Friday 28th February 2025

Mike Kushy and Tuska. Got to site for 10.30am. MK down the hole on an extendable aluminum ladder, perched 2 and a half pipe rings up from the bottom. DM winching and sorting tools. Marked and drilled/chiselled 4 holes to fit 2x32mm rebar bars into, ready for the doors to lay on. The doors fitted well, we had to tie some cord onto one near the middle, so that we could lift a door after charge to release the fumes. This made one door sit up one side, but actually this works to our advantage as having one door that will lift with the bang will help reduce pressure build up. 2m of 40gm used over 4 holes. Filled and fired fine, the noise was at least half than without the doors and the shockwave didn't feel too bad. The board that lays flat had a bucket of rock placed on top,  we also laid strips of conveyor over the charge. All in all a success and we can creep up slowly with the amount of material we use in the future. The door we didn't weigh down lifted slightly and turned slightly so it was just sat on the other, the bucket tipped on it's side but still held most it's contents. 1 door was brought up slightly by winch after 10 minutes to release the fumes, this is still attached and the rope tucks in under the lid. Jake, Annie and the kids came over towards the end. John came by at some point when drilling. Finished around 5ish. Mike.

After charge, zoom in to see tipped bucket and biscuits. Photo by JB.

Set up before charge. Photo JB.

Set up from the entrance lid. Photo JB

.

Mike after just laying the blast doors. Photo JB.

Mike preparing rebar and doors. Photo JB.

Monday 24th February 2025

Mike Kushy and Tuska. At Tuska's place we fitted the conveyor to the biscuits. Nicely trimmed into shape using a jigsaw with coarse blade.

Finished blast doors. Photo MK.

Saturday 22nd February 2025

 Mike Kushy and Tuska. We met at 3pm to go and cut amd retrieve some conveyor belting from a very supportive local farmer. The pieces to be laid over the charge directly have been dropped off to site. The pieces to clad the blast doors has been dropped at Tuskas ready for fabricating. Monday lunchtime onwards we hope to install the steel runners and fit the blast doors in place. Perhaps even a small test charge. Mike.

Wednesday 19th February 2025

Mike Kushy and Tuska. Sourced material for blast doors. 50mm insulation board sandwiched between 2x18mm hardwood ply boards. Sealed in with PVA for water protection and all held together with coach bolts. Need to source some matting now. Most of the day, including lunch, at the Hunters. Mike.

Photo MK.

Photo MK.

Monday 17th February 2025

Mike Kushy and Tuska met Murray Knapp at 10am. Murray had a look at the dig and we've all decided that some blast doors are a must. We've decided we'll make two semi circle biscuits out of ply and insulation, clad in protective rubber. These will sit at the bottom of the last ring on steels with weight on top. 1 hour. Mike.

Sunday 26th January 2025

John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Cleared the spoil from the ledge and then from the floor. Not as much as hoped for, only 13 loads. 1 hour. John.

Bottom. Photo MK.

Wednesday 22nd January 2025

David Morrison, Mike Kushy and Jake Baynes. MK arrived just after 10 and started raking the stone into a somewhat level ground (for the genny). Tuska arrived and the pair wheeled over all the kit on the trailer. Dry at the bottom, MK set to work with the breaker for an hour or so. Good progress made, then with DM on surface we cleared the mess. 5 holes then drilled, 12mm x 600mm. JB came over and set the charge off, MK and DM went over to the Vic to listen. Didn't seem too bad. Mike.

The effectiveness of a mains breaker to improve progress downwards was proved on our last foray so we employed it again with similar downward success. This was followed by about 10/12 buckets of ‘freed’ rock up and out the shaft. Gentle raking of this ‘clean’ stone makes the surface around the shaft look like a fine smooth Persian rug.
Mains power from the new generator provided the opportunity for a powered drilling of shot holes, 5 x 600mm and subsequent firing also. If anyone has a duvet, not filled with feathers thank you 🤣 it would be worth trying to reduce initial ‘pop’!
I believe using the generator approach gives us, more than slightly, an edge to downward mobility whilst we are close to the surface. The stoppage in voltage suggest we could probably go 60 feet further before upgrading cables. There may be a serious thought to be said about investing in a 110v 5kw transformer and breaker minimum 45J (joule) and separate 110v SDS drill. David.

Saturday 18th January 2025

Mike Kushy, David Morrison and Jake Baynes.

MK met DM at his house just after 11am. DM had just finished servicing the new generator. This was packed into the boot of a Honda Jazz with the back seats still up (the wonders of modern technology). Then both drove to site and got there for around 12.30. After a coffee and chat we loaded the genny into one of JB's smaller trailers and wheeled it across to the dig quite easily, JB carried his Titan breaker across. The generator and drill were then tested and noise checked, the generator with an inverter system works wonders. There's an eco feature that sets the generator to run at minimum revs and then when a tool is used the revs pick up to whatever the demand is from the tool. This wasn't alot and I doubt you'd even hear it from the seating area outside the pub. Then time for the real test. We strapped up the breaker and with MK down the bottom it was recieved before going into the puddle. Quite a lot of spoil to clear first though (JC did an incredible job). It was fine to put the breaker to one side and also be able to clear the spoil. With spoil and a fair bit off gloopy mud cleared we were then left with quite a puddle. A cardboard coffee cup, sponsored by McDonald's, proved effective at folding into the gap to bail the puddle dry. Extension lead wrapped around bottom rung and socket well above head, ppe on...safety first. MK had a good 5 minute stint and called up to surface to see if there was any dust. Surface called back saying it looked clear. Then a good 30 minutes continual use, the noise wasn't unbearable and there wasn't much dust at all. Good size chunks broken off the bedding below, a successful test! Loads to clear now and all proposed tests successful. We then decided to clear more. Breaker and leads sent up top to get packed away. A couple of dozen buckets cleared, maybe 2 more still to clear. All in all very successful and very much looking forward to using the system in anger. Towards the end it got incredibly misty really quickly at the bottom, which made taking a decent photo' quite difficult. Finished around 4pm ish. MK.

After some work with the breaker, shelf to the right. Photo MK.

Looking down into the lowest gap between the bedding. Photo MK.

The dig face after work. Lower half of the photo is where the shelf is and the direction of the bedding slope. Photo MK.

Tuesday 14th January 2025

John Cooper. Half the floor was a puddle. Using Hilti drill in chisel mode to tidy up. Put the spoil in the puddle. Needs clearing, both the gravel and the water, then a tidy up bang next. Take a small tub to bail with. 2 hours. John.

Sunday 5th January 2025

Sam Hill and Mike Kushy. Spoil clearing.

Before clearing. Photo SH.

After clearing. Photo SH.

After clearing. Photo SH.

Friday 3rd January 2025

John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). John drilled some holes then Mike went in and did a few more. Loud noise made. 1½ hours. John.

Thursday 2nd January 2025

John Cooper. Floor dry. Using Hilti drill in chisel mode to tidy up. Put the spoil on the ledge by the pool. Needs a tidy up bang next. 2 hours. John.

Friday 27th December

John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Mike at bottom loading buckets which John emptied. 19 loads. Current depth 10.25m. Needs some chisel work next. 1¼ hours. John.

Monday 16th December 2024

Mike Kushy and John Cooper. 

MK to start with, chiselling the deepest part of bedding to get through. The easiest place to chisel seems to be a diagonal line cutting across the bedding. After using 2 of Jake's batteries MK then started drilling shot holes. 3 @600mm and 4 @400mm varying directions and angles, 2 working into the weakness/strike at a gradual angle. Thanks to JC on surface lowering/raising drill and wire. All set off fine, shrapnel and fumes flying out! Slight draught at the bottom again and on arrival the bottom was bone dry! Some of the 400mm holes broke through and it seems that there may be a waterworn line cutting diagonally across the bedding, parallel to the line that was easy to chisel. Looking forward to clearing this one. Mike.

Tuesday 10th December 2024

Mike Kushy, solo. Got into the cave around 11.30. Used up John's and Jake's drills with a mixture of chiselling and pf work, around 6 buckets of spoil made. Could do with another session of pf/chisel work. The floor sounds quite hollow and it would be nice to break through the bedding and see what's underneath before another charge. Faint draught at the bottom. 3 hours. Mike.

Sunday 8th December 2024

AM - Mike Kushy and Adrian Miles. MK at the bottom filling holes made by John with AM assisting on the winch. 8 holes filled with 4m of 40. All went off fine, with fumes coming out of the lid fairly quickly. 1 hour. Mike.

PM - Mike Kushy, Adrian Miles and John Cooper. Arrived around 3 hours after charge and fumes had cleared. Several buckets cleared. All the charge had gone off but didn't seem to have damaged the bedding much, perhaps we need to use a different method of moving the rock. AM was down the bottom filling buckets and chiselling. No pictures unfortunately. 1 1/2 hours. Mike.

Thursday 5th December 2024

John Cooper. Drilled 8 holes in floor. All except top left dropped through floor slab at about 400-500mm. Top left still solid at 800mm. Now ready for demolition. 1¼ hours. John.

Wednesday 4th December 2024

Mike Kousiounis (Kushy) and Dave Morrison (Tuska). Cleared all spoil and left floor clean ready for drill and bang. 38 buckets cleared. 3 1/2 hours. MK 

Friday 29th November 2024

John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). John drilled 6 holes in the bottom slab. It’s only 300mm thick so all holes went right though into the mud layer below. Handed over to Kushy to destroy. 1 hour. John.

Tuesday 26th November 2024

Mike Kushy, solo. Upon opening the lid I was hit with quite strong smell of diesel/oil?! Not too bad at the bottom. The bottom, below the shelf, was flooded so I bailed the water into a hole in a higher bedding and it flowed away nicely. This allowed me to chisel with the sds drill and remove any loose bits. About 5 buckets ready to clear. Ready for the next drill and bang. 3 hours. Mike.

Flooded floor. Photo MK.

After clearing. Photo MK.

Friday 22nd November 2024

John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Mike at bottom loading buckets which John emptied. Mike chiselled more off as we went along. Total of 30 loads. Depth measured at end of session at 9.85m from top of biscuit. Smell of diesel(?) in mud at bottom. 2 hours. John.

Thursday 21st November 2024

Mike Kushy and John Cooper. MK at the bottom filling whilst JC hauled. 24 buckets cleared. Used one battery chiselling with the drill and 4 more buckets cleared. Then drilled 4 holes @600mm and filled. All went off fine. Cables ties have broken on the flaps, so we've chosen just to lay the matting over the charge when laid. 2 hours.

Tuesday 19th November 2024

Mike Kushy, John Cooper and David Morrison. MK down the bottom filling buckets, with JC and DM on surface. A dozen or so loads. Then 5 holes at 600 drilled. All filled and fired fine. Glasses steamed up a lot on getting to the bottom of shaft. 2 hours.  MK.

PS from JC. Not nice working on the surface in a snowstorm!

Dig face. Photo MK.

Sunday 17th November 2024

John Cooper. Using Hilti drill in chisel mode to tidy up. Interesting hole in floor. Boulder floor probably not as thick as first appears. Could have done more but ran out of stacking space. Needs clearing then drilling. 1½ hours. John.

Friday 15th November 2024

Mike Kushy and David Morrison. Cleared all the bang spoil and any bits of rubbish out. Between buckets I had a go at hammer and chisel and removed quite alot. The bang curtains have held up, at least for 1 more try. Strange hole opening up in the middle of the bedding floor, full of calcite and draining. More drilling and banging to do. 2 hours. Mike.

Hole in bedding. Photo MK.

All cleared. Photo MK.

All cleared. Photo MK.

Tuesday 12th November 2024

AM - Mike Kushy and David Morrison. MK went down and the pair cleared all the materials from the bottom. Next, holes were drilled through the shuttering wood and 9 masonry holes were drilled after. 9 expansion eyebolt were inserted. These were used to hang the bang curtain with cable ties. 5 holes drilled @ 600mm, ready for charge. 3 hours. MK 

PM - Mike Kushy and Jake Baynes. Holes filled and charge set off. No shrapnel and it definitely sounded quieter than previous charges. 1 hour. MK

Bang curtain, deployed. Photo MK.

Bang curtain, tucked away. Photo MK.

Sunday 13th October 2024

Jake Baynes, John Cooper, Mike Kousioumis and Dave Morrison. MK at the bottom of the shaft setting up the formwork whilst JB mixed concrete. JC assisted as needed. DM along to inspect at the end. Just over a wheelbarrow of concrete used to bring the support up to the base of the bottom ring. 2 hours. John.

Bracing across for support until cured. Photo MK.

Monday 7th October 2024

Jake Baynes. Had a quick look and all looks solid and has not been effected by yesterday's downpour. Jake.

Photo JB.

Photo JB.

Top picture is immediately below the boarding being propped up by wood and crowbar.  Slight puddle to the bottom right, which is where it appears to drain.

Bottom picture is the concrete lintel, which is supported by the formwork.  Extra rebar in place ready for the final pour of cement.  This will take it to the lip of the bottom pipes.

Jake.

Sunday 6th October 2024

Jake Baynes and Mike Kousiounis. Support part of the lintel complete. Rebar and mesh inserted ready for the aesthetic part to go on top. Recommended a thin sheet of ply to shutter up to the concrete ring. 5 wheel barrows of concrete used. Hopefully all this rain won't rinse all the cement out. Mike.

Photo MK.

Saturday 5th October 2024

Jake Baynes. Just been down and spent about 2 hours wire twisting the rebar to the larger rebar, and that will be super strong once surrounded with concrete.  Rebar twister (brand new) stopped working on the last one.  It was brilliant until it failed - really quick.  I have taken four boards of wood down and got them in a sort of OK fashion but certainly needs more work on it to make it structurally sound to support the weight of the concrete.  A few screws, bracing and perhaps some cutting. Easier with two or more people.
It will also need the lintel face board to hold and shape the lintel.   
Lastly, we can put corex board down to fill in any gaps.
The opposite side of including two more drainage pipes and some rebar to create support can be done easily once this bigger job is complete. Jake.

Wednesday 29th May 2024

Adrian and I went to investigate the current walling and rebar to assess what concreting and additional work is required.  About 30 mins.  Photos taken. Jake.

Sunday 31st March 2024

Mike Kushy and John Cooper.

Wall building on the left of the dig face and fitting rebar across. Ready for a sheet of steel to sit on top and then concrete over the top of that. MK.

Left hand wall, half built . Photo MK.

 

Rebar fitted, ready for sheet of steel to sit on top. Photo MK.

Left hand wall, fully built. Photo MK.

Right hand wall. Photo MK.

Saturday 30th March 2024

Mike Kushy, Dave Morrison and John Cooper.

MK and DM sorting out the winch frame and attaching winch. JC joined us in the afternoon and a couple of rocks were pulled out from the bottom. All seems to work well. MK.

The bottom after not seeing it for a while. Photo MK.

DM (Tuska) with the winch and frame. Photo MK.

Wednesday 13th December 2023

Morning. Mike Kousiounis (Kushy) banged the holes drilled by John yesterday. 1 hour.

Evening. John Cooper, Trevor Hughes, CJ and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Spoil clearance following Mike’s bang earlier in the day. At the bottom filling were Mike, then John, then Trevor. Trevor spent some time with the hammer and chisel. More could be done but getting cold on the surface. Probably need to do a couple of cementing sessions next. 2 hours. John.

Bottom. Photo MK.

Tuesday 12th December 2023

John Cooper. Went to drill some holes in the bottom. 9 holes, mixture of 400mm and 800mm deep, ready for Mike on Wednesday. 1 hour. John.

Saturday 9th December 2023

John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Spoil clearance. At the bottom filling were Adrian, then Jude and finally John. Two rocks had to come out in an open topped bucket. Now ready for next drilling session. 1½ hours.John.

Thursday 7th December 2023

John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Banged the holes prepared by John earlier in the week. Only sufficient cord for 8 of the holes. 1 hour.John.

Tuesday 5th December 2023

John Cooper. Went to drill some holes in the bottom. 10 holes, mixture of 400mm and 500mm deep, ready for Mike on Thursday. 1 hour.John.

Wednesday 29th November 2023

am. Mike Kushy. Used the sds and chisel attachment for a couple of hours. As you can see there's plenty of spoil, easily enough for an evenings clearance...but also stacked so drilling can be done. Mike.

Spoil awaiting clearance. Photo MK.

Tuesday 28th November 2023

Jake Baynes, John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Initially just John hauling/emptying with Mike loading. Then joined by Jake emptying which enabled fuller loads. After 1½ hours all the loose spoil had been cleared so Jake and John left Mike to chisel away. Whenever John looked down the shaft his glasses fogged over (freezing on surface with nice warm draught from below). Two rebar supports loosely placed in situ ready for more supporting work to be done. 1½ hours, another 1 hour for Mike.

Jake at Bottom after clearing. Photo MK.

Sunday 26th November 2023

am. Sam Hill and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Measured the 30mm holes - 11 inches and 14 inches of rebar required. Drilled an extra couple of holes then banged bottom. Mike.

Friday 24th November 2023

John Cooper. Drilled some holes in the bottom. 2 holes x 30mm x 150mm deep ready for rebar supports. 6 x 10mm x 300mm ready for Mike on Sunday. 10mm holes are in the barrier and are marked with cable. Would have preferred the 30mm holes to be much lower below the bottom of the pipe. 1 hour. John.

Wednesday 22nd November 2023

Jake Baynes, John Cooper and Sam Hill. Sam at the bottom loading, John on the rope hauling (walking across the field) and Jake emptying. Once the loose spoil was removed Sam used the chisel drill to create more which was also cleared. Sam took photos before coming out. Now ready for the next bang. Also ready for the ring support to go in the drain roof. 1.5 hours. John.

Bottom drain at end of session. Photo SH.

Tuesday 21st November 2023

John Cooper. Went and chiselled out fractured rock left from previous bangs. Stopped when ran out of stacking space. 1 hour.John.

Sunday 19th November 2023

am: Sam Hill, Mike Kousiounis (Kushy), Dave Morrison (Tuska). Setting off charge.

pm: MK and SH arrived about 3pm to find Adrian Miles on surface and Jake Baynes down the hole clearing. A few swap arounds with AM and SH clearing. Plenty of buckets cleared. Finished about 4.45. Will need some hammer and chiselling to remove some loose lumps. We used a jammer on the rope and found walking away with the rope solved the muddy rope issue, Sams suggestion. Could do with a bit more rendering on the mud dam, but all in all its doing well. Will await photo after hammer and chiselling to propose next drill holes. Mike.

Wednesday 15th November 2023

John Cooper. Went to drill some holes in the bottom. 8 holes x 10mm x 400mm deep, ready for Mike on Sunday. 1 hour. John.

Sunday 5th November 2023

am. John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Banged the holes prepared by John earlier in the week. 1 hour. John.

am. Dave Morrison. Preparation work for installing a winch. John.

pm. Jake Baynes, John Cooper and Mike Kousiounis (Kushy). Cleared the spoil created earlier in the day. One barrow load of cement installed in the roof of the drain to prevent mud ingress. 2 hours. John.

Bottom at end of session. Photo MK.

Wednesday 1st November 2023

John Cooper. Went to drill some holes in the bottom. 8 holes, mixture of 400mm and 500mm deep, ready for Mike on Sunday. Hail shower on exit. 1 hour. John.

Sunday 29th October 2023

AM - Mike, Jake and Tuska. Filling holes made by John mid week. Added an extra hole. Fired the cannon around 11am. Mike.

2.30 PM - Mike, John and Jake. Clearing out the spoil. Good draught. Need to get protruding rock down to the same height so we can do uniformed charges here on. Mike.

Bottom after clearing. Photo MK.

Tuesday 24th October 2023

John Cooper. Went to drill some holes in the bottom. 8 holes 500mm deep ready for Mike on Sunday. 1 hour.John.