With Nick, Brockers and Jonathon.
Me digging, Brockers clearing away, Jonathon at the top of the slope, Nick was on the haul and shuttle and stashing the spoil at the bottom of the entrance.
We took a couple of replacement skips, as we are wearing them out rather quickly. There was also a pile of rocks left in the Tuck Shop on Tuesday evening to be cleared out. While the team dealt with that, I filled bags at the end.
After removing a decent amount of sediment I could get a better look at the end. There isn’t an obvious way on, at the moment, progress being hampered by a calcite blockage. The floor of the passage does drop, but is filled with layers of sandy silt and degrading calcite flowstone, the calcite appears old and is yellowish in colour. It is possible that by following the floor down we might dig underneath the blockage and the way ahead become clearer. The puzzling thing is, it’s hard work at the end, in a confined space, the air is always fresh and it doesn’t steam-up. There is still plenty of work to do.
It was soon time to stop digging and, by consensus, go to the pub. The bags and rock stashed in the entrance will be cleared during the coming week.