11th July 2015

Due to work commitments, school holidays and air shows it’s another solo trip for me.

Wednesday’s effort had done the job and there was a considerable pile of debris to shift. Spent the next two hours stacking rock in the pot, breaking up the larger lumps with the sledge hammer, bagging the gravel. When I had finished the access to the former alcove is now c.4 metres long, 1 metre wide and nearly 2 metres high in places, and there is still more to come out of the floor and plenty of sediment to shift. Unfortunately I had done a “J’Rat” and run out of stacking space, the pot is now full of rock and the way into Toil and Trouble blocked with bags. Then, I heard a voice, I even answered it but on arrival at the surface there was no-one – am I going mad? I needed a drink so made my way off the hill and up to the Hunter’s Lodge Inn for some refreshment.

In the pub it later transpired that Alex had come over to the entrance of Hallowe’en Rift but had returned to his project to collect his kit.