Potholing With Dinosaurs
In May of 2023, to celebrate my fortieth year and also my parents' anniversary, we travelled to England, Wales, and Ireland. This is the ninth segment of our trip.
On Wednesday, May 24th, we entered another world. Nestled on the side of a mountain within the Brecon Beacons National Park and barely visible from the road, it is a true gem of Wales. We went "beneath the cave" - or, in Welsh, 'dan yr ogof'.
A nerd from the very start, one of the first things I did when I gained internet access as a kid was find a message board (Ah, the young internet!) dedicated to a book series, Dinotopia. The books are about an island where dinosaurs still live, and the message board was filled with kindred spirits. At one point we discussed all going to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky for a meeting (Caves are also very important in the series). While that fell through, the seed had been planted. Fast forward a few decades, and I found myself at a spot that seems like a page out the books: The National Showcaves at Dan-Yr-Ogof.
Though I would certainly classify the caves as unforgettable, they have been discovered and forgotten several times over the course of Human history. The most recent discovery was in 1912. In the decades since, Dan-Yr-Ogof has become one of Wales' most beloved destinations. We were fortunate to visit on a relatively quiet Wednesday.
The publicly accessible portion of the caves are quite long, but their true length is staggeringly long. We barely scratched the surface (or subsurface, I suppose). To go any farther would require specialist gear and training, though. Interestingly, the art of caving, which is known in North America as "spelunking" is called "potholing" in the UK.
It is awe-inspiring to see the forces of nature at work; the caves still run with the primordial river that has spent all these aeons carving them.
Dan-Yr-Ogof has more to offer than just caves, though. The family who spearheaded their development as a visitable place also had a keen interest in dinosaurs. Walking between the various cave entrances is a treat for lovers of the Mesozoic*.
* These arthropleura are from the Carboniferous
I was a little giddy to see my favourite genus of hadrosaur represented, the parasaurolophus. There are dozens of models spread throughout the park, some alone and others arranged in dioramas. A few of them are even animatronic. While I don't love that dogs are allowed in the park, seeing one stop and bark at a moving, roaring raptor was absolutely hilarious. I admit, I myself was spooked by seeing some movement out of the corner of my eye and turning to see an ankylosaurus raise its clubbed tail at me, as if in warning.
My favourite of the three caves was the Cathedral Cave. After a brief hike through a narrower bit, it becomes absolutely enormous. Pictures cannot do justice to how incredible a place it is to behold.
The smallest and least visually-impressive cave is called the Bone Cave. As its name suggests, it has significant archaeological value. It was found to contain 42 Human skeletons, from as far back as the bronze age, over 3000 years ago! Access to that cave requires the use of a hardhat.
The site also includes a life-size model of a stone age village. The thatched earthen huts seem like small, round versions of the much, much more recent houses we saw in Ireland.
There was a fence and a note reading, "This dinosaur is in our 'naughty corner' because last night he escaped and we eventually found him in Brecon! He will be released later today."
We all really, really enjoyed our time exploring Dan-Yr-Ogof. The caves truly are spectacular, and the dinosaurs peering out from the lush landscape are a pleasure.
In the next segment of our trip, we visited the ruins of Neath Abbey and the bustle of Cardiff.
