New work at North End Pot

[Badlad]

Hi all

Here is a fine photograph of North End Pot taken just last week. In the righthand corner we have the new North by North End Pot entrance which connects to LLean Bean Aven and the Eastern Front of the Three Counties System. This thread isn't about that. In the lefthand corner we have the original Earby Pothole club dig which descended two pitches into a fine rift and the spectacular St Georges Hall. Sadly the 40 year old shoring has perished and the entrance pitch of 15m is in a sad state of collapse. In fact it is all but blocked - unless you are a suicidal rabbit.

A few of us have had it in our minds for the last year to reopen the original route by relining the entrance with modern digging materials. We started this last week and I hope to keep this thread updated with our progress. The CNCC have offered to fund the materials for the project so it is just a matter of human resource. Nick Bairstow, Dave Gledhill and Bob Riley have formed a crack team to start the work.

 

[Badlad]

To give an example of the state of play here is a photo, taken about a year ago of the entrance shoring. It shows a toilet door used as shoring which had survived for some considerable time. This was taken at the time of our last descent when we did some smoke testing between this hole and our dig at the other end of the shakehole. Photo by Dave Gledhill.

Here is the same door/shoring last week.

Top of the shaft looks like this...

 

[s_allshorn]

Structual paint!

 

[Lankyman]

A plastic door would have lasted better. I know, hindsight is 20/20 vision ...

 

[Maisie Syntax]

Covering the door with this would have worked.

 

[Badlad]

Starting to sort out the entrance. A small collapse set off a bigger collapse below as rock hit the rotten wall at the bottom of the pitch. There was then an even bigger movement as the whole lot dropped a few feet. Unfortunately didn't get that on video.

 

[Badlad]

Took several trips to carry up new shoring and scaffold.

Chopped up some of the old materials ready to take to the scrappers

..and finally made a start of getting some support in at the top

 

[Badlad]

We had a good session last Sunday getting the new shoring started. It was a dangerous game, cutting out some of the original scaffold in order to get the new timbers in place. Luckily it held up long enough without further collapse. We are trying to keep our shoring in line and as close to the original as possible so there should be only the minimum of settlement against the new boards in the future.

Looking worried

Cutting out

Finally new boards in

 

[Goydenman]

good job after what looks tricky worrying work