Digging

2009

Currently we are contributing to digs, as MCG members, at Stainsby's Shaft, Upper Flood and Battery Swallet. All of these digs are on Mendip.

2008

2008 has seen a big effort being put into Stainsby's Shaft on Mendip. The plan is to forge a new entrance into the recently extended Upper Flood System. This activity is taking place as an MCG dig. Many BDCC members are also in MCG. For details, follow these links April May  June September October . Some of our members are also actively involved in digging in Upper Flood.

We have also had a good look at M&M Mine, another site above Upper Flood. See here for more details. After re-opening the mine and improving the lid we passed several obstructions only to come out under a shaft that had been back-filled from the surface. There does not appear to be any other way on in the old workings.

2007

November saw us set to work on Stainsby's Shaft as MCG members - see here Stainsby's November 07

2006

Bill had the great priviledge to be present at two major breakthroughs in the Upper Flood System in September and December.

2004

Throughout 2004 many trips were undertaken to install a monorail system to enable spoil to be removed from future digging activities and removal of loose/dangerous material. On the weekend of 18/19th December 2004 we broke through to a sizable chamber with an obvious way on down a tube. A further digging trip however yielded only a few metres. The total length of the cave is 150m.

The Recent History of Carcass Cave NGR 42392 55299 “Wise Crack” our name for the main fault chamber with the huge choke was broken into by Bracknell in April 2002. For Carcass the survey software reports Total length of survey legs = 124.45m ( 124.32m adjusted) Total plan length of survey legs = 107.61m Total vertical length of survey legs = 45.76m Vertical range = 22.20m North-South range = 35.81m East-West range = 13.46m 4

Doug had an idea that we should return to “Fools Rush In” and dig upslope. Now this may seem perverse but he reasoned that we had never proved if this chamber connected with our original surface shaft. If it did we could overcome our spoil disposal problem and create a beneficial airflow in the cave. Well it worked. We now have a second, easier entrance, although it is perched 2/3 of the way up a 13 metre deep shaft! We have now installed a temporary work platform across the Carcass Shaft. The next plan is to design and fit an overheadrail. Then we can revert to getting all our spoil out of the cave. The cave now has 130metress of passage and is 25 metres deep @ the present bottom of the Fault Dig.

11th October 2003 Alan Gray, Doug Harris and Mick Norton tried to dig down the now six metre deep “Fault Dig” but the air was bad. We decided to have a go in “The Forbidden Hole”. After four hours, we were rewarded with a breakthrough. We had opened up a low phreatic chamber, eight metres in length, with one standing place, exposing a large piece of iron in situ.

Weekend 3/4 May 2003: Biff, Mick, Doug, Tim, Ben, Dave and Bill..

Biff, Mick and Doug dug on Friday. They extended the airline and pushed into a silt filled phreatic meander at the very bottom. There is no draught there. The air is poor rather than bad. On Saturday, Tim and Dave surveyed the new extension and closed a survey loop by the maypole. Tim estimated some 27m of new survey legs. Later, Biff, Mick, Doug and Ben appeared. Some work was done digging out sand and rocks at the bottom end against the fault wall that runs all along the new section. Biff widened pneumatic squeeze to enable larger cavers to pass more easily. Whilst Tim and Dave were surveying Bill looked in the hole on the left at the bottom of the choke. After removing a few rocks, some clean washed wall was seen. Tim had a further look on Sunday. Lower down, a horizontal corner can now be seen. Tim reports that there may be passage underneath or perhaps just another alcove. The choke above needs more scaffolding before much is done here. This is planned by Biff for Bracknell's next trip. From the very bottom you now think twice before returning to the surface, its getting to be quite a long way.

19th&20th April 2003

We have broken through from the bottom of the Wise Crack Shaft into thirty metres of walking, fault passage. Tim Francis of M.C.G. was first through. Then we started a new dig up, @ the farthest bit, against the North/South, near vertical fault wall. There is an enormous geode off the new chamber. It has been surmised that Carcass may be “a Phreatic Riser” for Shute Shelve Cavern. So the cave may have started with an earth quake, releasing hot volcanic gases, which solidified into the geodes. Then, much later the large, Shute Shelve Cavern was phreatic and water was shot up to form small independent phreatic chambers but thirty metres, above. Perhaps, when Carcass was active, it did not then open to the outside but only latter when both caves had lost their water, the hill eroded, allowing miners, badgers and cavers to dig our way in.

Weekend 5/6 April 2003: Biff, Mick, Duncan, Suki, Doug, Tim and Ben

On Saturday, Biff, Mick, Duncan, Suki and Doug dug all day with the compressor and two air chisels. They were joined for part of the time by Bill. Much progress was made in the alcove and the very bottom of the shaft, enlarging it for comfortable digging to continue. Due to the ongoing spoil stowage problem, Biff opened up the entrance to the top of the calcite alcove to check for any link to the first chamber, no luck. A new stone wall has been built across the bottom chamber, behind which more spoil can be stored. There is a plan to lower one of the big boulders out of the choke on the lower chamber's entrance, to make a hauling route out to 'Fools Rush In'. On Sunday, Tim, Bill and Ben C returned. After a short time removing spoil from the very bottom, a cross channel was intersected. This crosses at a slight angle, from front to back. Up, the channel has a phreatic roof a few feet wide, going on 4-5' with small straws hanging down, air space several inches. The fill is sand/ochre and smallish rocks. After digging a bit out, Tim pushed himself in 1/2 a body length. Down, is loose rocks and silt. We could not see as far, but it seemed more airy (I hesitate to use the word draught). With two of us down there it was warm, but the air kept good. It looks like we may have finished going straight down for a while and now have a bit more sideways to do.

Weekend 1/2 June 2002: Biff, Bill and Mick

We used Biff's new 'Demolition Breaker' or 'Buster' in addition to the original small air chisel. The breaker works a treat but fine control is a little tricky. On arrival we were impressed by the breaking Lee's SLB had done. The boulder pieces were too heavy to lift out so we used the breaker to reduce them to manageable sized portions. Having removed them, quick downward progress was made in an enlarged working space. Many rocks and drums of spoil were removed and carefully stacked above the shuttering. The air at the bottom was fresh but there was no strong draught.

To the left at the bottom, the start of a small alcove tending under the chamber wall was exposed. On Sunday we returned for more. First we set a siphon from the top chamber lake to the bottom of the dig. The water disappears rapidly without trace. After a few hours the level had dropped by about 6". The plan had been to then explore the far ends of the pond. However the Gours were so fine and us so muddy that we thought better of it. We have enlarged the entrance to the top chamber a bit more to enable Mick to make a comfortable entry. For safety, we had to stop and put in some scaffolding at the main dig face.

Happily the way on now lies under the back wall of the chamber and is much safer. The way on looks promising. We must be nearly 10' down from the top of the shoring. The top of the maypole to the upper chamber is now quite exposed. Some further progress (head first downhill) might be possible with nail bar and hammer. A little more scaffolding and gardening at the alcove entrance would be good. The whole cave was dripping wet.

Weekend 4/ 5th May 2002: Biff, Mick, Bill, and Doug. Plus help from Julie and Tim (from MCG)

On Saturday, Biff, Mick and Bill pushed the new, higher powered, compressor up the hill and started work on the way down in chamber 4 (WiseCrack).

Tim and Julie turned up later. Tim air chiselled the high level squeeze to the pond chamber and enlarged it sufficiently for Biff to enter. If he can, anyone can.

A small amount of material was removed from the top of the void above the Calcite Alcove. Both Julie and Tim tried to gain entry. Tim eventually managed it and reported that there is little space at all up there, asexpected.

On Sunday, Biff, Bill and Mick returned and were joined by Doug. Due to the ongoing nature of the digging at the bottom of WiseCrack, some substantial, 5' tall, scaffold and plank shuttering was installed. After that some further chipping took the hole slowly down. There is one very large boulder in the way that benefit from 'SLB' breaking to make more space for air chiselling further on down. No very strong draught noted at the dig face, just the occasional flush of cool air.

Wednesday 24th April 2002: Biff, Duncan, Mick and PVC (part time)

The entrance to 'Wise Crack' has been thoroughly shored with scaffolding. Along with some poking about this took all day (especially all the sherpa-ing of the kit up the hill), but is now safe.

Sun 7th April 2002: Alison, Biff, Mick, Duncan, Bill and Doug (part time) went to Carcass.

We dug where Mick suggested to the left of the "Pneumatic Squeeze" in the second chamber 'Fools Rush In'. A lot of easy spoil was removed and some shuttering installed. At going home time we found we could see large chamber through a hole in the bottom of the dig, the crow bar was dropped down it my mistake, stones clattered down for quite a while. So we pushed on and soon entered a chamber some 30' long, 10' high and 5' wide.

Importantly this slopes steeply down, perhaps gaining 15-20' depth and there is plenty of space to stack new spoil. On one side there is a pretty calcited alcove which at the top has a view through cemented boulders to void (needs taping). At the bottom end there looks to be a small high level hole heading to the chamber through the bedding plane squeeze. We estimate the chamber to be in line with the first break-through chamber.

The entrance is currently a little loose and more shoring and scaffolding is required for safety. We have carried a lot of scaffold planks up the hill. Some more will be found part way up ! There are two good leads at the bottom of the chamber in very loosely cemented rocks.

As for the bedding plane squeeze, Alison and Doug have been through. I removed some lumps in the floor and by the end of the day went feet first on my front till my chest reached the final lip. I stopped then because of excitement at the other dig face, but might have made it. A bit more chiselling at the final lip should see most slim cavers able to gain access.

We used Biffs new compressor which gives near continuous drilling to two air chisels. We did not leave the hill till 8PM after a 6:30 AM start from Bracknell.

Bill

For some previous information and pictures visit the MCG webpage (see Links page on this site)