Vince, Brockers, Jon, and Nick
After a senior moment and having to return home to get my forgotten helmet/light, assembled with the rest of the team at the farm and made our way across the field to the cave entrance.
Underground, I set off towards the dig beyond Trick or Treat (ToT), Brockers joined me, as did Nick very briefly until he succumbed to the desire to fill some bags in Can of Worms. Meanwhile, Jon had headed off to An Unexpected Development (AUD). I had only just started to fill bags beyond ToT when Jon arrived at AUD and a visual connection between the two areas was easily achieved. The gap, about 4m, 2m wide, and reaches about 0.5m in height, it looks ‘caveable’ but no attempt to achieve that objective was made, far too many fine formations and no point spoiling them, not worth the effort.
That objective confirmed it was back to digging, Jon made his way around to join us. As I filled bags, Brockers cleared them away and when a suitable pile had accumulated the support team, comprising Brockers, Jon, and Nick, removed the spoil to the bottom of the entrance. I carried on digging. Time flew by and when Jon returned to clear the backlog it was approaching midday and digging was bought to a close. Took a few photos before leaving, a brief stop in Can of Worms to look at progress there as rumours were that it was looking a bit more interesting and indeed, amongst the proliferation of roots, there was a small space between the sediment and the cave ceiling. Then all hands to clearing the cave of spoil. A total of 56 bags were filled, hauled, and emptied. And it was still squalid!
To the Hunters’ Lodge Inn for some refreshments and a debrief. All good stuff!