Tankard Shaft Dig
- Thread starter Duncan S
- Start date
Duncan S
New member
To quote an earlier post...Goydenman said:
You can keep your Tratmans Temple and your Devil's Elbow too,
And your Mortons Pot with stemples and your Cuthberts entrance queue,
For our Tankards hole is going, going steadily down the dip,
Taking Swildons as a feeder and St. Cuthberts as a drip.
This dig is going
Happy New Year to you all !!!
The Old Ruminator
Well-known member
Super job Duncan. Glad you are enjoying it all. Happy and safe New Year to you all. And we still havn't done a trip together.
Duncan S
New member
A really nice post about Tankard Shaft just appeared on Darkness Below.
http://darknessbelow.co.uk/?p=790
Very happy with that!
http://darknessbelow.co.uk/?p=790
Very happy with that!
Peter Burgess
New member
Duncan, your very welcome comments are like a breath of fresh air.
Duncan S
New member
15th January 2016
Sarah Payne, Tim Payne
Words provided by Sarah
Weather was to good to miss an opportunity to dig. Lovely dry crispy morning, with no wind.
A quick text got Tim and Sarah together with cement and a nice selection of different size clean rock.
Plan was to continue stabilizing bottom of shaft. Sarah was on ground duty mixing cement and bucket hauling. Tim was down the shaft doing the important job.
Ten buckets of cement and stones later they stopped as they had done all they could until the cement dried.
Tim and Sarah both resisted dropping down to bottom of shaft and giving are new hole a poke. But boy was it calling to them !!
Sarah Payne, Tim Payne
Words provided by Sarah
Weather was to good to miss an opportunity to dig. Lovely dry crispy morning, with no wind.
A quick text got Tim and Sarah together with cement and a nice selection of different size clean rock.
Plan was to continue stabilizing bottom of shaft. Sarah was on ground duty mixing cement and bucket hauling. Tim was down the shaft doing the important job.
Ten buckets of cement and stones later they stopped as they had done all they could until the cement dried.
Tim and Sarah both resisted dropping down to bottom of shaft and giving are new hole a poke. But boy was it calling to them !!
Duncan S
New member
19th January 2016
Duncan Simey, Tim Payne, Sarah Payne
Continuing to stabilise the shaft
The weather forecast was superb; lots of sunshine with no wind. So after a quick phone around we decided to gather and have another session stabilising the shaft.
Despite the cold temperatures Duncan commented it was the first time he's felt warm on the surface of the dig.
We started off by having a look at what work still needed to be done. There were four main areas of concern, two that needed wall building to support the shaft sides, one that just needs tidying up to make sure it doesn't get worse, and finally the roof of the chamber which has quite a few house brick sized rocks with no visible means of support. Mercifully, the roof is backed by huge boulders in the boulder ruckle and the concern is only about the in-fill, so it is not a major job.
We decided to attack the two areas that needed wall building with Duncan doing all the work down the shaft and Tim and Sarah mixing cement, bucket hauling, breaking rocks and making cups of tea.
While cleaning the walls, Duncan found lots more Ochre lying on most of the flat surfaces, both Yellow and Red. It's increasingly likely the Ochre was dropped by the miners. We still haven't found the mine yet!
Residents of Priddy driving along the road can't help but notice the latest addition to our dig - a caravan!
It's only been there a few days and we will see what feedback we get about it before deciding whether to keep it.
It might look we towed it out of the scrapyard, but even with today's temperatures inside was warm and cosy. In wet and windy weather it will give us somewhere to warm up and the stove is a most welcome addition to the dig. Once we decide it is staying there, we will think about making it more of a home from home. We might even paint it a more subtle colour too!
Today's surface team - Tim and Sarah.
Duncan and Tim after a good afternoon working on the shaft. Duncan's digging suit may look OK, but his back is caked in clay and cement.
Inside the caravan is basic, but the structure is weatherproof and it won't take much work to sort it out.
It's going to take another session to finish the work stabilising the shaft. Then we can get back to doing what we all want - attacking the bottom of the shaft to see if we can find the mine.
The temperature was low enough that Duncan's oversuit froze after he washed it!
Duncan Simey, Tim Payne, Sarah Payne
Continuing to stabilise the shaft
The weather forecast was superb; lots of sunshine with no wind. So after a quick phone around we decided to gather and have another session stabilising the shaft.
Despite the cold temperatures Duncan commented it was the first time he's felt warm on the surface of the dig.
We started off by having a look at what work still needed to be done. There were four main areas of concern, two that needed wall building to support the shaft sides, one that just needs tidying up to make sure it doesn't get worse, and finally the roof of the chamber which has quite a few house brick sized rocks with no visible means of support. Mercifully, the roof is backed by huge boulders in the boulder ruckle and the concern is only about the in-fill, so it is not a major job.
We decided to attack the two areas that needed wall building with Duncan doing all the work down the shaft and Tim and Sarah mixing cement, bucket hauling, breaking rocks and making cups of tea.
While cleaning the walls, Duncan found lots more Ochre lying on most of the flat surfaces, both Yellow and Red. It's increasingly likely the Ochre was dropped by the miners. We still haven't found the mine yet!
Residents of Priddy driving along the road can't help but notice the latest addition to our dig - a caravan!
It's only been there a few days and we will see what feedback we get about it before deciding whether to keep it.
It might look we towed it out of the scrapyard, but even with today's temperatures inside was warm and cosy. In wet and windy weather it will give us somewhere to warm up and the stove is a most welcome addition to the dig. Once we decide it is staying there, we will think about making it more of a home from home. We might even paint it a more subtle colour too!
Today's surface team - Tim and Sarah.
Duncan and Tim after a good afternoon working on the shaft. Duncan's digging suit may look OK, but his back is caked in clay and cement.
Inside the caravan is basic, but the structure is weatherproof and it won't take much work to sort it out.
It's going to take another session to finish the work stabilising the shaft. Then we can get back to doing what we all want - attacking the bottom of the shaft to see if we can find the mine.
The temperature was low enough that Duncan's oversuit froze after he washed it!
Duncan S
New member
28th Jan 2016
Duncan Simey, Tim Payne
Stabilising the shaft
Well - it started as a chance to finish the shaft stabilisation...
But it didn't turn out that way; we still need another session.
Duncan worked down the shaft with Tim bucket hauling and mixing cement.
Work on the top of the shaft is now complete and we are stabilising around the lower ladder.
This is in the boulder ruckle, so it wasn't expected to be a lot of work as it is already fundamentally stable. We just don't want anything coming down on top of us while we are working below.
This shot shows the top of the lower wall; the only wall in the bottom half of the shaft. It is the full length of the ladder.
Unfortunately, cleaning revealed that it wasn't as well supported as it needs to be and substantial wall building was required to give it a firm foundation on the right hand side.
This shot is under the overhanging boulder to the right of the wall.
It has already been mostly cleaned up. The glove is in a pit excavated down to solid rock.
The string of rocks next to the glove is all that is holding up half of the wall. The rock on the top right has no visible means of support.
The plan was to buttress from the underlying boulder across to the wall and then build up to support the hanging rocks.
The sloping boulder wasn't a great place to start building, so Duncan cleaned the whole area and found a small shelf located just below the bottom edge of this shot.
While starting to cement, half the clay visible in the top right of the shot collapsed giving Duncan a minor brown trouser moment. But at least it validated that this work is necessary!
The new wall is well seated and is giving the old wall behind the ladder substantial reinforcement; it has also been built right up to the overhanging boulder; all the hanging rocks and clay are now safely tucked behind it.
About 1/3 of the old wall has now been cemented, but we still have to finish the job.
The one remaining bit of stabilisation work we still have yet to start is about head height opposite the wall.
There is a lot of hanging rock that seems to only be held by suction from the clay.
Hopefully all this needs is cleaning up and a little cement, but it might need another wall building session.
Either way, the end of this phase is definitely in sight and should only need one more session.
One thing that Duncan noticed today, is that the lower wall is made of a fundamentally different type of rock to the upper walls.
The lower wall is made of soft brightly coloured rock that looks like yellow Ochre, whereas the top walls are Limestone.
The hypothesis is that this wall is made of stacked deads from the mine workings.
We very much appreciated a few friendly toots from people as they drove past.
Feel free to join in!
Duncan Simey, Tim Payne
Stabilising the shaft
Well - it started as a chance to finish the shaft stabilisation...
But it didn't turn out that way; we still need another session.
Duncan worked down the shaft with Tim bucket hauling and mixing cement.
Work on the top of the shaft is now complete and we are stabilising around the lower ladder.
This is in the boulder ruckle, so it wasn't expected to be a lot of work as it is already fundamentally stable. We just don't want anything coming down on top of us while we are working below.
This shot shows the top of the lower wall; the only wall in the bottom half of the shaft. It is the full length of the ladder.
Unfortunately, cleaning revealed that it wasn't as well supported as it needs to be and substantial wall building was required to give it a firm foundation on the right hand side.
This shot is under the overhanging boulder to the right of the wall.
It has already been mostly cleaned up. The glove is in a pit excavated down to solid rock.
The string of rocks next to the glove is all that is holding up half of the wall. The rock on the top right has no visible means of support.
The plan was to buttress from the underlying boulder across to the wall and then build up to support the hanging rocks.
The sloping boulder wasn't a great place to start building, so Duncan cleaned the whole area and found a small shelf located just below the bottom edge of this shot.
While starting to cement, half the clay visible in the top right of the shot collapsed giving Duncan a minor brown trouser moment. But at least it validated that this work is necessary!
The new wall is well seated and is giving the old wall behind the ladder substantial reinforcement; it has also been built right up to the overhanging boulder; all the hanging rocks and clay are now safely tucked behind it.
About 1/3 of the old wall has now been cemented, but we still have to finish the job.
The one remaining bit of stabilisation work we still have yet to start is about head height opposite the wall.
There is a lot of hanging rock that seems to only be held by suction from the clay.
Hopefully all this needs is cleaning up and a little cement, but it might need another wall building session.
Either way, the end of this phase is definitely in sight and should only need one more session.
One thing that Duncan noticed today, is that the lower wall is made of a fundamentally different type of rock to the upper walls.
The lower wall is made of soft brightly coloured rock that looks like yellow Ochre, whereas the top walls are Limestone.
The hypothesis is that this wall is made of stacked deads from the mine workings.
We very much appreciated a few friendly toots from people as they drove past.
Feel free to join in!
Duncan S
New member
LOL - thanks!
I can't wait to photograph something other than the shaft - won't be long now!
On a serious note....
My camera had huge condensation issues, the images suffered from a massive loss of contrast and general fuzziness.
I usually place my camera next to a gel hand warmer when I'm doing cave photography and never suffer problems like this. I'd forgotten how bad it can be.
Next time I need to leave my camera next to the stove so it warms up before being lowered down the shaft.
I can't wait to photograph something other than the shaft - won't be long now!
On a serious note....
My camera had huge condensation issues, the images suffered from a massive loss of contrast and general fuzziness.
I usually place my camera next to a gel hand warmer when I'm doing cave photography and never suffer problems like this. I'd forgotten how bad it can be.
Next time I need to leave my camera next to the stove so it warms up before being lowered down the shaft.
Duncan S
New member
10th Feb 2016
Duncan Simey, Tim Payne, Sarah Payne
Still stabilising the shaft....
A break in the weather prompted a no-notice ring around to go digging.
It was hoped that this would be the last session needed to stabilise the shaft, but it wasn't to be, and yet another session is required.
Duncan worked down the shaft with surface support from Tim and Sarah.
Although the weather was wonderful, it was blimmin cold on the surface; the stove and caravan were much appreciated. Duncan was complaining of overheating down the shaft and didn't get much sympathy.
First job was to finish cementing the lower ginging. It was cleaned in the previous session, but there is a lot of it and it took time.
However, that was straightforward work.
Remember after the last dig we said that the hanging rocks over the small chamber at the bottom of the dig would either be straightforward or require substantial wall building? As the surface clay was being cleared rocks and large parts of the roof started coming away.
It quickly became apparent that the side of the shaft is a continuation of the top of the first rift that we found; the one with a bad case of hanging death over it. As the work to clear the clay continued, the more scary things became as it was possible to see just how bad the hanging rocks were and how little support the boulders in this area actually have.
So Duncan cleared huge quantities of clay and loose rock to locate shelves from which to build up a new retaining wall to support the hanging death.
During one tea break a large part of the roof decided to move leaving Duncan no option but to pull it down to expose something slightly more stable to attempt to reinforce.
This was almost as scary as the original ginging which we didn't even dare to breath on in case it collapsed.
The good news is that a new wall has been built from a good solid foundation high enough to support the bottom of the hanging death. It's no where near complete, but at least the hanging death is no longer in danger of collapse before our next visit.
One thing we spotted at the end of the session was the shaft was gently smoking out of the entrance.
There wasn't noticeable air movement in the shaft, we need to put some smoke into the leads to see what is happening. But smoke from the stove was blowing over the shaft entrance and never went into the shaft. The humidity from Duncan's breath headed up out the shaft at a steady rate.
The cool evening air as we were packing up let us see the humid air venting out the shaft.
All very promising!
We were joined by Tim's daughter Helen and grand-daughter Ivy for coffee and biscuits.
Here's Tim and Ivy outside digging HQ.
Sarah decided to try a selfie with Duncan...
Duncan in the evening light after his last of three sessions down the shaft.
Sarah, Helen and Ivy inside digging HQ.
With signs like this, the dig must be going!
Maybe this is the fabled Mendip Gold Mine....
Sorry - no photos from down inside the shaft today.
Duncan forgot to put the camera next to the stove to warm up and down the shaft it was condensing so badly it was impossible to use to take anything.
Duncan Simey, Tim Payne, Sarah Payne
Still stabilising the shaft....
A break in the weather prompted a no-notice ring around to go digging.
It was hoped that this would be the last session needed to stabilise the shaft, but it wasn't to be, and yet another session is required.
Duncan worked down the shaft with surface support from Tim and Sarah.
Although the weather was wonderful, it was blimmin cold on the surface; the stove and caravan were much appreciated. Duncan was complaining of overheating down the shaft and didn't get much sympathy.
First job was to finish cementing the lower ginging. It was cleaned in the previous session, but there is a lot of it and it took time.
However, that was straightforward work.
Remember after the last dig we said that the hanging rocks over the small chamber at the bottom of the dig would either be straightforward or require substantial wall building? As the surface clay was being cleared rocks and large parts of the roof started coming away.
It quickly became apparent that the side of the shaft is a continuation of the top of the first rift that we found; the one with a bad case of hanging death over it. As the work to clear the clay continued, the more scary things became as it was possible to see just how bad the hanging rocks were and how little support the boulders in this area actually have.
So Duncan cleared huge quantities of clay and loose rock to locate shelves from which to build up a new retaining wall to support the hanging death.
During one tea break a large part of the roof decided to move leaving Duncan no option but to pull it down to expose something slightly more stable to attempt to reinforce.
This was almost as scary as the original ginging which we didn't even dare to breath on in case it collapsed.
The good news is that a new wall has been built from a good solid foundation high enough to support the bottom of the hanging death. It's no where near complete, but at least the hanging death is no longer in danger of collapse before our next visit.
One thing we spotted at the end of the session was the shaft was gently smoking out of the entrance.
There wasn't noticeable air movement in the shaft, we need to put some smoke into the leads to see what is happening. But smoke from the stove was blowing over the shaft entrance and never went into the shaft. The humidity from Duncan's breath headed up out the shaft at a steady rate.
The cool evening air as we were packing up let us see the humid air venting out the shaft.
All very promising!
We were joined by Tim's daughter Helen and grand-daughter Ivy for coffee and biscuits.
Here's Tim and Ivy outside digging HQ.
Sarah decided to try a selfie with Duncan...
Duncan in the evening light after his last of three sessions down the shaft.
Sarah, Helen and Ivy inside digging HQ.
With signs like this, the dig must be going!
Maybe this is the fabled Mendip Gold Mine....
Sorry - no photos from down inside the shaft today.
Duncan forgot to put the camera next to the stove to warm up and down the shaft it was condensing so badly it was impossible to use to take anything.
Duncan S
New member
Monday 15th Feb 2016
Sarah Payne, Duncan Simey, Tim Payne
Finished stabilising the shaft and started digging out the bottom of the shaft
Exciting news!
Phase 1, stabilising the shaft, is now complete.
Duncan spent over three hours down the shaft building up walls to support the hanging death.
It may not look pretty, but it is structurally sound.
Even more exciting news!
Sarah spent a couple of hours digging out the bottom of the shaft and we could hear the excitement in her voice.
We asked if she wanted a break, and were a little shocked when she called back 'No!' - Sarah was making a breakthrough....
Tim estimates Sarah loaded about a ton of rock and clay into the buckets; when she emerged she was knackered but bouncing with enthusiasm.
We now have enough leads to have to number them to avoid confusion.
Hole 1 - the original hole heading towards the road. Sarah has enlarged this into a body sized tube which after approx 2m seems to open into a chamber whose dimensions we are currently unable to asses. Rocks chucked into it bounce down about estimated 5m. The roof over hole 1 is horrific hanging death; none of us are likely to be attempting a crawl down hole 1 without significant stabilisation.
Hole 2 - the second hole we found. Heads towards the mast and slopes down about 45deg into a tight squeeze before levelling out and curving away out of sight to the left.
Hole 3 - the new hole (actually a pair of holes). Directly under the ladder and between holes 1 and 2.
The Bridge - a large flat stable feeling shelf which we have been using to put the ladder on, located between hole 1 and holes 2, 3. We urgently need to find out if this is as stable as if feels as it could just be a bit of jammed capping and there may be a sizeable drop underneath.
We now have a can of smoke, and the results are puzzling.
The smoke clears almost instantly, but there is very little air movement in the shaft.
The best way to describe how it feels is like this.... If we are breaking into the roof of a railway tunnel with a draught down it, and all three holes are connected to the tunnel.
This would also explain the puzzle of why the shaft feels so well ventilated, even though the lid is airtight and the soil in the field is thick clay. We have been wondering how air moves out of the shaft. Maybe it doesn't; maybe the air is being circulated via a tunnel running underneath.
If you look at the photos, you can see there are still plastic sacks and sheep remains on the floor of the shaft.
We think that if we spend the next session digging out the bottom of the shaft then maybe it will drop into the presumed tunnel (cave passage, mine) underneath.
This would be wonderful as it would mean we never have to crawl through hole 1....
Time for some photos
This is nearly all new wall...
Behind it was a gaping void full of boulders held in by nothing other than suction from the clay.
The left hand side of the new wall is supporting the base of the ginging, and the two original looking boulders on the right had no visible means of support and were classed as hanging death.
As you can see, everything now looks ship-shape and there is even a decent sized shelf to place an honorary Tankard on.
During the stabilisation, Time and Duncan had chucked vast quantities of clay down the shaft from cleaning the sides of the shaft. This was added to by cement slops from mis-guided throws into the cracks. The level of the new rubbish was pretty much back to where we started when we had our first session removing stuff from the bottom of the shaft, apart from the way on to hole 2 is still visible!
Bitterly cold Northerly winds were kept at bay using the two Landies as windbreaks. The sunshine was wonderful!
Here's excita-pup Sarah emerging after her breakthrough.
Sarah had been lying in mud and clay with a high proportion of dead sheep. I think it's fair to say she stank! The weird thing was that although the top of the shaft was fairly ripe, the air at bottom was sweet and clean.
Looking down from the bottom ladder. Hole 2 is on the right, Hole 3 (both of them) is on the left; hole 1 is in line with them out of shot on the left. Note the sheep remains and plastic bags still on the floor of the shaft.
Looking back up from the bottom of the shaft. The hanging death is now well supported even though it may not look like the neatest job in the world...
A close-up of hole 2, this is about the size of a tight squeeze and Sarah believes the black lump (just visible in the distance) is a piece of broken stal. It's way out of reach at the moment.
At the end of the session, Tim went down to have a look. His comment that the floor looked rather dodgy was exactly what Duncan and Sarah felt. In future we won't be going down this shaft without a safety line.
Finally - here's a shot of hole 1
It's bigger than it looks; probably a comfortable flat crawl. But none of us will be attempting it as just about every boulder you can see here is hideously loose and poised to fall.
This shot doesn't show the gaping void which is better seen from some other angles. We need to put a GoPro on a stick for a better look.
In summary - we can hardly wait for our next digging session!
Sarah Payne, Duncan Simey, Tim Payne
Finished stabilising the shaft and started digging out the bottom of the shaft
Exciting news!
Phase 1, stabilising the shaft, is now complete.
Duncan spent over three hours down the shaft building up walls to support the hanging death.
It may not look pretty, but it is structurally sound.
Even more exciting news!
Sarah spent a couple of hours digging out the bottom of the shaft and we could hear the excitement in her voice.
We asked if she wanted a break, and were a little shocked when she called back 'No!' - Sarah was making a breakthrough....
Tim estimates Sarah loaded about a ton of rock and clay into the buckets; when she emerged she was knackered but bouncing with enthusiasm.
We now have enough leads to have to number them to avoid confusion.
Hole 1 - the original hole heading towards the road. Sarah has enlarged this into a body sized tube which after approx 2m seems to open into a chamber whose dimensions we are currently unable to asses. Rocks chucked into it bounce down about estimated 5m. The roof over hole 1 is horrific hanging death; none of us are likely to be attempting a crawl down hole 1 without significant stabilisation.
Hole 2 - the second hole we found. Heads towards the mast and slopes down about 45deg into a tight squeeze before levelling out and curving away out of sight to the left.
Hole 3 - the new hole (actually a pair of holes). Directly under the ladder and between holes 1 and 2.
The Bridge - a large flat stable feeling shelf which we have been using to put the ladder on, located between hole 1 and holes 2, 3. We urgently need to find out if this is as stable as if feels as it could just be a bit of jammed capping and there may be a sizeable drop underneath.
We now have a can of smoke, and the results are puzzling.
The smoke clears almost instantly, but there is very little air movement in the shaft.
The best way to describe how it feels is like this.... If we are breaking into the roof of a railway tunnel with a draught down it, and all three holes are connected to the tunnel.
This would also explain the puzzle of why the shaft feels so well ventilated, even though the lid is airtight and the soil in the field is thick clay. We have been wondering how air moves out of the shaft. Maybe it doesn't; maybe the air is being circulated via a tunnel running underneath.
If you look at the photos, you can see there are still plastic sacks and sheep remains on the floor of the shaft.
We think that if we spend the next session digging out the bottom of the shaft then maybe it will drop into the presumed tunnel (cave passage, mine) underneath.
This would be wonderful as it would mean we never have to crawl through hole 1....
Time for some photos
This is nearly all new wall...
Behind it was a gaping void full of boulders held in by nothing other than suction from the clay.
The left hand side of the new wall is supporting the base of the ginging, and the two original looking boulders on the right had no visible means of support and were classed as hanging death.
As you can see, everything now looks ship-shape and there is even a decent sized shelf to place an honorary Tankard on.
During the stabilisation, Time and Duncan had chucked vast quantities of clay down the shaft from cleaning the sides of the shaft. This was added to by cement slops from mis-guided throws into the cracks. The level of the new rubbish was pretty much back to where we started when we had our first session removing stuff from the bottom of the shaft, apart from the way on to hole 2 is still visible!
Bitterly cold Northerly winds were kept at bay using the two Landies as windbreaks. The sunshine was wonderful!
Here's excita-pup Sarah emerging after her breakthrough.
Sarah had been lying in mud and clay with a high proportion of dead sheep. I think it's fair to say she stank! The weird thing was that although the top of the shaft was fairly ripe, the air at bottom was sweet and clean.
Looking down from the bottom ladder. Hole 2 is on the right, Hole 3 (both of them) is on the left; hole 1 is in line with them out of shot on the left. Note the sheep remains and plastic bags still on the floor of the shaft.
Looking back up from the bottom of the shaft. The hanging death is now well supported even though it may not look like the neatest job in the world...
A close-up of hole 2, this is about the size of a tight squeeze and Sarah believes the black lump (just visible in the distance) is a piece of broken stal. It's way out of reach at the moment.
At the end of the session, Tim went down to have a look. His comment that the floor looked rather dodgy was exactly what Duncan and Sarah felt. In future we won't be going down this shaft without a safety line.
Finally - here's a shot of hole 1
It's bigger than it looks; probably a comfortable flat crawl. But none of us will be attempting it as just about every boulder you can see here is hideously loose and poised to fall.
This shot doesn't show the gaping void which is better seen from some other angles. We need to put a GoPro on a stick for a better look.
In summary - we can hardly wait for our next digging session!