BLAEN ONNAU QUARRY
& CHARTIST CAVES
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PLEASE NOTE:
Also Ensure you have the rquired OS MAP and
COMPASS ! !And know how to use them! |
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From BRECON town center, go
through the town, past the ARMY BARRACKS to the Roundabout.
Go straight over onto the A40 and follow for about
7 miles to the village of
BWLCH
Follow through village as far as the bend at the bottom of the hill where the A40 road goes to the left.
On this bend turn right and follow down a narrow road, cross a very narrow bridge to:
LLANGYNIDRE
Turn Left, go about half mile, and turn Right onto the B4560 towards
BEAFORT
Follow this road up over mountain pass, around the double hairpin bends.
Go past the car park area on your right.
Follow on around the hard bends
at an old quarry entrance. (Boulders on
side of the road)
Continue on uphill another couple of hundred yards to a GRAVEL TRACK on your right, just before the brow of the hill.
Park on the entrance to the
track and off the road. (GRID REF. SO 157162)
Walk up gravel track and into the
old disused
BLAEN ONNAU QUARRY (GRID REF. SO 155161)
On the right of the Quarry floor is a “POT HOLE”, ! DO NOT ATEMPT TO ENTER THIS !
In front you will see the
entrance to
BLAEN ONNAU
QUARRY CAVE
You can explore this with care.
When you reach the back of the
cave, which is about 150 feet inside, you will see some small STALACTITES and
STALAGMITES.
From the Blaen Onnau Quarry Cave, climb up the sheep track on the left of the cave entrance up onto open Moorland.
You must now take a compass bearing of “250 Deg. Magnetic”.
Follow this bearing RIGIDLY, making for
a cairn in the distance.
The path gets very indistinct after about the
first mile or so, you then have to follow the sheep tracks.
From the cairn follow to a triangulation pillar at (GRID REF. SO 145154)
Beware of any hollows in the ground; these are “SINK HOLES”
where the ground has started to collapse into underground cave systems.
After you have covered about 2½ miles,
you will see a small hill in front of you, make to the LEFT of this
hill, and then follow the sheep track around to the right, you should now find
the
CHARTIST CAVES on your right. (GRID REF. SO 128152)
There is a main entrance, with
2 tunnels leading off.
The right hand tunnel goes in about 250 feet
and is resonably safe with care.
The left hand tunnel goes into
a downwards-sloping chamber for about 50 to 60
feet, with a choke at the far end. DO NOT
attempt to go any further than this.
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!Caving
experience and equipment is needed to go any further! |
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This cave goes in some further 1,000 feet or more, with a vast number of passages and chambers leading off |
For the return walk from the cave entrance, take a bearing of “70 Deg. Magnetic” from the cave entrance, and follow route back to the “BLAEN ONNAU QUARRY” and your car.
Please click on the links below