7/2/17

Written by Duncan Simey - Estelle and James skiing so not around!

Productive session at Cutlers last night with Mike Moxon, Leonie, Jon, Suvi Miri Pihlaja and Stu doing electrics above ground.
The team worked in the right hand dig continuing last week's effort.
The layer of black/red/yellow clinker has largely been removed. Underneath that is approx 6 inches of bright pink bubblegum (a sod to dig out). We dug a hole through the bubblegum and hit a large flat rock surface with a trickle of water running across it. We tried to look for a join between the flat rock and the wall in case it is floor, but we ran out of time.
We also attacked the far wall of clay. The expected ceiling continuation didn't emerge. Instead, we have what could be the start of a round tube promising an easy horizontal crawl onwards.
The air was in tip top condition with no mist all evening and a noticeable constant drift towards the entrance. Breathing at floor level still looked like it was heading towards the entrance. It seems it is coming in from somewhere and is not recirculation.
Stu says the clinker is not iron - he is working out what it is.

31/1/17

Estelle Sandford, James Begley, Duncan Simey, Suvi Miri Pihlaja, Stu Lindsay, Jonathan Riley
2hrs
Top dig session tonight, bottom dig has a puddle in it at the moment. Jon went in first and had a dig and initially the work caused a fog, but then Jon found a little hole somewhere and the fog cleared and for the remainder of the evening there was a draught and no real fogging again. Stu in the meantime capped a boulder nearer the top that was in the way. James went in after and continued digging down, before swapping with Duncan and Miri. Lots of interesting yellows, reds and blacks in the mud, not really sure what it is, may need to seek some advice from a geologist! 

24/1/17

Estelle Sandford, James Begley, Mike Moxon, Jonathan Riley, Stu Lindsay, Liz Wire
2hrs
Digging the top dig for a change as we had enough. Haven’t touched this since the flooding back in November so most of the first couple of digs by Estelle and Mike were clearing the spoil that had come in from the flooding before Mike and then Liz were able to continue actually digging the bottom. Some of the roof isn’t looking great since mud has washed out from between some rocks lower down and we need to investigate some stabilisation for the future. 

18/1/17

Estelle Sandford, James Begley, Mike Moxon, Jonathan Riley, Tony Massey
2hrs
Digging the bottom dig, need a rope to haul up the buckets now as too far down to pass them up, but it’s useful to have knots in the rope so not using the bolt yet. Estelle dug first, followed by Jon then Tony followed by James for the last bit. A good 8-10 ft down now and possibly hitting some more solid boulders/rock. Need to clear more out. Need to bring more rope over and a pulley. 

10/1/17

Estelle Sandford, James Begley, Mike Moxon, Jonathan Riley, Stu Lindsay
2hrs
digging in the bottom hole again, still going down nicely and dig a little drier, making it easier to empty buckets a bit. Stu turned up late to cap the boulder at the top, which took 3 caps to break it up enough and then that was removed and also drilled for a bolt, so we can now look to haul up from the dig as it's getting to be too high to pass the buckets now.

3/1/17

Estelle Sandford, Jonathan Riley, Fran Campbell.
2hrs
Fran slightly late and others all not available, so Estelle and Jonathan got on with digging - it was very hard work to dig and transport buckets and empty and ended up doing this in 2 stages until Fran arrived. Good digging, going down nicely, needs a boulder capped on the ledge at the top and will need a bolt soon too for hauling up from dig as it's starting to get out of reach. 

20/12/16

Estelle Sandford, James Begley, Mike Moxon, Stu Lindsay
2hrs
Digging in the bottom dig, Mike started off, lots of clay & gravelly stuff coming out, continuing straight down. Estelle took over and removed a bit of rock as well. As you look into the dig, the right hand wall is closing off slightly, but appears the left hand wall is undercutting, so just keeping on digging down and removing everything! James took over for a bit until pub o clock! Said Merry Christmas to Kevin before heading to the pub. Next trip 2017!