Glorious weather and a warm walk up the hill, underground it was rather cooler. While Alex hammered away ot the top of the pot I set about removing the large pile of rock debris along the tube. The more skip-loads that I dragged along the tube the stickier it became, all the water being absorbed into my fleece undersuit. It took about two hours to clear all the rock debris and I also removed a bit of the sediment along the right hand side. The draught was pretty strong today – cool and fresh. There just has to be something significant ahead – but how far and what? – only more digging will reveal that! I was going to take some photos but became so caked in mud I decided not to bother and will take some next visit before digging.
Meanwhile, Alex had battered the top of the pot into submission with trusty lump hammer and chisel making it significantly larger, skip should be easier to haul out now. On exiting the cave the difference in temperature was very noticeable, from breathing cool, fresh cave air to the warm, humid surface air.
Next session will require more spoil clearance from the base of Witches Cauldron back to the surface before we can continue along the tube.
