A new cave on Mendips - The Last White Rabbit Hole (Tuska's Last)

[mikekushy]

Many of you may have heard about this dig going on, or even seen it passing by. The site is next to a public walkway and roadside,so even if kept quiet it wouldn't go unnoticed...The land it is on however is private! The landowner has been kind enough to allow us to dig here, their request is that the site is visited by none other than the known digging team and anyone assisting them...If this is ignored the site could be shut down! One of the most promising mendip digs currently I believe and massive potential for a great system to be dicovered and enjoyed by all, also the potential to reveal alot more about the hydrology of the area. Anyone ignoring these pleas could be ruining it for alot of people. Of course if you want to get involveddo the just thing and contact the diggers..we're open to having as much help as we can get.

The aim of this post is not to 'show off' but to provide you with an up to date account of the going ons.

Happy digging and bear in mind what we do this for, to find caves and get people caving

I want to keep this short and to the point as much as possible:

Whilst digging with the ATLAS team at Rock Farm I expressed some intrest in Crosse Swallet, Rich Witcombe pointed me in Tuska's direction as he'd look at this in the past also. Tuska was able to provide me contact details for the landowner. Things were looking good until the landowner became unwell, I didn't want to bother the fmaily anymore. This is when Tuska asked me if I wanted to dig 'Tuska's Last/The Last', it was the last concrete pipe shaft he ever put in on mendips (2016). I'd heard about this site through Duncan Simey some years ago, and instantly it felt meant to be..It was on! There used to be a lake in the field when the depression was there, this reportedly whirlpooled into the nether world. The neighbours close by have reported hearing a large volume of water deep under there house in very wet weather. The site is also on a dry valley with alot of fault action, with the pipes put in about 15ft from the cliff edge, where the dip and strike meet.

From here on I'll just ply you with pictures and videos with brief descriptions:

Tuska figuring out the best place to start digging down.

Dave Speed in the digger made hole.

Recovering the dig December 2021

The 15ft of pipe was capped with 4 sleepers, Wayne S in picture

Setting up the winch and frame, Mike and Tuska

Connecting the ladder and frame to the pipes.

All set up and ready to winch

Probaly about 10ft below the pipes. Using only plug and feathers and cementing down through the boulders, always had a draught from the start. Photo took by Chris Williams.

Lovely waterworn rock

18/04/22 Quite alot of spoil coming out now, modifications made to frame as our new neighbours had a tendancy to move the winch about.

That's my limit for photos, I'll continue the thread...

 

[mikekushy]

The shaft bottomed out at 12m deep, from here it looked to dangerous to continue downwards, so we were forced to go horizontal into a slot slightly higher up. After a good couple of months engineering and stabilsing we progressed southwards. Geoff Newton in picture 31/07/22.

07/08/22 We got into our first bit of open space, even had some nice stal about. The breakdown chmaber was about 3m long and wide and was made up of what looks like collapsed bedding or cliff.

29/08/22 Spoil stack getting bigger. Jess Eades, Rob Harper, Martyn Grayson, MIke Kushy and John Cooper.

01/09/22 We dug though 2 more slightly smaller chambers, then headed into a clean washed breakdwon area, where the boulders got alot bigger and the gaps bigger still. I can't tell who's in the picture but they are in the breakdwon area, there is an 8ft climb down under the muddy boulder in the floor which is the route on now.

29/09/22 MK in the chamber at the bottom of the 8ft climb, the next dug way on is just above his left shoulder. Photo courtesy of MIke Wise.

29/09/22 MK in the next chamber again, which was entered after a collapse higher up. Breaking the way back into the previous chamber to allow a safer connection. Photo courtesy of Mike Wise.

12/10/22 JC in the final squeeze which enters a passage with a solid bedding ceiling and a solid wall, about 2m wide and 2m high, looking forwards to a blockage about 5m ahead (we've called this Golden Key chamber).

21/10/22 Things have really started getting interesting. After passing through the blockage in Golden Key we entered bedding passage proper. Courtenay James, MIke Kushy and John Cooper in shot. This is the top of the bedding. Photo by Mike Wise.

tbc...

 

[mikekushy]

JC opening up the clcite constriction midway down the bedding. Also some nice stal about.

More bedding.

Some pretties about. MIke Wise in photo.

The muddy dig at the bottom of the bedding, the next breakthrough point...more like a medip dig now.

We also found a boulder chamber just after the calcite constriction (mid way down the bedding). It feels to head back in under the entrance shaft and has signs of sink development. The first picture is of Mike Wise in the prime dig site in the boulder chamber (at it's lowest point). Feels like deep drops around here, we'll have to tread carefully.

So that's it for now, we've had a couple of dig sessions at the bottom of the bedding, in the mud. 14 hours digging and it hasn't gone yet, but I will keep this thread updated.

We're also working on getting all our photos, videos and logbook onto a blog. All the people involved in the dig will be mentioned there, I don't want to risk naming everyone in case I miss some...but everyone is very appreciated and well done to all involved and the support given.

Also you should be able to see my album on Facebook, even if you're not on it I believe??? : https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=100071265700481&set=a.158948169824039

Also a youtube account: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC59jlPv0o9mjpLuwzyFnjEg

All the best and happy digging Mike Kushy and team.

 

[mikekushy]

OH yeah! We're now 36m deep with just shy of 100m of passage.

The most recent phot of the dig site.

 

[Pegasus]

Fabulous post, thanks so much and best of luck in finding loads of new cave. Looking forward to hearing about it

 

[PeteHall]

Looking like a proper cave there Kushy!

Is it possible to add the survey, or will that jeopardise next year's J-Rat entry?

Keep on diggin'

 

[mikekushy]

Na all good. Can add the plan up to date, still yet to survey the corners of some of the bedding passage and the boulder chamber:

The red cross is the final squeeze, just before Golden Key chamber, the blue line is where the boulder chamber comes in/goes and the green mark is the muddy pit. Still drawing up the elevation and will have the boulder chamber surveyed soon.

 

[Mark]

Its great to see that some groups share exploration as its happening, (thats what the Eldon do)

I get that some some sites have to remain secret for all sorts of reasons, (back in the day you never let on where you were digging).

Keep up the good work, I hope it gives more

 

[tim.rose2]

Thanks for sharing Mike. Looking forward to seeing the photos of you marching down the streamway laced with pretties!

 

[mikekushy]

Made a little video this Wednesday 26th to show the draught at the muddy pit. Mike wise, Mike Waterworth in the video, with me filming some.

Also a photo of a sandstone cobble about 12" long:

Can anyone identify this fossil we found? About an inch long!:

 

[testgerbil]

Great photos - fossil looks like a Rugose (solitary) coral: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugos... a skeleton,especially in the Silurian period.

 

[mikekushy]

Great photos - fossil looks like a Rugose (solitary) coral: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugosa#:~:text=Rugose corals have a skeleton,especially in the Silurian period.

Nice, I was thinking coral too...I'll clean it up this weekend and get a better picture. Thanks 😊

 

[mikekushy]

Updated surveys. Courtesy of John Cooper and the Vanderplanks.

 

[Elaine]

Wow, We (as the Templeton team) dug there for several weeks the first time it was opened about 7 years ago and I thought it was too fractured to ever be made safe. Well done.

 

[mikekushy]

https://whiterabbitsholepriddy.blogspot.com/?m=1

A few more tweeks yet, but here's our up to date logbook via a blog 🙂

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Thanks Mike. Works OK on Firefox. Hope to see you at the digging awards.

 

[alastairgott]

I went down to mendip in the summer and helped some of the locals dig another cave and had a good root though their spoil heap of this wierd red conglomerate stuff. Some of those troublemakers in the photo by the entrance to The Last then brought a red rock from The Last home to Derbyshire with them and “presented” it to me. It sits pride of place by the kitchen sink.

 

[mikekushy]

I went down to mendip in the summer and helped some of the locals dig another cave and had a good root though their spoil heap of this wierd red conglomerate stuff. Some of those troublemakers in the photo by the entrance to The Last then brought a red rock from The Last home to Derbyshire with them and “presented” it to me. It sits pride of place by the kitchen sink.

You're welcome to come and join us next time you're down this way 🙂

 

[mikekushy]

So we have still been working the site.

Check out our blog: https://whiterabbitsholepriddy.blogspot.com/?m=1

For those who can't be arsed with that:

Currently we're focused on the tooth dig, which to dig smoothly and efficiently takes 6 people although with hard work and staging it can be done with 3.

Myself I dig at the site Wednesday evenings (6.30ish pm) and most Sundays days (10.30ish am). Always looking for help, if your interested PM me or email: mike.kushy@yahoo.com. Or even find me on Facebook: Michael Kousiounis.

Happy digging, Yoh!

 

[Ali M]

Interesting survey.