Vince, Brockers, Jon, Jake, Nick, Tav, Mike, and Harley
Arrived at the farm even earlier today but with a plan – I had drill/plugs and feathers packed ready for use!
A curious phenomenon was observed as I walked up across the fields towards HR – all the dandelion leaves had turned red!
At the cave, underground before 09:00 and along to CoW. The plan was to remove a bulge of rock on one side of the narrow rift to give a bit more space for digging. When I had achieved that objective, I made my way out of the cave to the surface where I met Jake and Brockers.
It wasn’t very long before the rest of the team were assembled. Jake and Nick made their way to CoW, Brockers and Harley descended into the pot, Tav was on the ledge, Mike at the bottom of the entrance, leaving me and Jon on the surface in the pleasant sunshine, a breeze to keep us cool. We were all aware it would be a slower session today – mostly clearing the last remnants of ‘bang debris’ (well, at least that was the initial plan!)
There was a slow but steady flow of spoil out to the surface and about midday when there was a lull in spoil, I decided to return underground to see how things were progressing and to establish whether a further application of IRS was required. First stop was the pot, where it was obvious there had been a misunderstanding of the ‘plan’. The large boulders that had formed the steps at the bottom of the stemples had been moved and were now covering the ‘banged’ area in the floor of the pot so this could not be cleared. The boulders now need to be dealt with. However, it was easier to reach the ‘slop’ in the low bedding on the SW side of the pot beyond the stemples, and this was being dug. The diggers seemed happy enough. On to CoW. Jake and Nick had neatly cleared the spoil from the narrow rift and the ‘way forward’ could be seen. A solid wall had been exposed on one side with a narrow, sediment-filled crack in the floor, the walls have evidence to suggest some fluid movement so will return with the necessary materials to create some space to continue downwards. A plan in my head I returned to the surface to continue hauling/emptying bags. It was not very long before all the diggers were back on the surface.
Today’s count = about 70 bags filled, hauled, and emptied plus a selection of rocks added to the spoil heap wall. But now, the Hunters’ was beckoning!
My 100th digging/cave-related trip of 2026!