We are planning on starting to move some steel and timber into Smallcleugh this Sunday, the 26th.

If we get the stuff in quickly enough we might even start getting the steel somewhere near to the right place which will involve some digging.

Meet up at the Assay House about 10:30am for a day of fun and frolic :devil:

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No takers?
I figured with all of the previous offers, people would be queuing up to help!

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Sorry West Wales is too big a commute for a Sunday.

However, there should be a crowd of us up w/c 12th October for a week if you are still looking for a few extra paws then.

Alan

Hopefully we will have Smallcleugh back operational by then but there's always the Scaleburn flattening barrels dig...

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There is Moles and Mike the Maps group that have also measured up the fall - and as far as I know they are planning on a October push. Thye are usually up for a week a few times a year.

Are you aware of this Nick? / Have you been in contact with them? Do you want contact details. They have been responsible for opening / keeping things open for a long time.

2 days notice for carrying materials in - not that much for those that don't live on the door step.

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Mike

Nick and co. were the people who measured the length of the fall using a rebar. Our Shropshire and Forest people are active members off NMCS and have recently stayed for a week in the bunkhouse.
I am sure that Nick will be able to offer more dates in the near future. Watch our members events page on the Nenthead mines.com website - updated every Monday evening.

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Mike, yes I am aware of the group being part of it.
Mole, Mike the Map et al have been kept in the loop and have contributed in the form of the timber and some of the scaff bar that got carried in today. More scaff to come soon from Chris Twigg for which we are eternally grateful.
Current status is we have enough steel on site to get started and the hole in the floor is nearly ready for the spoil but will probably need someone down below when digging to make sure that the spoil ends up where it should be.
There have been quite a few people involved already in getting the place ready for digging so thanks to Stu, Leif, Carl, Kelvin, Chris, Rachel and Gavin for their help, particularly for Stu, Leif and Kelvin for working in the hell hole that is the hole in the floor. :thumbsup:

I didn't expect anyone who doesn't live locally to be able to come at short notice, it was more a 'if you're in the area' idea.

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No takers?
I figured with all of the previous offers, people would be queuing up to help!

I retrospect I could have, after a 400 mile round trip to watch the MotoGP not happen. 😞

Fair enough, sounds like all in hand.

I heard COMRU was possibly going to help out, is this still on the cards?

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In hand although I can hardly move today.
If there are enough willing labourers there will be another session next Sunday, the 2nd of September.

It was suggested that COMRU could use it as a training exercise but I had concerns that all that could be done would be a hole big enough to get a stretcher through, with a serious risk of not being able to do that.

My aim is to get the level back open as unrestricted as possible so what COMRU would have been able to do would have been really good if it could have been done earlier than in the best part of a months time. The fall is still moving so the longer it is left the more stuff will have to be moved, plus the more consolidated it will become.

Different sites were discussed and somewhere like the penultimate crawl before Gypsum Corner on the Smallcleugh Horse Level might be a better. Even better on inspection yesterday as it isn't currently passable...

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Another day of digging at the Smallcleugh fall on Sunday the 2nd September.
This will be digging and scaffolding so no carrying of heavy things a long way but the place is a bit claggy...
Meeting up at the Assay House at 10am

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Any progress update from Sunday, Nick ?

Latest update

Last Thursday we had a go at seeing whether we could get the fall to run clear which involved shifting quite a lot od spoil. Nothing definte but it is looking increasingly unlikely.
What did become clear was that the collapse was the timber above the level, where the ore landed rather than the hopper mouth itself because that is still intact. We briefly got a big enough hole to see through to the other side, though the overly friendly debris above soon closed that. All knackered so we left it at that to stabilise a bit. Thanks to Stu, Pete, Chris and Chris' mate whose name I have forgotten.

Doing a quick trip in on Saturday to take some more scaff clamps in revealed a depressing site, the fall had dropped more stuff down than we had taken out on Thursday. Rude words were said.

Sunday saw a depleted digging team of just me and Stu which meant that progress was going to be less than we had hoped. First off we had to climb down into the slime pit that is the Hole in the Floor (TM) and clear the debris from Thursday, what fun we had... ::)

Having coated ourselves with a good layer of slime, we got to work on clearing the dig to get a scaffold frame in place. As ever, as soon as we had nearly got close to putting the scaff tube in, more stuff promptly jumped into the hole with glee - more rude words. :curse:

Finally we managed to get a scaffold arch in place, braced it back and started putting scaff tubes in above to try to quell the urge of the rocks above to come and give us a cuddle. A bit over half of the level is now spiled, the RHS being obstinately blocked by rocks at the moment. Having a go at moving some of the rocks, just resulted in their defensive wall being immediately reinstated by their comrades. There were also ominous rumblings from what seemed to be a long way above, which adds to our feeling that this is one hopper that isn't going to run clear.

Back in on Thursday evening should anyone feel up to some hard labour. :devil:

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Thursday?
Count me in.

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The work being done here is important to us all. It is unfortunate that I will not be up to help, I have a lot going on at the moment.
All I can say is "Good luck"

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Thursday?
Count me in.

Yes and I was 🙂

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I was thinking about this today.
I think every person who visits this area owes Nick a bit of gratitude.
Sure, plenty of others have helped dig, supplied essentials or whatever else, and good effort.
However, it’s Nick up there week in, week out, organizing and grafting (sometimes on his own.), never asking for recognition for any of it.
Would it be dealt with as swiftly without?
I doubt it...
My opinion anyway...

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Yes..nice one nick...mucho appreciation...might even buy you a new cowstail...

I was thinking about this today.
I think every person who visits this area owes Nick a bit of gratitude.
Sure, plenty of others have helped dig, supplied essentials or whatever else, and good effort.
However, it’s Nick up there week in, week out, organizing and grafting (sometimes on his own.), never asking for recognition for any of it.
Would it be dealt with as swiftly without?
I doubt it...
My opinion anyway...

And it is very much appreciated.

However its wrong to assume everyone else is just sat on their hands doing nowt, waiting for someone else to sort the problems.

I'm in several groups who are out digging and conserving on their local patch on a weekly basis, that you'll never hear about unless your involved.

I'm sure exactly the same is happening all over the country that I don't know about, so lets all have a pat on the back with Nick :flowers:

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Chris, I wasn’t assuming that people are sitting on their hands doing “nowt” - I certainly know you don’t, and fair play.
I wasn’t trying to offend anyone either.
Merely that in this instance, Nick deserves a thanks.
How many people do take this kind of Conservation work for granted? A good number I’d wager. I certainly used to.

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