You will not get in or out of Cyffty adit. We cast a large concrete plug in the adit mouth at the same time as the Parc surge dam works. Around 1991.

Although in danger of going seriously OT, I can add to Dave's post:
1. At the innermost end of Parc, there is a short rise into Cyffty, which quickly reaches a point where the floor is stoped away, but you can see across. I have stood at the other side of that looking back towards Parc, having descended from a bat castle on the Parc side of the now filled Cyffty Engine Shaft. Depending on the bat castle, the 'gap' in Cyffty would be easy to bolt across to make a through trip.
2. There might be a way down into the Coed Mawr Pool Deep Adit from the mines above. Nobody has ever done much in that area that I am aware of apart from entering the deep adit and finding the rise at the end.

Chris.

OT can be forgivable, I hope.

I need to make the point, to avoid misunderstanding, that Cwffty 25 fathom is in two separate sections, I doubt that they ever connected. This is why I often refer to "Eastern Cwffty" and "Western Cwffty".

Eastern is the section described above and very easily gained from Parc 2 via a short, 8 or 10 foot ladder in good condition.

Western Cwffty involved the very wet and long trip inbye along the Parc 3. It is then possible to gain all 3 levels, the 25, the 10, and a short part of the deep adit.
It has been years since my last visit, but at that time I found fresh falls. The Cwffty deep adit apart from a small section in the vicinity of Western Shaft is now all impassible.

The ascent up through Cwffty is slightly complicated in that an obvious ladderway has top section missing, I deliberately reallocated this years ago as the section was loose therefore dangerous. There is a reasonable ascent up through stopes that is actually more interesting. The trip needs knowledge.

I have no knowledge of the state of the digs on Parc 3, there are about 3 of them before one reaches the ladders up to Cwffty 25, if memory serves me correct.

A return trip has been on my mind for a long time, but the virus pandemic has messed everything up.

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Thanks guys, apologies that this digression further derails what's after all a thread on Croesor to Rhosydd TT.

The trip from Parc to Cwffty via lower level was exactly the kind of thing I was already wondering about. The "P" through trip mentioned before that I understand is undiscussable (and inadvisable) for some time due to access friction. I know that one has been YouTube'd in quite recent years and that doesn't help!

But definitely Parc Cwffty sounds good. Just a pipedream for now though, domestic life was tough enough to get out but this covid whatnot has shut down all possibilities for now.. 😞 maybe next year..

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Apologies if I had a "should've gone to Specsavers" moment but where is the base of the shaft to the surface in Croesor. One account here has it near the bottom of the incline by the big pipe from the furnace and 320'. The 1884 report describes it at the top of the incline at level 4 and 340' which is presumably behind/above the heavy bars/grill at the "top" of the incline. Thanks

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There are a number of shafts. The big one however is at the top of the incline and is 100m straight up to the surface.

Chris.

My apologies, hadn't done my homework before posting question. Went back to Moses Kellow autobiography the chapter Near Accidents he wrote

"..At the Croesor Quarry there is an incline shaft rising about four galleries from the “A” or main tunnel floor, and at its top it connects with a vertical shaft 160 yards deep, which extends to the surface of the ground. At the junction of these two shafts there was the largest size of Robey semi-portable engine and boiler, mounted upon a bed-plate... ...as the driver could not see what was happening on the traffic incline... ...I decided to bring the whole of the winding gear, including the Robey combination down to a point in the incline shaft a little above the “A” floor level.."

Then he goes on to describe nearly being squashed during the relocation. I generally trust Kellow and his opinions (except about telepathy) but I have spotted him exaggerate the odd number here and there. Will be doubly sure to knot end of any ab rope in case 100m isn't enough.

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I measured it at 320 feet when I went down in 1994 on top of which you need to allow for rigging. I would use a something like a 30m for the first section which is built up and then use the 100m from the start of the solid rock. Don't wear your best gear since there is a lot of soot. I suggest you put in 2 bolts for a re-belay where the rock changes from being built up to solid. You can enter the tops of chambers on both sides about 60ft from the bottom but getting out again is quite exciting due to the amount of stretch in rope. Your STOP will get very warm.

Its all in The Mine Explorer Volume 5.

Enjoy.

...... Your STOP will get very warm.......

This is God's way of telling you that you should be using a rack! 🙂

I should have added, just wet the rope before you start and you will be fine.

Half the time I'm in Wales, ropes seem to automatically get wetted as soon as they come out of the bag 😉

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Although in danger of going seriously OT, I can add to Dave's post:
1. At the innermost end of Parc, there is a short rise into Cyffty, which quickly reaches a point where the floor is stoped away, but you can see across. I have stood at the other side of that looking back towards Parc, having descended from a bat castle on the Parc side of the now filled Cyffty Engine Shaft. Depending on the bat castle, the 'gap' in Cyffty would be easy to bolt across to make a through trip.
2. There might be a way down into the Coed Mawr Pool Deep Adit from the mines above. Nobody has ever done much in that area that I am aware of apart from entering the deep adit and finding the rise at the end.

Chris.

There are some CMP workings you can enter they are well hidden but you can get in. Unfortunately only a small piece of the mine is accessed and every tunnel leads to a collapse. I like to think by dropping the ffridd shaft you can get into the workings proper and then locate the deep adit from there but probably just daydreams, although I did speak to a local (who works for NRW) and he said many years ago 2 explorers popped their heads out from the rubbish filled shaft at ffridd cottage looking very frightened. upon quizzing them it turned out they had entered some workings at CMP and ended up at ffridd but it involved a sump they had to dive.