Robin Jones (AKA Sweetie) is a renowned caver and mine explorer, cave rescue volunteer, chocolatier, businessman and multi-instrumentalist.

Alongside his service to the North Wales Cave Rescue Organisation, he has built and run independent confectionery businesses, including sweet shops in Rhos-on-Sea and Prestatyn, and the chocolate brand Perfect Temper.

As a long-serving member of the North Wales Cave Rescue Organisation, he has taken part in operations in some of the region’s most demanding underground environments. His service has been recognised with both the King’s Coronation Medal and the Queen’s Jubilee Medal.

Outside of his professional and rescue work, he is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, drums, violin and keyboard.

He is also a committed long-distance walker, having completed routes including Offa’s Dyke Path, Hadrian’s Wall Path, and the Snowdonia Slate Trail in single continuous efforts.

Caving

Robin developed a fascination with the subterranean world from an early age. Growing up in Abergele, North Wales, he spent much of his childhood exploring the surrounding countryside. It was during these early adventures that he first discovered the lead mines of Ffos y Bleiddiaid; an experience that sparked a lifelong passion for caves, mines, and the hidden landscapes beneath the surface.

He later joined a local caving club, where he was taken under the wing of two seasoned cavers who would go on to become lifelong friends. One of Robin’s early trips with the club was to Ogof Nadolig (“Christmas Cave”) in Cilcain, near Mold. Captivated by the system, he spent the next two years exploring Ogof Nadolig in its entirety, carefully documenting and surveying new areas he discovered, some of which were believed to have never been visited before.

His intense focus on Ogof Nadolig eventually came to an abrupt turning point. While attempting to move rocks to squeeze into a higher passage, the boulders suddenly dropped around ten inches before locking back into place, just inches above him. The incident, combined with his growing suspicion that the passage was trending back toward the surface, convinced him to abandon further progress through the choke.

Robin’s attention then shifted to the Milwr Tunnel; an extensive drainage tunnel stretching roughly 10 miles from sea level at Bagillt to Cadole near Loggerheads, constructed to drain the lead mines of Halkyn Mountain. He spent days at a time exploring the numerous side passages, or “lodes,” that branched from the main tunnel. Collectively, these passages extend to over 100 miles across multiple levels, offering a vast and complex underground network that further deepened his dedication to subterranean exploration.

One of the most remarkable areas Robin explored was Powell’s Lode, where the engineered tunnel breaks dramatically into a vast natural cavern beneath Halkyn Mountain. The scale is immediately striking — a huge vertical void descending into darkness, with a deep, cold lake occupying its lower reaches. This point marks a powerful intersection between human engineering and ancient geology, where the Milwr Tunnel cut into a pre-existing cave system formed over thousands of years. Powell’s Lode is not an isolated feature, but part of a much wider natural underground drainage network, long believed to be connected to the sacred waters of St Winifride’s Well. When the tunnel intercepted major water-bearing veins in 1917, the well famously ran dry for a period, providing compelling evidence that the workings had tapped directly into it’s source. For Robin, places like this revealed not just the physical scale of the underground world, but the hidden connections between landscape, history, and legend that run beneath North Wales.

On the 13th April 2017, Robin (who was Secretary of Cambrian Caving Council at the time) and Ian Adams from UCET documented and photographed a rare species of cave fish within the Poacher’s cave system in the Alyn Valley. The discovery was widely noted within the caving community. You can read more about it here: (Source: Wales Underground April 2017 issue 53 https://www.cambriancavingcouncil.org.uk/pdf/newsletters/2017/apr2017.pdf )

Business

Robin demonstrated an eye for business from an early age. As platforms like eBay were still in their infancy and LED technology was becoming more accessible, he invested much of his savings in importing LED photon torches from China, which he successfully sold online.

This early venture led to a series of small businesses, including Free Beat Records, an eBay-based record shop; Siop Cymraeg, a Welsh gift company; and Wise Souvenirs, a wholesale gift business supplying the tourism sector.

He later moved into confectionery, founding Conwy Candies Ltd, a traditional sweet shop based in Rhos-on-Sea. The business expanded beyond retail into e-commerce, including a specialist website offering over 800 varieties of liquorice from around the world. Conwy Candies Ltd. developed a reputation for supporting local charities and community causes, but its reach extended far beyond North Wales. In one notable instance, the business stepped in to support an Eisteddfod in Patagonia after organisers had their Welsh flags stolen, donating 50 replacements to ensure the event could proceed.

The gesture highlighted not only the company’s community focus, but also its connection to Welsh culture on an international scale, reinforcing ties with the Welsh settlement in Patagonia (Y Wladfa).

Building on this success, Robin opened a second shop, Billy Bonka’s Sweet Emporium, on Prestatyn High Street, and launched another wholesale venture, Merlin Confectionery Ltd.

As the online side of the business continued to grow and with rising shop rents and staffing costs, he made the strategic decision to focus fully on e-commerce. Both physical shops closed around 2013, while the online business continued to expand before being sold in 2021.