Tuesday 24th March 2026

Mike Kushy and Lee Venning. MK winching and LV down the hole, 20 buckets cleared from the base of the shaft. Both then went down and took turns capping, a good dozen buckets of spoil made. Amazing booming echos ahead. 2.5 hours. Mike.

Sunday 22nd March 2026

Mike Kushy, Jake Baynes, Annie Baynes and Lee Venning. Arrived at 10.30. JB and AB laid out ground sheeting around the dig, meanwhile MK was winching and LV was filling buckets. Around 11.30 AB left. JB helped MK until the base of the shaft was cleared then we had a little break. LV and JB then went down the hole to clear the face back, with MK winching. Around 13.30 JB left and both MK and LV attacked the front with capping kit and breaker (the breaker switch really started to play up though). All spoil has been left at the base of the shaft (around 20 buckets worth), still loads to break out of the face yet. Estimate around 60 buckets out today, finished at 15.30. Mike

Dig Face after clearing. Photo MK.

Capping in progress. Video MK.

General View at end. Video MK.

Friday 20th March 2026

Mike Kushy and Jake Baynes. MK supervised JB doing a full set up, whilst also moving the previous spoil to right under the shaft. 3.5m of 40 used over 5 holes. There is going to be a lot of spoil to clear Sunday! 2 hours. Mike.

Thursday 19th March 2026

 Mike Kushy. Pf work to try and remove the boulder that didn't bang. Pretty fruitless as it's made up of different materials, maybe 2 buckets worth removed. 1 hour, Mike.

Sunday 15th March 2026

Mike Kushy. Arrived at 10.00. Cleared back all bang spoil to the base of the shaft (est' 40 buckets). Unfortunately the boulder ahead didn't get split by the bang, it's almost rotten so hopefully can get it with pfs next time. Draught coming from muddy hole in the floor. Finished at 12.00. Mike.

Before clearing. Photo MK.

After clearing. Photo MK.

Friday 13th March 2026

Mike Kushy, Jake Baynes and David Morrison. We all met at 10.00 and took the breaker/generator and bang materials over. MK winched, DM emptied buckets and JB was down the hole clearing stacked spoil. After a few dozen buckets we sent down the breaker for JB. MK joined him after a while and helped move rock back, the 2 swapped places and continued. Around noon we started drilling and laying a charge. A wisp of draught from ahead carried the drill dust out. All fired fine, surprisingly louder than expected. Packed up around 13.30. Mike.

Sunday 1st March 2026

Mike Kushy and John Gisborne. With MK down the hole and JG winching 45 buckets were cleared. JG left around 13.00 and MK stayed on for a couple of hours with the drill. At least 15 more buckets to clear and all the floor is fractured, so the breaker should get a lot too. The gaps between the boulders are getting bigger and there's a great echo somewhere ahead. 5 hours. Mike.

Before clearing. Photo MK.

After initial clearance. Photo MK.

After big boulder removal. Photo MK.

Loooking down at the floor at the sharp end. Photo MK.

Friday 27th February 2026

Mike Kushy and Jake Baynes. With MK down the hole and JB winching 15 buckets were cleared. JB and MK then drilled and set charge, 3.5m used over 4 holes. Interesting fog appeared at the bottom when the sun came out. 2 hours. Mike.

Tuesday 17th February 2026

Mike Kushy and Jake Baynes, we met at 1700. JB helped MK set up and lower breaker down the hole, MK then spent the next 2 hours breaking rock. Mud holes are geting bigger, a dozen or so buckets to clear then ready for next charge Friday. JB came to help pack the kit up, pancakes thanks to Annie. Mike.

Sunday 15th February 2026

Mike Kushy, Jake Baynes and John Gisborne. MK and JB to begin with, starting around 10.45. With JB down the hole and MK winching 18 buckets were cleared. MK then joined JB down the bottom and plenty of finger pointing and plotting occured. JB headed out and MK cleared. JG arrived around 12 and after a few buckets we all stopped for coffee and a chat. JB then left us and we resumed around 1.30. Both MK and JG went down the hole and removed some good chunks of rock. MK went to surface and JG cleared. 42 full buckets cleared in total, including possibly our largest lump to date. A lot of breaker work to be done still. A very soggy day up until we finished. 5 hours. Mike.

Friday 13th February 2026

Mike Kushy, Jake Baynes and David Morrison. MK and JB to begin with, both went to the bottom to lay charge. DM showed up and helped with sending the wire down. We also spent some time gather gps data for the radio location points. Mike.

Sunday 8th February 2026

Sam Hill and Kushy. Sam at the bottom with Kushy winching. After being told it wasn't very muddy Sam found there to be a lot of mud to shift. Many buckets were sent up before taking the drill to the loose rock. 1 and a half batteries used up and a lot broken off and sent top side. Now ready for next charge to remove the slab between the two mud filled layers. 20 full buckets. 2.5hrs. Sam.

Current dig face. Photo SH.

Sunday 1st February 2026

Mike Kushy and Lee Venning. Got started at 10.30. MK went down and opened up the blast doors with LV assisting on the winch. Fresh down the bottom and a lot to clear at first glance. With MK in the hole and LV winching we cleared at least 20 full buckets. LV then lowered the drill and capping kit that LV had brought along and he joined MK down the hole. LV did some very succesful capping with MK spectating. It wasn't long before MK had to head up and haul. With another 15 full buckets cleared, MK went back down with LV and the pair took turns capping and breaking rock. LV then went to surface and another 15 cleared, lots more still to clear. 3 upright buckets with some very heavy and big lumps were also sent to surface. LV has a rock net for next session which will be a lot safer. During the session rock towards the radio location point became very weak. After more clearing we came across a rock face that is clearly different from everything else around. It's made of very friable, almost chalky, material and sounds very hollow when hit. Photo's taken. Also signs of a narrow rift ahead and lots of mud this time. It's also worth noting that there was mud constantly getting washed in from an inlet above us this session. It was raining a lot today. 3 1/2 hours. Mike.

Face of strange material. Photo LV.

Current dig face. Photo LV.

Friday 30th January 2026

Mike Kushy, Jake Baynes and David Morrisson. JB went down the hole to fill buckets, with MK and DM hauling. Once cleared MK drilled and set charge with JB watching. All went off fine, again the noise wasn't any louder than gunshot on surface. A nearby neighbour who knew our plans didn't hear it at all from their house across the road. 2 hours. Mike.

Sunday 25th January 2026

Mike Kushy and Jake Baynes. Blast doors put into standby and both went to the bottom to check out the results, very good it seems. With JB at the bottom and MK winching, 16 very full skips sent up. MK then joined JB below and we chiselled some more rock off with the drill, JB then went to surface and we cleared 26 buckets in total. MK stayed on and did some more rock removal, really need the breaker out next. Very fresh down the bottom and not a whiff of fumes. 3 1/2 hours, Mike.

View of the dig face, looking horzontally towards Sandwich Chamber radio location. Photo MK.

Dig face, looking down dip. Photo MK.

Friday 23rd January 2026

Mike Kushy, Jake Baynes and David Morrisson. MK and JB to begin with, started at 10. With JB down the hole and MK winching 10 very full buckets were sent up (random shouts from JB "ooo, this looks interesting"). Tuska arrived just as we finished then MK joined JB down the hole and we came up with a plan for the charge. MK drilled 5 holes and used 3.5m of 40 Whilst drilling the furthest hole to the right it went through to void after 300mm. The drill bit then went through unrestricted void for another 300mm and hit something that flapped about a lot and couldn't get any purchase. That flappy thing sounded a lot like plastic to me! Didn't tamp this time and the noise was fine. 3 hours. Mike.

Sunday 18th January 2026

Mike Kushy and Lee Venning. MK arrived slighlty earlier (10.15) and headed down to start breaking rock. LV arrived and both drill boxes were lowered to the bottom. MK and LV took turns pf'ing, chiselling and hammering rock. Around 12.30 we went to the surface for a break and to clear the air. Then with LV on the winch and MK down a dozen buckets got cleared. LV then joined MK and more rock removed. We managed to get through the condensed mineral material above the solutional hole. This revealed another even larger hole above with an iron infill band inbetween them. This new hole has a strike line coming across and it's possible to put your arm up into the ceiling and pull liquid mud out. The whole of it all sounds very hollow, with sound travelling somewhere beyond. LV left around 14.00 and MK stayed on chiselling for another 45 minutes. A dozen buckets or so to clear, then ready for a charge. Mike.

LV drlling holes into the bridge, before the new hole was revealed. Photo MK.

New hole, solutional hole just below but filled with spoil (behind hammer). Photo MK.

Video by MK after all work done.

Sunday 11th January 2026

Mike Kushy, Tuska, Sam Chung

SC down the bottom, 5 buckets of spoil taken out of Valinor following recent bang. Tuska and Sam attempted to radiolocate Swildon's 9, but unfortunately unable to pick up the PIP signal - possibly due to scaffolding used to prop up the transmitter. Will try again next time with a new battery and finding another way to level the radio kit. Sam.

Saturday 10th January 2026

Mike Kushy, Jake Baynes and David Morrison. JB set up the extractor an hour prior to MK arriving, MK then went down and put the blast doors into standby position. Also visited the bottom and fresh as a daisy, could have cleared then and there.

Blast damage, not much rock moved but lots of fracture lines. Photo MK

Afterwards the 3 tried radio locating the recently moved beacon in Swildon's Hole...couldn't find null and getting cold/dark. Try again tomorrow.

Friday 9th January 2026

Mike Kushy, Jake Baynes and David Morrison. MK went down and hooked the blast door up to go to surface ready for repairs. JB and DM got to work on this whilst MK fitted anchor points to hang the doors from. MK then went down and set a charge. Door lowered back down and both doors put in place, tether added to each door handle and anchor point. Very quiet charge, the first time we've attacked down dip. Doors still laid on steels after quick inspection. Mike.

Sunday 28th December 2025

AM - Adrian Miles and Lee Venning hauled 15 loads of spoil out. (amend as necessary).

PM - Mike Kushy, John Cooper, Hollie london and Adrian Miles. Caught JC at the Hunters'. He and MK got to site ahead of the others and set up the breaker. MK went down and did a little stint. The dust was really bad from one area though so we decided to set up the extractor fan (much better). When HL and AM arrived HL went down to do some more breaker and clearing. Finally AM went to do some as well. 21 buckets for this afternoon. The end looks very promising, we've made an alcove from which we can now start following solutional holes that head down dip and towards Desolation Row rift (2.5m away, horizontally). Mike.

View from the top with AM at the bottom. Photo HL.

The largest of the solutional holes heading down dip. The rock to the sides isn't limestone (some kind of condensed conglomerate infill). Photo MK.

Same hole but closer. You can put your arm in and it seems to be getting bigger further in. Photo MK.

Dig face, looking West. Photo MK.

Friday 19th December 2025

Mike Kushy, Jake Baynes and joined by John Cooper to assist MK at 14:00.

After setting up cables for the Kango Jake Baynes descended Valinor to remove bang spoil  c.11:00. In-between buckets of large rock and gravel being hauled to the surface by MK, JB used Kango (c. 45 mins) to remove additional bed rock, mostly on the western dig face. No puddles of water were evident at the base after the previous two days of downpour, so good drainage in the 'cobble' sized voids is apparent. This is the direction in which we will currently follow.

JB ascended after brief discussion with MK at base. MK continued Kango work and JB worked the winch (c. 1 hour). MK removed large protruding slab and now dig face is flush. MK drilled bang holes and JB was joined on surface by JC. Wayne Starsmore popped over to see JC and had a brief look down the pipe. JB got cleaned up for school run whilst MK and JC set charge.  Sound greatly reduced, as was the previous bang. The use of bang doors and duvet makes a huge difference in sound reduction. All ready for after Christmas clearance. (c.3.5 hours work).

Writer: Jake Baynes.

Sunday 14th December 2025

Mike Kushy and Tuska. Arrived around 1400. MK went to the bottom to fish out the blast door that had fallen down (it's really about time to sort a tether for this). T lifted it right out and the handle was replaced. Both doors were then lowered back down and into 'standby' position. The bottom was very fresh and dry, could have cleared it then and there. 1 hour. Mike.

Friday 12th December 2025

Mike Kushy and Jake Baynes. Both at the bottom. We drilled holes and set charge. We put the blast door back in for this one, although the door still needs a handle on it. Much more civilised set up. No water at the bottom upon arrival, even though it was a night of heavy rain. 2 hours. Mike.

Sunday 7th December 2025

Mike Kushy, Hollie London, Tuska, Sam Chung, Mikey Waterworth, Verity & William White, Agnieszka Kozlowska (Aga) *insert any other names of participants*

First we drew a line of 30m (distance from RL spot to dig) and at a bearing of 120 degrees (compass readings of trending direction of Desolation Row, taken by the divers yesterday). This ended up 2-3m south of the dig entrance, which would also be following the dip.

HL had estimated a few points of horizntal null in the field East of Valinor, according to the data from yesterday, this helped greatly with a quick visual reference and a means to measure by GPS. All the null spots seemed in a good circumference and a clear null 90m from the dig at an angle of 18 degrees. Although you can never be 100% we had enough data collected to come to an average of 90m depth to Sandwich Chamber floor.

At some point we cleared the dig face, now ready for the next drill and charge.

Mike.

Saturday 6th December 2025

Surface AM - Mike Kushy, solo. 2 hours spent chiselling rock by hand.

 

Diving - Alessio Sancetta and Sam Chung. Sam's report from the Wessex logbook:

Saturday 6th December 2025

Swildon's Hole

Sam Chung, Alessio Sancetta

The 'Valinor' dig near the Queen Vic's pub aims to break into Swildon's 12 to enable cavers to continue pushing & exploration of the far reaches of the cave. Radiolocation of Sandwich Chamber was last done by Phil Short and co. in 2003. However, to quote Kushy, "I think if we are going to commit to digging 70m deep, we best double check exactly where we're aiming."

So the plan for today was to setup the radiolocation again in Sandwich Chamber to double check.

Alessio & I set off at 10 am as planned, with our cylinders already staged at Sump 2, and the radio kit staged by Sump 9 on earlier trips. Unfortunately, Alessio's cylinder was only half full, but he breathes like a fish so we persevered anyway. Water levels were quite high, so Sump 7 and its bypass were submerged. With it being zero visibility and being quite tight, I somehow got the line wrapped around my leg. At Sump 9, we decanted the radio kit into a new tackle sack because the straps on the old bag were broken. We had to put big boulders in the bag because it was so buoyant.

At Sump 10, with Alessio diving with the bag, he encountered a tangled mess with the dive line. Turns out there was another rope that must have been washed in creating a bird's nest. The other rope is still there, and we've tried to keep it out the way as much as possible & there is a nice bottle of Moet stashed at Sump 12. We decanted here and climbed up Victoria Aven. A fall here would be fatal, and the walls all covered with slippery mud. Luckily there was an in-situ rope for a bit of support. Getting through Desolation Row was a huge pain with the kit bag constantly getting stuck. Alessio was in front towing it with me at the back freeing the bag. Radiolocation was set up at 1500, half an hour later than planned.

I got myself stuck in the rift on the way out which killed my energy. Surface team successfully picked up signal.

Sam, 8.5 hours. 

L>R - Alessio, Tuska (David Morrisson) and Sam Chung on route to Swildons. ?

 

Alessio in Sandwich Chamber, eating a sandwich. Photo SC

Surface PM - Mike Kushy, Tuska, Jake Baynes, Hollie London, James Morrisson and John Cooper. Radio Locating and taking orientation of Sandwich Chamber in Swildons.

Too much going on to describe everything, contact above ground was okay but not clear (too much interference from around, later discovered the underground team heard us quite clearly) location was quite simple and clear. We also started working on depth measurements, but that's alot more involved and more data improves the accuracy so more work to be done tomorrow still. Mike.

Data from the day, HL. Photo HL

Many thanks to Wayne starsmore for use of his GPS last minute,
invaluable for saving points. Photo HL

Waiting. Photo DM.

HL, being the sensible one, brought coffee to share. Photo DM.

MK and JB supervising. DM.

Preparing for depth measurement. Photo DM.

JC, T, JB and MK working on depth measuring. Photo HL

And another. Photo ?

MK scanning for Nulls at the 'apex of the transmition. Photo HL.

And another. Photo HL.

Saturday 21st November 2025

Mike Kushy, Jakes Baynes and Tuska. 10 or so buckets cleared. Very fresh at the bottom and another larger hole has appeared towards The Vic'. More to clear and breaker needed next visit. 1 hour. Mike.

Sunday 16th November 2025

Mike Kushy, John Cooper and Jake Baynes. Arrived around 1.30pm. With JC and JB on surface MK drilled holes and set charge. 7 holes @450 x 15mm diameter (100gm cord used). We experimented without the blast doors, blew the quilt dampener to bits and very loud! Must use blast doors from now on. 2 hours. Mike.

Saturday 28th June 2025

Mike Kushy, Jake Baynes and David Morrison. JB kindly made us some coffees on arrival. DM brought along 50m of 2.5mm cable on a drum and MK brought along a 2 way extractor from Trevor Hughes. Some modifications were made to allow the extractor to sit straight onto the 2 inch pipe in situ and also to be able to turn the extractor to blow air in as well as suck (very handy for cooling in hot weather when on the breaker). The power cable now measured to suit and plugs fitted we ran the extractor for a short while and dropped some orange smoke down into the shaft...this thankfully came back up to surface through the pipe well. We then lowered the breaker and MK did a 45 minute stint on it, too hot to do any more. MK joined DM on surface for a 15 minute rest. Then another half hour and this time we sent cold air into the dig which was much more pleasant...maybe we should set up a 2 pipe system with the sucking pipe on the floor and the cold air pipe above head bringing cooling air in. Roughly 20 buckets cleared. 3 Hours. Mike.

Extractor in action. Photo and video DM.

Thursday 5th June 2025

John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Mike descended before I arrived and said too fumey but one blast door had fallen down with handle broken. I went down and attached it to haul line then we pulled it out for repair. ¼ hour. John.

Wednesday 28th May 2025

Mike Kushy and Jake Baynes. MK drilled holes and used 1m of 40 and 2m of 100. JB came to assist with cable and doors. 1 1/2 hours. Mike.

Monday 26th May 2025

John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Spoil clearing from last bang. John at the bottom cleared 9 loads of loose spoil then Kushy with chisel drill created another 5 smaller loads. 1½ hours. John.

Wednesday 14th May 2025

Mike Kushy, Jake Baynes, John Cooper and Trevor Hughes.

AM - MK arrived around 10.30 and with JB we set up electric from the caravan to the dig. About 50m of 240v cable used to get to the 110V transformer. Breaker and bits lowered down. MK then spent the next couple of hours chiselling before stopping for lunch, bringing up one full bucket of spoil.

PM early. JC arrived and 21 more buckets removed. JC left and MK did some more chiselling.

PM late. TH arrived and went down to try out the breaker. Both agreed a good ventilation system is required. 8 more buckets cleared. MK went down and used TH's 110V drill to drill 6 holes at 500mm, 2x10mm and 4x14mm 2m of 100 and 1m of 40 used. Noise not to bad, pressure was great though and shrapnel came out the lid. Mike.

Wednesday 7th May 2025

John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Spoil clearance from last Thursday’s charge. With Kushy at the bottom with drill in chisel mode 33 loads of spoil created and hauled out by John. More can be created with breaker. 1½ hours.

Thursday 1st May 2025

Mike Kushy and John Cooper. MK to begin, still a bit smelly down the pipes. Drilled 5 holes at 12mmx500 and 3 at 14mmx400. Filled the 14mm with 100gm cord and 12mm with 40gm. JC arrived in time to help lower doors, covered the lid with quilt and heavy mat. Not a bad noise at all. Next time 2m of 100 and 1m of 40. 2 hours. Mike.

Wednesday 30th April 2025

Jake Baynes, John Cooper, Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Hauled 15 loads out and measured current depth at 11.1m. Too many fumes really to work. 1 hour for John. John.

Tuesday 29th April 2025

Mike Kushy and Jake Baynes. MK drilled holes and filled with 4m of 40. JB came over to assist with the blast doors, covered the lid with a quilt this time. Noise absolutely fine. 2 hours, Mike.

Saturday 29th March 2025

Mike Kushy and Tuska. A few hours on the breaker, 21 loads cleared. MK down below and T on surface. More breaker work could be done, but might be worth a charge set just to fracture some more rock. A good foot deeper across the whole floor. Mike.

Saturday 22nd March 2025

Mike Kushy and Jake Baynes. MK had a go at chiselling with the 54v, loads removed. then drilled 7 holes @600mm. 4m of 40 used, noise was fine. JB came by to help with laying doors, they now both sit flat on the bars. 3 hours, Mike.

Friday 21st March 2025

Mike Kushy and David Morrison. First we lifted doors into standby position. Then went to clear the bottom, not a great amount of bang spoil. Quite a lot came off with hammer and chisel though. DM sent battery drill down and on chisel mode a lot more removed again. Easily another good session of breaking to be had. The mineral vein is very obvious now and the hole off to the side is getting larger. 2 hours. Mike.

The large hole off to the radio location side. Photo MK.

Wednesday 19th March 2025

John Cooper, Mike Kousiounis (Kushy) and Dave Morrison (Tuska). Kushy at the bottom using John’s breaker. Then blast door fettling. When John arrived Kushy at the bottom loading spoil and John operating the winch. 14 loads of rock hauled out. Kushy reckons could have done quite a bit more with the breaker. Blast doors replaced. John.

 Before JC arrived DM and MK hauled the doors out to fit new handles. DM started work on the handles whilst MK had about an hour breaking before a clearance was needed. JC arrived and the bottom was cleared. We decided to set a charge, used a slight bit more than the last time but the noise was fine. Mike. 

Wedsnesday 12th March 2024

 Mike Kousiounis (Kushy) and Dave Morrison (Tuska). Fettling the blast doors.

Thursday 6th March 2025

Mike Kushy, Tuska, John Cooper and Jake Baynes. MK and T to begin with. As we were opening up JC arrived. MK down the bottom filling buckets with T unhooking and JC winching. Around a dozen buckets cleared then JB arrived and took over from T. 31 buckets I believe cleared, although it seemed more to me. The last charge was very successful and the weakness is becoming more apparent to the radio location direction. Quite a few steep holes opening up, would be interesting to water test them with a hose. JB came down with MK to have a look see and discuss options. Fresh at the bottom and there's a nice calcite line running through the floor on one side. 1 1/2 hours.

Gaps in the bedding. Photo MK.

JB looking at the results of the last charge. Photo MK.

Wednesday 5th March 2025

AM - Mike Kushy and Jake Baynes. MK to start with. Drilled 6 holes @500mm, 3m of 40 and 2m of 5 used. 3 holes higher up so unable to cover with mats at the bottom. Expected the noise to be louder than last time, but actually still good reduction compared to non blast door bangs. We need to be putting heavier weights on the doors, we put a horizontal bucket full of rock on each door this time. Perhaps we need to use some that spreads the weight more evenly? Sound of a lot of rock shatter and the cable wouldn't pull out so I suspect we will have a good amount of spoil from this one. JB came to help lower the wire and fit doors into place. 2 hours. Mike.

PM - Mike Kushy and Tuska. Went for a look after bang, still too fumey to do prolonged work but we retrieved one half of the lid from bottom and put both doors into standby position. Although the half dropped to the floor there was minimum damage and still entirely usable. Also moved rock aside to release bang wire. Lots of spoil at the bottom to clear. 1/2 hour. Mike.

Monday 3rd March 2025

Tuska and Mike Kushy. With T on surface MK went down to look at the possibility of leaving the blastdoors in the shaft and attaching them to a bolt. It actually turns out they sit quite nicely behind the rebar on their ends, still an eyebolt just above each would prove useful in holding them flat and a back up. With doors secured MK went to the bottom to inspect the damage. Very clear air at the bottom, with no fume smell and a nice hole has appeared which holds no water. Looks like heading 45° down towards the radio location point (which is roughly 10m away) is the sensible way forwards. Next job is to set another charge, aiming for a 2ft wide by 4ft high tunnel. No spoil cleared, there's at least 4 buckets to come out. The mat laid over the charge is fine for more uses and no damage to the blastdoors. 1 hour. Mike.

View from the lid. Photo MK.

Blast doors sat in standby position. Photo MK.

Hole! 3". Photo MK.