30th December 2017

With Jake, Jonathon, Nick, Tav and Brockers, who had collected a new digger for the team, Mike Willett.

Mike, as guest of honour for this session, was given the dubious pleasure of digging; I was in the drippiest place again but, to be honest, it wasn’t so drippy today. Jonathon was on the slippery slope once again, with Tav on top. Brockers and Nick were sharing the haul and shuttle, leaving Jake on the surface to haul-out and empty bags and wall-building, should the opportunity arise.

At the dig, a large puddle of water had formed, fed by the seepage of water from the sediment noticed last session. Initial attempts to get rid of the water failed so, Mike concentrated the digging effort to clearing-out a small alcove on the north-side, where a narrow space could be seen, the immediate potential here appears to be limited. As ever, it wasn’t too long before the team had sourced some bailing kit and we were able to drain the puddle sufficiently to enable digging to resume following the main lead. Sixty or so bags filled, some forward progress achieved, was a good enough effort for the session and we were ready for the pub. Each of the team left the cave with a substantial coating of sediment adhering to oversuits.

The last session of 2017.