With Jake, Jon, Brockers, Duncan and Mike Moxon.
Good to see Mike turn-up to help-out, extra hands always welcome. Got last weeks IRS to clear in the Cold Gnarly North today, no lounging about in the comfort of the Soft South. I went ahead to reel in the wire followed by Brockers with a new skip and hauling ropes. Jon was in the, still wet, ‘lake’ chamber, Duncan settled into the corner, Mike and Jake were at the junction/bend and the bottom of the entrance where the spoil was stashed ready to be removed later at the end of the session.
Last weeks application of IRS had the desired effect and there was a considerable pile of fragmented rock and gravel waiting to be cleared. While Brockers sorted the skip, I started to bag up some of the gravel and move some of the rock. Some of the larger slabs of rock were shifted back to Brockers who reduced them to skip size. By the end of the session the passage was wider and higher, access to the further reaches is considerably improved, although a bit more digging will make it even better, of course. Another bedding development with arched roof to the left and right sides is visible and air movement is noticeable. A bit more digging is needed to see if this is significant, or not. The debris cleared, time to move back and haul out the bags and rocks from the entrance. Meeting Jon in the ‘lake’ chamber it was pointed out that the new skip is worn-out already and needs replacing. There was also, a brief discussion about the “left-handedness” of the skips, causing them to snag, the decision to make some “right-handed” skips was agreed on, Duncan said he will follow this up in time for next week’s session.
A final count of 51 loads were removed from the cave to the surface comprised of 33 bags of gravel and 18 skip loads of fragmented rock. The rock was added to the evermore impressive wall and the gravel used to consolidate behind the rock.
Good session. Pub!