Tuesday 31st October 2023

John Cooper. First of all wiggled a boulder out which was then plug and feathered to manageable chunks. Then drilled some holes in the bottom and sides, 4 in the floor and 6 in the walls. All 10 holes 300 – 500mm deep ready for Mike on Sunday. 2 hours.John.

Sunday 29th October 2023

Mike Kushy, Dave Morrisom and John Cooper. Mike and Dave clearing out bang spoil. Some of the charge didn't go off for some reason, never mind though as the blocks we want to bang had shifted from the charge that did go off allowing removal. Cleared enough ready for drilling. John joined us at the end. Good draught. 2 1/2 hours. Mike.

Looking into the chamber at the bottom, all seems to be holding up okay. Photo MK.

The bottom after clearing. Red block wiggles and will come out. Blue crosses supposed drilling point. Yellow crosses maybe to be drilled, would be good to get out. Photo MK.

Sunday 22nd October 2023

John.Cooper and Mike.Kousiounis. Setting charge in holes drilled by John mid week. All went off fine. No sign of any newts in the tunnel. 1 hour. Mike.

Saturday 21st October 2023

Pete Hann, Jude and Adrian Vanderplank, Nigel Graham as surface support.

All down the entrance shaft to firstly look at Johns drilled shot holes, (Very nice!)

Then on down into the original dig, a couple of times there seemed to be a strange grunting noise particularly in the more snug sections, strange?

Pete was impressed with the bedding chambers and thought they could be quite photogenic. We went to both ends, but not the very ends and I missed the way into Tooth dig, and found myself looking at a small bucket and rope and an even smaller hole and thinking if they’ve gone through that I’m seriously impressed. A steady trip out, looking for draughts and anything else which might be of interest. Adrian.

PS from John Cooper. When Pete returned the key he said "Don't ever give me that again!"

Thursday 19th October 2023

John Cooper. Went to drill some holes in the bottom. 6 holes 300 – 500mm deep ready for Mike on Sunday. 1 hour. John.

Wednesday 18th October 2023

Mike Kushy, John Cooper and Dave Morrison (Tuska). Clearing out bang spoil, clearing the tunnel and bringing the builders ladder out. Some suspect rocks left in place, not sure about pulling the smaller rock out as it had alot of resistance and decided to cement up to provide some support. 2 hours. Good draught. Mike.

Spoil to clear. Photo MK.

More spoil (looking horizontally). Photo MK.

After clearing. Photo MK.

Cement/building work. Photo MK.

Plan for next stage. Photo MK.

 

Yellow + blocks questionable and shouldn't be touched. Red X ones for drilling and blasting.

Sunday 15th October 2023

AM: Mike Kushy and Dave Morrison (Tuska). Banging the holes drilled by John Cooper mid week. Really good holes to widen out the bottom.

PM: Mike Kushy, Tuska and John Cooper. Cleared the debris from the morning. Drilled 6 holes at 900mm then set off.

Debris after 1st bang Photo MK.

Bottom cleared. Photo MK.

Weird little insect. Photo MK.

Tuesday 10th October 2023

John Cooper. Went to drill some holes in the bottom. However there was still debris on it so after clearing in into the tunnel and the hole below drilled the walls instead. 1 hour. John.

Sunday 1st October 2023

Mike Kousiounis and Dave Morrison. Started by clearing the bottom of the shaft. Bucket still snagged in a couple of places so after clearing we opened up the shaft with some more plug and feathering. Happy with the bucket pull, we set about doing some cement work. John Cooper joined us around 2pm and we finished the last bit of cementing that needed doing to fully stabilise the shaft ready for banging. 5 hours. Mike.

Tuesday 19th September 2023

John Cooper + 1. Three bags of sand taken across and added to the second dumpy bag. Another water carry was required today.   John repairing the damage he’d done last week in the shaft Whilst cement was mixed on the surface and rocks were sent down. Very windy on the surface and a good draught coming out up the shaft. Another cementing session required once this one has gone off. Need to take another bag of cement across. The first dumpy bag of sand now empty. 2 hours.

Looking Down from Surface

Looking Down from Changeover Ladder Point

Friday 15th September 2023

John Cooper. Chopping out more of the bits sticking out near the top of the shaft. Definitely needs a lot of cement now. Pretty good haul line now. 1½ hours. John.