With Jake and Tav.
Drove up from a fog filled Chew Valley onto a gloriously sunny Mendip plateau to meet up with the team at HQ – the Hunter’s car park. Pleasant walk up to the cave from the farm, sorted out the empty bags and set off for the end. Then came the message back from Jake “there’s a puddle in the crawl” – after a week of fairly persistent rain the cave is becoming wet again. Jake and Tav went to the end while I settled in the pot, I could hear the splashing as puddles were emptied, then I noticed that my arm was wet as the water trickled down the wall, last trip in cotton overall’s for a while I suppose. Jake took the first stint at digging and bags were soon being shifted back to pot. I then had the company of a rather irritating buzzing bluebottle that always settled down just out of reach, then it was joined by the rest of the squadron some of them making their way up to Tav and Jake, some did not return. 30 bags were filled and a few rocks and it was time to clear out the spoil to the surface, and it was still warm and sunny. Getting to the stage where some extra help wouldn’t go amiss! Returned to HQ for refreshment as usual.
