Just an idea guys
We are going to do a bit of work at the end of DE floor where it meets Cwm's Old Vein and to do that the water needs to go.
To make the water go we re have re-established the miners siphon down the nearby shaft to G and I'm pleased to report it works, having dropped the level by 4 foot last week as a quick test (it'll be full up again now).
Next week we hope to drop the intake clack valve into deeper water and ideally drop it to chamber floor level. This would allow the exploration of E floor Old Vein, for the first time in a very long time.
Before you get really excited bear in mind:
1) even if we drop the water to chamber-floor level at the DE link, it'll be deeper at the foot of the incline. I don't know if that means calf-depth or to the roof, and we won't until we try.
2) there are unlikely to be any amazing surviving artefacts given the 117 years of submersion
3) E floor in the Old Vein isn't actually that long. Nothing like the Back Veins E floor. But there would appear to be at least one chamber that could only be reached from E.
I can run the siphon with a view to having access to E floor, or at least some of it, for Thursday Night. If you fancy a look. It might not be all that amazing, but then I suppose anything new is a bit special, and you're welcome to be there for the first look if you like...
Beneath my steely exterior beats the heart of a dashing hero