Peter Harvey's History of Caving in the Swansea Valley (etc.)

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Peter was a founder member of SWCC and discoverer (with Ian Nixon) of Ogof Ffynnon Ddu.  He stopped caving at the age of 85, with a trip into Roundabout Chamber, and his diary reveals that, in all, he did well over 900 trips into Ogof Ffynnon Ddu.  Peter served as SWCC President from 1976 but decided to stand down as from the 2009 AGM.
[Peter died on 29th October 2009 ~ In Memoriam Page]

Over his long and very active caving career, Peter compiled a considerable amount of material with the aim of producing a book.  Unfortunately he has come to the conclusion that he is not going to be able to apply the final polish required to publish it in that form.  The web seemed an ideal alternative and so I have adapted much of his material to form the articles that are accessible via the links below.  Hold mouse over photos to see captions. 
(Jem Rowland, March 2009).

• Some Family History
  
• Peter's early days, caving and otherwise.
  
• Original exploration of Dan yr Ogof and the beginnings of SWCC and OFD.
• Discovery and initial exploration of Ogof Ffynnon Ddu, 1946.
• Further exploration of Ogof Ffynnon Ddu, 1947-53.
• Mendip, Sinc y Giedd, Pwll Dwfn etc. 1947-48.
• The Exploration of Pant Mawr Pot.
  
• Tunnel Cave exploration 1953-62.
• Into Ogof Ffynnon Ddu ll.
• Digging in Boulder Chamber
• Initial Exploration of the Sumps
• Digging in Coronation Aven
• The Discovery of Cwm Dwr Jama
• Back to Boulder Chamber and Dip Sump
• Another Look at Coronation Aven
• Back to the Sump
• At Last, Dry Connections