Vince, Jake, Jon, Nick, and Tav
A bit of a smaller team after last weekend’s big turnout. No matter. After a brief discussion we decided that all go to the deep Soft South and down below the pot where the spoil would be temporarily stored. As expected, it was wet underground and there was evidence that a significant flow had run down the entrance. It would quickly become rather squalid.
Jake was upfront, busy with the mattock, loosening the sediment, and filling bags, aided by Nick. I was on the other side of the ‘stal’ obstruction taking the filled bags (and sporadic rocks) from Nick and loading into a skip to be hauled away by Tav, at the next stage along the NE passage. The skip unloaded and the spoil carried along to the pot by Jon. The filled bags and rocks moved along through the cave at a good, steady rate (there was not much time in between the bags/rocks). By the time digging came to an end there was a substantial pile in the pot. All moved back and re-positioned to move the spoil out to the surface. I was in the pot hauling the bags to Tav perched above on the ledge, the bags then transferred to the next skip and hauled away by Nick at the bottom of the entrance. Jake and Jon were on the surface hauling out and emptying the bags. There were some grumblings regarding skip failure from the surface duo, that might have been catastrophic for Nick (but weren’t!). at the end of the session all the bags made it out to the surface, although it took longer than planned and we finished a little later than usual. About 120 bags had been filled, hauled, and emptied. The rocks remained underground.
We still made it to the Hunter’s Lodge Inn for our customary refreshments and debrief.