The 1981 CUCC Belgium Expedition (all right, trip), while doing its fair whack of caving, also obtained a good deal of information about "Les Grottes Belgiques" which way be of interest to future expeditions; so here it is. Much of the information was acquired from M. Robert Delbrouk, who generously provided us with the cave atlases referred to, which can be found in the club library, any reputable bookshop, etc. They are:

1) Atlas des Grottes de Belgique (2me partie)
2) A.d.G.d.B. Tome 4
3) A.d.G.d.B. Tome 5

The latter two are updates of the first (and it's companion volume - 1er partie - which is unfortunately not available)(cf Northern Caves Ed.); I'll refer to each as AGB2 etc. M. Delbrouk, also runs a caving shop which I shall deservedly plug:
SETEK,
Route de Naninne 23, B 5158 DAVE,
NAMUR

Tel. [010-32-] 81-401473/401471

As the address suggests, this is on the road between Dave and Naninne, just south of Namur, and is near exit 16 of the E40. The owner speaks good English so you won't be vocab-limited in your rush to buy super rockmelting carbide lamps, thermal underwear, throcking washers (metric) etc. Another very useful address is that of the hut that we stayed in near Han-sur-Lesse. It's extremely palatial, with individual bunks, dining/living room, kitchen, BAR and cinema! This is the CYRES hut:

C.Y.R.E.S.
45, Rue Bel Vaux, Ave et Auffe,
Belgium

Right, now the caves, first, the well known ones:

1) PERE NOEL

Belgium's most famous and prettiest non-show cave. We didn't get to go down this one; it is necessary to check whether it is open with CYRES.

2) TROU BERNARD (AGB5, 7)

Rated "a fine trip". We rigged the first pitch with 20m of ladder, rather than a rope and ladder as shown. A rope is useful for the whole length of the chicanes, and a short ladder makes the upper bit a lot easier on the way out. Below the second pitch it's easier to go to the head of the third pitch (bolt belay), then squeeze through a hole at head height, a sporting way of avoiding the pitch. Then a 10m pitch to the "nid d'aigle" which is full of large boulders. I must confess to a slight jack on this one (the old war wound).

3) TROU WERON (Loose plan in AGB2)

We had heard rumours that this cave was quite sporting and tight, which proved true. Our greatest difficulty was persuading the farmer, with 100Fr and our passports, to let us feast our eyes on the cave's glories.

The entrance, in a large shakehole, leads down to a flat-out crawl of about 20m. This emerges into a small chamber with the way on among boulders at the bottom. A 5m pitch leads to a second chamber with two ways on. One (unexplored) has a 5m pitch, the other is a climb into a narrow rift. This leads into some tight, sporting vadose canyon with two further ladder pitches. A roof level phreatic tube enters a more steeply descending rift - a rope is recommended here. The cave ends with a sordid grovel before a divine little sump. The mud at the bottom is great for flinging. The exit is even more sporting than the way in; the passage that you had to push hard to get down is a mite thrutchy on the way back.

4) TROU DE L'EGLISE [loose plan in AGB2]

This supposedly pretty cave is used as a sewer (un égout) and as a result is rather brown. The cascades are rather unpleasantly slippery. Possibly the only attraction is that the entrance is opposite the bar "Le Spéléo".

The remaining caves were not "bashed" on our trip, but were recommended:

5) TROU DES NUTONS (AGB2, 5)

Five successive pitches leading to a "rivière souterraine"..

6) TROU DU CHIEN (AGB2, 12)

Short and interesting, near to the CYRES hut.

7) TROU-QUI-FUME (AGB2, 17)

The lower entrance is always open but is rather tight at first. The upper entrance is locked; the address to write to is:
M. Foulon, conservateur, Parc National Furfooz, B 5505 FURFOOZ

8) TROU DES CREVES (AGB2, 19)

This fine cave is only accessible for two weeks each year when the entrance sump is drained.

9) GROTTE DE FAYE (AGB2, 24)

10) PUITS AUX LAMPS (AGB2, 25)

Basically a big pitch into a large chamber.The ground above the entrance is used as the spoil tip for a quarry but access is still possible. The cave is very near the road, various techniques for the descent have involved the use of a long rope a harness, a pulley and a car!

11) CHANTOIR DE ROUGE-THIER (AGB2, 37)

A round trip.

12) GROTTE DE REMOUCHAMPS (AGB2, 39)

13) GROTTE DE HOTTON (AGB2, 46)

This cave is steadily being hacked away by quarrying. The upper entrance is locked, but write to:
Bernard Urbain, Spéléo Club de Belgique, Avenue Albert de Coster, 1070 BRUXELLES

14) PUITS DE CHATEAU (AGB4, 18)

A 70m wellshaft for SRT practice.

15) GROTTE DE LA VILAINE SOURCE (AGB5, 4)

Write to:
Societé Spéléologique de Namur, M. Georges Chalon, Route de Dave, B 5100 JAMBES

The entrance to this is in a railway tunnel, the positioning of lookouts and the possession of a timetable is recommended as the ladder hangs in the path of the trains.

16) LA LAIDE FOSSE (AGB5, 21)

17) GROTTE VERONIKA (AGB5, 22); TROU WINANT (AGB5, 39);

In the same area are several caves not described in the guides and a hut, more details can be got from:
M. Albert Brittoz, Rue de Dolembreux 7, B 4050 ESNEUX

18) TROU MOULIN (AGB5, 22)

There are also several show caves in the area; the Grotte de Han is well worth a visit, the rest less so.

The locations of the caves are given in the "AGB's" using the "Planchette" 1:25000 maps. Many of the locked caves are kept so because of the "pretties" but it seems that cavers from abroad will usually be given access if a request is made in advance. With the aid of a few bottles of Trappiste many of the smaller caves can become quite gripping too.