I was away for the weekend attending the 33rd BCRA Cave Science Symposium and AGM at the University of Manchester followed, on Sunday, with a field meeting at Alderley Edge Mines, Cheshire. Digging at HH, however, continued. Jon penned the following account of activities on Saturday morning.
Report by Jon:
“Four diggers (Brockers, Jake, Tav and Jon) arrived at the farm at the appointed hour. Responsibility for the key was handed to a ‘responsible person’. There was much discussion as to who qualified.
A drag tray was taken up to rig the new skip run. Jon was sent to the front and supported by Brockers, at a distance. Tav worked the ledge and Jake stacked, very neatly, at the bottom of the entrance shaft. The new skip run works well, as expected.
The cavalry did not arrive.
At the dig face, there is evidence of a rock ledge on the left hand side, just below the top of the in-fill. This may narrow the passage by 12 inches or so; we may need to take a little more out on the right. The spoil remains dry and dusty despite being underneath The Pissing Tree.
With only one person digging, the number of bags was down on previous sessions. A time-based approach was taken. 74 bags were removed, along with some of the rock that had previously been stacked.
The Team then retired to a local hostelry for light refreshment.”