Tuesday 14th July 2026

John Cooper, Xiao Jin, Kate Lawrence, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank (with a visit from Kushy). Jude and Kate to the bottom to start and 1 frog, 1 cricket and several slugs sent up for rehoming. They then came out and John went down with his drill. A line of 4 holes drilled in the bulge, another line of 4 in the ledge below and 1 at the floor level. John was then replaced by Adrian who filled the holes, connected them and came out, raising the ladder out of harms way on the way out. Xiao pressed the “FIRE” button. All went OK. Bottom ladder lowered again but will need securing by the first person down next time. Should be some spoil to clear on Saturday. John.

Saturday 11th July 2026

John Cooper, Mike Kousiounis (Kushy) and Pete Hann. Hot today, 28°C with a slight breeze. Mike and Pete down, Pete wall building at North end of rift and Kushy assisting. John on surface mixing cement and supplying rocks as needed. There was good cold draught coming out of a 15cm wide crack at the South end of the rift, floor level. John used the foot of the first ladder as a cool refuge when not working on the surface. Wall completed with 3 mixes of cement. Next step requires the wall on the East side to be taken out to make the bottom workable. 2 hours. John.

Base of Wall at North end. Photo MK.

Floor rift at North end. Video MK.

Saturday 4th July 2026

John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Kate Lawrence, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Warm today, 21°C with a breeze. John and Kate down to start with. Once Kate had cleared the wildlife she left and John dug out footings for the next section of the North wall. Adrian’s old drill was then used to drill holes for rebar that were embedded in the wall. Two bags of PostFix used to provide the base for the next couple of meters of wall. Pete then descended and checked with John what was required. John then went out and Kate descended to assist Pete. Three mixes of cement done spread over 6 buckets. Lots of buckets of small/medium sized rocks sent down. Having built up over halfway, incorporating all the supports, we ran out of mortar. Similar amount of walling to do next week. 3 hours. John.

Saturday 27th June 2026

John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Kate Lawrence, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Hot today, 26°C with no real breeze and very humid. Kate down to start with, sending up buckets of mud and of rocks. Then Adrian down to assist with a bit of capping and plug/feather work. Called it a day at 10 loads of mud and 13 loads of rocks for the day. A nice cold draught coming out of the floor at the South end. Need a consolidation session or two building up the retaining wall at the North end of the rift. 3 hours. John.

Saturday 20th June 2026

John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Kate Lawrence and Adrian Vanderplank. Even warmer today, 18°C but no real breeze and very humid. Kate down to start with, sending up buckets of mud and of rocks. Adrian down to assist for a while with a bit of capping. Kate stopped at 40 loads then John down to check it out. He sent up a couple of rocks then the rest went and left him down the hole! After tea Nigel was despatched to find him. Depth measured at 18m today. Totals for the session: 20 loads of rocks and 22 loads of mud hauled out, more available. 3 hours. John.