Today I revisited the 'Roman Level' above Lefel Fawr at Cwmystwyth for the first time in some years.

The stope at the north end of the crosscut of the handpicked section of the 'Roman Level' continues to fill with debris trickling in from surface. To my surprise, it is now possible to simply step from the scree slope into the crosscut. Checking my surveys, I see that in 1994 this was an 11ft 6in pitch and my recollection is that in the early 1980s this was a pitch of circa 15ft.

At the ongoing rate of infilling of this stope, the scree will be level with the sole of the 'Roman Level' in less than a decade. As there is a window into the main Graig Fawr Stope further down this scree slope, it looks as if the scree will not build up to more than a a couple of feet above the sole of the 'Roman Level' as after that height of build up, it will thereafter trickle into the main Graig Fawr Stope rather than increasing in height in this smaller stope.

In 1991 I convinced a West Brecon Cave Rescue Team practice at the mine to emplace underground three steel ladders which were being scrapped at Aberystwyth Harbour. The longest of these was emplaced at this pitch at the north end of the 'Roman Level' crosscut. Within a decade, the build up of scree and its ongoing down slope movement had buckled the heavy steel ladder into virtually an 'S' shape and had fractured one side of the ladder. This ladder is now even further buckled and most of its circa 13ft height is now deeply buried in the scree, with only about 4ft visible.

As all this debris is caused by freeze-thaw weathering of the rock and scree in the Graig Fawr Opencast, it provides a striking impression of the ongoing rate of weathering in the opencast, most of which trickles downslope to be funelled into this stope which reaches surface in the lowest point in the base of the opencast.

The inexorable march of time continues!