Saturday 22nd February 2025

John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Kate Lawrence and Adrian Vanderplank. Finally warming up, even if not dry yet. Initially Adrian at the bottom with capping kit to remove the bulges on the wall that intefere with dragging spoil along to the bottom of the shaft. Once achieved Adrian came out and was replaced by Kate loading spoil, Nigel dragging it back and the rest hauling and depositing in the Kubota. Once all 12 buckets were full, 24 loads up the shaft, John, Kate and Nigel went and emptied them ready for next week. Meanwhile Adrian was sent back down with capping kit to attack a couple of boulders in the floor. This created 5 loads of rock which were hauled out before calling it a day. 2½ hours. John.

Saturday 15th February 2025

John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Kate Lawrence, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Cold and drizzle today. As the big bucket has died we had to improvise today. Kate was at the front filling buckets with Jude at the base of the shaft hauling them from Kate. As each bucket was hauled up to the surface it was carried up the shakehole to the fence. Once a reasonable number were there, they were passed over the fence and doubled up (so twice as heavy) and loaded onto the Kubota RTV. Empty buckets were then returned for refilling. A total of 24 loads were hauled up the shaft which ended up as 12 well filled buckets. Adrian then had a driving lesson as Kate was too muddy to sit in and drive. Buckets delivered to the dump site and returned empty ready for next week. Between Jude and Kate a couple of lumps protruded from the wall which need capping off to allow an easier extraction of the buckets. 2 hours. John.

Saturday 8th February 2025

John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Kate Lawrence, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Cold and misty today. 41/42/43 loads hauled out depending on whose counting system was used. Kate at the bottom loading as usual. More bones came out and 1 frog rehomed today. Kate took a video of the old dig at the end of the session. 2 hours. John.

Saturday 1st February 2025

John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Kate Lawrence, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Started with Kate exposing the slab of rock which she slid over last week to get into the old dig. Adrian then went down and capped it, assisted at times by Kate. Once completed the bits were brought to the surface for future wall building. With Adrian and the capping kit out Kate went back and a total of 30 loads of mud were extracted and transferred into the large bucket. The bottom ladder was removed and replaced several times today. Some bone ribs came out with the mud. 3 hours. John.