The Caves of Carmarthen



Author: Tony Oldham

This book is the third part of Tony Oldham's Limestones and Caves of South Wales series and was first published in 1975. The edition being reviewed here and shown in the picture contains the text "Second edition, revised February 1900" (sic! Should be 1990?). This edition also has an inserted addenda sheet at the back of the book dated January 1992 which contains details of the extended Ogof Dan y Lleuad Wen, among other things.

More recent editions may have been improved but, as a whole the book is scruffy, poorly and amateurishly presented. There is, however, a wealth of information contained in its pages. Even the most minor sites are listed, descriptions are detailed and there are many sketches and surveys. The references are particularly useful for anyone researching sites in the area. The book covers the county of Carmarthenshire, not the town of Carmarthen as the title of the book might suggest - there's no caves there! Principally, the area of interest to most cavers will probably be the Western Black Mountain, although the lower lying areas further west also contain many interesting karst sites.

There is a third edition. New A4 Revised May 2003. SB Written by an amateur it is amateurishly presented. (TO)