Tankard Shaft Dig

[Duncan S]

Mon 23rd May 2016
Sarah Payne, Tim Payne, Duncan Simey
Cleaning up the bottom of the shaft and Chamber 1

The main plan was to clean the ginging at the bottom of the shaft in preparation for repair and cementing. This was carried out by Duncan using his long legs to bridge the shaft. Probing with the crowbar showed one area of particular concern; it is not in danger of imminent collapse but needs sorting out. Duncan finished the cleaning and the ginging is now ready for cementing with a little stone needed to make good the problem area.

Cleaning the ginging is time consuming work and doesn't offer much to keep the rest of the team amused. So Sarah decided to make a start at tidying up Chamber 1 in preparation for wall building to support the roof. She sent up bucket after bucket and was working so efficiently that a lot of the time Tim and Duncan found themselves hard pushed to keep up with her. Now it has been cleaned up we can see we need to build two walls right up to the roof to support potentially dangerous hanging boulders. One wall will go right across Hole 1 sealing in that area of instability, and the other wall will be above the connection with The Well which looks less urgent and is really for peace of mind. We are fortunate that the miners have left us ample stacks of rock to build these walls and it is likely to be rather satisfying work!

In summary, the Shaft and Chamber 1 are cleaned and ready for cement and wall building.

A break was called and by the time Sarah and Duncan reached the surface Tim had got the kettle boiled and welcoming brews made for the rest of the dig team.

Sarah and Duncan relaxing during their break

Sarah tweaking the stop on the bucket haul

Sarah had two tasks - the first was to clear the debris cone in Chamber 1 below Hole 1 to see if she could locate a good shelf for building on. The rough plan is to build a wall right up to the roof supporting the dodgy looking boulders above the hole. For some reason this photo makes the boulders look really deadly, but in real life they don't look quite so alarming but still need supporting.

Sarah clearing the debris below Hole 1. This is a rare view of our most prized digging tool being used. It is a hoe welded onto a tube with a t-handle and makes extraction of thick clay with embedded rocks surprisingly quick and efficient.

When Sarah finished she had cleared a perfect shelf for building a wall up to the roof in front of Hole 1. Now it has been cleared we can see the right hand wall looks like a stone wall built by the miners for the same purpose.

Sarah's other main task was to clear the hanging gloop in Chamber 1 over the connection with The Well so that we can build another wall up to the rock needing support in the ceiling

As you can see, Sarah finished the task and all the hanging gloop and rock has been removed and sent to the surface.

The same view, but clearly showing the ramp down to the breakthrough and the steps across the jammed boulders to the top of the Well Chamber

 

[Duncan S]

Wed 25th May 2016
Sarah Payne, Time Payne, Duncan Simey
Mud removal

Trailer removal had been postponed, and this was definitely the last digging session before it gets taken away, so the plan was to remove as much mud as possible. Stone was separated from the mud and stacked in the dig for wall building.

Sarah led most of the attack in Chamber 1 concentrating on the arch above the way on to The Well. Although a shelf had been located for wall building, it became evident that solid walls lay under the remaining mud. As Sarah dug it became clear the mud didn't want to stay there and at one point she was bridged across the chamber holding back the mud and rock with her legs while Tim and Duncan ferried buckets as fast as possible underneath her to take it away. It was a big task and it is now complete! Behind the top of the mud and loose rock is a void, we tried a light connection from The Well with no success, and it is possible that it leads to the excavated rift leading SE from the Upper Chamber, or it could simply be another part of the boulder ruckle.

Sarah also set about cleaning the walls between Chamber 1 and the Shaft. She uncovered a shelf just above the narrow bit that makes carrying buckets such hard work. The shelf will definitely make our lives easier passing buckets through the narrow bit and with less mud on the walls our suits will hopefully stay a bit cleaner. As part of this, Sarah attacked some mud on the wall at knee height on the shaft side of the narrow bit and opened a hole that appeared to be drafting (we could feel it on our faces). She became worried about whether the floor is as substantial as we have been thinking. We already have three holes in the floor that have sightlines straight down between 2 and 5 ft, but none of them have drafted to an extent noticeable over the general breeze heading towards the shaft. So Sarah started digging down underneath the hole to see what was there. She got arms length and there is no gaping void, phew! One of the first jobs next time will be to make the passage a bit easier to get through as it currently has rock piles from her hole digging. We may leave the digging mounds as steps since they may make getting through the narrow bit slightly easier than the original floor level, so hopefully a bit of tidy up is all that is needed.

Duncan led the attack in The Well first tidying up the ramp down from Chamber 1 and making steps. He started removing mud and rock next to the breakthrough and the whole lot started peeling away. It seems that under about 8 inches of mud lies solid rock on one side and a miner built wall on the other revealing a stable foundation for building the planned wall to separate the breakthrough from the hanging rock in The Well. It's all good news! Unfortunately we ran out of time and energy and most of the stuff that peeled away is now lying on the floor of the breakthrough and needs removal. However, we have two large walls to build in Chamber 1 and about 8ft of ginging to cement in the shaft, so hopefully the trailer will return from it's working holiday before we get back to this task.

Duncan popped down to the bottom to retrieve the smoke can and do a little bit of testing. There wasn't a huge draft today, but still enough to watch smoke swirling around rocks near the bottom of the dig, even though it wasn't the fan like proportions seen on previous trips. Duncan admits to making a classic mistake... The smoke can was at the bottom of the dig, so he started there. Unfortunately the drift is up and out of the dig and by the time he got back to Chamber 1 the smoke had followed him and traces were everywhere rendering further smoke testing almost pointless. This was a shame as just beyond the breakthrough we have found what looks like a water-worn rift heading down SE which smoke was being sucked into and we wanted to see if any came back up out of the floor near the shaft bottom including the new drafting hole. There was too much smoke from the earlier testing to check if there is a smoke connection. Definitely one for another day

Today's mission was a success!
The trailer was so full that during the break we had to shovel mud to the front to allow more buckets to be emptied at the back.
It's a large farm trailer and filling it is a heck of an achievement!

No photos today - sorry.
Duncan had his camera with him but forgot to use it...

 

[Duncan S]

Tue 31st May 2016
Sarah Payne, Tim Payne, Duncan Simey
Cementing the bottom of the shaft

Today's mission was to cement the ginging at the bottom of the shaft. This wasn't included in the earlier programme of shaft stabilisation as all of this section of shaft was buried under the original debris cone - we have made fantastic progress!
There was one dodgy bit where a hole next the ginging needed filling to support the wall.
Tim did the cementing, with Duncan locating rocks and passing them up to Tim.
The work isn't quite finished, but the remaining ginging looks stable and cementing is for peace of mind rather than urgency.

Sarah carried on cleaning Chamber 1 ready for wall building.
A measure of how productive her previous session was, is that she only filled two buckets for hauling out the shaft.
Chamber 1 now looks spiffy and there are solid foundations for both walls that are going to be built.

Duncan managed to grab a few photos at the end of the session.

The trailer is back empty after it's working holiday. It was full of stuff of mud and rock we had hauled up the shaft and this shot illustrates just how productive we have been!
Sarah is washing buckets in rainwater to get cement out of them.

Tim tidying up after today's session

Some of the cemented ginging near the bottom of the shaft. Most of what you can see here is new stone in a hole that enlarged quite a bit during cleaning.

The stone to repair the ginging came from the bottom of the shaft. This photo is looking straight down the hole which is against the SE shaft wall and is about arms length below the current floor level. The sightline opened up a couple of trips ago indicates it goes at least another 3ft. How far it eventually goes and what awaits us is anybody's guess!

Sarah has done an amazing job in Chamber 1. This is the shelf over the connection to The Well and Breakthrough where we will be building a wall up to support the hanging boulders in the roof. Now it has been cleaned it actually looks in better shape than we had feared.

This is the other location in Chamber 1 that needs a wall built. The top of the car sized boulder is flatter than this pic looks as some stone is being temporarily stored there. But unlike the other wall, this location looks a bit more intimidating after cleaning and is a top priority job. The good news is that there is an excellent base for building the wall from and it should be straightforward work.

 

[Peter Burgess]

Who cleans your ladders? I pity them!

 

[Duncan S]

Who cleans your ladders? I pity them!

We take the ladder out and clean it after ever session.
It comes clean surprisingly easily after a quick soak in a bucket followed by a jet of water!
And we will only be cementing next to the ladder for one more session

 

[Duncan S]

Descent 250
Many thanks to the Mendip coordinators for the ongoing coverage.
I'd totally forgotten about this and it came as a pleasant surprise!

 

[chunky]

Nice, reminds me of why I've only just finished jet washing my suit from the weekend! 

 

[Duncan S]

Nice, reminds me of why I've only just finished jet washing my suit from the weekend! 

LOL - just got back from digging at Cutlers Green and my suit was in a terrible state.
A nice easy dig they said...
Not too much mud they said...
And when I pointed this out Andrew Atkinson simply mentioned that my state was nothing compared to how he looked after his surveying trip in Tankard Shaft.
Guilty as charged! 

Most of the Tankard mud comes from the connection between the shaft and Chamber 1, plus the breakthrough. These have been gardened and should hopefully be in a much better state. So fingers crossed we won't be getting quite so muddy on future trips

 

[Roger W]

Think of it this way - every bit of mud that comes out on your oversuit is that much less to bring out in a bucket!

Excellent work - keep it up!

 

[Brains]

Eventually you will have to decide if you are going to import mud to maintain the claggy feel, or jet wash off the residue for a more pristine look...

 

[tony from suffolk]

Any further progress folks? I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms.

 

[Duncan S]

Any further progress folks? I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms.

Hi Tony,
Holidays and Glasto getting in the way.
Next trip is planned for tomorrow and we are being joined by digging veteran Mark Helmore to give us engineering advice and his 2p on whether what we are doing is safe and practical.
We are all missing Tankard - things should be back to normal soon

Worth mentioning that of the digs I have visited during the quiet period, Tankard still looks one of the most promising, but there are other contenders!
Mike Kushy and Geoff Newton's new dig under the Boulder Chamber in Sludge Pit looks wonderfully intriguing - they are following a small stream and a draught into what looks like new territory. I'm hoping to be offering them help whenever I can.
Also high up the list is Cutler's Green. An improbable location with no other caves nearby. When the draught blows it is impressive. There is something there to be found and the fun is that nobody is able guess at what lies in wait or even which catchment the cave belongs to. I'll be continuing to help them as much as I can too!

Seems I'm getting addicted to digging
Meanwhile, this afternoon I'm off to do more surveying in Sludge Pit. We've surveyed all the passage relevant to the many digs, it's now just a task to complete the survey.

 

[tony from suffolk]

Thanks Duncan, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you all. Remember, us decrepit armchair cavers depend on you!

 

[braveduck]

Hope Tony S. has delivered the new buckets !

 

[Duncan S]

Hope Tony S. has delivered the new buckets !

One arrived today - all the space Tony had and will suffice for the moment.
Many thanks!

 

[danthecavingman]

All quiet?

I'm rather missing the updates on this one. Hope Pokemon Go hasn't taken over in preference to digging 

D.

 

[Duncan S]

LOL - still on Summer break.
Watch this space!

 

[Goydenman]

All quiet?

I'm rather missing the updates on this one. Hope Pokemon Go hasn't taken over in preference to digging 

D.

I'm missing it too - looking forward to more reports after your break

 

[Duncan S]

5th August 2016
Mark Helmore, Sarah Payne, Duncan Simey, Tim Payne
Engineering review...

Mark Helmore offered to give his 2p on our current stabilisation work. We really felt we needed a second opinion and this was a valuable trip and much appreciated.
There was good news and bad news...
The good news is that Chamber 1 is not as scary as we had been thinking and that although we had correctly identified the bits that needs supporting, the actual amount of wall building needed is significantly less than we had been anticipating.
The bad news is that Mark didn't like the Well Chamber over the breakthrough and needs considerably more work than we had planned. It was easy to see why once he pointed the problems out. At least we have a solid plan to go forward with.
Mark estimates 3 to 4 months of hard work lies ahead of us before starting to stabilise below the breakthrough.

We also took a trip to the bottom of the cave.
Mark appeared impressed with the ice cold temperature of the draught coming up from the bottom of the cave and indicated the dig is definitely worth the effort needed to stabilise access.

However, the air was terrible. I've only experienced worse air in Cuckoo Cleeves. Right now, there is no way we'd be able to work at the dig face even if we wanted to! Mercifully, the air in Chamber 1 is tolerable and it is first on the work list, so there is no reason to postpone getting on with things

Tankard Shaft in a field of freshly mown hay - lovely

Sarah and Tim enjoying a cuppa in Dig HQ.

Having not been down the shaft for a while, the grass has grown thick around the entrance.

 

[bograt]

Must say, all hail to Tim, he is a remarkably tolerant landowner, I would not like something like that in the middle of my mowing meadows, a telegraph pole is bad enough !!!---.

Have you thought about using the stone from the dig to wall off the site?