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.

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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.

Sunday 23rd June 2024

Mike Kushy, solo. Started with breaking up some rocks at the sharp end. Also took in some sacks to fill up with clatch. Went to surface and made a mix with 1 bag of sand. This was put into 2 buckets and taken down to build up a supporting wall at the sharp end. A lot of clatvh from the floor was put behind the wall. Should be safe to break up the 2 rocks ahead next visit. Tried to squeeze down the right hand side and got my hips to an edge, my legs couldn't touch a floor so being alone I gave up. Not that tight tbf. Finished the session by clearing back some rock to the small chamber. A bit of rock still at the bottom to clear. Good draught. 5 hours.

MK's YouTube video from today

The squeeze I attempted to the right hand side. Photo MK.

The current sharp end. Photo MK.

Saturday 15th June 2024

John Cooper, Pete Hann and Kate Lawrence. One mix of cement taken in, two loads, and used by Pete continuing with the left-hand wall, then the right-hand wall, in the Boulder Chamber. Once the cement was with Pete, John and Kate visited the current dig face. They then went on a tour of the old cave. From the bottom of The Pit we could hear Pete shifting rocks about. We then went into the Upper Bedding Chamber, down through the Calcite Squeeze into the Lower Bedding Chamber and down to the bottom of the Cement Dig – very gooey. Back up and into Boulder Rift. We ignored the lower parts and made our way to the top and exited via the squeezes dropping down into the current dig. Pete was just finishing up the cement so we came out for tea and cake. There is room behind Pete's walls to put a load of clatch when it's brought up from the current dig. 1½ hours. John.

Wednesday 12th June 2024

John Cooper. Afternoon. One mix of cement taken in, two loads, and used continuing with the left hand wall in the Boulder Chamber. 2 hours. John.

Wednesday 5th June 2024

Afternoon. John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis. John surveyed around Boulder Chamber and down to the current dig face where Kushy was breaking up boulders. Then went and did a mix of cement. One load used on the right at the bottom of the drop below the shelf and the other on the left in Boulder Chamber extending Pete Hann’s wall. 3 hours. John.

Evening. Oli Hill, Sam Hill and Mike Kousiounis. Oli and Sam started by hauling rock from the dig face up to base of climb and breaking up the oversized stuff. Then joined by Kushy who helped move the rock up to Boulder Chamber. Kushy then went around to the other side, Boulder Rift, and Oli and he then both did the connection.  Whilst Oli was being shown the rest of the cave I started on the next big boulder at the dig face. Kushy left and Oli helped me until drill battery was used up. 2.5hrs. Sam.

The way on down. Lots more boulders to remove. Photo SH.

Looking under the shelf on the right on the picture above. Photo SH.

Looking down towards the end, way on is to the right. Photo SH.

Friday 31st May 2024

Mike Kushy, solo. Removed the boulder that was cemented around last time. Managed to squeeze through ahead and gain a few metres, wide bedding and a side rift going off to the right. After this I decided to tickle the roof and collapsed some boulders, losing the few metres gained. These rocks were then attacked until the batteries were spent. All the rocks move and can be broken down safely. Plenty of rock at the bottom to clear. 5 hours. MK 

Side rift heading into the cliff wall. Photo MK,

Bedding view ahead. Photo MK.

Current dig face. Photo MK.

Wednesday 29th May 2024

John Cooper and Andy Thompson. Started by hauling out the rocks left at the bottom of the entrance shaft. Then moved down a stage and moved the rocks left at the bedding up to the bottom of the entrance shaft. Then moved on down again and moved all the rocks off the shelf across to the slope. Then moved down to the very bottom and cleared the rocks from there into the chamber where I suggest they are used as walling (cementing required). Then moved back up cave and moved the rocks from the slope up to the bedding. With all stacking spaces now full we repeated the clearance of the base of the entrance shaft but this time ferried the rocks from the bedding to the bottom of the entrance shaft as space became available. Only one rock would not fit and required the use of an open topped hauling bucket. 2½ hours.John.

Sunday 19th May 2024

Mike Kushy, Sam Hill and John Cooper.

MK solo to start with, set about plug and feathering work on the boulder ahead. SH arrived not too long after. We then moved rocks from the bottom up the 10ft climb. SH continued ferrying rocks up cave whilst MK used up the rest of the batteries on the first drill. SH then took over drilling work and MK ferried rocks up the 10ft climb and further up cave. MK came back down and when SH had used up his drill the pair swapped again and MK used up the final drill batteries and just managed to split any loose rock available at the dig face. Meanwhile SH cleared rocks back again and headed for the surface to see if JC had arrived to mix the cement. He was, so 3 buckets of muck were brought in by SH. 1 bucket used on the shattered boulder higher up, as new cracks have been appearing. The other 2 were used at the dig face to stabilise higher rocks, ready to remove one rock that is impeding progress on. A nice trench has appeared in the floor, cutting across the passage and heading into the cliff face. This leads to a small hole a couple of metres in which swallows up alot of spoil and draughts well. Plenty of rock at the bottom of the shaft to come out and various piles throughout the route to the dig. 6 hours for me. Mike.

MK's YouTube video from today

Sam Hill plug and feathering at the dig face early on. Photo MK.

Large beetle. Photo MK.

Dig face after clearing and cement work.
Trench, where my foot is, is heading under the undercut. Photo MK.

Wednesday 15th May 2024

John Cooper and Sam Hill. Sam arrived first and started moving Andy’s rocks upwards, including downsizing some to a manageable size. When John arrived work continued moving rocks on up to the bottom of the entrance shaft. When most were there John went to the surface and hauled 27 loads of mainly single rocks, but 5 loads had two smaller ones in the bucket. Once all had been cleared Sam went to the bottom to start plug and feather work on the end slab. Rather than just watch John said he’d go into the old cave and see if he could see or hear anything of Sam. From the bottom of the Pit Sam and John could talk to each other but there was no light connection. Sam had the impression John was below and to the right, which John agreed with. John then continued on into the Boulder Rift and climbed up to the top where he was able to see Sam’s light and guide him through. Sam then completed the first round trip Finally he continued with more plug and feather work to use up the power in the drill batteries. Now need to go and add details to the survey! 2½ hours for me.An hour longer for Sam. John.

Saturday 11th May 2024

Sam Hill. Solo trip down downsizing the end slabs. First one broken up revealed a hole going down following the bedding. Started chipping away at the other boulder until drill battery was used up. 2.5hrs. Sam.

Start of session. Photo SH.

Hole off under right side. Photo SH.

Wednesday 8th May 2024

John Cooper and Andy Thompson. Whilst Andy had a look at the dig face John moved the rocks that were left in the Chamber up one stage before moving on down. With Andy loading at the bottom of the 3m climb and John hauling we spent about 90 minutes moving rocks out. Four that were too large for John to haul were left. There are also bits left here and there. John then continued on moving the rocks that he’d moved earlier on up before finally arriving at the bottom of the entrance shaft with them. Andy was following on behind with the rocks we had hauled up the climb. Some of these got as far as the slope above the shelf whilst others were left on the shelf. Finally, Andy hauled John’s rocks to the surface, 15 loads. 3 very sweaty hours. John.