Driving home down the Vale of Clwyd last Thursday afternoon, I took a short diversion to visit Pontnewydd Cave which I can vaguely remember visiting as a young lad with my father many years ago in the mid sixties.

I was keen to see again the spot where significant archaeological finds were made during many years of excavation work; the first excavation was made by William Boyd Dawkins in 1872 and a more thorough investigation was made by Stephen Aldhouse-Green from 1978 to 1995.

Bones of various exotic animals not now seen in North Wales including rhinoceros, bear, bison and leopard were found and dated to various stages of the Palaeolithic era. The most incredible finds were the discovery of the teeth of several individuals including a child together with an impressive range of stone tools. The human remains have been dated to around 230,000 BC, however these were not people as we know them. They were early Neanderthals, a branch of the human race which eventually died out and were superceded by us - 'homo sapiens' - commonly touted as a superior version of human but maybe only time will tell.

The cave, perched on the limestone cliffs above the very picturesque valley of Afon Elwy, is fairly easy to get to. A short path from the road below the cave takes you the ten metres to the entrance, although at first it requires a short scramble up a steep bank. The first thing I noticed was that the entrance was sealed by a modern wall with a very large steel door which was slightly ajar. Through the gap I could see another steel door immediately behind which appeared to be locked. This site was evidently 'closed' to the public.

After a few minutes looking around and soaking up the atmosphere, I thought 'I wonder', and gave the massive steel inner door a push which to my surprise creaked open. On closer inspection it seems that someone had sliced through the both the padlock and three inch wide steel bolt with what must have been a heavy duty industrial piece of cutting gear. Now who on earth would do that? This was obviously not an 'official opening' of the cave but would cavers or pot-holers really go to such trouble to get in? A mystery indeed! Judging by the pieces of cut steel lying around, entry had been forced in recent years rather than decades ago.

Well their vandalism was perhaps my opportunity so I stepped gingerly though the doorway and was immediately confronted by another modern wall with steel door four metres into the cave. Again I pushed open the steel door, whose locks were also cut, and the cave passage was revealed. Fortunately I did not have a torch with me as I am sure that I would not have resisted the strong urge to go in and explore, probably not a good idea without the correct safety equipment. Instead I stood in the doorway and gazed into the gloom for a minute imagining the 'rhino barbies' and other goings on here 230,000 years ago, took some photos then left, closing up as best I could behind me.

Pontnewydd Cave Finds
Pontnewydd Cave at Wales Past

Location: Denbighshire, Wales
Grid Ref: SJ01507105