Mike Kushy, solo. Took in drills and broke up the rest of the 1st section of slab. This is now in pieces at the bottom and ready to be cleared. Started 4 holes on the next slab. Should be much easier going on the next piece. Nice draught from below. Went to surface and made a mix to fit into 2 buckets. Took the mix and used it stabilise around the 10ft climb. This should now be safe to straighten out. 4 hours, MK.
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| Current dig face, red line shows the line of drill holes started. Photo MK. |
John Cooper, Alex Hannam, Sam Hill, Callum Simmonds and Andy Thompson. Andy worked on the surface, initially clearing the rocks John stacked by the entrance on 14th April and then hauling. Sam took his drill in for p/f work and John took in one of the large hauling buckets with a tape handle. Initially Sam was at the bottom loading rocks into the large bucket which Callum hauled up the 10ft climb and passed them to John to stack in the Boulder Chamber. Once that was done Callum went down for a look and John made a start moving the rocks outwards. Some of the larger ones were broken up by Sam. Alex arrived and also went for a look at the bottom. From then on rocks were moved up in stages to the shelf and then on upwards before eventually reaching the bottom of the entrance shaft. Callum had to leave to go to work but the rest cleared all the rocks to the surface. The slab is now ready for Kushy’s attention. 2 hours.
Mike Kushy, solo trip. Went and broke down some of the rocks from last night and worked on making the slab squeeze easier. Tried to squeeze down the hole nearest the solid wall feet first, I got stuck at my hips. Whilst there I had a look down the other hole in the floor, doesn't go. Prominent cold draught from the hole nearest the solid wall. Looked around the chamber and all looks risky stuff. Need to bang out the slabs and follow the solid wall. Moved some rock up cave, more still at the bottom of the 10ft climb but too difficult to shift alone. 3 1/2 hours. Mike.
AM - Mike Kushy solo. Carried on working on the big boulder, good chunks removed. Small enough rocks were posted through the hole in the wall into next door passage. With batteries spent I decided to have a go at getting past the boulder, and I succeeded. Awkward little twist to get into the boulder chamber beyond. Made some videos of the chamber and 2 interesting holes in the floor. If I had had someone with me I would have gone on in. Now I'm sure we're on the right road. Next step is to open up the awkward climb down more and blow the big boulder to pieces. Great draught coming from below. 3 hours. MK
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| Decent sized fossil in the new chamber. Photo MK. |
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| Boulder after using up batteries. Photo MK. |
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| The view of the best hole in the floor estimated 2-3m wide. Photo MK. |
PM - Mike Kushy solo. The awkward 10ft climb is no longer awkward. 2 1/2 hours.
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| Big flake that came off. Photo MK. |
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| Head of climb down. Photo MK. |
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| Looking down the climb. Photo MK. |
Sam Hill. Went down solo and attacked the slab for 2 hrs. No pictures but got a good chunk off it. It is easier to attack now. Could do with a second person at some point to help clear rock from the bottom. Sam.
Mike Kushy and John Cooper.
Cleared out the rocks on the bedding slope to start with, MK in cave and JC on surface. 22 buckets cleared. MK then went down to attack the boulder at the bottom, whilst JC surveyed the new chamber. Still can't quite fit through, the pinch point is at the very end of the boulder, unfortunately this means the whole boulder has to come out. After we were both done we then cleared the remaining rock from the shelf to surface, 15 buckets this time. Still some rock down near the chamber to clear. Cold draught at the dig face. 3 1/2 hours. MK.
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| The dig face. Photo MK. |
Mike Kushy and Sam Hill.
Mike to start with. Set about opening up the top of the awkward 10ft climb and removing rock. SH arrived and downsized rock in the chamber. Once the climb was opened up SH went down to see the bottom and start work on removing obstructing rock. Unfortunately we couldn't quite squeeze over the long boulder so each of us took turns attacking it. In between a couple of new routes around the boulders were opened up to investigate other ways through, nothing easy to be had. A hard attempt at the end to squeeze into new passage but just too tight, one more attack with pfs and failing that we'll just turn it into dust. 5 hours for me. MK
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| Looking into the sharp end. Photo MK. |
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| Head first view of over the boulder. Photo MK. |
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| Top of the 10ft climb down. Photo MK. |
Sam Hill and Adrian Miles. Good session last night. Ran out of drill juice. Sam started at 6pm breaking up the boulders that had already been started on. Adrian joined just after 7pm and moved rock up cave to ledge. Both then switched around with Adrian on the drill using up remaining juice. Some larger lumps in chamber still to breakup, but majority of rock was moved back up to below the top step. 2 3/4 hrs. Sam.
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| Where the boulders were. Photo SH. |
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| Looking down the hole. Photo SH. |
Trevor Hughes, Mike Kushy, Pete Hann, John Cooper, Nigel Graham and Frank Tully.
TH went to the dig face to downsize rock and move it up cave. With MK at the step and PH at the bottom of the shaft all of the rock was cleared to the surface by JC and NG. This took about an hour and a half. MK then went and brought rock from the sloping floor up to PH to be cleared out again. MK then went down to TH and brought more rock from the bottom up to PH, MK was knackered and went to surface for a drink and rest. When back at the site PH had just called for the last load to come up. PH then joined TH and MK brought the drill down to them. More rock had been gathered by TH. MK and JC then brought 2 big loads up to the shaft for clearing by NG and FT. MK then joined the guys at the dig face. PH spoke of an interesting hole that had been opened by the pair and I was convinced to take a look. The vertical squeeze entered the same area that the Wednesday diggers got into, but was an alternative route in. Had a look around then before the second squeeze. TH said light came through a hole,which would be on the far right of the main chamber looking in. This was dug from both sides and was a much more comfortable exit, also allowing a short round trip through the small bouldery Chambers...note: MK went through the second squeeze and could clearly hear a low volume of flowing water from underneath somewhere. On the way back out through the newly created exit a hole to the left looked very inviting and on the other side had regained the solid wall feature prominent in the rest of the cave! Sat next to the wall it is possible to go up cave for a few metres, likely this is the other side of the higher up bedding slope below the step. Looking down cave a black hole in the floor with loose boulders was blocking the way on. TH left about now and JC was asked to get a mix on for PH. In the meantime the remaining battery was used to remove boulders from the way on. Enough was removed to allow access to an awkward drop down, approximately 10ft. At the bottom a sloping and stepping calcite floor heads off into the distance, about 20ft ahead it looks like it opens up and drops off. Alas a dodgy boulder is blocking the way on and unsure whether to remove in such a cramped condition I decided to leave and work on making access to this area better with what battery remained. PH did a grand job on cement work in the chamber and it's feeling very safe. Next step I reckon is to carry on work opening up the climb down and access. 4 1/2 hours. Mike.
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| View on at the bottom of the 10ft climb down. Photo MK. |
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| Main chamber, way on to the right where crowbar points. Photo MK. |
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| A look back up cave from the middle of the chamber, where boulder used to be. Photo MK. |
Mike Kushy, solo trip.
Got into the cave about 7.15pm. Set to work downsizing the rest of the boulder in the way. With this dealt with and moved up cave a large rock on the right was then downsized. Nice hole straight down under this, clearly well sculpted by powerful water. Out of battery I then went to take a look at the beyond. Chamber was bigger than I expected. Obvious and safest way on seems to be on the right at the far end, looks like the floor can be dug without affecting anything around. In the middle of the chamber at the far end, rocks can be chucked into a hole and they drop further than anything I've experienced so far. A lot of calcite around. Lots of rock to clear to bring the chamber floor lower. Towards the end I moved a lot of rock up and cleared all of this, plus the rock on the shelf, up to the higher bedding area for clearing tomorrow. Draught is picking up! Mild night outside. 3 hours. Mike.
Sam Hill at dig at 18:30. Crawled over top of boulder to access it from other side and then started plug and feathering boulder. Joined by Alex Hannam around 19:30. He moved rock up to shelf and then took over PF. Once drill batteries were used up we both looked around beyond the boulder. 2.5hrs. Sam.
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| Boulder before. Photo SH. |
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| Boulder after. Photo SH. |
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| Alex entering over boulder remains. Photo SH. |
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| Alex in squeeze down. Photo SH. |
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| Fossils. Photo SH. |
