Monday 2nd January 2023

Mike Kushy, Samuel Hill and Frank Tully. We took in a lot of materials, 6 tackles sacks of sand, 2 tackle sacks of cement and 2 bags with drills. With hopes of getting into the new passage seen last time we set to work at the most recent dig site. The plan was to open up the approach to bring bigger rocks out, we soon gave up on this realising it's a big job and decided to head further down and squirrel on with the hope of a 'big breakthrough'. Frank joined us at this point. Capping and pfs we managed to make a hole big enough to squeeze into the next bit, that wasn't 2m high but more like 2ft, got the width right at about 5m though. Eastwater Lower Traverse type passage, and 'proper cave' with a small streamway. The water hits a sandy cobble filled floor and heads left (looking down), digging here will require opening up the squeeze, which in turn will require opening up the approach to get large rocks out. There's also a couple of fluted rock paths heading back up into the ceiling, but just slightly too tight to get up into. MK on the way out of the new bit decided to go check out the other pit, it was then decided efforts for the day would be better spent on the bottom of our original Boulder Rift dig. Some corners were taken off and we managed to get a body length in, boulders in the ceiling again (clean washed) with an easy diggable floor full of mud and sandstone cobbles...interesting site with a much more pronounced draught! On the way out looking up to the left you can see a hole with water trickling out of it, I predict this is the other side of the chamber we broke into earlier...the survey should confirm this once done.

We then finished off by cementing at the bedding chamber dig. Really happy to start breaking up rocks in the floor here next session and there's quite alot of clatch to come out. 1 half bag of sand and a 1/3 of a half bag at the bottom, quarter Daren drum of cement. There's 2 tackle sacks of sand left in the 4th chamber from the entrance plus a tackle sack of sand and a tackle sack of cement left in the first chamber (plenty enough for the next session). 6 hours in total. Mike.

The bottom left of the new 'breakthrough chamber'

The final squeeze into the new chamber

A view of the new chamber from the squeeze

Sam in the bottom of the original dig in Boulder Rift

The view looking back up from the last photo

The other side of the dig looking back towards Sam

The sharp end

The sharper end

Friday 30th December 2022

Mike Kushy, Samuel Hill, Callum Simmonds and Courtenay James. Took 2 and a half full bags of sand down to the bottom dig in tackle sacks. Used 1 full bag with Sam and Callum. We then all moved up to the Boulder Rift dig. MK went back up cave to the Pit and a clear light connection was made with Sam still in the boulder rift. Would be an easy connection to make! We then carried on the most recent dig. Courtenay showed up around 2ish and he and MK went and did some more cement work, all the sand and cement has been exhausted. I think it should be safe enough next trip to start pulling rocks out of the floor again. Oh, we could hear and feel clear reverberation from the drilling by Sam and Callum. After this we went to join the guys in the Boulder Rift dig. They had got through to a little chamber beyond, with a hole in the floor draughting well. MK went in and dug a hole slightly higher up, which ended up connecting to the other dig in the boulder rift, forming a round trip. The hole in the floor was inspected and decent open passage can be seen ahead, no boulders or mud in sight. Unfortunately opening this up would have taken more time than we had today, and the whole approach could do with enlarging to allow bigger, loose stacked rocks to come right out. 5 1/2 hours. Mike K. 

https://youtu.be/7DBfA40Xa5w

Thursday 29th December 2022

John Cooper and Andrew Thompson. Took in John’s drill etc. Worked on Boulder Rift dig, removing top boulder and was on the lower one when John hit his index finger with the hammer, splitting it open. Packed up and came out. 1 hour. John.

Tuesday 27th December 2022

John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis. Took in enough sand for 3 mixes and cement for 6 mixes plus the drill. Left the drill at the start of the Boulder Rift but the rest went to the bottom dig. John did 3 mixes of cement which Mike used up walling. John then came out with all the empty bags leaving Mike to go to the Boulder Rift dig. 2 hours. John.

After finishing with John cementing (12.30pm ish), Mike K went to do some more work at the most recent dig in the Boulder Rift. Plug and feathering away. Andy Thompson arrived just after 2pm  to provide some much appreciated help. Andy then took over p and f work whilst Mike went to inspect the collapse from Thursday down the other BR dig site. The collapse was obvious and has opened up a lot more room to get to the bottom, there is also a view of some decent space below heading towards the new site. Mike and Andy left the site just before 4, two decent sized boulders to break up still but out of battery power. There's enough cement and water at the cementing site but some more sand will need taking in. 5 hours in all. Mike.

*Photo looking vertically down on the recent dig site, most of the boulder on the left has now been removed*

Thursday 22nd December 2022

John Cooper, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Went in with the diggers but stopped to start surveying at the Pit whilst they went to the bottom dig with more sand and cement. First descended the Pit and updated the one leg done previously. More there than expected. Could talk through to Adrian in the Upper Bedding Chamber but could not get a visual connection. Then on to the Upper Bedding Chamber and surveyed down the East side. Then on to Boulder Rift and surveyed the South going passage – lots of rumbles from below on way out. Needs doing again properly when it’s been made safe. Did not do the Upper North trending bit as the diggers had joined us by then and were below it. 2½ hours. John.

Courtenay James, Mike Kushy, Wayne Starsmore and Mike Wise. Started about 3.30. We took in one and a half bags of sand, a full BDH of cement and an extra container of water, plus the drill bag. Wayne set about a mix whilst Courtenay and Mike W carried on with clearing spoil on the rope haul and Mike K sorted rocks out for the bottom. All the sand and cement was used, 5 and a half small buckets for use at the bottom. Cemented in some steps which will be usable next session and started building up off the floor. I'm guessing another 4-5 sessions to finish. There are lots of big rocks and fist sized rocks at the bottom ready for next time, slight draught. At 5ish Wayne headed on out whilst the rest of us went to trial a new dig site in the Boulder Rift chamber. Under the large horizontal slabs in the middle of the chamber there's a pit that heads down to some clean washed rock. After saying hi to the surveyors and listening to an impressive collapse beneath them we got to work. Progress was steady and all seems safe enough to work without stabilising. Slipknotting a rope around rocks in the floor helped to remove some large lumps. A hole in the floor was revealed with a cool draught being emitted once opened, more work yet. A crowbar, Plug and Feathers box with tools and a rope has been left in place. A good dig to have at the end of short cementing sessions at the bottom. Mike. K

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Sunday 18th December 2022

John Cooper, Mike Kousiounis and Andrew Thompson. Took in sand, cement, mixing tub, dexion and drill (not used). Whilst Mike sorted out his skeleton dexion frame in the bottom pit Andy sent up buckets of spoil for John to stack. Once Mike was ready a mix of cement was done which Mike used to hold the frame in place. Lots more cementing will be required before any progress can be made. 2½ hours. John.

From logbook : A trip down to the dig to do a cementing and scaffolding session. We each lugged a tackle sack to the dig face and Mike assembled the angle iron whilst John and I hauled some of the catch out from the right hand wall on the approach to the face. A short cementing session at the end. Lots more cement needed. 1/3 of cement left in drum. 2 1/2 hours. Andy T.

Saturday 10th December 2022

 Mike Kushy and Courtenay James. 

Started at 11, carried on digging down in the muddy pit at the bottom. Revealed more voids between boulders. Even managed some plug and feathering to remove some decent sized limestone. In one hole a possible solid wall with flowstone and stal' can be seen. Very cold draught coming from all voids and the theory is that it's all just one big space filled with boulder. I think the next way on is down still. Some scaff bars and cement work will be needed before any more progress down though. 5 hours. Mike.

https://youtu.be/R18-xFClXts

Thursday 8th December 2022

 Mike Kushy, solo trip. Carrying on from where Mike Waterworth and I left off yesterday. Carried on down through the floor, some decent holes appearing and the draught is getting stronger, Saturday should be interesting. 5 hours. MK

https://youtu.be/zVyv8Xh5qAQ

Wednesday 7th December 2022

Mike Kushy and Mike Waterworth. More work on the muddy dig, started to go down in the floor and was finding fist sized lumps of limestone instead of the usual sand and mud. Found a draught at the end heading in the same direction as the passage above. 2 1/2 hours. Mike K.

Tuesday 29th November 2022

JC in the bedding below the Boulder Rift.

 

At the bottom of the 2m pot looking through the narrow gap between big boulders.

Looking past what seems to be a tiny funnel in the floor behind the triangular rock to the passage on the left. There may be a continuation on the right as well

 

Looking up out of the muddy bottom dig

JC log. John Cooper and Mike Wise. We first inspected the new lower bedding chamber off the start of Boulder Rift. Probably needs the way in opening up and stabilising but the bottom looks interesting. Then on in and moved a few buckets of spoil from Kushy’s dig face at the bottom. Came out to find yet another gate had been installed by Tuska and Al. 2½ hours.

MW comments - there are two squeezes through boulders to pass below the Boulder Rift to get to the restricted bedding and below that, at the bottom of a 2m deep x 0.75m (ish) diameter pot, a small (maybe 0.5m x 0.5m at most) damp passage with a too tight gap between two very large blocks which prevent entry. Floor is packed mud and stone which is diggable. Immediately behind the triangular rock on the floor in the 4th photo is what seemed to be a small scalloped muddy funnel in the floor but was not fully visible. The item on the floor in photo 3 is my glasses case. 

It's all quite small, probably smaller than I think it is, but interesting! 😀

Sunday 20th November 2022

Mike Kushy and Geoff Newton started at 9.30. Cleared more mud and silt, quite wet at the bottom. Andy Thompson joined us around 11.30. Then Courtenay James and Monica joined us around 12. With the bigger group we were able to take stuff up much higher. There's enough space at the lower dumping area for a small group to use for another couple of sessions. Geoff left around 12.30 and the rest of us got out around 2.30 after a look in the Boulder Rift. Mike.

Sunday 13th November 2022

Mike Kushy and Monica Bollani.
MB at the front of the mud dig tunneling along, got another metre along then hit a very thick (2ft) layer of calcited conglomerate in the floor. Towards the end MK went in and had a poke at the ceiling and left the dig with what looks like a rift line in the ceiling, slight draught at the end. Came out to find a gate fitted in the fence, good job T! 🙂 4 1/2 hours, Mike.

Continued to make space in the muddy tube, digging across and down slightly left to follow the ceiling. Some big chunks of conglomerate coming out of the floor, and a mix of sandy grit and clay like mud. Definitely looks like 50 shades of brown. 4 1/2 hours. Monica. (From log book).

Fresh video uploaded Click on the link 'To watch the diggers in action on YouTube click here' under the page header.

Wednesday 9th November 2022

Mike K., Adrian Miles and Pete Hellier. Cleared more mud out for a couple of hours then went to look at the boulder rift area.  2 1/2 hours. Mike.

Saturday 5th November 2022

Mike Kushy, Dickon Morris...then Mike Waterworth joined us about 2pm. MK and DM carried on at the mud pit. Cleared until 1.30pm then stopped for lunch. The void in the mud pit doesn't connect to the chamber above, a light connection was unsuccesful but a vocal connevction was possible. We then decided to mix things up and had a go at the boulder rift dig. Made a little breakthrough and got into a lower bedding passage. About 7m in length, 4-5m wide and probably another 5m deeper. Little immature streamway at the bottom and a smaller strike line in the roof than the mud pit dig. The mud pit looks more promising. Mike.

MK, MW and Dickon Morris.

MK and DM started around 10. Tidied up some more of the rocks around the top of the mud pit dig then started tossing buckets of mud into made stacking spaces. Progressing forwards it feels like the best way on is left and down. We checked for a light connection between the void up higher in the dig and the passage that goes overhead but no connection was made, we could talk to each other though. It's hard to tell how long this dig will take. Around 1.30 we stopped for lunch, then at 2ish MW joined us. 

To mix things up and make the most of having drill batteries we had a look at the boulder rift dig. DM and MW took turns breaking up rocks in the floor until a big enough space was opened to get into something. We went in to investigate and found more bedding passage, but it feels lower than the other bedding, a survey will reveal if this is so. The new passage is tight at first then opens a little, it's about 5m wide, goes in about 7m and probably 5m depth gained. There's an immature streamway at the bottom with a smaller strike line in the ceiling than the mud pit dig. I favour the mud pit dig as logistics here would be difficult.

Mike (email report)

Friday 4th November 2022

John Cooper, Geoff Newton. Removing loose boulders and clatch in the right hand wall of the dig. JC demolished a large boulder - a war of attrition with lump hammer. Geoff.

John Cooper and Geoff Newton. Tidying up the bottom dig. Broke up and moved boulders, collapsed walls to make safe. Kushy's crowbar not seen, must be buried deep in the floor somewhere. 2 hours. John