Agen Allwedd - Priory Road Exploration

[marsrat]

Worth taking it up with Tony Donovan.

"So, the last 4 trips it was just me & Andy Legge & on the 2nd trip, he told me that he had watched a film with John Wayne called Donovan Reef, so he said why don't we name this passage Donovan's Grief, up to that point I never heard anyone come up for a name & I told Martyn Farr & he never really said anything, or come up with an alternative name, so I have no idea where the name Rio Dreamo comes from or what it means".

 

[Jedexertus]

Diggint this coming weekend 16th / 17th / 18th May . Again WE NEED AS MUCH HELP AND MAN POWER AS POSSIBLE WE CANNOT REMOVE SPOIL AND BOULDERS BACK FROM THR DIG FACE FAST ENOUGH !!! We have already lost 2 persons due to unforseen circumstances and if we don't get the extra hands or more back we will struggle to get anymore forward progress done this trip, as the entire weekend will pretty much be just removing the existing spoil from the last digging trip back to camp, as there is no more stacking Space in the passage leading to the dig face, contact Marsrat or myself if you can help day tripping or camping we can accommodate thanks

 

[i think it goes]

Any update on the digging at Agen Allwedd? Was enjoying following along with the progress and your write ups

 

[Jedexertus]

There was a digging camp on the 16th / 18th May. Myself / paul Stacy/ Christopher holt/ David Sutton/ Ben.

Where around another 0.5 m was removed from the dig face, still currently solid fill clay n boulders no air gaps, a couple of very stubborn boulders still not fully removed were the issue, lots of capping to try and achieve this but forward progress was slower than ideal, but still a very important and productive weekend, only one days worth of digging etc, all boulders and spoil from the previous trip and this one were moved back to the old camp aswell not currently stacked. 5 people is a minimum on the drag trays alone to get spoil out and back efficiently due to bends and obstructions in the passage. A pully system as previously mentioned isn't going to be viable at all, we just need people directing and pulling trays around these areas, Ideally 7/8 or more people is optional. So digging / dragging and stacking can all be done simultaneously. We currently haven't used any more scaff Hopefully this trend continues with the compacted clay and boulders supporting itself and working out a route through where engendering is minimum.

There was no camp or digging in June

The next digging camp is the 25th / 28th july 2 full digging days planned,

The next after that is looking like the 15th / 17th August

We want everyone's help to get this done ASAP less people the longer it's gonna take

Please let know if your interested in helping

 

[marsrat]

Hi.

Looking for more campers. I’ll happily carry your kit in, give you a foot rub etc if you come this weekend.

DM me if interested.

 

[asheshouse]

Looking forward to reading the next instalments.

 

[Jedexertus]

Next digging camp is next weekend 15th / 17th August, campers or day trippers welcome, if you don't know the way someone is day tripping Saturday so i can't imagine they would mind showing you the way down. Come down and help us and get this connection done sooner rather than later, message me or marsrat of interested .

 

[Jedexertus]

Part 1 of 2

Update from the 25th / 28th july / Myself / Alex Stacy/ Andrey Kozhenkov/ Ben woodhead/ Sam Coleman/ Saturday day trippers Alex Randall/ Samuel Hill/ Billy

Everyone in friday evening other than Saturday day trippers, Saturday morning everyone team of 8 set off to the dig

all the team at the Rockhard Cafe camp

Cannot remember exact times but we all set to work clearing space in (sick parrot chamber the old diggers camp) and stacking the spoil that was dumped at the entrance to dig from our previous camp, myself and Alex R went to the dig face with the extra drill and batteries Alex R / Sam H / Billy had baught down, Alex R started to drill plug n feather the large boulders that had previously slowed us down alot, much better than capping I secured a previously temporary bit of scaff into place permanent position now with Others back at camp and the approach continuing to stack spoil put bolts and hangers into the approach attaching pullys to the walls in specific areas corners n rub points etc to aid with the drag trays, witch took a little time installing but once sorted we got the hang of it with a 2 to 1 pully system on the tray rope itself and the pully carabiner deviations on the walls, the hauling is much better and easier now top marks to the lads Sam Coleman had baught down a chisel attachment down and with the extra batteries we had we were carving the clay out with the drill and prying out boulders at a good pace. The day trippers left pretty late after 7 pm I think ? And then rest of us continued the dig for a couple more hours until 9.30 pm so around 9+ hours digging Saturday and approx 1.3 / 1.4 meters of forward progress at the face. All the campers left Sunday mid day leaving just myself and Sam Coleman to dig, we continued to did the face with the drill chisel plug n feather adding another bolt n pully to the roof / huge slab to aid spoil removal back to vertical choke with only the 2 of us, and stacking spoil at the vertical choke ready to be removed back to camp on our next trip, we progress even further forward, we worked for around 9+ hours Sunday, the total forward progress over the 2 full days was 1.75 meter measured with a tape not a gestimate lol spoil at camp needs stacking next trip as is just dumped on floor but probably only an hour or so work. Hopefully we find our lost bolting hammer and spanner in it

 

[Jedexertus]

Part 2 of 2

Myself and Coleman left the cave Monday afternoon total of 68 hours underground approx 20 hours of work over the weekend top marks to everyone over the weekend everyone gave 100% thanks to all I forgot on the friday night we went to the sandman dig in iles to retrieve a shovel and soft bucket for another Friday evening side project a hole in the floor of Priory road just up from camp around 6m deep full of sand we set up a pully and ladder, the old original probably 30 year old ladder we took down from glevum hall aven , we will replace this next trip with the brand new ladder donated by css from avalanche aven as we are currently not concentrating our efforts there. The sand man dig is just looking like a oxbow linking back into iles unfortunately and not going into blank space or to the tiny draughting passage as hoped we may at some point try and link it to iles as only about 1m away in floor to 100% confirm ?

current sandman dig

New Friday night project

This is the currently end of the Donovans grief dig , everything after the yellow is what the monks have dug

Current end of the dig clay and boulder infill

Coleman having a lay down

Last men standing

The next digging weekend is this coming weekend 15th /17th August. The plan for this weekend is to secure and stabilise some questionable hanging and fractured boulders near the camp and on the approach to the dig face with the scaff we also plan on dropping the floor in one area (solid rock) as it is pretty low to get under a fractured questionable boulder and scaff it some how whilst still leaving enough space for us and drag tray to pass under it. As we are giving the area alot of traffic and it is essential we make these areas as safe as possible for us and for the future the when this will be a well travelled route by many once the connection is made, there will also have to be more stabilising work in both caves upon connection aswell.

next trip is just 1 full day and is to focus efforts on safety and stabilisation as a absolute priority aswell as stacking previous spoil, whatever time we have left after the above will be directed to the dig face and spoil removal. We will be making sure we take enough battery power on coming digs to use the chisel attachment as much as possible as it is better and easier than using a crowbar on compacted clay

Coleman under the fractured boulder that needs supporting, it cannot be dropped as its holding uo a hell of alot of everything this is the route in and out of the dig from the old camp.

If you want to help us let us know please as always we can / will accommodate. Be part of the glory

 

[marsrat]

Now is the time to help. Do not wait until we’re 2-3m off then suddenly summon up enough motivation to help - it will simply be ignored and you will not have the opportunity to do the through trip or be apart of the breakthrough.

We are close. We confirmed that the connection is viable via a smoke test and an audible test. We lack the manpower to haul the spoil out. We need help now not later!

Daytrippers and campers are welcome. We can help with first time campers and those who do not know the way. Message me. Our next dig is this weekend.

 

[Jedexertus]

Now is the time to help. Do not wait until we’re 2-3m off then suddenly summon up enough motivation to help - it will simply be ignored and you will not have the opportunity to do the through trip or be apart of the breakthrough.

We are close. We confirmed that the connection is viable via a smoke test and an audible test. We lack the manpower to haul the spoil out. We need help now not later!

Daytrippers and campers are welcome. We can help with first time campers and those who do not know the way. Message me. Our next dig is this weekend.

As above we want help now not later when the task is very nearly complete, we will not be accepting any fresh help once we are within a few meters or so, once the bulk of the hard work has been done, everyone so far has put maximum effort into this project and we / i will not just have glory hunters jumping in at the last minute wanting to help ! I think marsrat and my comments and opinions around this are fair and i know the rest of the team feel the same.

This past weekend 9th August we had teams in both caves and we carried out our own sound and draught tests between the 2 witch confirmed the previous information we had from Tony Donovan. I will post another update regarding this mentioned trip in the coming weeks, .

Next dig is this Saturday come along and help us

 

[Cantclimbtom]

Now is the time to help. Do not wait until we’re 2-3m off then suddenly summon up enough motivation to help... ...

Would love to help some time (and be a first time camper too) but not had any free weekends recently and not in the near future either .

To avoid the problem described above, would you all mind slowing down the digging ... ... a lot, as I don't want to finally offer show up and it all be too late.

Please don't break through this weekend

 

[Goydenman]

Great to hear of good size team and good progress. Big effort well done team. Look forward to hearing more...

 

[Tritim230]

As above we want help now not later when the task is very nearly complete, we will not be accepting any fresh help once we are within a few meters or so, once the bulk of the hard work has been done, everyone so far has put maximum effort into this project and we / i will not just have glory hunters jumping in at the last minute wanting to help ! I think marsrat and my comments and opinions around this are fair and i know the rest of the team feel the same.

This past weekend 9th August we had teams in both caves and we carried out our own sound and draught tests between the 2 witch confirmed the previous information we had from Tony Donovan. I will post another update regarding this mentioned trip in the coming weeks, .

Next dig is this Saturday come along and help us

You are doing a fantastic job. Well done. We're far too busy with the Forest projects. Who knows one day Daren-Aggy may be a side passage off Redhouse

I agree with your sentiments. We worked for years making the Long Round Connection in Slaughter Stream Cave. Once connected we agreed an inaugural round trip date, only to have an external team try to pirate it beforehand, with no communication with any of the team that made it happen. They must have heard on the grapevine, as we didn't keep it that secret. Just trusted in others.

I appreciate those responsible for the pirating probably didn't plan the trip deliberately, but just to have had the courtesy to ask would have been nice. As per the last two posts, none of this 'pirate team' had helped with the work.

Enough said.

 

[Jedexertus]

Would love to help some time (and be a first time camper too) but not had any free weekends recently and not in the near future either .

To avoid the problem described above, would you all mind slowing down the digging ... ... a lot, as I don't want to finally offer show up and it all be too late.

Please don't break through this weekend

We will keep plugging away hopefully progress doesn't slow down we will take every dig as it comes, Ideally if we have a team of 7 or 8 people each time is optional for digging spoil removal and stacking

 

[Jedexertus]

You are doing a fantastic job. Well done. We're far too busy with the Forest projects. Who knows one day Daren-Aggy may be a side passage off Redhouse

I agree with your sentiments. We worked for years making the Long Round Connection in Slaughter Stream Cave. Once connected we agreed an inaugural round trip date, only to have an external team try to pirate it beforehand, with no communication with any of the team that made it happen. They must have heard on the grapevine, as we didn't keep it that secret. Just trusted in others.

I appreciate those responsible for the pirating probably didn't plan the trip deliberately, but just to have had the courtesy to ask would have been nice. As per the last two posts, none of this 'pirate team' had helped with the work.

Enough said.

Thank you . I know pretty much zero about redhouse other than you have found shit loads of new cave , well done, it's such a shame a group pirated your round trip it's not on if they deliberately did an knew you hadn't done the trip yourselves. There is no way anyone could just stumbled upon our dig in aggy and accidentally do the round trip it would have to be a calculated and deliberate. Once the connection is completed and passable the round trip will be getting completed by the team that is down that paticular day / weekend no matter what. There will be no lets wait a few days or until next week no way .

 

[asheshouse]

Great report. Good luck with the remaining work.

 

[David Rose]

Once it's open, how long do you think the Aggie - Daren through trip will take? I suppose Aggie - Cnwc would be longer.

 

[Huge]

I'd have thought 9-12 hours for the average caver. But some people will be able to do it much faster. Remember, two people went to the end of Daren and back out in 7 hours!!

 

[The Old Ruminator]

I'd have thought 9-12 hours for the average caver. But some people will be able to do it much faster. Remember, two people went to the end of Daren and back out in 7 hours!!

Damn. That beats my 13 hours.