Monmouthshire
, Northern Outcrop - East (Morlais to Abergavenny)
map using leaflet map:
Cave
Access
When approaching from Blaenavon, take a left turn at Keeper's Pond. The first building on the right is what was the Lamb & Fox pub at the vanished village of Pwll Du. Continue down the road and cross the stile immediately to the north of the Pwll Du Adventure Centre. Follow the fence you've just crossed down a steep slope until you reach a small stream. From here an obvious path leads directly to the entrance. The cave is gated. See caving.wales for current Access arrangements
See caving.wales for current Access arrangements
Description
Ogof Draenen is one of the largest caves in Britain. It offers a great variety of caving and some very spectacular sights. The cave should not be underestimated and the round trip should be treated very seriously.
Left from the gated entrance, crawl and climb down to a low crawl where the first gate was. To the right enters a low, wet, bedding plane crawl to the top of boulder choke: a wet squeeze into an 8m scaffolded shaft leads down through the choke (care is required) to emerge in a small chamber - this was the break through point. Straight on are Darling Rifts, which lead to Big Bang Pitch and the original Pitch Bypass. However, an easier route is to duck under the right hand wall, into Spare Rib. Dropping down a slot on the left, leads to an inlet which can be followed down a cascade, to a chamber where the original Pitch Bypass rejoins. A low passage on the right leads via a 5m climb down to Cairn Junction, in the impressive main passage: Beyond A Choke...and on and on...
History
CwmbranCC; Morgannwg CC 1994 after extensive digging since 1991, encouraged by the nearby Lamb & Fox pub (closed 2019)
Hydrology
A small stream in the NW of the system drains to Cwm Dyar, but most of the water in the system has been tested to resurge at various spings at Snatchwood and Pontnewynydd, just short of Pontypool.
A small stream in the NW of the system drains to Cwm Dyar, but most of the water in the system has been tested to resurge at various spings at Snatchwood and Pontnewynydd, just short of Pontypool.
Gilwern Passage stream aven
Hearts of Olden Glory
Gyter Fawr
Dyer Straits
Upstream Passage spout inlet
Beyond a Choke
White Arch
Agent Blorenge 2
Agent Blorenge
Rifleman's Sump
55-100 hrs
55-100 hrs
Big Country north
Blorenge Inlet east
Blorenge Inlet
Big Country
Into the Black
hrs
hrs
Prisoners of War
Out of the Blue
War of the Worlds
Out of the Blue
Descent 121, Chris Howes, pp.22-27, Sleepless Nights
Descent 122, P. Bolt, A. Garman, B. Lovett, K. Munn, pp.20-23, 20,000 metres under Pwll Du
Descent 123, P. Francis, A. Garman, P. Bolt, G. Jenkin, H. Jones, pp.20-23, Over a Score
ACG nl Spring 1995, p.10, Robin Williams, Ogof Draenen, 17th December 1994 [Discovery of Tractor Tracks]
Descent 124, 1995, Nig Rogers, pp.30-32, Only ten minutes [Galeria Garimpeiros; Lucky Thirteen]
Caves & Caving 67, pp.8-10, Bill Gascoine, Exciting finds at Ogof Draenen [18km; dye trace to Snatchwood]
Descent 125, 1995, p.8, Draenen survey published
Descent 125, 1995, Chris Densham, pp.28-30, Not Oxford Street [St Giles]
Caves & Caving 68, p.19, John Hunt & Mike Simms, Clydach Gorge: older than we thought?
Descent 127, 1995, Chris Howes, p.34, Due South [Wyvern extensions; Big Country]
Caves & Caving 69, pp.19-21, Bill Gascoine, Dye traces in Ogof Draenen
Caves of South Wales, Stratford, T., 1995
BrynmawrCC Jnl.1996. Bill Gascoine, Dye tracing in Ogof Draenen
Descent 129, 1996, Ben Lovett, pp.26-27, Dry as a Bone [Waterfall Series]
Caves & Caving 71, pp.10-13, Mike Simms, Andy Farrant & John Hunt, Ogof Draenen - Where did it come from and where will it go?
Descent 129, 1996, Mike Simms, p.27, More of Megadrive?
Descent 130, 1996, Peter Bolt; Huw Jones; Alastair Garman, p.24-26, Up at the Sharp End: Big Country, the Wild East!
Descent 131, 1996, Ian Wilton-Jones, p.35, Hexamine Highways
Compass Points 13, 1996, Arthur Millett, The Draenen Grade 5 Survey
Descent 132, Pauline Rigby, Tim Guildford, pp.20-23, War of the Worlds
Descent 133, Ali Garman, p34, Bring Down the Government
Descent 134, Steve Roberts; Jon Cooper; Gavin Lowe, pp.20-23, Into the Black
Caves & Caving 76, pp.14-15, 1997, Geoff Newton, Pilgrim's Progress or Ogof Draenen - the Chelsea Survey
Caves & Caving 77, pp.19-21, 1997, John Stevens, Draenen - the Cantankerous Surveyors
Selected Caves of Britain and Ireland, 1997
WCC Jnl 253, pp.29-33, Mark Helmore, The Draenen Log [Wessex Series]
Descent 143, Tim Guildford, pp.20-23, Prisoners of War
Descent 163, Ian Wilton Jones, pp.36-37, It's A Republican Plot
CSS nl 42(10) pp.111-113, 2000, John Stevens, Passchendaele Sump Bypass [Baron von Carno area]
Descent 179 p.12, Small Draenen extension [Gerbil Run]
Cave and Karst Science 30 (1), pp.33-36, 2003, Andrew J.Kendall and Rhian S.Hicks, Dinantian vertebrate (fish) remains in the walls of Ogof Draenen, South Wales, UK
CKS v29(2), p.91, 2003,Andy Farrant, "The ins and outs of Ogof Draenen": a study of cave speleogenesis
CKS v29(2), pp.92-93, 2003, Jonathan Pash, Sediment dynamics in Ogof Draenen - an assessment into past flow regime
CKS v38(1), p.24, 2011,Lou Maurice & Tim Guilford, The hydrogeology of Ogof Draenen
Descent 205, p.13, Fleur Loveridge, New Draenen round-trip
Descent 210, p.17, Fleur Loveridge, Digging in Dollimore
Descent 210, pp.20-22, Tim Guilford, One, two, three or more? [entrances]
Descent 211, p.15, Martyn Farr, New Draenen entrance
CSS nl 51(5),pp.60-61, 2009 John Stevens, Draenen Round Trip: For the larger-built caver
CSS nl 52(5) p,81, 2010, John Stevens, The Geryon
Simms MJ, Farrant AR, 2011. Landscape evolution in southeast Wales: evidence from aquifer geometry and surface topography associated with the Ogof Draenen cave system. Cave and Karst Science, 38(1),pp.7-16
AR Farrant, MJ Simms, 2011, Ogof Draenen: speleogenesis of a hydrological see-saw from the karst of South Wales, Cave and Karst Science
Geomorphology, 134, pp.79-93, Farrant, Andrew R. and Smart, Peter L., Role of sediment in speleogenesis; sedimentation and paragenesis [paragenetic roof tubes, pendants, anastomoses]
CKS v45(1), pp.19-30, 2018, Knight,LFD; Brancelj, A; Edwards, F; Maurice, L, The aquatic invertebrate fauna of the Ogof Draenen cave system in South Wales, UK
records
