Friday Nighters Make Progress at Aisholt

[The Old Ruminator]

The cave with the big draught .

Met Mike at 3.30pm after carrying down the scaffolding kit. Tweaked the big fallen branch hung up in the tree which crashed down just missing me. All pleasant in the wood now the leaf floor is drying out.
Set up the carefully designed scaffold prop after some minor adjustments. That wall is OK now and in any case we are well past it.Set off various smoke matches and a smoke " b@mb " ( Caugh/splutter ). All the smoke eventually cleared away to the end choke. No draught in the small rift further back. Mike dug the end pushing it half a metre forward. Every time I had a go a rain of doss fell on my head eventually accompanied by a larger rock. A tactical withdrawal to to set up another pin and pole ready for a 800mm support next time ( see video ). All the spoil and rocks found a home in the hole in the floor area so no bags used. If the Friday Nighters can make 200/300mm or so forward progress each time bags and more digging can be done on a Tuesday. Rocks in the end choke will be capped next Friday so nothing to do on Tuesday. In any case I need a break.The " fault " wall continues under the quarry floor and the end is now 3m beyond the entrance heading for the steep bank ( by my low grade survey ). Depth maybe 3m or so but getting far deeper under the bank.Clearly the limestone continues that way for some distance as the quarry edge is a long way back.

https://flic.kr/p/2ps4JZP

 

[The Old Ruminator]

 

[The Old Ruminator]

The cleverly designed wall prop .

 

[The Old Ruminator]

A man happy with scaffolding.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Smoke testing ( caugh/splutter ).

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Forward and back view.





End choke.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

When I first found the cave in 1968 it was 3m long. ( and I looked a lot younger )

 

[The Old Ruminator]

The Stairway To Heaven. Higher now.



Digging days past.

 

[mrodoc]

I still contend that pursuing the draught is not necessarily the way to go as it is leading into a very unstable area and is above the limestone proper. I think the draught is going through cracks. There is natural cave passage very near the entrance but is choked by soil which is why the draught cannot be felt there. OR loves his scaffolding though - nightly scours the streets of his town for it!

 

[The Old Ruminator]

I still contend that pursuing the draught is not necessarily the way to go as it is leading into a very unstable area and is above the limestone proper. I think the draught is going through cracks. There is natural cave passage very near the entrance but is choked by soil which is why the draught cannot be felt there. OR loves his scaffolding though - nightly scours the streets of his town for it!

All a wicked lie. Follow the draught is the old cavers maxim ( and I am very old ). The current dig is in solid limestone following a fault line across the quarry. Lots of limestone left that way. In the next ten years I shall prove you wrong !

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Back today for more nonsense.

https://flic.kr/p/2pvu5Fd

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Mr Goldfie and I working very hard. Last weeks 21 bags hauled out and emptied. Two more scaffold poles fitted per last weeks measurements and pin. We dug down the floor to make more room then I spent a good while getting the big slab out from the end floor. The end had to be widened to get it out. We dragged it back to leave it further back in the floor. Lots or rocks were dug out to widen the end without aiming to move forward. That meant undermining the huge slab on the right that I got a pole under. The pole now needs a vertical pole on a base jack so room was made for that. A lot of bigger rocks were dragged back and used to build another wall in the old bagging chamber.. Save taking them out. 26 bags were filled with clatch and taken back to the ladder. Finally all were pulled out and emptied leaving the cave all neat and tidy. The draught was more internittant today as the outside and the cave interior were at a similiar temperature. Something we have noticed before. I am OK for next Tuesday. B.G. or Aisholt probably,

 

[The Old Ruminator]

The bit I like. Scaffolding.







All good for a false sense of security.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Getting higher.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Todays wall of deads.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Me and my big rock.

 

[pwhole]

Nice work. Writing from personal experience, some bolt and tube caps are a cheap but very useful addition to the choke-adventurer's armoury, especially if exiting very quickly may be required

 

[The Old Ruminator]

A work of art pwhole. Love the caps. I wonder if they come in pink. Will look. Something deeply satisfying in scaffolding. Thinking about angles, cutting and ultimately the fitting.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Yippetty do da.

10 Pink end caps for scaffold tubes FREE DELIVERY BRAND NEW ONLY £12.95​

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Both Mike and I had projects thwarted this weekend so we spent three hours digging at Aisholt. First the upright base jack pole was added then the horizontal piece recently extracted fom Mikes bathroom. That should keep those huge slabs up in the air. Mike dug and I bagged. I got the rocks back to the wall in the bagging room. 23 bags were filled and taken back to the bagging room. that still left the big boulders at the end. I got one loose then "let" Mike collapse it out. I have to watch my poorly arm.The rock will need breaking up with the sledge hammer next time and the 23 bags pulled out. A bit fresher this time with cool air circulating. Lots of loose stuff ahead following the wall. Now trending slightly left with areas to dig up or down in an undercut.. About 500mm forward progress today so c.4.5m out from the cliff line.

https://flic.kr/p/2pwiwjx