Wednesday 10th September 2025

Mike Kushy, Hollie London, Ed Ford and Mike Wise. MK and HL to begin with. We made our way in around 5.30pm with batteries and a tub of sand. Picking up 2x scaff' bars on the way everything was taken to TPC. EF arrived not long after with his Dewalt 18v drill so we handed him some pfs and he opened up the head of the light connection more. This has revealed that some extra stabilisation needs doing here, possibly some cementing and a scaff' bar for a brace. Meanwhile HL was attacking The Hookah Pipe with the sds and chisels, whilst MK did more furnishing of TPC's floor. MK then went through The Hookah Pipe and used the Bosch sds from the far side. MW arrived and made it into TPC for the first time and said it wasn't as bad as we made out. He brought his Makita 36v in and attacked the pipe from TPC side. We all swapped turns tidying the floor and chiselling. Towards the end EF managed to get through THP into the decorated chamber beyond so he did some pf work from the far side. HL had a go at THP too. I think she could have done it but the squeeze is very intimidating and it's not going anywhere. Probably another session and we may be able to start hauling buckets of mud back into TPC. 3 tubs of sand and 1 tub of cement in cave, no water. There is 5l bottle of drinking water on the shelf near the bottom of the shaft. This will need an empty tackle sack to take further in. We also need to take in a heavier lump hammer for calcite.  3 1/2 hours. Mike K.

Sunday 7th September 2025

Mike Kushy, Hollie London, Nick Gymer and John Cooper. 

MK, HL and NG got underground for just after 10, carrying lots of batteries and picking up materials along the way to take to Tea Party Chamber. HL and NG had a look around whilst MK got the gear needed to open up the light connection more. HL went up cave a couple of trips to fetch more material and try to hear out for JC's arrival. Meanwhile NG continued with stabilsing of TPC floor whilst MK managed to straighten up the light connection. Next the 3 stopped for a short tea and snack break. It was getting cold so we decided to have a go at the Hookah Pipe (high level phreatic tube). MK went through and NG passed through drill, pfs etc to open up the pipe from the far side. Slightly easier now but its going to take a few sessions yet. NG and HL were clearing the mud from the TPC side some more and they also did a mix of cement to key in some big floor rocks. JC arrived at some point. He and HL went surveying whilst MK and NG continued work on the Hookah Pipe. JC left and HL had a go at getting into the new chamber. More to open yet and we will have to haul through this too. Don't want to use explosives as there's a really nice formation on the far side. 2 full drums of sand in cave, 1 of cement and no water. 5 hours. Mike.

Video of the new chamber.

The cater'pillar'? Photo MK.

HL attempting the Hookah Pipe into the new chamber. Photo MK.

The current end in the new chamber. Photo MK.

Looking down the furthest left 'tube' in the previous photo. Photo MK.

John Cooper waited until it had stopped raining (Thunderstorms!) before entering at 11am. Started surveying from the top of Cement Dig (station 82 of the Bedding survey). Surveyed on down, getting confused where the Tea Party Chamber sign made me think I had to drop down the hole by it. Fortunately decided to survey the top chamber first. At the end of that I noticed the handline down into the light connection. About halfway down this when I heard Hollie's voice and she was able to tell me the "easy" way to get down it. Surveyed a bit of Tea Party Chamber and Hollie did the lower bit. Will need another trip to get more detail. Got cold by then so went out. 3 hours.