Sunday 6th October 2024

Mike Kushy and Jake Baynes. Mike went down with both drills first then realised he'd left the batteries for one drill in the car, so left one at the base of the shaft. Went to the dig face and started drilling. Jake arrived not long after with materials and the other drill in hand. Whilst Mike continued drilling Jake took the surplus drill back to surface and retrieved the wire that MK had hidden in a bucket. By the time Jake got back I had just finished drilling. With charge laid Jake headed out with the used drill. 1 hole at 1m on the left and one hole just under 1m on the left. One 1m hole on the right. MK then continued the set up and reeled out to the base of the shaft. Charge set off from there. Could feel the pressure quite substantially. Took the wire up a little higher and tied onto ladder. Arrived on surface to some very wet weather and JB had headed home. 1 1/2 hours. MK.

Friday 4th October 2024

John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis. MK went down to free up wire which JC coiled on surface. Then MK loaded rocks which JC hauled to the surface. 21 loads later drill sent down to MK who went off to dig face. JC moved the rocks onto the walls before departing. 1½ hours. John.

As above, then MK took the drill down to the dig face. The bang had done a really good job (sorry forgot to get photos). Cleared as much as possible then managed to pry some large slabs off the walls. These were broken down with pfs. Sam Hill arrived around 6ish. SH cleared bags of clatch and rocks back up cave. After a while MK left SH to have a go at removing more rock. MK went round to Boulder Rift to look at the place he and JC saw each other through (see report of 28th September 2024). MK also squeezed down into the lowest point of the Boulder Rift chamber (a wide but narrow gap in bedding). SH shone his light straight ahead at the dig face and MK could see it roughly 10ft away. Back in the Boulder Rift chamber MK did some draught testing. No draught from Tooth Dig, but a strong draught coming up into the BR chamber from the lowest point, strong outwards draught coming out of the dig face too...signifies there's something between the current dig face and Tooth Dig going on. The current view at the dig face looks like the ceiling rises some 10ft ahead. Next step is 45° 1m long drill holes to work our way ahead. About 4 1/2 hours for me. MK.

Current end. Photo SH.

Wednesday 2nd October 2024

John Cooper, Sam Hill and Mike Wise. JC arrived first and started moving rocks from the shelf to the bottom of the entrance shaft. When SH arrived he started moving rocks along Boulder Chamber. When JC had moved all the rocks from the shelf to the bottom of the entrance shaft he collected SH and together they hauled 12 loads to the surface. MW’s arrival interrupted them. SH and MW went down to the dig face and SH assisted MW with reaming out the holes and setting the charge. Meanwhile JC continued moving rocks from the Boulder Chamber to the base of the entrance shaft. Once completed he went down and assisted with carrying out the drill etc. All went OK. At present the wire is down the entrance shaft and there is an unstable pile of boulders at the base awaiting removal to the surface. 3¼ hours for JC. John.

Arrived at 1810 and staggered through the gates carrying 3 bags and 2 boxes to meet John at the surface hauling rocks with Sam below.  Underground at 18.20 hours. Sam helped carry the kit to the face and also held the kit I didn't need from time to time because there are no usable flat surfaces to put things in reach. Looking down cave, first hole on left needed 50mm of crap drilled out, but the others were OK. Blowpipe used to blow out as much gritty water as possible.  Brought 3m of 40g and also 3m of 5g. Front 4 holes charged to their bottoms, back 2 holes charged with what we had left over. Needed at least 2.5m of 5g. On the way out the rock pile below the ladder collapsed under me, with 4 rocks moving. One big one fell down missing the wire. I held the other 3. One was stashed back in a more stable spot but the other two went up and over into the old entry passage. Fired from surface.  Back at the cars at 20.05 hours. Mike.

Tuesday 1st October 2024

John Cooper. Deepening and reaming out the 6 holes for Mike Wise to use tomorrow. Problems with water and mud flowing down into the holes so not sure how much useable depth they will have. Used the 600mm bit so a possible 500mm. 1½ hours. John.

Saturday 28th September 2024

Mike Kushy and John Cooper.

MK went in ahead freeing up the bang wire, which JC reeled in, and took the drill to the bottom. Then cleared loose rocks up the slope back to the base of the awkward climb. When JC arrived the pair cleared the rocks at the base of the climb back to Boulder Chamber. JC then set to moving rocks up cave whilst MK went to the sharp end to clear the bang spoil, mostly gravel. I believe a lot had been washed forwards with the rain. A good couple of slabs peeled off from the right hand wall and these broke up with a hammer. Once suitably cleared MK then headed up cave to join JC. JC then headed to surface to mix some cement while MK continued clearing rocks back to the bedding slope higher up. The big shelf is pretty much full. MK met JC on surface and the mix was poured into 3 buckets. MK took 1 to the dig face to use whilst JC made his way in with the other 2. A wall was built on the left of the dig face and clatch put behind. MK used the 2nd bucket cementing steps into the floor and patching up some of the walls. JC used the 3rd bucket in Boulder Chamber. JC went round into the old cave to check if we could get a light connection to the hole on the left where we think a chamber is. It turns out JC could get into the chamber from the Boulder Rift area. This could be opened up better from the Boulder Rift side and would allow a lot of spoilt to go that way rather than up the steep slope. JC then left and MK drilled 6 holes, 12mm x 400mm, 3 on the floor on the left and 3 on the floor on the right. 4 1/2 hours for me. Mike.

Before clearing. Photo MK.

After clearing. Photo MK.

Thursday 19th September 2024

John Cooper and Mike Wise. MW charged the 4 holes drilled by JC yesterday. JC advised some of them might be longer than expected, so with only 2m of 40g, we prioritised the two holes on the left and the upcave hole on the right and packed them to the brim. The remaining 250mm or so of 40g went into the 4th hole. JC kindly took the bang bag out while MW connected the det and brought the cable back out to the surface. Fired satisfactorily. MW bang wire remains in place. 1.5 hours. Electrical tape was used in the top of the first hole, but subsequently, 4" cable ties were used because the slimy, wet conditions stopped the tape sticking. Mike.

Wednesday 18th September 2024

John Cooper. Drilled 4 holes for Mike Wise to use tomorrow. All 12mm with a top 100mm of 14mm. Two furthest in 400mm deep and nearer ones 600mm deep. 1½ hours. John.

Sunday 15th September 2024

Mike Kushy and Nicky Pearce. 

Made a 2 bucket mix and me and NP took a bucket in each. NP used the 1st bucket up on the right hand wall, whilst MK had a go at the boulders ahead. Managed to take enough off to allow access to the floor. The 2nd bucket was used by MK to build a retaining wall on the left and cement in the boulders in the ceiling, NP had left during this. MK then cleared as much out of the floor as physically possible and put it behind the new wall. The floor needs drilling and banging to allow progress ahead. 4 hours. MK 

A view under the boulders ahead, I'm about 2 body lengths in. Photo MK.

The dig face. Photo MK.

Friday 13th September 2024

Mike Kushy and Mike Wise.

We cleared some rock back and stashed a load in the Boulder Rift connection. Mike had a camera rig which we poked into the chamber to the left. We then cleared the mid week bang spoil back. 2 big rocks in the ceiling denying us the ability to dig out the floor. Nice view ahead of a solid bedding ceiling. 4 hours. MK.

View ahead. Photo MK.

After clearing . Photo MK.

Wednesday 11th September 2024

Trtevor Hughes and Adrian Miles. All holes drilled out where needed and fired. The top right hole was left because the flake it is in is so thin that the whole thing could be beaten to death with a decent hammer ( I tend to use a short handled 7lb sledge).
Good luck for the weekend.
The rock pile at the base of the climb down before the final slope could really do with being moved up and out of the way. 1 1/2 hours. Trevor.

Sunday 8th September 2024

Mike Kushy, Mike Wise, John Cooper, Monica Bollani, Courtenay James and Trevor Hughes.

MK to start with. Arrived at site around 10.15am and then got about making a mix. 2 buckets filled up and carried to the dig face, used these supporting the ceiling blocks and building a wall on the left. The filled sacks were then tipped behind the newly built wall. Headed out with empty buckets and returned to the face with the drill. Drilled 5x12mm holes to a depth of 400mm. Feeling done in from the weekend's activities I was looking forward to exiting and leaving the rest of the cement work to another day...seems JC had other plans in mind. On return to the surface JC and MW were using the last of the materials to do yet another mix, fortunately I had MW to assist with the bucket carrying this time. I think MW was surprised on how long it took to get to the face, having not been down the new route yet. MW used 1 of the buckets to build more rock in around the Boulder Rift connection, whilst I used my bucket finishing off the wall on the left and filling in any other gaps around. CJ and MB came to see our progress, both having a look at the sharp end. On their way out CJ, MB and MW moved some rock from the pile in the chamber to the shelf higher up. TH arrived around 2.30'ish. I stayed down the bottom and pointed out what rocks could be broken up more and where had been cemented, TH seems very enthusiastic about the view beyond. I headed out and left him to it. 5 hours for me. MK.

Current end with drill holes. Photo MK.

What a huge amount of work that has been done down WR over the weekend. Joining as tail end Charlie on today’s trip I was given the task of boulder reduction - this was done and the resulting debris was moved back up-cave to the base of the climb. (take care when passing these).

We should get a bang in on Wednesday - this will get us very close to the interesting black spaces ahead. Trevor.

There is now enough sand and cement on site for another couple of mixes. John.

Saturday 7th September 2024

Mike Kushy, solo. Went in about 7.15pm. Took the drill in to downsize the big boulders ahead. Need to break rock down some more, but all the bigger stuff has now been moved back. Filled up some sacks of clatch. The chamber to the left looks really interesting and I think we should cement a way into this. Down in the floor it looks caveable beyond the next boulders. 3 hours.

Current dig face. Photo MK.

Friday 6th September 2024

Mike Kushy, Jason Hares, John and Danny Arnold.

First we started by clearing the rocks at the bottom of the 10ft climb back to the chamber. Then we all moved down cave and cleared the over stock of rocks from the bottom. These all ended up in the chamber eventually. MK then went to the front and filled sacks, these got tipped into the pit at the Boulder Rift connection. After the front was cleared sufficiently there were bigger rocks to plug and feather. MK set about this and the others all took turns to look at the front. When the others were gone a few rocks were felled but not enough battery to break them all up. There's a couple of small streams below us somewhere. Draught okay today. 4 1/2 hours for me. MK.

Mk's YouTube video from today

Bang spoil. Photo MK.

After clearing. Photo MK.

Wednesday 4th September 2024

John Cooper and Trevor Hughes. John in at 18.00 to add a bit to the survey of Boulder Rift. Came out 19.00 to meet Trevor then both in to bang yesterday’s holes. All went OK. Wire left just below lid. 2 hours for me. John.

A good firing- as per your picture. Maybe not a breakthrough but certainly a vast pile of rocks to clear. A lot of small(ish) rocks ahead, a good stacking/removal policy is needed. Having said that it does, indeed, look very promising. Trevor.

Tuesday 3rd September 2024

John Cooper. Drilled holes ready for banging. 2 in first boulder (vertical) and 1 in second boulder (horizontal). 1 hour. John.

Holes drilled 12mm top 100mm then 10mm: red 500mm deep, blue 300mm deep.
Red vertically downwards, blue horizontal.
Red boulder is only about 300mm thick.

Friday 30th August 2024

Mike Kushy. Cementing.

Arrived about 10.30. Mixed up and took 2 heavy buckets of cement to the dig face. Used this on the right hand, fractured wall. Then got back to surface about 1.15pm and set to making another 2 buckets of mix. JC arrived just as I had lowered the buckets, he kindly cleaned up the tools whilst I went back down. Used one bucket ahead and the other bucket building steps and losing rocks in gaps. Got to surface about 3pm. Too tired to drill or run cable. 4 1/2 hours. MK.

A royal welcome to the dig this morning . Photo MK.

Thursday 29th August 2024

Mike Kushy. Went in at 4pm. Retrieved bang wire and stated clearing debris. Bit fumey in the boulder chamber, but below this the air was okay. Bang did just as needed. Cleared back as much as possible and broke up the easy to pick rock. Lots of cement work to be done before attacking the next boulder ahead. A view beyond this boulder shows the floor dropping away more steeply. A cross section where fault and bedding passage meet ahead and what looks to be a significant hole at the bottom. Draught present, but not obvious. 3 hours. MK

MK's YouTube video from today

Bang debris. Photo MK.

After clearing. Photo MK.

Wednesday 28th August 2024

John Cooper and Trevor Hughes. John arrived at 18.00 and went to in to deepen the holes already drilled. Did the two on the right and the one in the floor but didn’t touch the ones on the left. Brought drill out and Trevor arrived about 19.00. Charge set up but holes not cooperating as wished for. Out by 20.00 leaving reel at top of ladder to be removed next time. 2 hours for me. John.

There are now 3 bags of sand, 2 of dust and a new bag of cement on site. Plus 25L water container topped up.

Monday 26th August 2024

John Arnold, John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis. Mike went in first to free up bang wire used Sunday which I hauled up to surface and wound onto drum. Then JA followed him in whilst JC did a cement mix, 1 bag of sand, ¼ bag of dust and same of cement. JA returned and lowered this down to JC in 3 buckets. JC ferried the first and second down to the shelf before collecting the third. At the 10ft climb JA went down and JC lowered a bucket of cement down which was stashed away whilst Mike cleared the dig face. JC collected the other 2 and ferried them down to the 10ft climb. One was taken on down by JC and used cementing boulders at the climb into the Boulder Rift connection. JC then used up the second one continuing the work and also losing boulders by cementing them into the floor. The third bucket was delivered to Mike who asked for another mix. JC took out the two empty buckets and did another mix of the same size (collected water from cattle trough). JA arrived with the third bucket, now empty, so when the mix was ready the same procedure as before was followed. Two of the buckets were used by Mike at the face whilst JC used a bit more on the floor. Once 2 buckets were empty JC took them out and cleared up on the surface before returning to Upper Pitts for tea and cake. JA and Mike continued for another hour. Need all cement supplies replenishing now. 3½ hours for me. John C.

The bang did as expected. Cleared rocks back and passed bags of shrapnel back to JA to lose behind the sloping block. JC arrived with 3 buckets of cement and set to building walls higher up cave. I used the 3rd bucket at the dig face. Another 3 buckets came in and I used 2 of these at the dig face again. Propping up large rocks and building a wall to the left and across the ceiling. Hopefully stable enough now to bang without much movement. Used the drill to make 5 holes. 4 1/2 hours. MK
 

Bang debris. Photo MK.

After clearing, with 5 holes drilled ready for bang. Photo MK.

Sunday 25th August 2024

 Mike Kushy, solo. Setting up charge, all went well. 1 1/2 hours. MK.

Wednesday 21st August 2024

Mike Kushy and John Cooper. 

MK got to the dig around 10am. Took drills in and downsized the rocks at the dig face. Cleared clatch behind the sloping block on the right. Drilled 2 12x400mm holes in the floor. Moved rocks up cave and got to surface just before 1pm. Started making a mix and JC showed up just after 1pm. JC and I took a bucket of muck down to the face each. When the first bucket was used JC headed out with it to make another mix whilst MK carried on cementing, JC remarked on the noticeable draught when he came down the 10ft. 2nd bucket used up MK headed out and caught JC coming in. They transferred buckets and JC headed up to grab the last bit of mix whilst MK went to use the 3rd bucket up. A sizeable pillar has been built up to the roof on the left and the gap in the ceiling has been cemented up, also some more cement around the boulder ahead. The cement left over was used to build steps onto the steep slope to ease passage, JC also used some cement around the boulder rift connection area. Cool, strong draught. All ready for a charge Sunday. 5 1/2 hours for me. Mike.

After clearing rock. Photo MK.

Cement work. Photo MK.

Saturday 17th August 2024

Mike Kushy, solo.

It doesn't always go to plan

Started by taking 2 buckets of cement mix in. Used up the first one on the right hand block. Lost a lot of clatch behind this once cementing was done. Started on preparing the LH wall for cement work, then a large boulder started shifting towards me. Moved back to a safe space until it had settled, then used a long crowbar to shift it into a breaking position. Another large rock then followed behind it. With rock now completely in the way I used the second bucket of mix further up cave and headed out to grab the drill. Lots of PF work until the batteries ran out. Still more rock to break up...but enough room now to start cementing. Headed out to surface and made another decent sized mix, again 2 buckets brought to the face. Built up from the floor up to a large boulder on the left. One cement bucket is still stuck at the dig face under a large rock.

A look over the large boulder on the left  through a 6 inch gap gives a view of what looks a decent sized vertical 'inlet' heading towards what ever is in front of us. Straight ahead is a view through boulders of 10ft or so. Stones falling quite far when chucked ahead. Draught seems to be picking up also.

Next step is break up and clear rock  and get more cement in on the left hand side wall/ceiling.

5 1/2 hours, Mike.

First boulder that dropped out of the LH wall. Photo MK.

Breaking first boulder, second boulder that dropped out behind. Photo MK.

Dig face face at the end of session. Photo MK.

.

Vertical 'inlet'. Photo MK.

MK's YouTube video from today

Wednesday 7th August 2024

John Cooper. One mix of cement taken in, 2 buckets. Continued on supporting the boulder on the right-hand side. Will need lots more, as well as the wall on the left-hand side. Just finishing off as the next team arrived. 2 hours. John.

Mike Moxon, Adrian Miles and Trevor Hughes joined John (mortaring up the right hand side at the end). Adrian drilled 3 long holes - Kushy’s red dots - which, with 40g, will suffice to demolish the boulder and these were capped with tagged spiles to keep out debris. Mike and Trevor built a rock retaining wall back up passage, below the link to the higher passages, to store future spoil. As John said on site, a lot more pointing up needs to be done before the next charges can be fired. Of note: one of the shot holes penetrated right through the boulder, the other two not so. It will be an easy removal in due course. 1 1/2 hours for us. Trevor.

Yellow -draught, Red - next holes, Green - cement. Photo MK.

Tuesday 6th August 2024

John Cooper. One mix of cement taken in, 2 buckets, and made a start on supporting the boulder on the right-hand side. Will need lots more as well as the wall on the left-hand side. 2 hours. John.

Saturday 3rd August 2024

Mike Kushy and Trevor Hughes.

MK got the the cave about 10.45. A large boulder had fallen out from the bang, this was downsized and moved up cave. The bang had done alot of damage. Cleared the face a bit and Trevot arrived about 13.30. We filled bags with small clatch and found holes around to lose a lot of loose stuff into. TH had a go at the front, breaking up loose rock and crowbarring what he could safely. The end is going to need some stabilising before another bang, mainly the big sloping boulder on the right needs trapping in place. It would be nice not to have this one move as it's a lot of rock to deal with. Some rocks stacked around as walls, a good load at the bottom of the awkward climb to send higher up. Finished at 16.30. Mike.

Before clearing. Photo MK.

During clearing. Photo MK.

After. Photo MK.

Wednesday 17th July 2024

John Cooper. Started at 6pm moving the rocks on the shelf up to the bottom of the entrance shaft. Then moved on down and moved rocks from Boulder Chamber up to the bottom of the entrance shaft. Was just completing this when Jake Baynes and Sam Hill turned up, 7pm. Went back down and handed them the empty bags from Sunday. Left them at the bottom filling the spoil bags and moving rocks along to the bottom of the 10ft climb. I then went out to find Trevor Hughes and Adrian Miles with drills etc. Back down with them and they started drilling holes. Meanwhile Sam and Jake passed rocks and bags of spoil up the 10ft climb. Once all up that the rocks were moved on up in stages to the bottom of the entrance. One unfortunate incident when Jake passed a boulder up to the shelf that disintegrated in John’s hands leaving Jake with a bruised arm from the larger piece (2 house brick size). All the rocks at the bottom of the entrance shaft were then hauled to the surface. There are a few bags of spoil in Boulder Chamber to put behind Pete’s wall next time. Sam then went back down just in time to help carry the drills etc out. The wire, 50m, was only just long enough! The reel was left in just below the lid. Out for 9.30pm. 3½ hours for me. John.

Face before drilling, taken 7 days ago. Photo SH.

A successful bang - a line of long holes to raise the roof ( below the blue line ) and the two water worn flutes on the floor should now be removed, at least for 1/2 m or so. No real draft tonight probably due to building high pressure.
All the tools removed back out of harm’s way including the jammed plug and feather set which became a long shot hole.
The way ahead does look quite promising.
If someone can coil up my wire and leave it on the surface I would be appreciative.
Progress has been good and it was a welcome return to the underground for me.
Adrian’s new toy performed excellently and I’m sure we will see much more of this soon. Trevor.

Sunday 14th July 2024

John Cooper and Roz Simmonds. One mix of cement taken down in two loads. Initially we moved the bags of clatch from the dig face to Boulder Chamber where they were emptied behind Pete’s wall. The cement was then used to build the wall higher. 2 hours. John.

Wednesday 10th July 2024

Mike Kousiounis. Morning. Breaking up rocks then moving them and clatch up to Boulder Chamber. 3 1/2 hours. Mike.

John Cooper. Afternoon. Did 1 mix of cement which I took down in two loads. Met Mike Kousiounis in Boulder Chamber as he was just finishing. Took the opportunity to move some rocks and clatch up the 10ft climb before he left. I then continued wall building on both sides of Boulder Chamber. When I exited I saw Jake Tebbut and Sam Hill pulling up in the car park so left the cave open for them. 2 hours. John.

Sam Hill and Jake Tebbut. Evening. Started by clearing as much clatch as possible which exposed the water worn groves more. Broke up some of these and some other large chunks to make access to dig face easier. Looks like it's gonna need bang now. Big old chunks of rock. Bags stacked higher up and room for more rock as well. Jake took a few pictures and left me to it. A very good cool draft tonight. Enough to almost make it chilly work. 3hrs for me. Sam.

Bottom. Photo SH.

Closer view. Photo SH.

Saturday 6th July 2024

Sam Hill, Mike Kushy and Frank Tully. 

I (Mike) arrived to the dig around 10.30am. Sam was already in moving rocks from the bottom and up the 10ft climb. I moved these rocks further back into the chamber. I then went down to work at the dig face whilst Sam moved rocks up cave. The right hand squeeze was widened first, to a point where I was confident I could get through. I then used the drill to downsize a large rock in the floor and filled the rest of the sacks with clatch. This allowed a view ahead and it looked possible that the squeeze on the right could open up ahead. With this in mind I called up cave to Sam to come down and provide me some moral support whilst I ventured into the unknown. A flat out squeeze which ended up 13ft long. Didn't get into the stuff that you can see down to the left as there's a very long, skinny, flake blocking the way but from the end of the squeeze I could look over into open, solid looking, passage going off. Should be easy enough to remove rock as the big rock above is the beginning of solid bedding. Sam and I then decided time would be best spent clearing the cave out. We started by taking the sacks up cave to empty behind Pete's wall. We met Frank at the chamber (around 12.30). Sam carried on work at the dig face whilst I moved rock up cave and Frank joined Sam for a look at the bottom and also to bring a couple of sacks up. I then went to the surface to haul whilst Frank filled the buckets. This went on until 3pm, estimated 50+ heavy buckets out. All the cave is pretty much cleared of rock, except for several rocks on the shelf above the chamber. Tuska came by just as Sam came up. 4 1/2 hours for me. MK.

Ended session by bagging up a lot of loose muddy stuff. This then revealed the whole of the waterworn grooves. Got to work removing these to allow access to the slab below. Sam.

Dig face 

Friday 5th July 2024

Sam Hill. Good 2.5hrs tonight. Broke up the last two loose boulders. The hole in the floor leads into a tight rift, unfortunately. Then used the rest of the drill battery enlarging the right-hand side. Sam.

Onwards. Photo SH.

Downwards. Photo SH.

Wednesday 3rd July 2024

Afternoon. John Cooper. Took across 4 bags of sand, a bag of cement and some water. Moved rocks up from Boulder Chamber to the bottom of the entrance shaft ready to bring to the surface. Note the entrance gate to the dig enclosure has been secured shut with string. 2 hours. John.

Evening. Sam Hill. Quick session this evening. Started by breaking up the two loose boulders at the end. Smaller one is gone. Moved the remaining chunk of the larger one to a better drilling position. I think straight down is the best option instead of over the top of the slab. More boulders to break up and then looks like we can slide underneath the slab. Filled some spoil bags and moved rocks to the base of 10ft climb.  2hrs. Sam.

Bottom. Photo SH.

The next two boulders to break up got the red dots. Photo SH.