Nant Glais Caves
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The Nant Glais Caves are a collection of six caves located near
Vaynor Vaynor ( Welsh: ''Y Faenor'', meaning "The Manor") is a village and community (formerly a parish) in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales, United Kingdom. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 3,551. Location It is about f ...
in
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Merthyr Tydfil County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful) is a county borough (since 1908) in the south-east of Wales. In mid 2018, it had an estimated population of 60,183. It is located in the historic county of Glamorgan and ...
, South Wales. The largest cave, Ogof Rhyd Sych, measures around 2000m long. The site has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.


Geography

The caves are located in the Nant Glais Valley, to the west of the village of
Vaynor Vaynor ( Welsh: ''Y Faenor'', meaning "The Manor") is a village and community (formerly a parish) in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales, United Kingdom. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 3,551. Location It is about f ...
in
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Merthyr Tydfil County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful) is a county borough (since 1908) in the south-east of Wales. In mid 2018, it had an estimated population of 60,183. It is located in the historic county of Glamorgan and ...
. There are six caves at the site. The two largest, Ogof y Ci and Ogof Rhyd Sych, measure approximately and in length respectively. Ogof y Ci has numerous offshoots on the southern edge for the passage of stream water, although they are all too narrow to be viewed. The northern side splits into two passages with one connecting the passage of water to the larger Ogof Rhyd Sych. This cave is prone to flooding as it receives the majority of overflow from the river and has been described as containing "low, wet, arduous passages". Although it is the longest of the caves at the site, traversing Rhyd Sych is difficult as it features significantly narrower passages than the others. The next largest cave, Ogof Robin Goch, measures around long and leads into a chamber before being blocked by a
boulder choke A boulder choke is a collection of large rocks or rubble that obstructs a shaft or passage in a cave or mine. In order to progress through passages cavers often need to negotiate or clear boulder chokes. Boulder chokes can be formed by rockfall, ...
that connects it to Ogof Rhyd Sych. The remaining three caves, Ogof Dwr Dwfn, Ogof Pysgodyn Gwyn and Ogof Johnny Bach are all significantly smaller. The largest of the three, Pysgodyn Gwyn measures only in length. All three are located around Ogof Rhyd Sych.


See also

*
List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Mid & South Glamorgan SSSIs in the UK are notified using the concept of an Area of Search (AOS), an area of between and in size. The Areas of Search were conceived and developed between 1975 and 1979 by the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC), based on regions create ...


References

{{coord, 51, 47, 11.7, N, 3, 23, 39.3, W, region:GB, display=title Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough