12/1/16

Estelle Sandford, James Begley, Mike Moxon, Mike Waterworth, Mike Butcher, Stu Lindsay, Duncan Butler and Kevin Clinton joined us too.
2.5hrs
Kevin has got a turfer winch to remove large boulders, so Stu, Duncan and Kevin were drilling and bolting a bit boulder to move it while Estelle, Mike Butcher and James were digging in the lower dig and other Mikes x2 were digging behind where the big boulder was being attempted to be removed. For safety, when they were working on that we had to exit the lower dig and it was bitterly cold waiting for the attempts before being able to get back in and did. By the end of the session a very large (circa 5 tonne(?)) boulder had been moved a few feet and rotated out of the mud, but not quite exited so we left for the pub! 

5/1/16

Estelle Sandford, James Begley, Mike Moxon, Leonie Woodward, Mike Waterworth, Stu Lindsay, Duncan Butler
2hrs
Estelle, James and Duncan set to work on the bottom dig with Estelle in the bottom digging to start and then Duncan taking over while the rest of us helped clear spoil out as it needs 3 people now it's round the corner. Looks quite interesting and the clay is certainly very good quality.
Mike x2, Stu and Leonie worked on the dig above with lots of rock splitting and digging out in the end of it. All looking a lot bigger when we'd finished.

Additional note, Kevin sent Estelle a couple of photos the next day showing that he had removed some of the larger boulders from the front of the digs with a new winch he has got and will join us next Tues to work out what else needs removing. 

15/12/15

Estelle Sandford, James Begley, Mike Moxon, Mike Waterworth, Fran Campbell, Duncan Butler

2.5hrs

Continued digging in the bottom dig making it larger so it's easier to get into the new bit and carry on digging. The 'aven' looks like just it might go to the type of shafts we already have as it's not really that far below the surface, but it is quite wet and washed clean. Loads of clay and rock removed from there by Estelle, Fran and Mike W. Duncan, Mike M and James focused on the one blocked with boulders and removed quite a few more. Much easier when they are capped though when Stu is back!

8/12/15

James Begley, Mike Waterworth, Lee Knight & John Boulton

2 hours

We met up to show Lee & John around the site and for them to gather a couple of samples of the biological mats that have been puzzling us. They were shown around the upper dig first, including down into the chamber first explored a couple of weeks earlier, and they collected a couple of samples to be sent off for analysis, but are almost certainly bacterial based. We then went to the lower dig site, where a bit of enthusiastic digging allowed first Mike then the rest of us to extend the lowest dig and get round the corner to a point where there is an aven going upwards for a couple of metres and a trench in the floor full of silt and clay. Digging it out will require making the floor deeper all the way along, but should only take a couple of sessions. Mike also pushed on to the right from the higher dig, to a  low chamber with another aven and what appears to be a connection back to the upper dig – yet to be confirmed.