Wednesday 17th August 2022

John Cooper – afternoon. More breaking up boulder. Battery ran out before last bit reduced to manageable size. 1 ½ hours.

The Last/Rabbit Hole? JC, MK and MH – evening. Got to the hut, put food on, locked myself out of the hut and had to rush to see if I could borrow a fob to get in, I could! Is this supposed one of them kind of evenings?! Thanks Wayne.

Met John and Mark H at the dig. Mike went at the sharp end to clear back John’s mess to Mark. Enough moved back to start drilling the impeding rock. Big chunks removed. I got into the next space, with Mark now above me in “Pocket Watch” chamber to help lift some heavy rock out. A couple of draughting routes in different directions, most noticeably down 6ft and SW direction (off to the right). A bit more stabilising needed in places back in the Pocket Watch, but boulders and spaces are getting bigger! - /not a bad evening in the end. Mike 2 hours.

Evening.  John, Mark and Mike.Mike went into the chamber and passed rocks back to Mark to the go up to surface to John. Cleared the debris left by John’s afternoon session. Plug and feathered open a big enough hole to get into the next space. Quite an obvious way on with a pronounced draught down in the floor 6-8ft deep with a rounded off, I think is a wall, rock. It has like a brick work pattern on it and could be the cliff sloping over an edge? All feels safe in the next bit.
Cleared some mud to finish. Chamber needs a little clean and there’s a rock at the connection to the chamber which is a bit annoying for clearing easily
The slab over the top of the next bit could do with another foot or so taken of its edge to make passing spoil back easier. Other than that there’s a lot of stuff to clear down below.
The new bit again is very heavily staled up and feels very safe with the boulders again getting a lot bigger and the spaces getting bigger still.
I would like to cement the rock on the right linking down at the next bit. I think it needs tying into the block above it in the chamber. 2 hours, Mike