Whitepit - 13/07/11

Estelle Sanford and Stu Gardiner

With Mark having man flu and Mike being a traitor and digging Bone Hole we set about attacking the dig face with our newly acquired eco friendly bags that we found in the digging store, this was due to Mark filling the others on Saturday.

Our Eco Friendly bags were excellent

The dig face is now almost comfortable and you can almost sit upright and dig forwards. The CO2 levels were of a constant worry however it was agreed that they were acceptable and did not really cause and issue, towards the end it was noticeable that our breathing became a little heavier but not dangerous by any means, the plan is to acquire a CO2 meter for a later trip purely as a matter of interest.

The dig seems to be following the same trend as the rest of the excavated passage but is showing no signs of dropping in depth (yet), the floor is mud and this needs to be dug out so that the digger can move forward, the roof remains water worn and spirits are high.

Total time underground: 2 hours

Whitepit - 09/07/11

Mark Denning

A solo digging trip as the other were busy at the Folk Fair.

Continued digging in soft mud although the CO2 levels were getting high, several bags filled ready for extracting the following Wednesday.

Total time underground: 3 hours

Whitepit 06/07/11

Mark Denning, Mike Moxon, Estelle Sanford and Stu Gardiner

A rock net was kindly offered to us by the Cain Hill diggers in an attempt at removing the now free boulder from the dig face, Mark tried to secure the net around the boulder but could not get underneath, however as there were 2 plug and feathers still jammed in the centre of the boulder this proved useful as a rope sling could be secured around the boulder using the plugs as anchor points, with Mark at the Boulder the rest of us took the strain on the rope and within 15 minutes the larhe boulder was removed from the dig face and at the base of the first climb down.

The dig face was now considerablly bigger and now a sack could be filled at the face speeding up progress 10 fold.

Towards the end of the session the full bags and a few boulders were taken up to Talus and dissposed of.

Total time underground 3 hours

Whitepit - 29/06/11

Mark Denning, Mike Moxon, Estelle Sanford and Stu Gardiner

Continued digging in and around the large boulder and towards the end of the session this became free although far too heavy to extract without a rock net or sling etc, as it was towards the end of the session it was decided to leave this until next week where we could try and extract it at the begining of the session when everyone was fighting fit.

Total time underground: 2.5 hours

Whitepit - 22/06/11

Estelle Sandford, Mark Denning, Stu Gardiner & Mike Moxon


Good progress in the hole, still awkward to dig and the large boulder in the floor becoming more and more exposed, it moves but only slightly, a few more trips should see this removed.


Total time underground: 2.5 hours