Work, work, work. It's a hard life being a student! What with my final year Project, the ever approaching exams and trying to organise the Poly caving club, I don't seem to have done much caving with Croydon lately. Anyway, I'm glad to hear that the Club is still actively digging in South Wales at the moment; which brings me to the point.

If you look at the Little Neath River Cave survey, you will notice that Town Drain appears to be heading in the general direction of Foot and Mouth Passage but closes down 500ft away. I have always thought that this would be a particularly rewarding place to dig since if the two were connected, access would be provided for non-divers to New World Passage and the rest of Little Neath River Cave beyond Sump 2. Consequently, I have been trying to find out about any previous attempts to dig the site.

I am informed that Town Drain has been dug on a number of occasions but, due to regular flooding, any progress made has been quickly filled in again. I have also been told that the Grade 1 survey at the end of Foot and Mouth has been resurveyed and is actually heading directly towards Town Drain. This could make the separation as little as 300ft. It has been suggested that the best approach to this dig would be a continuous effort during the summer when flooding is at a minimum. Whether the passage would remain open, if connected, after further flooding is another matter.

The point I am getting to is this: after my finals (in a bid to savour my last taste of freedom before becoming a "respectable member of society") I am considering spending August in South Wales digging Town Drain. To ensure that this is a serious effort, I am proposing to pitch a tent at the entrance to provide food and drink for those digging as well as installing the Club telephone to warn of possible flooding. I think this will provide the best chance of a breakthrough.

If anyone has any comments or would like to offer to help, I would be glad to hear from them.