The 1968 flood

Two views of Cheddar Gorge taken the day after the great storm and flood of 10^thJuly 1968.   The flow down the upper part of the gorge has stopped; all the water is coming from the resurgence and the cave.

Various shoring methods

Charterhouse Warren old shaft.  (1974)

KingdownOFD.   (2004).   Alice Audsley looks down the shaft

Wooden formwork for concrete shoring at KingdownOFD.   The acrow prop is supporting temporary shoring in the hope of preventing a general collapse

So much for temporary shoring, but at least the collapse was quite colourful.

KingdownOFD, the formwork after re-excavation and a bit of a cleanup.   Reinforcing bars in position.

KingdownOFD, the completed beams.

Wooden railways

Rhino Rift, under a powdering of snow (1969).   The digging hut and the railway incline into the cave.

The winch and surface railway at Longwood Valley Sing, (so-called after a mis-print in the first edition of the Complete Caves ). ¹      Shortly after this was taken, a pre-fabricated timber shored adit was installed and the railway taken down through it into the dig.   The pit visible in the foreground was then backfilled,  covering the tunnel and giving a secure entrance.

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¹Nicholas Barrington & William Stanton, The Complete Caves of Mendip First edition (1970).
"LONGWOOD VALLEY SING (Dig) Short hole in charty Limestone."

O.K, most call it Longwood Valley Sink, but Sing sounds more bizarre and so must be preferrable.

Longwood Valley Sing - the site of the dig before much work had been done.   At this time, (?winter 1969), it was sometimes referred to as "The Blowhole", although the reason for this is not clear.

Longwood Valley Sing, looking up the prefabricated timber adit and the wooden railway.