25th February

Vince, Jake, Tav, and Brockers

Jake upfront digging aided by Tav who cleared back the filled bags, I was hauling away the skip (loaded with bags) and passing the bags to Brockers, who was carrying them back to the pot where they were temporarily stored. A couple of times Brockers and I moved back to the pot to shift some bags up onto the ledge until the available space was filled. It is interesting to note that there is a lack of rock within the fine sediments which might suggest that we are at the upper part of a larger passage, the rocks being in the lower section.

At midday it was decided to stop digging and start to clear out the cave. The mud was especially sticky and soon clogged up the surface pulley (which is too small anyway) making the hauling out of bags even harder. Brockers stated that he would rather be emptying bags (a somewhat onerous task at times) than hauling. At the end of play, in excess of 80-bags had been filled, hauled, and emptied onto the spoil heap. Time for the Hunter’s and refreshments. Unfortunately, I had left my change of clothes (and wallet) at home and was just a bit damp (and increasingly cold) at our favoured hostelry so didn’t stay too long.