Caving - Balch's Coral Grotto and Balch's Aven Series

Caving - Balch's Aven Chamber and Balch's Coral Grotto

Tim wanted to try out some underground photography techniques.  We went to Fairy Quarry in Stoke St Michael to revisit a cave we were unable to go far into on a previous visit due to a large quantity of snoozing bats!!

We went into Balch's Aven Chamber first - The entrance is through an oil drum high up the quarry face.  The short entrance crawl leads to a sloping pitch.  Descending this leads to well decorated passages to the Aven Chamber.

Next we had a look at Balch's Coral Grotto - After a narrow entrance section a 3m pitch leads to the remaining chambers.

The Cave entrances high above the quarry floor

Balch's Aven Chamber Formation

Balch's Aven Chamber Lighting Effects

Balch's Coral Grotto Formations

Balch's Coral Grotto Formations