| Report From | Sam Townsend |
| Report Date | 01/08/2008. |
| Published | 02/08/2008. |
On July 31st, after 4 years of digging, Sam Townsend and Bog Bergmann, accompanied by Dave Cowley, John Taylor, Jules Barrett, Sam Pemberton and Jon Pemberton pushed up through the choke in "Sams Dig" up into a large rift chamber. Named "Paternity's Fault" after the fact that nearly all the diggers have had children during the course of the dig, which has been a bit of a hindrance.
Sam and Jules free climbed an estimated 50 meters up the rift (a bit like the West Swirl Passage in Oxlow, but steeper). Unbelievably - the rift looks to be blind at the top. There looks to be a floor level continuation that draughts but it's going to require some serious digging.
Please respect the teams wishes to stay away for the time being. Now that the initial exploration fever has passed there is a bit of work to stabilise/ginge/concrete the choke as in danger of running in. There is also lots of work to do surveying/photographing/rigging/placing of rescue dumps etc. Also, be aware that it lies beyond Sump 1 (the long duck) which can and does sump in wet weather.
A return is planned as they say.
'Bog' Bergmann looking up the first pitch in Paternity's Fault.
Photo: Sam Townsend August 2008