dighalloween

With Jake.

I couldn’t believe it, stung by a wasp in January. I had decided to retrieve a long unused oversuit from the horsebox. When getting ready to put it on, I noticed a wasp on the cabin floor, then another was seen, and as I slid my arm into the oversuit, a third was located. I didn’t survive after the first sting, some vigorous patting of the arm, followed by a digging trip. As for the oversuit, I won’t be wearing that one again, far too tight, like trying to cave in a strait jacket, restrictive and very uncomfortable.

At the end of Merlin’s Jake and I took it in turns to fill forty or so bags, plus a few rocks. Most of the spoil is at the top of the slope. Jake ended the session by loosening a large boulder into the way forward. This will need capping next session before much progress can be made.

Quite a strong drip in the cave this evening and the puddles were noticeably deeper in places.

With Jake, Jonathon, Matt and Nick.

Jake was at the sharp end, filling bags and shifting rocks, Jonathon clearing away. I was positioned at the top of the slope, loading skips to Matt, on the haul and shuttle. Nick was on the surface but, also helped Matt with the haul and shuttle duties.

First, there was a backlog of spoil that Nick and I had dug on Tuesday evening to move out of the cave; about 30 bags plus an assortment of rocks. While this was done, Jonathon piled today’s spoil at the base of the slope.

When Tuesday’s stuff was cleared, we set about moving today’s pile out. No-one was counting really, but it must have been another 50 bags plus several loads of rock, some of them quite large.

At the end of the digging session, Jonathon and I went to look at the end. After a couple of hours full-on digging effort, the air was clear and fresh, and the chamber is getting bigger. There is, air movement, from the north and/or north-east side.

Still more to be dug out though!

Cave cleared and secured, it was time for some refreshments.

With Nick.

I did the digging, Nick cleared away the bags and rock, up the slope and stacked the spoil at the top, ready for removal later.

I concentrated the digging effort to the north side of the fissure, where air movement can be detected. Removed a lot of rocks, a mixture of conglomerate and degraded calcite flowstone, some were quite large, and filled bags with sediment. There is still plenty to come out before a clear idea of how this will develop can be made.

How time flies when you are enjoying yourself, all too soon, it was time to depart.

With Jake, Tav, Nick, Matt and a first-time trip for Jonathon Riley.

Jake opted for surface duty this session, I was on the shuttle, and later the haul and shuttle when Matt went up to the surface to empty bags, Tav, was in a busy spot, top of the slope, hauling the skip up and transferring the load to the drag tray down to Matt. Nick was upfront digging and filling bags, Jon clearing away and loading the skip to Tav.

The first job for Jake and I, was to clear the backlog of rocks and bags left stacked in the entrance on Thursday evening; 60+ loads out to the surface.

I looked o up to the surface and thought to myself, should have brought the camera, lovely blue sky seen through an ash tree, and framed by the entrance of Hallowe’en Rift.

When the entrance was cleared, I went to clear the pile of bags and rock that Matt had accrued. It was a full-on effort for an hour and a half. Eventually, things settled down, Matt went out to empty bags, and I took over the haul and shuttle. Another 70+ loads of rocks and bags were cleared out to the surface. Another good session.

With Jake, Nick and Tav.

Tuesday evening’s effort had been a success, the way ahead blocked, temporarily, by a pile of fractured rock and gravel.

I began the task of clearing the debris out of the way, Nick was at the bottom of the slope loading the skip to Tav, who was at the top. Jake was on the haul and shuttle, stacking the rocks and bags in the entrance ready for removal on Saturday.

Some of the fractured rock required a bit of persuasion, but most of it was moved out of the way to give a view of the potential way forward. There is still quite a bit of loose rock and gravel on the floor to be shifted out of the way, another job for Saturday.

At the end of the session, both Nick and Tav came forward to have a look, the consensus was, we need to dig some more.

Another busy Saturday session for us.

With Jake.

The focus of this evening’s trip was the application of some rock engineering techniques to try and open access to the north and to widen the fissure a bit more.

While I was drilling holes, Jake got to work with the mattock, filled some bags and removed some hefty flakes of rock and degraded flowstone. Eventually, Jake had to cease digging because he was undermining, my now, precarious position.

Six holes plus an extra for the trimmings were drilled; these were split into two groups, 4 holes on the north side to remove some blocks of rock to open the access to that side and, 3 holes on the south side to remove a bulge and widen the route a little.

Everything brought to a satisfactory conclusion, the sound of falling rocks could be heard in the distance. Could be interesting on Thursday evening.

With Matt, Nick, Jake and Tav.

Jake set off for the end to get on with the digging, Tav followed on, stopping at the top of the slope to load the skip and shift the stockpile of bags there. Matt settled down at Stal Bend to haul the loaded skip, while Nick was shuttling bags to the entrance. I was on the surface hauling the bags and rocks out of the cave.

It was a very pleasant morning too, warm in the sunshine and sheltered from the breeze.

At first, there was a rush of bags and rocks, eventually though, the pace slackened and I could empty the bags. Several bags had come to the end of their usefulness and these, were given a fitting burial in the spoil heap.

Jake and Tav had alternated the digging, the result was a spurt of bags and rock towards the end of today’s session. Thankfully, everyone had moved back and there was help on the surface. About 100 loads were brought out of the cave and added to the ever-burgeoning spoil heap.

With Nick.

A covering of snow on top of the hill.

At the business end of Hallowe’en Rift, Nick filled two dozen bags with sediment, I cleared. There’s room to put the mattock to good use. We, then, changed places and I filled 20 or so bags, until time ran out.

All the bags are at the top of the slope, it was a rather snug fit passing them.

There are several puddles below strong drips after today’s rain.

With Tav and Nick.

Tav went along to the end to have a look and to take some bearings, while Nick and I busied ourselves clearing some of the backlog of spoil in the entrance.

When Tav returned, there followed some discussion. The fissure we followed from the bottom of the rift [pot], as we thought, heads west and the lead we accessed is trending north-northeast, which is just what we wanted.

We decided to all go up to the end and clear the bags that were stashed there. After some persistent rain yesterday, there are drips in several places and the passages have become lubricated, this does make the skips progress easier, but it is becoming muddier.

When the bags and rock were cleared from the end, it was back to the entrance and cleared that; 50 bags and about 80 loads of rock in total to the surface.

We needed some refreshment!

With Jake, Nick and Matt.

On arrival at the end, the way ahead was now obstructed by a pile of rock, Thursday’s effort had been effective.

I was upfront, Jake cleared away and loaded the skip, Matt hauled it up the slope and Nick was on the haul and shuttle.

I started to clear away the larger of the lumps of rock, reducing them in size with the lump hammer, as necessary. Beforehand, we had sorted out a skip making the clearing of fragmented rock easier. It wasn’t too long before we had cleared enough to squeeze forward into the open space beyond.

With just a bit more digging, I was through. I am going to claim the term ‘micro-breakthrough’. About 3-metres length, a vertical range 1.5 to 2-metres (there is some sediment to be removed). There was enough space for me to, just about, stand, and after clearing away a few lumps of degraded calcite and assorted stones out of the way, could peer into another c.2-metres of [probably] caveable passage, but access is too constricted. It’s heading c.NE and air movement is good. The removal of a block of conglomerate should enable a better look ahead, but clearing the pile of spoil already created is the priority.

Jake and Nick both came forward to look at the prospects, and Matt came down to the end too.

Then we returned to the task of clearing spoil. I bagged up the gravel and sediment, while the others moved the stockpile of rock to the entrance.

There is a lot of spoil to clear out of the cave, plenty to keep us busy for the next few sessions.

With Jake and Tav.

On arrival at the current end of Merlin’s, it was evident that Tuesday evening’s effort had been successful and there was a pile of rock to shift before any drilling could be done. I passed the larger lumps of rock back to Jake, the biggest of these were then reduced to skip size with the sledge hammer. Tav was at the top of the slope, hauling up the skip and stockpiling the rocks and bags. I pushed much of the smaller cobbles and gravel to one side, this will be bagged later. probably on the weekend. Ahead, the passage looks caveable and we should be able to gain access on Saturday.

When enough space was cleared to drill, Jake and Tav began to move the spoil stockpile to the entrance. Six holes were drilled, charged and well stemmed. As I was about to lay out the wire Tav and Jake were just about clear, so good timing.

Everything was brought to a satisfactory conclusion and we were all done for the evening. It will be a very busy morning on Saturday.

With Roz. First trip of the New Year.

After a wet and miserable day on Sunday 1st, there are several puddles along the approach passage and some drips elsewhere in the cave.

At the furthest reaches in Merlin’s, still heading west, into more open space beyond, so near and yet…

Drilled a total of 6no. holes plus an extra for the trimmings, these were split into two groups of three. One group was placed as far forward as I could drill, just beyond a natural joint in the rock; the second group, including the trimmings, was placed to create more space to ease future digging operations. These groups were about a metre apart so two detonators were used. Everything was brought to a satisfactory conclusion.

The plan is to return on Thursday evening and continue the rock engineering process.

With Jake, Nick and Tav for the last digging session of 2016.

Nick’s turn up front to clear the rock debris and continue the digging, my job was to haul the loaded skip up the slope and transfer the load to the next skip down to Jake, on the haul and shuttle run to the entrance. Tav was on surface duties this weekend, hauling up the bags and emptying them and distributing the rock debris on the ever-growing spoil heap.

At the start of the session, while Jake attached a new skip, I went down to join Nick and reduced a large boulder of dolomitic conglomerate into more manageable, skip sized pieces with the sledgehammer.

After we had shifted all the rock debris out to the surface, Nick started to dig out some of the sediment that blocks the way forward. To ease this process, we all moved forward, as Nick filled a bag, I removed it and loaded it into the skip, Jake hauled it up the slope, loaded the other skip to Tav, now on the haul and shuttle. This was a bit unfortunate for Tav who had decided that he wouldn’t require any knee-pads as he was on surface duties.

When all the bags had been filled, Jake came down to look at the progress and to peer into the space beyond.

There was now a pile of bags and rock in the entrance ready to be cleared out and emptied. That done, the cave was secured and tidy, ready for the next session in the new year. Hopefully, I can get something sorted for a midweek foray.

A crystal filled geode recovered from this weeks spoil.

With Roz

After a rather leisurely morning sorting out the necessities we arrived a bit later than anticipated at the farm. We quickly changed ad headed across the fields to the cave entrance.

At the end of Merlin’s I didn’t spend much time with the hammer and chisel but got on with drilling the holes.

A total of 6no. holes with quite a wide spread to exploit some cracks that were visible. The task was completed relatively quickly and we made it to the Hunter’s with plenty of time to spare.

With Tav, Nick and Alex.

Tav down at the bottom of the rift [pot] clearing the rock debris and loading the skips to Nick who, was hauling the skips up the slope and transferring the load to the next skip. I was on the haul and shuttle, pulling the skip from Nick, loading the bags and rocks into another skip and dragging that to the entrance where Alex was on the surface waiting to haul up the spoil.

It was two and a half hours of non-stop action, there was a lot of rock shifted, Alex lost count, but the estimate was at least 80 loads, Alex even managed to get some rocks added to the wall.

At the end, it’s clear ready for the next application of rock engineering technology, hopefully, this will enable more of the sediment to be removed from the fissure and more forward progress can be achieved. It is so tantalising.

Card design by A.G’ruffalo.

With Roz.

And behold, there was rock!

The first task of the evening was to shift the rock debris out of the way. I went ahead to drag the rock back, breaking the larger pieces with the lump hammer, and passing the rocks bac to Roz who stacked it all at the base of the rift [pot], ready to be cleared out on Saturday.

Then the next task for the evening.

While I started to drill the holes, Roz bagged some of the smaller sized gravel to add to the stack of rocks. 6no. holes plus another for the trimmings, all well stemmed, retired to a safe distance, everything sounded good.

Locked the cave and departed. There will plenty of work for the weekend.

Solo. Roz was going to join me but more pressing matters put an end to that.

At the end drilled 6no. holes plus a shorter one for the trimmings. The aim is to give some more height and width concentrated on the left-hand side of the fissure. I couldn’t resist a little peek along the fissure using a beamed light rather than a diffuse one, it does look very enticing. Just a bit more work to get there is required.

Laid out the wire and everything sounded good, ready for a return on Thursday evening to move the debris and continue with the expansion works.

With Jake, Tav, Nick and Alex.

My turn to do the digging, which was a tad awkward this session, edging forward along a barely body sized fissure, loosening the spoil, then dragging it back to where there was enough space to bag it up for Jake to clear away.

Jake was filling some bags too, cleaning off the ledges on the slope. Tav was at the top, hauling the skip up the slope, then transferring the load to another skip down to Nick on the haul and shuttle. Nick had remained on the surface for a short time to carry out some wall building. Alex had gone off to do his own thing for a while before coming over to Hallowe’en Rift to help clear out the bags and rocks to the surface, 50 loads in total (46 bags and 4 skip loads of rocks).

The rocks had come from a large flake that I had removed with the hammer and chisel after Jake had pointed out a fracture, it’s removal made digging a lot easier.

The way ahead is looking very interesting indeed. The fissure gradually widens, and looks just about body sized, well, after the sediment is removed of course. It appears to widen more about 4-metres further on and looks to turn to the right (north), the air movement is good and fresh. The fissure gains some height and about 500mm above the sediment the remnants of a former false floor can be seen.

There is still a need for some rock removal to ease forward progress and to improve the removal of spoil. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get that done in the coming week.

Another very satisfying session.

With Jake, Nick and Alex.

On the way down the Old Bristol Road we dropped Alex off at Ivy Cottage as he wanted to walk along the hillside to Hallowe’en Rift, the rest of us continued to the farm where we changed and made our way up to the cave.

At the end of Merlin’s Nick was digging, I was clearing away the filled bags and rocks placing them into the skip for Jake to haul them up the slope. When we had amassed a good pile of bags and rocks I went up the slope while Jake went back to the haul and shuttle, Nick continued digging. Alex had turned up at the entrance and was busying himself adding to the drystone wall. The filled bags were emptied, then Jake and I went back to clear the next pile Nick had created. Repeated the procedure.

When that stack had been cleared away Jake remained on the haul and shuttle. Nick loaded the skip at the bottom while I hauled it up the slope and loaded the bags and rocks into the next skip for Jake to haul and shuttle to the entrance. Eventually the pace slowed and I took the opportunity to take a good look at the end.

There is clear layering in the sediments. Above the dolomitic conglomerate there is a layer (A) comprising very compact red silty clay that has a base load of gravel in small pockets, some of the gravel is rounded with an oxidised coating perhaps suggestive of stream flow. At the top of (A) is a layer of degraded, fragmented flowstone (B), possibly this once sealed (A). Above this (C) compact, sometimes loosely compacted, silty sand that appears yellow-brown in underground lighting. It is red-brown on the surface but has been mixed with (A).

Ahead c.2.5m the open fissure gains height and appears a bit wider, and there is good air movement. The fissure is, currently, heading in a westerly direction. The prospects seem to be encouraging.

We thought it might have been a bit slower digging today but still managed to shift 58 bags and several skip loads of rock out to the surface. The entrance is clear of bags, the benefit of an extra pair of hands at the surface, so no reason for a midweek trip. We’ll probably go into Wookey Hole instead and continue the wall building there.

To the pub in some fine Mendip ‘sunshine’.

With Nick, Tav and Jake.

I was dispatched to the end to fill more bags while the others cleared the bags left from Saturday – I sense a theme going on here!

At the end, I cleared away the last large deposit of sediment from the base of the rift before working to the west and forward. It wasn’t too long before Jake arrived to start clearing the backlog of bags and, there were some rocks. The way forward looks tantalising but some rock engineering will need to be applied beforehand, still plenty of sediment to dig though.

Whilst bags were being filled Nick decided to drop down the pot and go along Toil and Trouble to the T Junction and beyond to see if we could establish an audible connection, we couldn’t so we were satisfied with that outcome.

It was all to soon time to clear out the filled bags and rocks to the surface. It had been a productive evening; earlier 84 skip loads of bags and rock had been hauled out followed by tonight’s effort of a further 26 skip loads, a total of 110 loads out to the surface.

At the Hunter’s a token gesture towards the festive season was a few rounds of spoof to fill the Christmas draw sheet.

The rock! Well, that turned out to be limestone with an oxidised coating.

With Jake, Tav and Nick.

Three ventured to the end of Merlin’s; Jake digging, Nick hauling up the slope and Tav loading the skip. ‘Billy No Mates’ was left behind on the haul and shuttle where the feint sound of friendly banter coming from the end was just about audible, too distant for ‘Billy’ to take part.

‘Billy’ had to make his own entertainment and set about constructing a ‘Tower of Power’ leading up towards the light. There is an impressive stack of bags and rock in the entrance that reaches the ledge just below the gate. Getting the last few bags to the top required some effort.

Eventually, the three returned from the end bringing with them the ‘holy’ rock, and the four were reunited. The ‘tower’ was to be left until Tuesday evening when it will be de-constructed and the bags spread upon the heap of spoil. More bags will probably be filled too.

The four then left the cave to gaze in awe at the ‘holy’ rock in a place of reverence high on the enchanted hill. The rock type is still a matter of discussion to be concluded later when it will be cut in half to reveal its inner secrets.

With Nick, Tav and Jake.

A cold evening with an easterly wind, but the sky was clear and we had a fantastic view of the stars.

Underground it was quite a bit warmer. As I drilled the holes to continue the passage expansion at the bottom of the rift at the current end of Merlin’s the rest of the team filled more bags. Nick digging, Tav hauling up the slope and loading the skip to Jake, who was on the haul and shuttle. When I had finished the holes Nick, Tav and Jake went to the entrance to clear the spoil that was stacked there – 75 skip loads of bags and rock out to the surface.

Meanwhile I had completed my task and it was time to lock up and make our way off the hill. It wasn’t too long before we were warming up in the Hunter’s Lodge Inn.

With Jake, Nick and Matt.

Vince doing the digging bit, Matt hauling up the rift, Jake started on the shuttle but came up to load the skips, Nick did the haul and shuttle.

The bang had a reasonable effect and there was plenty of fractured rock to move, would have been better but one of the holes blew out, but I might have loosened it when I slipped while climbing out of the rift, would have been spot on had it gone.

Once the rock was cleared the sediment comprises silty sand and some fine gravel, there is the occasional piece of fragmented ancient flowstone within the sediment. Most of the time I was sat down and shovelling spoil into the bags. Now the way ahead has been cleared of some sediment it appears we are starting to follow a phreatic partially sediment filled tube, that is about 1.25m wide at the base and about 0.6m in height. There is a solid rock floor. The hardest part is loading the bags and rock into the skip, the step up is a couple of metres. I was rather warm in my plastic suit.

The bags and rocks shifted today and stacked in the entrance will be cleared out on Tuesday evening when I will be drilling some more holes. We will probably fill a few more bags of sediment too.

I got the video camera working but need to sort out the footage, it stopped when the battery died after about 1.75hrs and on a 10 minute cyclic record there’s a lot of editing to be done.

Solo

It was very windy walking up across the field, cold too coming from the east.

Along to the current end of Merlin’s to drill some holes, heading west following a narrow, partially sediment filled fissure from the lowest point in the rift. 7 holes were drilled, 6 for the ready prepared charges and an extra for the bunched trimmings. Retired to a safe distance and all sounded good!

With Jake and Tav.

It’s been a tad damp over the past few days; I got a report of Chamber’s 3 and 20 in Wookey Hole flooding, the wettest seen in 20 years and as I drove past Gough’s Cave in Cheddar this morning that too, was spewing torrents of water. How this has affected Hallowe’en Rift we shall found out soon.

But first, there’s the pile of bags and rock in the entrance to clear. Tav and I on the surface sharing the hauling with Jake loading the skips. 61 skip loads out to the surface and while Tav volunteered to empty the bags Jake and I headed off to the end to dig some more.

There were a couple of small puddles along the approach, just damp enough to ease the passage of the skip, at the dig it was dry. Jake set about filling bags and I hauled them up the slope, stockpiled a few loads before Tav arrived at the haul and shuttle.

Another 25 skip loads were removed to the surface, bags hung up on the line and we were done.

With Jake, Tav and Pete Bolt.

I tried out a new plastic oversuit I had purchased online for £25. It was okay but the wearing of two long sleeved thermal T’s was an error, I was very warm.

Anyway, at the sharp end, while I drilled and ‘capped’ the obstructing rock in the floor of the dig, Tav fettled the skip run, Pete was clearing away and loading the skip to Jake, who was on the haul and shuttle.

Interestingly I found that dolomitic conglomerate boulder split better using double black cartridges whereas comparable sized boulders of limestone can be split using just a single black cartridge. The split boulder of ‘dol cong’ required some chisel and bar work to extricate it from the sediment but the task was completed. I swapped places with Tav and he started to fill bags with sediment while I set about using more rock splitting technique to remove a couple of stubborn obstructions along the skip run.

That done, we cleared the stack of bags that Tav had steadily accumulated. Tav carried on digging for a little longer and it was quite late, by our usual standards, when we decided to finish the session. There is a very neat stack of bags and rock in the entrance ready for clearing mid-week.

The helmet mounted video camera (SJ4000) that I had thought to try out was not a complete success – I guess I should have turned it on properly as I discovered during a quiet moment between hauling skips.

With Jake, Tav and Nick.

It was a foggy night, we mooched up the hill but didn’t quite locate the stile and had to search for it – just for a few moments!

On arrival at Hallowe’en Rift; Jake, Tav and myself set about clearing the spoil left at the weekend from the entrance while Nick headed up to the dig to wrestle the fractured rock free from the sediment.

There were 60 skip loads of spoil removed from the entrance and one frog, but I’m not sure that the frog didn’t return as I saw one just like it disappearing into a small gap between some rocks.

While Tav emptied the bags out on the surface Jake and I headed up to the end of Merlin’s to free Nick from a surplus of rock debris and bags. Jake clearing and loading the skips while I was on the haul and shuttle. Another 15 skip loads out to the surface and we decided to call it a day. The fractured rock, however remains, somewhat depleted but still there, a job for Saturday with the drill and caps!

As we walked down to the farm it was raining steadily.

With Nick and Tav.

Me digging, Tav hauling and loading skips, Nick doing the haul and shuttle.

A bit of a slow start while I tried to dig around and pry out the fractured rock in the floor. Tav started to make some adjustments to the haul slope which meant that I had a constant shower of debris which was okay as long as I didn’t look up.

When I eventually coaxed one piece of the fractured rock free the rest came a little more easily and Nick had something to do. It was warm work digging.

Working at loosening the shattered rock and flowstone to the north side of the dig I got the long bar behind a lump and prised it free to reveal a small space beyond. A large lump of rock in the floor needed a reduction in size so got the drill out and capped it. Then after some sledge work and leverage with the long bar it was out, cleared away the remaining debris and opened up the space some more.

I got my head into a narrow opening and could see about 2 or 3 metres to the west and about a metre to the east, there is some air movement, the narrow fissure or rift is partially filled with sediment, the usual reddish brown silty sand. The team came down to take a look.

We cleared some of the loose rock, but there is still more rock to dig out of the floor and it then seems to be sediment to excavate. At the entrance is a pile of rocks and bags that will remain until Tuesday evening, another excuse to go the pub and it was fast approaching that time now.

We made our way down the hill to the farm, then up to the Hunter’s Lodge Inn.

With Jake and Tav.

A rainy evening trip to clear the spoil left stacked in the entrance on Saturday.

Tav loading the skips, Jake and Vince on the surface hauling and emptying the skip. 51 bags up to the surface and emptied, 27skip loads of rock and 1 heavyweight rock in the net. All cleared ready for Saturday’s session.

It didn’t take too long and we were soon sat in the pub, a little bit too early really.

With Tav and Jake.

Jake digging, Vince hauling and loading the skip, Tav doing the haul and shuttle. As expected, after the initial clearance of rock debris, there was a lot more fine sediment to excavate to get to the remaining fractured rock. Progress was at a good steady pace and it was warm work.

Towards the end of the session Jake and Vince swapped places. A few more bags were filled before attention was paid to some fractured rock overhead and, after a little persuasion this was brought crashing down. Another heavyweight rock was man-handled up the slope and while Jake rolled the rock down to Tav, Vince reduced the other pieces to skip size with some swinging of the sledge hammer – there is that much space at the end.

About 45 bags were filled and plenty of rock was shifted, all stacked neatly in the entrance by Tav, who had to climb up to the ledge to place the last few skip loads, here the spoil will remain until Tuesday evening. At the dig there is still more fractured rock to remove but this needs digging out, so no rock engineering will be necessary in the coming week.

Satisfied with the effort, the gate was locked and we made our way down to the farm to change. Then up to the Hunter’s for some well-earned refreshment and discussion of plans for the week ahead.

Solo.

6no. holes drilled into the rock flakes in the floor. Much of the rock is already fractured so the drilling took some thinking about. It will likely require some exerted effort to get at all the broken rock [and sediment too]. As usual retired to a safe distance and all sounded good, leaves fluttered down into the entrance.

With Jake, Tav, Nick, Matt and from the Grampian – Colin, Frazer and Ian. We were joined later by Tangent.

Tav digging ably assisted by Nick and Ian; Matt doing the hauling; Jake shuttling and loading the skips to the surface; Vince above ground with Colin and Frazer, who was a little worse for wear following a rather heavy day yesterday.

The first task of the day was to remove the spoil left from last weekend, this done Jake started to clear the pile that Matt was accruing coming from the digging end.

Then Jake sent the sledge up to the end when it had been requested, this was soon followed by some enormous boulders being rolled out of the cave. These easily weighed between 30kg to 50kg and the net was needed along with a joint effort to get them up to the surface.

When most of the work had been done Tangent turned up, taking a detour from pedalling up the hill to the Hunter’s to say hello to the Grampian contingent. I then went along to the end with Colin, don’t know what happened to Frazer.

There’s a rather large space at the end now which should not be a surprise after the quantity of spoil shifted today. There is a good solid wall on the west side but the rock flake in the floor will need some attention so another mid-week trip is necessary.

Another fine digging session with our digging chums from north of the border. Time to go to the pub.

With Tav. Unfortunately, Jake and the Grampian team were delayed too long in Reservoir hole and couldn’t make it.

We went straight up to the current end of Merlin’s to get the rock engineering done. 6no. holes this time; 2no. in fractured rock overhead, 1no. in the rift going north, and 3no. in flake of rock in the floor. It didn’t take too long and we soon back at the entrance. Before setting the charge off we decided to shift a couple of dozen loads of spoil up to the surface, mostly bags but a few rocks too.

Job done we headed down to the farm where we spent some time chatting to Mark, the farmer. At a local, well known hostelry we met up with Jake and co. and a jolly time was had by all!

With Tav and Nick.

My turn to dig, Tav clearing back, and Nick on the haul and shuttle. Monday’s blast had the desired effect and there was a good pile of rock, gravel and finer sediment to be removed. The new skip was put into immediate use as there is quite a distance between the dig face and up the slope to the skip loading position, Tav has renamed this ‘haul and shuttle 2’, there are no easier positions now.

There is an interesting deposit of calcified sediment filling a narrow fissure. The sediment filled the fissure and carbonate rich water seeped through the sediment becoming calcified. Looking closely it is possible to see that the sediment was slowly oozing down the fissure before solidifying.

Filled about 30 bags of gravel and finer sediment, shifted a lot of rock and eventually cleared the dig ready for another midweek trip to create more rubble. There is some fractured rock that will need some encouragement to bring it down too. At the end of the clearance session both Tav and Nick came to inspect the way ahead. There is a narrow rift going down perhaps 0.7m depth from where the draught is emanating, the gap seems to widen below a block of conglomerate. This opening appears to align north/south.

Unfortunately, we had spent so much time clearing the end there wasn’t time to clear the entrance. Perhaps we can get this out during the week when I am applying rock engineering techniques at the end of Merlin’s.

Another interesting bit of rock. The calcite bands at lower end of this sample are beginning to degrade while the upper bands are still competent, the mid section is a mixture of degrading and competent bands. the bands are very thin and many of the layers upper surface stained red probably from sediment flow.

Solo.

At the current end of Merlin’s drilled 7no. holes – 3no. on either side and 1no. in large flake of flowstone in the floor, all prep done, retired to a safe distance, made some loud noise, the cave shook! There will be rubble for the weekend.

With Nick, Tav and Jake.

As we walked up to the cave I joked “Nick have you walked all the way up here without your hat”…only to realise that I had done exactly that! Jake saved my embarrassment by lending me his hat as he was on surface duties this weekend.

At the end there was plenty of rubble to shift. Nick was digging, I was clearing back loading the skips, Tav on the haul and shuttle, Jake on the surface in the warm October sunshine building walls. It was warm work and the progress is quite impressive, the rift is c.4.0-4.5m deep, c.4m length and heading north as well as downwards, there is air movement. At the end of the session there is a small gap under the left (west) wall that appears to continue north. Some more rock engineering is required.

72no. skip loads to the surface comprising bags and rock, including some rather large boulders that wouldn’t succumb to the sledge, about 15kg per load – well work it out for yourselves!

Pub time.

With Tav and Jake, later joined by Nick who had been delayed by a late train.

While I planned to apply some rock engineering to the end the rest of the team were to set about clearing the remaining spoil from Sunday’s session. Tav gave me a hand to carry the kit up to Merlin’s before returning to the entrance.

7no. holes drilled – 3no. either side if the rift and 1no. in a large rock flake in the floor. Tav returned just as I was charging the last hole so I packed away the drill and he took that out for me. That left me to tidy up the loose end and connect the wires then I made my way out laying the wire as I went. All was brought to a satisfactory conclusion, the entrance clear of spoil we made our way down the hill to the farm, followed by the usual debrief at the Hunter’s Lodge Inn.

There will be more rubble to shift at the weekend.

With Jake and Nick.

Jake doing the digging, Nick clearing back and loading the skip, my turn on the haul and shuttle, it was relentless and very warm and sweaty work. By the end of the digging session I had to climb nearly out of the entrance to add more spoil to the stockpile that was awaiting removal to the surface. I didn’t have any time to break up the larger boulders and these are lined up at the bottom of the pile. It would appear that Tuesdays effort had been a success.

After the rush I went along to the end to see what further rock engineering was required. It’s getting steadily deeper and longer at the current end of Merlin’s. We could still excavate loose sediment from the base of the dig but more widening is necessary and there is a large flake of rock impeding downward progress.

21 bags were removed and emptied on the surface, but time was moving on and it’s early closing on a Sunday at the Hunter’s. As a consequence much of the spoil remains stacked in the entrance and will be removed, probably on Tuesday evening when Jake and Tav, possibly Nick intend to accompany me and clear out while I drill.

Another excellent session!

With Roz Simmonds.

At the current end of Merlin’s I managed to get 6 and a bit holes drilled after some excitement when a drill bit snapped leaving a stub jammed in the chuck. Eventually, following a god deal of cussing and grumbling the stub was extricated and drilling progressed. Roz took some photo’s, some were ok.

All things done and dusted we made our way out. There will, again be rubble to shift at the weekend.