance to Otter Hole was 'discovered' by local electrician George Gardiner in 1970 whilst he was searching for Shakespeare's lost manuscripts which, according to ledged, were buried beside the River Wye. He tried to enlist the help of local cavers to examine the hole, but only David 'Sparky' Parker seemed interested. After an initial examination Sparky decided that there must be a sizeable cave system within due to the strong draught issuing from the entrance. He spent 4 solitary years digging by hand to enlarge the passage and eventually managed to get John Elliot and Bill Swartz interested. With their help, and the use of a small amount of explosives, they broke though on 14th September 1974. The system contains some of the most impressive speleotherms Britain has to offer and proved that the Forest of Dean had the potential for some huge cave systems. The complete story of Otter Hole including its discovery, biology and hydrogeology and many photos can be found in Vol. 6, No' 4 of the Transactions of the BCRA 1979.
 
I was lucky enough to be part of a trip into Otter Hole with 10 others on 6th June 1994 when attending the Forest Caving Symposium. We were underground for 6 hours which meant that we had to carry ammo-tins with our lunches and high-energy foods in. The entrance series is tidal and is very, very muddy due to the silt which is continually washed in. On reaching the tidal sump one we had to wait a few minutes for the water level to drop sufficiently for us to pass through. As the water runs out of the cave it makes loud gurgling and glooping noises partly like a huge bath tub emptying.
 
Once inside the main system one has the opportunity to clean off in the streamway and, in fact, stay reasonably clean until leaving the cave through the tidal sump when one gets coated in mud again. The best part of my trip was reaching the Hall of Thirty where we turned round. The first picture shows Jim Rumble at the point where the passageway enters the cavern stood next to a 'reasonably' sized boss - others are much larger! The second picture shows me after the trip absolutely shattered. Notice how muddy I am - that's after I had been sat in a stream for 10 minutes cleaning myself...

Seymour's Swallet is a tight, wet, muddy little crack and I'm constantly surprised to find myself returning to it again and again... :) It is located near Hoarthorns Farm just down the valley from Hoarthorns Wood Swallet and less than half a mile from Wet Sink. The entrance pot was cleared in 1956 by the GSS and exploration was carried through to the main chamber, where there are some unusual Limonite formations. There was a concerted amount of digging effort during a weekend in 1961, which saw good progress in extending the cave. Further digging continued throughout 1961 & 1962 and on well into the mid-1970s by various members of the GSS and other groups. The GSS Journals show that several members were actively digging/drilling/banging again in April/May 1984.
 
The entrance is concreted and gated but isn't locked. After being buried under a foot or so of silt, leaves etc. in 2012, GSS re-excavated the entrance and placed a concrete ring over it to keep it clear of future infilling. Access arrangements can be discussed via the Forest of Dean Cave Conservation and Access Group (FoDCCAG).
 
The first picture shows Ian Clere belaying a younger Scout into the cave, while the second shows a view looking straight down the entrance. Inside, the passageway is generally quite constricting and although there are some more spacious sections they are few and far between. The first picture on the right shows Neil Mason on the fixed ladder while the second and third show Chris "Soya" Foy and Chris Whitehead in more usual scenarios. Notable features in this system are the 'Letterbox', the '90° bends', 'Cooney's Corner' (where Nick Cooney famously got wedged), and the high aven at the end.

Swildon's Hole is officially one of the wettest caves in Britain and the water running through it has been proved by dye-tracing to feed the famous Wookey Hole although a physical connection has not yet been found. I have only been down it once in 1987 (which is why I look so young in the photo - I was only 16!) but I'm hoping that I'll get to go down again soon. It is a really fun trip and a wetsuit is essential even on a short trip - there is a great ladder climb through a waterfall and a few opportunities to do a spot of swimming. At one point early on there are two pools one below the other and the water makes them like natural Jacuzzis

Westbury Brook is an Iron Ore Mine in the Forest of Dean and, after Otter Hole is probably the muddiest system I have ever ventured into. There is an abundance of Red Ochre Clay - the kind you probably had in pottery at school along with the grey stuff - and when mixed with water this becomes really gooey and tacky.

The entrance is tucked away at the back of a huge opening into the hillside and is gated as shown in the first photo. It is an awkward entrance which leads down into a maze of 'passageways' all following the vein of ore at quite a steep angle of about 50°. What follows is a mixture of huge sports-centre sized caverns connected by some really tight muddy crawls. In one of these caverns there is some impressive 'honeycombing' on the walls. The second photo shows Jim, Neil, Karen, Pauline, Dave and Chris sat on a pile of muddy spoil - they were all clean before they started the trip...

Wigpool is also an Iron Ore Mine and being only 2 miles North from Westbury Brook (see above), has some similarities. It is muddy with the familiar red-ochre clay although the angle of the syncline is not as steep. The main entrance has been filled long ago and there are rumours that one of the biggest shafts was blocked when an American tank fell down it. There are four main entrances in use today: 'Steam hole', 'Fox hole', 'Sway hole' and 'Meeks hole'. 'Steam' is so-called because on a cold day the entrance can clearly be seen to be steaming, caused because the temperature inside the mine is constant all year round and in winter it is often warmer underground than it is outside. Most of the current entrances are actually old escape routes that the miners would have used in an emergency. Whilst some surface workings date back to Roman times, the modern mine opened in 1861 and some 150,000 tons of ore were extracted before it closed in 1883. The mine reopened in 1911, and a further 7,000 tons of ore were extracted up to 1917, with the mine officially closing for good in 1924. Access for cavers was regained between Nov 1964 & Feb 1965 by the GSS and the mine is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). All main entrances were gated and locked in 1996 and all access is now via the Forest (RFDCC) or Gloucester (GSS) clubs. The first photo shows a party about to enter steam and the second shows Chris descending.
 
There are several levels in the mine which consist of fairly wide arch-shaped passageways, although the lower levels are prone to flooding. A little off the 'usual' route are some really beautiful formations, if in miniature compared to those in Otter Hole. The first picture on the right shows me pointing at some small straws, while the second shows a pool containing some rare straw-pennants (AKA 'crystal balls' or 'pompoms'), which are formed as the water level rises and falls, depositing calcite on the end of stalactites (straws) that are touching the water. Apart from the formations there are several points of interest including what remains of the stables where the pit-ponies used to be kept, the old lift shaft and the only hand-winch in its original working position in an Iron Ore Mine in England.
 
The 'Steam' & 'Foxes' routes meet not far before the first main level in the mine, which also has access to the Meeks hole route, offering many possibilities for 'circular' trips. The two pictures on the left show Dennis Godding and Chris Horton respectively leaving Wigpool via Foxhole. It is possible to make high-level and lower level (water levels permitting) cross trips from Sway Hole but, even with Sparkie's help and knowing the general area to be looking in, I have been unable to make the connection. I first started exploring via Sway Hole in September 1998 with some of my friends, and there are some very interesting passages and artifacts to see in that side of the mine.

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