Category: 2019

Report by Vince

Vince and Jonathon

Just the two of us turned
up this evening, lots of work commitments and other things. We carried on
regardless. At the dig we decided that some spoil management would be a good
objective for this session. So, we set about shifting the spoil heap, cramming
as much as possible into available “nooks and crannies” and made plenty of
space for future digging sessions. As ever with these things there is always
more that can be done. At the end of this evening’s work the buckets were given
a scrape out. Then, to the Hunter’s.

Report by Vince

Vince, Tav, Nick and
Jonathon

On arrival at the dig
site at the top of Wookey 20, it was noted that, after a dry week, the puddle
had drained away.

Tav fills another bag

Vince was digging, Tav
assisted clearing filled bags away, and he filled a few too. Jon was at the
skip “station” loading the bags (and a few buckets) to Nick, who was hauling up
the slope and emptying the filled receptacles onto the ever-growing spoil heap.
There was some discrepancy regarding the total number of loads because no-one took
the responsibility of counting. By consensus, we arrived at a figure of
somewhere around 40 to 50 loads. Does it matter? Probably not, stuff got moved,
that’s the important bit.

Another fun evening in
Wookey Hole!

Report by Vince

Vince, Jonathon and Nick.

The “Fun Boy Three”, no “Bananas”, went math!

A total of 45 loads were excavated, hauled and emptied; we had 8 buckets and 7 bags; how many times did we fill and empty each?

From the outset we had thought it might be too wet to dig but agreed we would go and check it out anyway. it was noted, that throughout the cave there wasn’t as much water as we had anticipated. At the dig, there was a puddle but not deep enough to stop the digging activities.

Jon digging, Nick clearing the filled buckets and bags and taking care not to fall into the puddle. It was amusing watching Nick trying to extract a misplaced stepping stone from the puddle without getting wet. Vince was at the skip station stacking the filled receptacles ready for hauling and emptying.

It turned out to be a productive session and digging is easily done with a team of three, result!

7th March

Due to work committments, etc. there were not enough people available to make-up a digging team for this evening.

Work commitments and recovering injuries are affecting the mid-week digging effort lately.

Report by Jon

Three diggers (Jon, Tav and Duncan) braved the warm and damp conditions to convene at the meeting place at the appointed hour. Finding the team inquorate, they patiently waited for absent friends and discussed the issues of the day. Hot topics included the cost of beer in Singapore, the recovery time after eye surgery and the minimum price of a decent bottle of red wine.

After that, they went home.

Report by Tav.

A Valentines Day Massacre. Nick, Mike, Dunc, Tav and Jon. 58 counted, sloppy and heavy bags removed, Jon admitted that he couldn’t count in numbers, which brings last weeks estimation into question! The passage ahead is widening at depth.

Report by Jon

Four diggers (Jon, Nick, Mike and Tav) braved the mild and dry conditions but were surrounded by a rival group of webbed creatures. Holding their nerve, the diggers chatted amongst themselves, pretending to wait for a fifth member, reputed to be also attending. Their patience paid off and the rivals soon dispersed.

At the sharp end, the pit contained more than a few inches of water. However, carefully laid plans from previous expeditions allowed digging to continue from the top of the heap. The dig continues as before.

The success of the evening was jeopardised by a systems failure which resulted in some data loss. Specifically, the bucket count was not backed up. A hastily convened business continuity meeting, on the walk back, yielded two estimates: 25 and 47, that is, 36+/-11.

I took an action to see if we could improve upon this. I have subsequently analysed the data. A least squares fit to a linear curve confirms the mean value of 36 as the intercept, but the sparsity of the data precludes any estimate of the gradient of the curve.

The lack of a statistically significant sample prevents the testing of any other meaningful hypothesis. I have therefore been forced into making an engineering decision. We can state, to a certainty of 100%, that the previously proposed figure of 36 is fully consistent with all of the known statistics of the bucket count.

03/01/2019

Roz, Jon, Mike and Lee Hawkeswell

The induced rapid speleogenesis (27/12/2018) had the desired effect, the slab had been reduced to manageable pieces. Some sediment was also removed.