Thursday 25th June 2026

Building materials delivered to site.

Building materials on site.

Wednesday 24th June 2026

Freya Bearn, Mike Kushy and James Vickery. We all headed to POT around 3pm with 2 bags of dust (left at connection to Boulder Rift) and a drill. MK went to the Tooth Dig end to clear, with FB on the rope in the awkward chamber and JV filling buckets. Once the dam was cleared we assessed the front and FB felt confident enough to go first. The whole ceiling looked to be shattered and needed crowbar work. FB managed some and then JV went to the front and removed even more. We cleared back to the dam and after a while MK went to the front. Huge boulders stacked randomly which we tried to move back and created another dam (supports) with. PF or capping work needed next to downsize some more boulders. Have no idea where all the spoil will go so maybe we keep the blocks larger and cement them into tactical places?! The view ahead is of a solid bedded ceiling with no fractures at all and a mud filled trench down the right with a nice hole which can't quite be got to safely yet. 3 hours. Mike.

Before clearing. Photo MK.

Partially cleared. Photo MK.

End of session. Photo MK.

End of session. Photo MK.

Saturday 20th June 2026

Freya Bearn and Mike Kushy.

Tea Party Chamber Dig.

We got down the cave for 1100, after lowering 3 bags, 1 drill box and 5l of water which we carried through. We also picked up another 3 bags on route from The Boulder Rift chamber and took everything to TPC. Once we got to TPC FB started mixing and MK started cleaning rock ready for cementing. MK gave FB a quick lesson in PF work and she downsized boulders whilst MK cemented. 3 mixes in total today. At one point a huge boulder came out from the right hand side (as you face the solid wall) and nearly took MK's leg out, so MK added another vertical on that side and braced it off another corner with a diagonal. 1 bag of grit sand, 1 bag of builders, 2 drums of cement, 1 scaffold bar and 2 x 5l of water in cave. We headed out with 2 bags stuffed with bags, the drill box and we also picked up a redundant 50m of firing cable on the way to Puddle Dig (Pool of Tears).

Scaffold dig. Photo MK.

Puddle Dig.

Here we cleared back to the dam until it was full, then we drilled 5 holes @ 600mm x 10mm. Noise made. Out for 1600. 2 whole bags of grit sand in lockbox, no cement. Mike

The sharp end at POT. Photo MK.

Wednesday 17th June 2026

Puddle Dig Team: Freya Bearn, Sam Hill, Stuart Jelliss, Mike Kushy and James Vickery.

Four of us arrived at the entrance at about 18.30 and headed down to Puddle Dig. We carried in 5 bags. 1 of which was sand taken on to TPC by MWa, the other 4 had 3 sand and 1 cement. These were left in Boulder Rift Chamber for use in the TPC dig. Initially James and I were clipping buckets of loose rocks from the dam onto a rope which Mike and Sam then hauled up. However when Stuart Jelliss arrived I was sent down to the dig face. At the bottom of a slope lay an uninviting crawl into a pool of mud and loose bits of rock, which terminated where a large boulder sloped down into a puddle of sloppy mud.

After a while of clearing the larger chunks of rock from the foot of the slope, which I handed up in buckets to Stuart, I ventured towards the far end of the crawl to the foot of the boulder which sloped down from the ceiling. I began to clear the mud by hand, expecting to hit solid rock beneath it, but was instead met by a gritty sand-like substance. Beneath me was a large slab of rock which prevented me from going too far forwards, but I managed to loosen much of the grit with a crowbar which I continued to shovel out. To my excitement, when I pushed the crowbar into the grit, it kept pushing forwards without hitting an endpoint. Furthermore, having cleared enough mud out of the way, I could put my hand underneath the boulder and felt that it arched upwards. It seemed as though beyond the grit and mud was a large gap leading downwards, which could be made accessible by widening the gap between the boulder which sloped down and the rock on the ground. By the time we had stopped, enough had been removed that I could no longer reach through with my arms.

Mike and Sam came down to look. Looking behind us on the way out, we could see cracks in the ceiling beneath which I had been digging. Mike and Sam debated putting in scaffold bars, but it was agreed that the ceiling would have to come down to make it safe. This would also give a bit more room for manoeuvre, as currently there is not space to sit up. Out by 21.00. Freya.

Tea Party Chamber Dig Team: Mikey Waterworth and Mike Wise.

Dropped into the entrance just after 1730 with a drill and grinder in a tackle bag, two batteries in a small box and 3 x 25 litre containers 2 of which were cut as buckets and 1 as a drag tray. After some discussion at the TPC dig, including Mikey disappearing some distance into the floor, operations commenced. All references are made from the viewpoint of someone standing immediately above/in front of the dig.

4 mixes of cement were made and used to fix rocks in place in the large gap below the two large boulders at upper left.

A second horizontal bar was fixed across the front between the two uprights and wedged at each end against rock - see first photo below.

Mud, small rock and some quite large rocks were removed from the floor of the dig in the centre and right hand side. The small stuff was placed above the dig on the left to form a flattish platform and otherwise used to fill voids in the main boulder slope

Large rocks including those from the dig were placed against the new upper horizontal bar as part of our plan to build this up stage by stage to level out the main boulder slope - see video.

The cement mixes used up all the available water, all the cement except for 3/4 of one large daren drum and all the sand except for 1 bag.

We agreed that placement of two bars, one either side between the the two uprights and the two lower bars running to the hanging bedding wall (see photo 2) would be needed to further stabilise things. Also the mud and stone wall adjacent to the bedding wall on the right needs stabilising which could be done by adding more bars with pieces of GRP grid behind and stone wedged in any remaining gaps.

Before leaving we had a bit of a tidy up putting all scaffolding bits up with the red tackle bag and gathering what sand we could find into one location. We left some of the cut 25L positioned as drip collectors but in these weather conditions they are not going to collect very much.

Mikey took the drill/grinder bag up but the battery box and 3 empty daren drums were ferried one at a time by rope up the light connection. The daren drums were chained up through the more tricky parts of the exit although one did escape our care on two occasions.

In the Boulder Rift connection we found 4 tackle bags stashed. Apparently they were 1 of cement and 3 of sand.

We reached the surface hot and bothered but satisfied at 2115.

Mike Wise

Dig location. Photo MWa.

Closer view. Photo MWa.

Dig. Video MWa.

Saturday 13th June 2026

David Cooke (Cookie) and Mike Kushy. We took the 4 scaffold bars by the entrance shaft down to TPC. DC's first time in the cave, so he went through to see MHH. MK started making a mix and this was used up building up to support a corner area. DC returned and continued with another 2 mixes, whilst MK built and added another vertical pole. It's all feeling a lot safer already and we even braved venturing below. There's some hefty calcited boulders to build off lower down and the job isn't looking so difficult to me anymore. 4x drums of sand, 2x cement and a small amount of dust in cave, need water also. We came out the old route. 3 hours. Mike.