Saturday 12th June 2010 - Dan-yr-Ogof

Dan-yr-Ogof Caves are rather commercialised and, given that we have visited lots of caves around Europe, we decided not visit them. It has to be said that the huge plastic dinosaurs and the £13 per person ticket prices also put us off.
Just across the road from Dan-yr-Ogof is the Craig-y-nos Country Park, consisting largely of the pleasure gardens created by Adelina Patti, a world famous opera singer who lived in Craig-y-nos castle for over 40 years. She took over an existing house in 1878 and turned it into a mock castle built in pink sandstone. She was somewhat eccentric but the result look very good and the pleasure gardens with its streams and ponds are a delight.
It was the parting of the ways when we got to the Information Centre by the castle. Jane meandered back to the campsite whilst I took the footpath up the side of the valley. Reaching the Open Access Land the scenery changed to moorland with underlying peat and lots of damp areas. The OS map showed lots of 'Shake Holes' and these soon became apparent. The landscape was littered with holes of all different sizes caused by collapses in the limestone. I have seen these and swallow holes (where a stream runs into the hole – there are some of these here as well) before but never on this scale. There were so many that I often had to zigzag to find a route around them. There is a theory that the small shake holes on the Mendip Hills in Somerset were given ritual significance by the prehistoric people. They built enigmatic circular closures, the Priddy Circles, in the area that are thought to be of ritual use. If this is correct, then this area of Wales must have been hugely important to them.
Limestone outcrops appear everywhere with large blocks scattered across the surface. It is easy to see why there are so many quarries and small pits in the area. Some of the small depressions have become ponds, full of life with dragonflies and many beautiful, iridescent damsel flies. The views were fantastic in every direction and I chose a particularly good viewpoint to sit for my lunch. It was so peaceful, the only sound being two competing skylarks.
On the way back towards the campsite I stumbled across two potholes. There are many in this area, some are part of the same system that makes up the 10 miles of the Dan-yr-Ogof cave system.
Photos: The Shake Hole with the ritual enclosure in its depths; One of the ponds on the moor; Damsel Flies during a rare stationary moment; A rocky limestone scene.