Wednesday 22nd October 2025

Mike Kushy, Mike Wise and Ed Ford. We met up at 4pm and headed in together. MW and EF went in the usual route carrying bags whilst MK wound up and collected the top wire.,Tthis was taken further down to leap frog the lower wire. MW set to drilling and removed the 1m drill bit so MK could go ahead and grab the newer rope (the air felt quite thick in the intermediate chamber and drill dust was just hovering). Leaving MW to drill shot holes MK and EF replaced the rope on the light connection and set about building the landing area properly with rocks and mortar. 3 lots of sand left in cave and half a cement, loads of water. MW then used what battery was remaining to drill a bolt hole to create a traverse type line (this is only half drilled). MK meanwhile set the charge. We had a little look down 'Ed's bet' (the vertical pot directly below Cement Dig) and it does look worth going in and clearing the rocks out at some point soon. We fired from the top of the Lower Bedding, heard and felt faintly. 3 hours. Mike K.

MW and EF building in TPC. Photo MK.

MW and EF building in TPC. Photo MK.

Saturday 18th October 2025

Mike Kushy, Hollie London, Mikey Waterworth and Olivia Dawson. MK and HL to begin with started at 10.30am, we cleared the bang spoil from the up and over boulder to start. The space over the top is a lot more comfortable, although the lower piece is also shattered and could be removed entirely (personally I think we should just cement in and stabilise what's there). Next job was to drill the stemples in (thanks to Lee V for use of your Hilti drill for this), one on the side wall below the ledge and another up near the scaff' bar. We could do with putting a couple of smaller metal holds higher up again, but all a lot safer now. Next MK started drilling for shot holes in The Hookah Tube, 3 holes @600 and 1 at just shy of 1m (1m drill bit currently sticking out of the wall, battery ran out!), whilst HL went on into MHH and started to dig out the final squeeze some more. A retaining wall was built at the 'up cave' end of MHH to put all the glorious mud behind. CO2 and O2 tests were done throughout, see results below. Around 12.30 MW and OD came and met us in MHH. They said the air looked very thick. We agreed a plan and continued the already started dig to the right of the formation. Unfortunately this hit a solid wall 1m in and won't give us the clearance to dig around the formation so we will have to try a dig in the far corner? (tarpaulin sheet now over the formation for protection). MK and HL left the others to continue digging as they both felt puffy and like they needed better air. Really felt the air quality change once back in TPC. HL started to rebuild the landing area below the Light Connection. We had a tidy round and got packed to leave around 3pm. MK went through to MHH to let the others know our plan and we all decided to all leave together (also getting close to 3% CO2, our set safety limit). Very wet in MHH today with puddles everywhere. Would recommend not going into MHH for a while and let the air settle, so we can retest the differences (probably the worst day of the year today for testing air quality in a cave, so hopefully it passes). Oh MK and HL went to mix some muck towards the end but realised there was no cement in the cave. About 5 drums of sand though, 10l of mixing water and a bag of stone dust. 5 hours. Mike K. 

MK drilling holes for stemples. Photo HL.

CO2 and O2 results (thanks to Stuart 'Mac' for use of your monitors):

Start (11.30am) - CO2: 2.08, O2: 18.76%

12.01pm - CO2: 2.31, O2: 18.5%

End (14:16) - CO2: 2.56, O2: 18.18%

*Apart from 15 minutes (around 1pm) there was only 2 people in MHH at any time and working whilst we monitored*

Friday 17th October 2025

Hollie London, Harley Bennett

HL and HB headed down WR at 1630 to assess the damage from the previous bang. The new ladder made an excellent addition to the entrance series and new tape definitely highlights where you need to go navigationally. HB highlighted the bacon as we entered the bedding chamber, something we would normally charge past on the way to the dig face. After stopping to photograph the bacon, we continued down to the up and over boulder. The bang has successfully doubled the body space above the boulder, with the bottom half remaining intact. The pot before the boulder looks to have opened up and was drafting well. Due to lack of man power and everything being lose, we decided not to clear and retreated having photographed the damage. On exit, one plank fell off the wooden lid down the  entrance and needs a repair job to screw down. HL made a short term fix until the weekend so nothing can fall down. Hollie.

New base section. Photo HL.

Formations in Lower Bedding Chamber. Photo HL.

Needs clearing. Photo HL.

Wednesday 24th September 2025

Mike Kushy, Mike Wise and Sam Hill. All down the cave for around 6.30pm. Took in drill and extra batteries plus charge materials. The wire was tested from the shaft as it hadn't been used for a while, no signal so took the tester to the joint. Tested higher wire from lower end and all fine, tested lower wire and no signal. Took the tester to the furthest end of the wire and discovered stripped cable and ends broken, fixed and tested okay. MW began drilling the up and over boulder, whilst SH cleared out behind where the recent rock moved ready for cementing. MK made some mixes in TPC and sent them up to SH. In the meantime MK kept moving rock around in TPC to make the floor better. Around 8.30pm MW called that he was all set up so we decided it was a good time to leave. Charge set off from Boulder Rift Chamber, very quiet considering we were only 30m of bang wire away. 2 1/2 hours. Mike K.

Tuesday 23rd September 2025

John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Survey trip of Tea Party Chamber and on to current end. Twenty minutes in, 60 minutes surveying and 40 minutes out (it’s uphill!). The current end chamber appears to be developing a wetter, muddier floor. Now got to process the data collected. (See Survey Page.) 2 hours. John.

Saturday 20th September 2025

Mike Kushy, John Arnold (With GoPro), Jason Hares (Jay) (With GoPro) and Lucas McMaster.  All undergound just after 10am. Took in sand, stemples and fixing kit, 5l of mixing water and food. MK went ahead using pink conservation tape to set route markings (don't cross the tape for the best route basically).  All down to TPC no problems, JH mentioned that the rock above the light connection would need sorting on the way out. MK sorted out more taping in TPC whilst the others took the time to look around. We then all went through to the final chamber where more taping was done by MK whilst the others used GoPros on sticks on various holes. MK then went through with the others on how to clear the 'intermediate chamber' and left them to it. The plan was to go and set the via ferrata stemples in place. Unfortunately the drill started smoking, so that plan didn't work. With JH in TPC hauling the buckets, MK part way in assisting buckets through the pipe, LM filling buckets/working the rope and JA loosening mud we cleared for a good hour before stopping for lunch. After lunch MK went to loosen mud and had discovered JA had been digging his way to China. With MK loosening mud and digging to China, JA filling buckets/working rope and LM/JH hauling back to TPC we did another good hour or so more clearing. Towards the end we discovered a hard calcite floor about 1ft deep, hopefully all the mud is only 1ft deep! Packed away drill and we all started to head out, also with any empty bags. The boulder above the light connection did need sorting indeed, LM and JH sorted this out and got it moved close to the 'emergency exit'. Consequently some clearing of loose stuff and stabilising needs doing, this is a high priority job. Need to make a list of materials in TPC now. 6 hours. Mike K.

The link to the video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyboaDlXhcg

It's rather long so key bits can be found here:

0.19 Cement Dig
0.23 Approaching Light Connection
0.35 All in Tea Party Chamber
0.45 Entering The Hookah Pipe
0.55 to 1.09 In the Final Chamber - note the frost shattered Stal
1.24 Break in filming - starts again leaving Light Connection
1.38 Rock moves!

Wednesday 17th September

Sam Hill, Mikey Waterworth, Ed Ford, Jake Baynes, Adrian Miles and Mike Wise.

Team split into 2 parties with different aims

Mike Wise solo report:

A drill, capping kit, lump hammer and micro crowbar were taken down to Boulder Chamber. Here the irritating pyramid shaped lump on top of the large boulder at the top of the 10ft climb was capped off using 3 holes and 5 caps. The top of the boulder is now flat. Some minor dressing was done with the lump hammer. The kit was abandoned temporarily in the chamber.

The hammer and crowbar were taken down to Boulder Rift Chamber where the floor of the step-up and crawl into the bedding below Calcite Squeeze was attacked for about 45 minutes to improve head room and generally remove lumps from the floor. Large amounts of rock varying in size from very big/just liftable to hand size were removed along with their covering of mud. The big stuff was stacked in the chamber, the smaller stuff and some mud was rammed back into the gaps that appeared below the mud covering.

Started packing up at 2045 and began slowly exiting at 2100 having heard nothing from the team below. They caught up with me at Boulder Chamber and at the entrance shaft I found that someone was jiggling the hauling rope from the top. It turned out to be SH who mistakenly had exited via the old route - he must have run out!  Thanks to JB for carrying my drill box down into Boulder Chamber at the start. 

Other report:

All visited TPC. EF's foot came off the slippery scaffold bar on the descent from the Light Connection and he somersaulted down onto the chamber floor. Injuries declared in the Hunters later were a damaged knee and a badly swollen wrist. MWa scanned everything from TPC to the end.

2 hours 

Mike Wise

After Ed’s acrobatics, myself and Jake had a look at TPC. I then went through the Hookah to join SH and MWa at the end. Myself and MWa went back to the chamber just after the hookah and cleared some of the spoil in both directions. MWa and SH went back to the final chamber to look at prospective leads whilst the rest of us started heading out. All on the surface by 21:30. Adrian. 

Sunday 14th September 2025

Mike Kushy, Ed Ford and Hollie London. MK and EF to begin with. Headed in just after 10am leaving one of the new 6l daren drums for HL to pack her camera kit in (thanks to Rob Harper for the kind donation). EF took in his drill and picked up the drinking water on the way in and MK took charged batteries, drum of sand and a 5l container of mixing water in. When we got to TPC EF got to making some brews, then HL arrived equipped with her camera and some hauling rope (which proved very useful later). After morning tea we had a go at The Hookah Pipe some more, with MK on the far side pf'ing back and EF/HL working the TPC side. When we decided it looked big enough to haul buckets through we all stopped for lunch. EF and HL then went through to the most recent chamber and we used the haul line to pull buckets back. Ideally we need flat laid 5l buckets cut to 3/4's for this, plus we can still open the whole tube up some more (maybe a small charge is needed on one side). MK pulling the line in TPC and EF/HL taking turns pushing on, 66 buckets in total. Around 59 buckets MK shouted to call it at 60 but the reply was 'There's a great big chamber not far off'. All 3 now in the smallish chamber we all took turns loosening mud and fishing out rocks. First one through then stopped and cleared from the otherside for others, all got through in the end. The new new chamber is roughly 10m long x 4m wide x 3m height with nice broken column formation at the far end. Lots of rifts intersecting but the draught is not obvious anymore. Liquid mud floor which is very shiny (perhaps a small lead content?). We will have to discuss the next steps as a team once everyone has had a look. 4 drums of sand in cave, 1 drum of cement, 5l of mixing water and 10l of drinking water. 6 1/2 hours. Mike

Click here for todays video.

HL coming back out of the newest chamber. Photo MK.

Fossil in new chamber. Photo HL.

EF in the new chamber. Photo HL.

MK looking at the broken column formation. Photo HL.

EF entering the new chamber. Photo HL.

Same photo as previous but further back. Photo HL.

EF fishing out rocks from the soon to be breakthrough point. Photo HL.

The column found in the 'intermediate' chamber. Photo HL.

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. 

Saturday 6th September 2025

Mike Kushy. Solo. Got into the cave just before 11. Took in lots of batteries and 10x pf sets. Continued chiselling the Hookah Pipe (phreatic tunnel) some more. When all batteries were spent MK then used  a combination of head first with long crowbar to loosen calcited blocks in the floor and swapping position to go feet first to push the loose through. Finally made it through although a heck of a shoulder jamming move at the end. Got through feet first and used the small crowbar/hammer to remove what could from the far side. Needs more battery power to open right up. The chamber on the far side is fairly well decorated and 2m wide by 2m height, there's also a very nice 2ft column. The chamber goes around a slight corner and the way on is obvious, draughting like a bugger and all liquid mud floor. A 2 inch void can be seen over the mud but the whole of the Hookah will need opening up to drag the mud back into TPC. Spent the rest of my time moving smaller rocks around TPC to level out the floor. Caught Mike Waterworth on surface heading in to do more scanning. 4 hours. Mike K.

Wednesday 3rd September

Mikes Wise and Waterworth. Scanning from surface towards Puddle Dig and assessing work needed on the entrance ladder, Boulder Rift Chamber and Cement Dig Light Connection.

2 hours

No photos 

Mike Wise  

Monday 1st September 2025

Mike Kushy, Mike Waterworth and Ed Ford. 

MK to begin with, did an hour on surface picking larger rocks from the newly landcaped ground around the well. 

Latest surface shot. Photo MK.

Got into the cave around 5pm armed with extra batteries and new chisel bits. Picked up a 2ft length of scaffold bar on the way through and a few steel pins. 

First job was to pf the chocked stones in the ceiling of the light connection. Awkward, but all loose blocks removed with 2 batteries. This now gives an unobstructed view of the chamber from above the connection. 

MK in the light connection (after opening it up), looking down into TPC. Photo MK.

Second job was to drill for pins at the lip of the drop into TPC. The scaff' bar was then laid across these to allow decent foot holds to get out and to stop anyone sliding off the edge when coming into TPC. The bar is not fixed as of yet.

Looking up into the light connection, newly fitted foot bar. Photo MK.

MK had a little bit of juice left in one battery so started attacking the calcited phreatic tube with the hammer drill. Shortly EF and MW arrived. The tube looks to be heading into a larger chamber with a small clean washed stone floor.

MK then went to start a trial dig at the higher end of TPC, into the corner it seems to follow the bedding straight on. It quickly became a 2 person dig, meanwhile EF was attacking the calicte phreatic whilst MW scanned the lower regions below the pit. MK then wished the rest of the team good luck and headed out alone. 4 1/2 hours. Mike K.

 

Ed Ford, Kushy & Mike Waterworth down WR tonight. EF and MW headed down 1845. MW spent his time scanning the chamber and various offshoots while Kushy explored a dig at the top of the chamber. EF focused on breaking up flowstone blocking the onwards phreatic tube. Several attempts were made by EF and Kushy to squeeze in but a little too committing. EF confirmed the sight of floor on the other side so no drop off. The tube echos well and there's a strong draft. Kushy left leaving EF and MW to continue. EF P&F'd a block in the ceiling and had a go at navigating the squeeze successfully while MW headed out scanning as he went. EF didn't go into the breakthrough point and opted to leave for next session. Some more calcite could do with coming out of floor to make it a bit easier. All out by 21:30. Ed.

View chamber scan

View cave scan

Sunday 31st August 2025.

Hollie London, Mike Kushy and Ed Ford. 

All arrived just gone 10. After half an hour of dressing and Daren Drum faffing, 3 cavers, 3 mugs, 3 bacon and egg butties, a kettle, a stove, 5L of drinking water, and a selection of tea, coffee and hot chocolate made their way down to TPC. Cement was left at cement dig alcove. HL had to take the gas canister from the stove halfway down as EF was gassing himself with every knock and bang. 

The squeeze was a much more comfortable affair after last week's efforts. MK led the way, collecting conservation tape from higher above to relocate to TPC formations. 

HL's first time in TPC. HL disappeared down a hole in the bottom left of the chamber (red). The hole turned back on itself and continued downwards following the bedding plane for another 10m, with various avens and tubes either side. The bedding plane got tighter and carries on down further at the typical ~45° angle, but would be a longer term lead. Tight with lots of loose blocks and silt further on. EF and MK took turns to explore the onward phreatic passage higher up (blue).

All gathered back in TPC to assess the new tea-making facilities. Cappuccinos and bacon/egg butties in a large roomy chamber felt very un-Mendip of us. Fueled up we attacked the bottom right lead (blue). MK built up the wall above and to the right of the previously explored lead, whilst HL began dragging material out from the 'blue' lead. EF began restructuring the boulder field terracing and retaining walls (yellow). The 'blue' lead is draughting well. A mutual decision was made to remove the calcite over mud floor whilst preserving as much formations as possible.

Tea Party Chamber, Photo HL.

Screenshot 3d scan.

Formations to the right of the phreatic tube. Photo HL

EF looking up into the phreatic with the formations to his right. Photo MK.

HL and MK alternated attacking the calcited mud with all the arsenal. EF also retired from wall building to help out. Another break for tea and hobnobs resulted in the need of toilet facilities, this came in the form of a black 5l container. HL can confirm the toilets are unisex.

Eventually a large block was removed from the 'blue' lead. This allowed a good view on showing an obvious chamber around 3m ahead. The retaining wall for this is now 6ft high and back filled with spoil. It was determined sds chisel bits on the drill would be the best method of attack next round. Camp tidied and rubbish removed, we retreated. Upwards climb out of TPC still a thrutchy struggle but totally doable with the handline and on your back halfway up, needs stemples. All crew out of cave at 1700 for a well deserved beer. Hollie.

EF and HL brewing up in TPC. Photo MK.

Saturday 30th August 2025.

Mike Kushy and Mike Waterworth. Got to the dig around 11am. Took in 3 drums of sand, drill with extra batteries (thanks Trevor H) and scanning gear belonging to MW. The Wednesday crew had done a great job opening up the vertical squeeze to a much better size and around the head of the light connection. This allowed MK to fish out rocks from the floor and bar a good amount of mud away which was pushed down the slide. MW slid through to the Tea Party Chamber side easily enough and MK followed him. We started piling up large rocks under the climb down then we assesed what rock could be crowbarred from the floor of the light connection from this side. MK went back up to the 'safety zone' whilst MW worked on some huge slabs. 2 particulary stubborn ones took both of us from above and below to shift. With both in TPC we moved the freshly dropped slabs into safer positions. MW then started scanning TPC whilst MK made use of the batteries downsizing some of the larger boulders blocking the pit. MW had a go at pf work, then had a look down the pit and a look around the corner. About 5m of awkard passage ahead but thin bedding gaps, the floor looks interesting here though. A trial dig was also made into the waterworn ceiling straight ahead of you as you come into TPC. This revealed a very pretty and draughty little grotto with a view of a man sized phreatic tube heading off to the left. We would be best to dig into this 2m over so as to preserve the formations I believe, easy to bypass them anyway. Had another little clear of mud on the way out. Still a lot more that can be done and even some more rock from TPC that could be shifted, but we'll see what everyone thinks. We've put a handline down through the light connection, hold it. Puddle Dig had a small constant flow into it today, no water anywhere else. 5 1//2 hours. Mike K.

Youtube channel.

Screenshot of TPC from scan by MW.

MK doing pf work on the boulders blocking the pit in TPC. Photo MW.

Aerial view of TPC with dimesions. Done by MW.

Some formations in the little, pretty, draughty grotto. Photo MK.

View scan

Wednesday 27th August

Mike Wise, Hollie London and Ed Ford to do some cementing and anything we felt appropriate to the squeeze and the light connection. We took in between us several daren drums of sand, one of cement plus a drill bag and capping kit.

HL had passed the squeeze and was examining options for light connection work by the time MW arrived with the drill bag. MW completed a test fit on the squeeze face up and face down. Face up was much easier but the squeeze still did not qualify as a trade route for explorers so the capping kit was put into action after HL had returned above the squeeze.  30 minutes or so later with large slabs of rock removed and only minor collateral damage, the squeeze was retested and passed fit for general use. While all this was going on, EF took on the thankless task of cementing things higher up in the area below the scaffolding.

After some discussion between HL and MW peering into the light connection, it was decided the rock in the roof and associated awkward bits could not be safely attacked without creating more working space so HL startd P&F work on the floor on the right hand side as shown in the image.

In red the bit attacked by HL

Although very awkward to do, the nearer half of the rock shown was taken out after protracted effort and work on the rear half commenced before time was called at 2030 hours.

EF by this time had run out of rocks and places to cement and had 2 full buckets of cement left over. HL and EF rendered everything they could see to use it up. We exited Cement Dig at 2100, surfaced and got to the Hunters just before 2200.

Hopefully now the focus can be shifted to opening up the connection. We suggest installation of a short piece of ladder on the climb down into the chamber rather than cementing a boulder pile unless new cement portering and cementing volunteers are available.

 3.5 hours 

Image by Snip & Sketch 

 Mike Wise

Tuesday 26th August 2025

Mike Kushy, Ed Ford and Glen Thomas. Got into the cave around 11.30am armed with 2 drills (one very kindly leant by Lee Venning last minute) and HE materials. The aim was to get through the light connection using pfs only and have the HE on reserve if all else failed. With MK at the sharp end the new connection to the chamber was opened up using just the Bosch drill. Meanwhile EF and GT continued bringing the bang cable down to the dig face and joining the wires together (one end is near the shaft and the other end is just above the light connection with about 2m slack). After they had done this the pair continued to make some cement mixes and build up the retaining wall just under the scaffolding area. Meanwhile MK had managed to drop through into the chamber kicking stuff through on his way, super hard coming back out but lots of loose to push through still. EF joined MK to help lift out some more rock from the new connection then EF had a go at getting through to the chamber and managed succesfully. It is possible to free climb the last little bit but there's good scope to build a natural boulder stairway up from the chamber floor. It will pay to take in some caps or use the snappers to remove a couple of loose slabs from the edge around the top of the light conncetion. This and kicking more loose through (perhaps even taking a long rake or hoe in to pull the loose back from the chamber side). So there's that to do and more cementing as usual. 1 Daren Drum of sand in the cave, 1/4 BDH of cement and hardly any water so a fresh load of all materials will need taking in. We were tempted to set up a charge around the head of the new connection but time was short. Drizzly colder day today and a very cold draught. 5 hours. Mike.

GT building up walls. Photo MK.

Part way through opening up the light connection. Photo MK.

GT above the vertcal squeeze that's not much of a squeeze anymore thanks to SH. Photo MK.

Wednesday 20th August 2025

Afternoon. John Cooper. Took in four Daren Drums of sand. Left the bags in so the Drums could be brought out when empty. Met Sam (SH) in the car park as I was leaving. He was heading in with drill. 1½ hours. John.

Evening.  Ed Ford and Mike Wise descended around 6.15pm with EF carrying 5L of water and met SH at the squeeze boulder around 6.30pm. SH had passed the squeeze before we arrived and had needed to remove his oversuit to get out. Afterwards he had taken material off the right hand part of the squeeze boulder with P&F and it was now easily passable as ably demonstrated by EF. Having had a discussion about next moves, MW left EF lying flat out jiggling rocks in the light connection with SH as backup and went out the old way following the bang wire, going as far as the bottom of the entrance to collect all the coiled up slack. The coils had transformed themselves into a cleverly knotted mess and after a fight this was laid out down to the connection point in Golden Key Chamber. Here it got worse and the connection had to be unmade and time spent unravelling both parts before moving on downwards. The connection was left unmade as I had no glasses with me. Dropping through Calcite Squeeze I met SH and EF who had given up on P&F having made no further progress. The slack was dropped down the bedding and left there. There may be a bit more remaining in Golden Key Chamber., the firing point has not changed.

We then exited. Our consensus is capping is needed to make the squeeze passable for all and HE is needed for the slab and the floor in the light connection to provide much needed working space to get at the other rocks blocking the way down.

The 'Pit' also looked interesting.

Some amazing stabilisation work has been achieved over the last 3 weeks. First time MW has seen any of the recent find

 2 hours (EF and MW)

3 hours (SH)

Photo by SH

 

The light connection - red lines indicate material to be eliminated

Mike Wise 

Sunday 17th August 2025

Mike Kushy and Ed Ford. Took in 4 Daren Drums with ready mixed cement plus some sand in a bag. First we used the drill, already in cave, to smooth out the path from the recent breakthrough point. EF above the squeeze then put cement in around chockstones that seem to be holding the ceiling up and building up the walls. Meanwhile MK below the squeeze worked forwards building retaining walls on the right hand side. There seems to have been a fair amount of movement around where we originally climbed down through to the new chamber. We decided that the light connection hole is the sensible way forward, but cement was still put in near to the original way in to minimise future movement. EF then had a go at kicking stuff through the light connection squeeze but there is one stubborn rock holding us back. We then used what remaining battery we had to pf some of the edge away from the hole. Next best step seems to be either pf or set a small charge into the vertical squeeze and the light connection area at the same time, maybe pf squeeze and set charge lower down might be best. Back into the chamber soon. Still 3/4 BDH of cement in cave and 1/2 Darren Drum of sand. 4 hours. Mike.

Main chockstone in ceiling above squeeze (6 inch wide roughly). Photo EF.

MK trying out the light conncetion hole Photo EF.

Where we originally climbed down to the chamber.
The closest big hole in the floor wasn't there before. Photo EF.

Same photo as previous but further back. Photo EF.

More cementing of the ceiling above the squeeze. Photo EF.

Wednesday 13th August 2025

am. David Morrison, assisted by land owner. Fencing removed today, trailer of stone, sand and cement mixer and other heavy items up to Templeton. David.

pm. John Cooper did a couple of hours in the afternoon assisting David removing the postcrete and all the nails from the fence posts. Left David continuing gradually restoring the site. John

Monday 11th & Tuesday 12th August 2025

David Morrison. ‘Well-Head’ stonework White Rabbit, pointing both afternoons. David.

Well-Head. Photo DM.

Saturday 9th August 2025

Mike Kushy, solo. Took in drill and a BDH of cement. Finished off breaking down the boulder from Wednesday and put the pieces aside. Then a mix was made using 1 Daren Drum of sand and 1/4 drum of cement. This was used in and around the vertical squeeze boulder (unfortunately this boulder can not be removed as it holds up loads above), the vertical squeze boulder will have to be widened later. Went to surface with empty bags and drums then brought back in 2 drums of sand and some more water to mix with. This again was turned into cement and used at the base of the vertical squeeze rock. 3/4 BDH of cement and 2.5l of water left in cave, no sand. Should be safe enough now to open up the light conncetion route to the chamber, but I'd like to see another session of cement work yet. Would be nice to build a wall to the ceiling just above said squeeze. 5 hours. Mike.

Wednesday 6th August 2025

Day. Mike Kushy and Dave Morrison spent 5 hours doing more tidying up on the surface.

17.30 Ed Ford and Hollie London. Ed and Hollie entered around 17.30 after collecting bags from the Belfry. Hollie carried in two bags each containing a Daren Drum of sand, while Ed carried a black BDH of cement a Daren Drum of sand and a 5L water container in. Quite the challenge with two large tackle sacks. John arrived shortly after.

18.00 John Cooper entered at 18.00 without any loads to carry! John did 1 mix (2 Daren Drums of sand and half a black BDH of cement) which he passed down to Ed. Then did another mix, same quantities, and used it higher up on the climb down (where the yellow bag is). John then left with bag containing 2 empty Daren Drums - out by 20.30.

Ed and Hollie worked mainly around the entrance to the new bit. Hollie did a good job at reducing a large block making it much easier to get into the breakthrough (her first time plug and feathering). Ed spent his time adding cement to various loose boulders and made a small wall. We did not get as far as the squeeze. But Ed took a look. It is definitely tighter than remembered. This will take a fair amount of drilling to widen. Spare bags, empty cement BDH and drill box taken out. Out at 2100 before retreating to the Hunters'. 

Ed, Hollie and John.

Trainee mason in action. Photo EF.

Drilling 14mm holes. Photo EF.

Building block created. Photo EF.

Looking down into pot. Photo EF.

Sunday 27th July 2025

AM - Mike Kushy, David, Louise and Jackson Morrison. 

MK and DM continued with building the well whilst LM and JM filled the trailer with unusable rocks. After a while LM and JM went off for a walk. Pretty much done and ready for earth to be backfilled around the well and landscape the ground. Mike.

Entrance photos by DM.

PM - Sam Hill and Mike Kushy

 

Met Kushy and Tuska at the dig at 3pm and had a quick chinwag whilst admiring their handywork on the entrance. Kushy and myself then set off underground armed with the drill box and a drum of sand and a BDH of ready mixed cement between us. Once at the dig I made my way down and through the new stuff with Kushy staying up in the safe (ish) area. Once in TP chamber Kushy and myself got the light connection through the better looking approach to the chamber and I had a look around, marvelling at the new stuff. Kushy cleared the topside of this whilst I came back up and then he grabbed the drill box. With the large crowbar I went down to the lower side of this and pulled down what I could. One very large oven sized boulder came down and then took two more similar sized ones with it as is crashed down the chamber with a extremely loud racket which Kushy wasn't expecting. Having got what I could from the bottom I tried from the top but everything was too loose and unpredictable so a retreat was made up through the very snug squeeze into the horizontal stuff. I then joined Kushy as he was bringing down the second batch of cement to stabilise the way through the boulders. A very impressive find with a lot of stabilising work to be done. 2hrs for both of us. Sam.

Looking horizontally Eastwards. Photo SH.
 The dig through to Tea Party Chamber is down to the right.