12th August

Vince, Brockers, Nick, Jake, Tav, Jon, and Mike

A good turn-out today with Mike having a work-free weekend and deciding to come and lend a helping hand.

Down in the deep Soft South, I continued working in the righthand corner while Brockers, whose main objective was to clear away filled bags, dug on the left-side of the end chamber. Mike came up to the end to check on progress as he hasn’t seen it for a while, before going back to shuttle spoil along to the pot. Nick was in the pot hauling up rocks and filled bags whenever they were delivered. I think Jon was on the ledge, with Tav at the bottom of the entrance, and Jake on the surface hauling up the spoil. There was some swapping around of positions going on as Nick ended up shuttling along the passage to the pot, Mike shifting position to somewhere else.

The digging on the right-side of the end chamber is an ongoing task – layers of sediment overlying a calcite false floor which, in turn, overlies more sediment with some degrading calcification evident.

The right-hand dig, 12th August 2023

Meanwhile, to the left-side of the end chamber, Brockers dug another connection into Trick or Treat (not an unexpected outcome). This was, eventually, confirmed when Brockers negotiated the slippery climb and following wriggle into Trick or Treat and reporting back that he had seen the light! I could hear him through the small gap that was the connection. Time to clear-up the loose, last bag(s) dispatched, we left the dig for the surface (after a few photos, bit steamy with two working in the chamber).

Another connection to Trick or Treat, 12th August 2023

All bags were empty when we arrived on the surface – c.90-bags and 50 skip-loads of rocks. Good session. Time for the Hunter’s!

Author: mendipgeoarch

Archaeologist, Geologist, Speleologist