20/10/20

More wall building! Checked out the water and it had dropped around another 6” facilitating access to the metal grills without getting excessively wet but a long way of being able to dig again any time soon! Mike went in and retrieved the grills via the side shelf and brought out to the surface to remove them to go to Pearl Mine as we no longer need them. Cement mixing underway, James and Estelle moved some rocks back into the cave and laid them out a bit for the first layer. Took cement in and did that layer and repeated for 2 more skips of cement before we ran out of supplies. Probably 1-2 more sessions will see the steps wall sorted so it doesn’t risk a collapse in from the wall from the mud behind. 2hrs

13/10/20

Estelle & James brought sand and cement and there was already some dust over there to make up a mix with, so we set to clearing where there had been a slump on the right of the steps. Tools recovered and removed to higher ground and James cleared all the mud away to reveal back to the previous cemented wall level. Dave made mix up while the spoil was removed and the rocks we'd taken out a couple of weeks back were brought back in for wall building! The big boulder at the top of the steps was undermined and then a wall built under it and cemented in place and continuation just below it until we ran out of mix for now. Will continue this over the next couple of weeks unless it happens to dry out enough to dig. The levels had dropped maybe 18" at most since Sunday, but still very much under water.

11/10/20

Estelle popped on an oversuit over clothes to go and check the state of the cave. The water levels had clearly been quite well up the step and currently sitting at about a metre below where the hole in the floor was. There has been a reasonably significant collapse from the right side as you go down the steps, burying the tools on the shelf there and water appears to have come in from above from the top dig area. It would be useful and sensible to do some walling at the step area to try and prevent further collapses from that side and also secure the boulder at the top better. Unlikely to see the end again for digging for a while. Noted that there had been a rock fall just below the ladder and we may be prudent to prod a crack as more looks a bit unstable there.

29/9/20

Andrew came over to survey the cave we’ve found since the 2016 survey around our digging session. We completed this promptly around the others digging and we have gained approx. 25m since then – it is 30m total to the rock at the start of the railway. Dave started at the dig, the water levels were the same as last week, about 6inches of water in the floor and easy enough to dig the face ahead and the spoil is easy digging varying clays, mud, etc. – it’s so much easier to haul the skipnow the hole in the floor has been filled and the top lined with spoil bags. Mike and Jon had their goes at digging and then we all headed to the pub. Have a feeling the forecasted weather may flood the dig, but we’ll see if it is as bad as forecast!