2019

Mitchell’s Dig 2019

Saturday 5^th January 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank and Barry Wilkinson. One mix of cement sent to the bottom with Pete. To start Adrian capped rock at the dig face whilst the rest of us hauled it up to the lower intermediate stacking space. Then Pete cemented whilst the rest of us hauled from lower intermediate stacking space to the top intermediate stacking space. 3½ hours. John.

Saturday 12^th January 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. One mix of cement sent to the bottom. Whilst Adrian capped rock at the bottom the rest of us moved it up to the lower intermediate stacking space. Then Adrian left the bottom to Pete who was able to cement up and also lift more rock out. The lower intermediate stacking space getting rather full now. 3½ hours. John.

Saturday 19^th January 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Geoff Newton, Jake Tebbutt, Adrian Vanderplank, Jude Vanderplank and Barry Wilkinson. One mix of cement sent to the bottom. Whilst Pete and Adrian capped and cemented at the bottom the rest of us moved spoil from the lower intermediate stacking space to the surface. 48 loads removed. 2½ hours. John.

Saturday 26^th January 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Wayne Starsmore and Adrian Vanderplank. One mix of cement sent to the bottom. Whilst Adrian capped rock at the bottom the rest of us moved it up to the lower intermediate stacking space. Then Adrian left the bottom to Pete who was able to cement up whilst the rest of us moved spoil from the lower intermediate stacking space to the upper intermediate stacking space. 3 hours. Pete’s flat front tyre then delayed us another hour. John.

Saturday 9^th February 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank, Jude Vanderplank and Barry Wilkinson. One mix of cement sent to the bottom. Whilst Pete cleared spoil and did a bit of cementing at the bottom the rest of us hauled up to the bottom stacking space. Adrian then replaced Pete and did some capping with the debris being moved up to join that previously raised. The second bucket of cement was then sent down to Pete and Jude. The rest of us hauled all the spoil from the bottom stacking space to the top stacking space. Will need to do a surface haul before much more can go on the top stacking space. 3½ hours. John.

Saturday 16^th February 2019. John Cooper (late arrival after helping in Bagpit), Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank, Jude Vanderplank and Barry Wilkinson. One mix of cement sent to the bottom. Whilst Pete and Jude cleared spoil and did a bit of cementing at the bottom the rest hauled spoil to the surface. I arrived as Adrian hauled load 30 to the surface, Nigel was filling and Barry was on the Naughty Step. I joined Adrian and hauled another 22 loads to leave plenty of stacking space for next time. Total of 52 loads. 1 hour for me. John.

Saturday 23^rd February 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Geoff Newton, Adrian Vanderplank, Jude Vanderplank and Barry Wilkinson. One mix of cement sent to the bottom. Whilst Pete and Adrian capped and cemented the rest of us hauled their spoil up to the bottom stacking space. We then left Pete and Adrian creating more spoil and cementing whilst the rest of us moved the spoil on up to the top stacking space and then on up to the surface. Total of 17 loads. 3 hours. John.

Saturday 2^nd March 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank and Barry Wilkinson. One mix of cement sent to the bottom. Pete dug boulders out of the bottom and then Adrian capped whilst the rest of us hauled their spoil up to the bottom stacking space. Pete was then left with Adrian to use up the cement but they also did more capping. The rest of us went out. 3 hours. John.

Saturday 16^th March 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank, Jude Vanderplank and Barry Wilkinson. Pete and Jude to the bottom to start stacking muddy gravel behind walls whilst the rest of us cleared spoil from the bottom stacking space to the top stacking space. Once cleared we moved on down and made a good start on filling up the bottom stacking space again. Adrian did some capping towards the end. 3 hours. John.

Saturday 23^rd March 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank, Jude Vanderplank and Barry Wilkinson. Pete and Jude to the bottom with a mix of cement to do walling to stack muddy gravel behind. The rest of us cleared spoil from the top stacking space to the surface, 40 loads. Adrian and Jude swapped part way through so Adrian could start capping. Once cleared we moved on down and made a good start on filling it up again from the bottom stacking space, which is now clear. 3 hours. John.

Saturday 6^th April 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann (later), Adrian Vanderplank and Barry Wilkinson. Had a look at the bottom and stacked a few rocks on the ledge before Adrian and Barry arrived. With me at the top two positions, Adrian in the middle and Barry filling we spend an hour hauling rocks up from the bottom. Adrian and Barry then swapped so Adrian could do some capping. Pete then arrived and a short while later we called it a day. Good draught coming up from the bottom. Needs a few mixes of cement. John.

Saturday 20^th April 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank, Jude Vanderplank and Barry Wilkinson. Pete and Jude to the bottom with a mix of cement to do walling. The rest of us cleared spoil from the bottom stacking space to the top stacking space then, once that was done, moved on down and started to fill it up again. At the end we moved on up and cleared the top stacking space to the surface, 22 loads. Pete reckons another good cementing session now required. 3¼ hours. John.

Saturday 4^th May 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. Adrian on a fire brigade shout so we first cleared the top stacking space, Pete loading, me on the Naughty Step and Nigel on the surface. 50 minutes later (17 loads), the spoil was cleared and Adrian had arrived and sent to the bottom to start capping. Left Nigel on the surface as nothing to do below. Adrian capped rock until Pete could fit through a gap but as he wasn’t sure he could get back we left it for next time. Had to use a magnet to recover crowbar and capping bar from crack in floor! 3¾ hours. John.

Saturday 11^th May 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank and Barry Wilkinson. One mix of cement taken down. Adrian capping watched by the rest of us. Finally a few loads of rock moved up to an alcove. More capping and cement required. Seems to be dropping quite quickly at present. 3½ hours. John.

Saturday 18^th May 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank, Jude Vanderplank and Barry Wilkinson. One mix of cement taken down. With Pete and Jude at the dig face we started hauling rocks from the bottom to the bottom stacking space. The Adrian replaced Jude so he could do some capping. The rest of us moved the spoil from the bottom stacking space to the top stacking space and finally hauled it, 12 loads, to the surface. 2½ hours. John.

Saturday 1^st June 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Adrian and Pete to the bottom capping the alcove. John and Jude carried 1 mix of cement down. The alcove was proved not to be the way on and the cement was used walling at the bottom. The draught is coming up through the floor. 3 hours. John.

Saturday 29^th June 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. Capping kit and 1 mix of cement taken in. Pete used half the mix at the bottom whilst John used the other half walling alcoves for later use in spoil dumping. Adrian did some clatch dumping in an alcove at the bottom before he moved down to do some capping. More of both required. 2½ hours. John.

Saturday 6^th July 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Capping kit and 1 mix of cement taken in. Pete used half the mix at the bottom whilst digging out the clatch in the floor. This was stashed behind the wall John built last week. Then whilst Adrian capped at the bottom Pete started building a wall on the opposite side to John’s. 2½ hours. John.

Saturday 13^th July 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. Capping kit taken in but not used. 1 mix of cement taken in. Pete used a small amount at the bottom whilst digging out the clatch in the floor. This was stashed behind the wall John built last week. The rest of the cement was used by John building walls in the shaft for stashing clatch etc. 2 hours. John.

Saturday 20^th July 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. 1 mix of cement taken in. Pete used half at the bottom whilst digging out the clatch in the floor. This was stashed behind the wall John built last week. The rest of the cement was used by John building walls in the shaft for stashing clatch etc. 1½ hours. John.

Saturday 27^th July 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. Capping kit taken in. 1 mix of cement taken in. Started with Adrian capping the bottom whilst the debris was hauled up and stacked in the alcoves built by John. Pete then swapped with Adrian to retrieve the rocks that had fallen downwards. Once the alcoves were full John used half the cement in the lower alcove and surroundings whilst Pete used the other half at the bottom. Quite draughty and cold today. 2 hours. John.

Saturday 3^rd August 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann, Mike Kousiounis, Geoff Newton and Adrian Vanderplank. Capping kit taken in but not used. First moved spoil (rock) up from bottom to bottom stacking space. Then added to the heap with rocks from the alcoves part way up. Then moved on up and shifted spoil from bottom stacking space to top stacking space. Finally hauled the 21 loads to the surface. Dig now clean. 3 hours. John.

Saturday 17^th August 2019. John Cooper and Pete Hann. Ran a survey down to the bottom. Very wet at the bottom of the entrance shaft so the planned survey back out taking lots of splays was abandoned. Used DistoX but Pete wrote readings in book. I also used a small tape recorder which revealed 3 errors in Pete’s notes. 1¼ hours. John.

Saturday 31^st August 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. Pete at the bottom digging out clatch, me above him and Adrian stacking the mud behind the walls I’d built. A final boulder moved on all the way to the surface. Now some cementing and capping required. 2 hours. John.

Saturday 14^th September 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann, Matt Randall and Adrian Vanderplank. Started with Adrian capping the floor at the bottom, passing a bucket of rocks to Pete who passed it to Matt who passed it to me. I stuffed them in the holes so they could be moved on up on another day. Finally Adrian and Pete swapped so Pete could hammer more rocks and make a final decision - to continue on down. Need to cement some boulders in place before that happens. 1½ hours. John.

Saturday 21^st September 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Pete to the bottom with a mix of cement. With Jude loading, Adrian in the middle and me at the bottom stacking space we emptied the various holes. By this time Pete had finished cementing so we moved the spoil from the bottom stacking space to the top stacking space. Finally we hauled the 18 loads up to the surface. 2½ hours. John.

Saturday 28^th September 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Pete took a mix of cement down. Started with Adrian capping and sending rock up to the various holes. Jude staked some clatch further down. Adrian and Pete swapped over a couple of times. Finally Pete cemented at the bottom. 3 hours. John.

Saturday 5^th October 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. Nigel did 2 mixes of cement which the rest of us took down along with the capping kit. Whilst Pete used one third of the cement at the bottom I used the rest building a retaining wall where the trickle of water was washing out the mud fill part way down. Adrian then finished by capping a large conglomerate boulder at the bottom. Still more capping and cementing required. 2½ hours. John.

Saturday 12^th October 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. One mix of cement taken to bottom which Pete used up walling. Very drippy today. Adrian capped a bit. 2 hours. John.

Saturday 26^th October 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Two mixes of cement taken in. Two thirds were taken to the bottom which Pete used up walling in a big boulder. I used the other third continuing the work I started on 5^th October. I still need to more whilst Pete hopes Adrian will be capping downwards next week. 1½ hours. John.

Saturday 2^nd November 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. Nigel just along to practice SRT whilst I just carried the drill in and out. Adrian capping at the bottom. A few rocks pulled up the very bottom bit but most fell on down. 2 hours. John.

Saturday 9^th November 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. Nigel along to practice SRT. One mix of cement taken in. With Adrian capping the base Pete sent me up rocks for wall building but the cement was being washed out as quickly as I put it in. Having used up the cement I went down and hauled a couple of rocks up before being chased out by a flood pulse. I doubt if any of my cement is still in place! 1½ hours. John.

Saturday 16^th November 2019. John Cooper, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. Pete forgot the cement buckets so the one mix of cement was taken in inside a sack inside a digging bucket. With Adrian capping the base Pete re-cemented a bit of what I’d “done” last week then continued down to send up more rocks which I cemented in. Once cement used up I continued on down. Collected a few small cobbles that I carried up for future use then took the empty sack and bucket out. Back in again and carried 3 loads of rocks up for use next time. Adrian found capping very frustrating today as the rock would not split. 2½ hours. John.

Saturday 23^rd November 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. Adrian forgot the drill so a quick trip home to collect it. Whilst Adrian capped the bottom, losing one tub of caps in the process, Pete and I moved a few rocks up to where they will be required for cementing the wall. Nigel still practicing. Adrian and Pete decided a bit of cord will be used next week instead of caps. 2 hours. John.

Saturday 30^th November 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. Adrian and Pete to the bottom to drill holes for cord. Meanwhile I used a mix of cement continuing to build up the retaining wall half way down. Just as I’d finished Adrian appeared to report a stuck drill bit so the two of us went out to collect Adrian’s drill which has a reverse on it unlike Pete’s. Completed the drilling then I took out the drill and waited for the pop. 2 hours. John.

Saturday 7^th December 2019. John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann and Adrian Vanderplank. Adrian and Pete to the bottom to start clearing spoil. Pete loading, Adrian hauling in middle and me stacking. With the clatch Adrian stashed it by him. When Adrian started capping I went up and on way back down tried to get Nigel further down. A bit of progress but not enough yet. Finally Pete decided more cementing was required as his wall was falling down. 2 hours. John.