Coming in from above

When the worst of the teaching was behind me, I decided I could take my weekends back; at least partially. So when the weekend after the PCG visit had a nice weather forecast I suggested to David to go and climb a hill or something. He did have time for some fun! But suggested to visit our pet mine instead. Well that's OK too. I managed to miss the good weather altogether by running in the cold, and working after the sun had come out, and then going underground later that afternoon, but hey ho.

When I had been on the boat, the others had dropped a shaft high up on the hill of our digging project, and David thought there might be a blocked passage to the levels further down. We hadn't got round to checking that out since, so he suggested we do that. And I was keen to have a look there!

We walked up the hill; David couldn't really remember what the best way was. Clearly, we took a different one from before; before we knew it, we suddenly stood in front of a big, beautiful, arched adit. Eh? We hadn't noticed that one before! But we decided to check out the shaft first, and this adit later.

We rigged the pitch, and I was the first to go down. It looked nice down there! While David came down too I had a little scamper around; it was a nice place, but all the tunnels ran dead rather soon. Oh well. We came to investigate a possible blockage! David pointed it out. It didn't look like a blocked passage to me. It rather looked like a nook they had used for storing some rubble. But nothing wrong with doing some shoving and prodding and finding out for sure.

After we'd cleared a foot or so of rubble it still looked like a nook with rubble. Still David wasn't convinced! But by the time we had removed half a metre from the entire nook he gave in. Or up. Fine; we had another adit to explore too!

 

Me on the pile of rubble we had been shifting. Pic by David. 

I first checked that a passage on the other side of the flooded shaft (it was flooded up to the level of the side passage we were in)  really was a dead end (potential for slapstick-style falling into the shaft not exploited) and then I started my way up. While I was climbing, David was sitting next to the water, getting kitted up; that was a mistake, as I accidentally kicked quite some rocks loose. Oh dear. But the adit we would explore next looked rather wet anyway!

While he was climbing up I just stared at the Milky Way. Not a bad way to spend an early Sunday evening! And when he was up too we derigged and went down. The lower adit provided knickers-deep water, but not very much else; it went dead after a few tens of metres. At least now we know! And it was time to go home anyway. But these two parts of the mine are now off the to do list! An afternoon well spent.

New ground under my running shoes

My mind had been taking all the exercise lately. Running had been reduced to a short run only on Saturdays and Sundays. But I wanted that to be only temporary. And with the worst of the teaching over I figured I could scout out new terrain. So I figured I should have a look at the coastal path on the other side of Britannia Bridge. So I did!

I found out it wasn't very good running terrain. A lot of it went over a narrow, steep, rocky, seaweed-infested beach. Running there would be daft! But it was very beautiful. I was glad I had gone! And now I know. And if I want a longer running route on asphalt (for wet days during which all cute paths are swamps, or runs in the dark) I can just follow the road a bit further.

 

Lord Nelson keeping watch over the Strait

On the Sunday I decided to run along the surface works of Parys Mountain. It's very beautiful! You need to have a bit of time, though; it a 30 minute drive. But I went! And my timing was bad; the sun came out when I was pretty much done running. I bet these colours are even better in blazing sunshine! But what can you do. It was a nice run. And now I can happily go back to my standard route for the week! I'll have to seriously get back into it; I have a trail half marathon lined up! 

The amazing open pit. Notice the head gear in the distance

Notice the bad weather gear

 And this is what it looked like from the other side, on my way back.

New member of the Thursday Nighters

Underground exploration is not only for humans! We welcomed a sparky non-human among our ranks. How did that happen? There was some sort of a competition in which you could win a small autonomous submarine, and our very own Paul entered that competition. And ended up winning one! And that meant some work for him: the machine was delivered to him in bits. Luckily, he has technical skills, and soon he had a working ROV. He had first tested it in the bath, and then in Llyn Padarn. It seemed to work! So it was time to try it out what it was intended for (by us, at least): underground exploration. So we picked Cwmorthin, as it has flooded bits we're curious about, and because it is easy to reach. And the ROV isn't big or heavy, but still, we wanted to focus on the ROV, and not on scampering up and down hills.

When we came to the meeting point the ROV crew was already there, and tether issues were already being addressed. The machine had 100m of cable, but that easily gets tangled! Paul had made an improvised reel of a coke bottle, but Mick had a proper cable reel and attempts at moving the cable from one to the other without creating one big plate of spaghetti. It wasn't easy! But we did it. And then we could go up. I had brought full neoprene as I figured something might go wrong on this maiden voyage, but on the drive up I had realised they wanted to send it down an incline with only a very small opening to the surface. I wouldn't be able to follow it there! So I decided to pack the neoprene and bring it, but go in in my more comfy furry suit. Even when more of us figured that incline would be a bit ambitious the first time around.

When we went in we decided to head not for the initially designated incline, but a much bigger one, open at the surface for many metres, and nicely devoid of silt to kick up and random things to snag behind. And there Paul tried to get it started. He had initially controlled it with his phone, but this time we had a laptop for the purpose. And that gave IT problems! Luckily our own Simon is an IT guru and in no time he had the whole set-up running. Time to christen our new member! And that honour befell me, as tradition suggests it should be a woman performing that act. Mick had brought a miniature bottle of whisky for the purpose, and I christened her "Jemima von Kursk". And then she could go do her thing!

Paul posing with his creation. Pic by Simon

Phil placed her in the water and off she went. It was fun to see the little thing whizzing about, going off in all kinds of directions with lights shining defiantly into the depths. Her camera didn't see much unless she was close to either the bottom or the walls, and the bottom posed snag risk, so it wasn't even that easy to make her explore anything, but we'll get the hang of it. Steering an ROV turns out to be an art! And while practicing that art, a part came off; a PVC protection of the top propeller. Oh dear! Luckily it wasn't an essential part. I wondered if I should go get it; it hadn't come off in very deep water. The men said I shouldn't; they'd improvise a new part. But I figured I had brought the wetsuit just for cases like this. So I started changing.

 Some general faffing; Jemima is still on land on this pic. Pic by Simon

Phil found out in the meantime he could see the bit from the side of the chamber, and lit it up with his torch. That made things easier! I got into the very cold water and went in the direction of the part. And then came back to leave my helmet; Phil would light my way. I swam to right above it, gathered some courage, and then dived. And got it! Success!

 On my (steamy) way to the lost bit! Notice Jemima in the foreground. Pic by David

The men then sent our Jemima to the far end, to see what was there. It got stuck! At 7m depth! Too deep to go get it. Would this be the end? But Paul managed to manoeuvre it free, and steer it back. Later on it snagged again; so much so I already started to put my neoprene gloves back on. But we got it back! I was getting cold, so I was keen to get back out. I could of course change back into my furry suit, but I didn't have dry underwear with me underground, and I am not so keen on going without. So I knew I would stay warm enough if I would come out at a reasonable speed, and then change entirely at the cars. So I asked David to accompany me and we scooted off. I didn't want to end up stuck behind a slow person on an incline, nor did I want to have to wait for someone with car keys to show up.

We scampered up like mountain goats, and were soon outside again. No way I would have found the way! And soon we were back at the car. Into dry undies! My plan had worked; there was no sign of the others so they must have engaged in extensive faffing, which we had avoided. So much so that David at some point suggested to just bugger off. It was late enough! So we did.

In the following days mails flew around. People had ideas about better tether, better tether attachment, better this, that and the other, and the next time we go underground we might have Jemima v1.1. The more we tweak her the worse it would be if we lose her to a snag! But let's stay optimistic. Where next? Flooded chambers galore in this neck of the woods! Stay tuned!

First BRITICE meeting

It wasn't the first BRITICE meeting at all! But for me it was. And the BRITICE-CHRONO project, as is its full name, has in my mind started to be synonymous with the cruise we did, but the project is a lot bigger. And it was time to be reminded of that! And pretty much all BRITICErs would come to Buxton for that purpose, to a lovely Victorian hotel.

 Our posh venue

It was a nice little outing; I didn't have to present, and therefore didn't have to prepare anything. And it was nice to see my fellow cruisers back, and it was nice to meet the other people involved. That included some people I had met during other parts of my career, and people I only knew the name of, and was pleased to finally get to be introduced to. Including, for instance, the chap to whom I have been sending my 14C samples for many years. I was glad he confirmed they had arrived in good order! I am always a bit nervous to send 14C samples off. In the UK I never had bad experiences, but back in the Netherlands I seemed to have bad karma, and my samples seemed to always get lost, get damaged, or otherwise compromised. Fortunately, back in the days it was generally possible to replace a sample! The material I date these days is a lot harder to come by...

 Colm presenting an overview of our cruise

Anyway. Our project boils down to us trying to sample for dates of deglaciation around the British Isles, along transects perpendicular to where we think the path of the ice was. And then really get a grip on how the last ice cap over this region vanished. It will teach us about how ice caps and sheets go about such business; the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has already started its way out and we want to know how that will develop. 

All the transects we designed have a transect leader; these brought us all up to date. Interesting to see! One doesn't really have time to keep up with the other transects, so this meeting was really nice to keep the overview. And there were all sorts of talks as well on other things. What will we do with the dates? What are the caveats? What will we do next year? 

And after the main meeting the steering committee met a bit more. But we went back. There was more to do! And now we see our work again in a slightly bigger context. That is always good!

The whole group

PCG visiting

Everybody comes to North Wales. Or rather, all mine explorers come to North Wales! So I had already had several trips up this neck of the woods with the PCG, but now there would be a special one; with me being residential! I looked forward to it. With all my moving through the country I don't get to spend much time with people I've known for years. And Hugh would be coming too!

I had been worried about it; since teaching started, I had had to work every week evening except Thursday, and every weekend too, to keep up. I had only had spent one day not working at all, after the week with the field day, simply because I was utterly exhausted and the day was over by the time the necessary chores had been taken care of. Would I be able to take a day off for the PCG? Not everybody knows what academia is like, so not sure if people would understand if I wouldn't be able to afford to team up with them...

And then I finished the last lectures of this term. And I finished the first batch of marking I had to do! And I got to some 66% of the second batch. And for the first time, I felt like I had things under control. That was the Friday the PCG were already in town. So I was fine with spending my Saturday with them!

There was a bit of a complication; suddenly a request appeared from the organiser to be there 7.30. Half past bloody seven? The previous message had said 10AM! And I would travel with Hugh; he had to come all the way from Liverpool. It wouldn't be feasible for him to get there that early. And the whole situation frustrated me; even though I now felt alright about not working for an entire day, it didn't mean I had time to squander! And with trips leaving early I expected that the most exciting trips would have left before Hugh and I would be able to get there, and also, that all my friends would have already left. I knew there were quite some new members; before we'd know it we would have to do a boring trip with total strangers. Not very good! But I had been pessimistic.

 A picture from last year: Dave ignoring the beautiful view from the hut

We arrived, and found Dave, Dave and Dave still in the hut. Not all my friends were in Croesor! Soon a plan was made; I would take two new members, and Toby, a chap who'd already been there when I left, and Hugh down Parc. The trip I wanted to do involved SRT, but not very demanding SRT, so Hugh and Toby could practice and the new members get a taste for it. Good!

We set off and then I suddenly realised I had forgot my rope. Oh dear! But I knew the pitch was rigged. I had come up the old rope once; I knew it held. So we could still do it! I thought. We first went down the ladderway. All the men enjoyed the bit where you slide down the pipes! Of course. And then one of the new guys put the fixed rope through his descender. And tried to go down. But it wouldn't work; it was too thick, and wouldn't feed through. Oh dear! Now what? I had a figure of 8, but the men weren't comfortable with that mode of transport. After some deliberation we gave up. We had to go the other way! So we did. First up the pipes again, and then onwards.

A nice wagon along the way. Pic by Simon (on a different trip)

 Luckily Parc has much to offer. We decided to go see the flat rods. When we approached them, we found a huge group of mine explorers having their lunch. Oh dear again! And the last one was Linden, a chap who had come with the Thursday Nighters a few times. That was unexpected. We decided to go on a bit; some of the lunching group were reportedly still at the flat rods, and I didn't want to get in their way.

 

The flat rods

When we thought they'd surely be gone we went up. Too early! But we didn't get in each other's way. And after the flat rods we went out. It wasn't very late. But that was alright; we'd just have time for buckets of tea and strange cake made by one of the Daves before we'd go to the pub for a meal. Fine! And now we met Rick, who had been walking that day. Later the Croesor-Rhosydd through trip lot appeared too. Nice to see them! And we piled into as few cars as we could (everybody wanted a pint! Except the two tee-totallers, who had teasingly not brought their cars) and went to the Vaynol Arms in Pentir (not to be confused with the Vaynol Arms in Nant Peris) for some nice food. And some nice ale too! It was nice to dine with old friends and make new ones.

After the pub most went to bed. I applied a pair of earplugs and tried to have a good night. Worked fairly well! But the next day Hugh and I decided to not go underground. We had stuff to do! So we packed our stuff and hugged everybody. And it was a hassle to get away; the hut is hidden behind three locked gates and we had to wait for someone with a key to leave with us. That took forever! And only next month, the YCC will be in this neck of the woods too! It's good to live in Wales!

New ground

Last week we didn't get further than the collapse, a few tens of metres in. This week we'd get a whole lot further! I stomped ahead and fixed a hand line on the proximal side of the gaping hole. And soon I was on the other side, and had fixed on the other side too. We could move on! And soon were looking into the beautiful stope that had prompted me to turn around and (try and fail to) get the rest. This time we were go!

 

Sinker negotiationg the traverse; pic by Simon

 

The beautiful stope in question; pic by David

With the help of a sling I descended into it. And found water. I waded in, got to the other side, and clambered up. A lot of mine had collapsed in this place! Probably some high false floor had given, and had taken a whole lot of lower ones with it. It was a bit iffy! But it went on; there was a clamber on the other side. And I saw lights; some of the men were following! With Sinker's help I clambered up the clamber, decided that going on wouldn't be safe, and then we headed back.

I had seen what seemed to be a parallel passage on the right. David had already passed it, not considering it worth a look. And it wasn't a passage to negotiate lightly; it was filled with  chest-deep, cold water! But I was curious. I walked to a junction, went left, found a waterfall down a ladderway, went on a bit to find a blocked shaft and several side passages, and then decided to go back and report. The men were impressed, and followed! The men being Sinker and David; the others either didn't like the hanging death on the way to the flooded bit, or deep water. Together we explored the surroundings of the waterfall, and decided to go back some other day. With wetsuits, perhaps! I was quite OK, but David was wearing less under his oversuit and was clearly underdressed for this passage. So we went back!

 Simon crouching at an ore chute. Pic by Paul

We found the others beyond the hanging death bit; they had been taking pictures. In spite of the to-ing and fro-ing we were still early enough for a pint. The week after we had something else planned, but I look forward to exploring this bit properly. Who knows what else we'll find!

Marking as far as the eye can see

Preparing lectures is a lot of work! But so is marking. I suppose one gets faster as one does it more often. I can only hope so! I have now had the first two batches of work for which I am the first marker. The first is the report of the Laugharne micropalaeontological work. The second is the result of some excercise in which we had the students trawl the IPCC report for datasets of Arctic or Antarctic climate change, and for climate predictions, and then discuss these. There will be more: the students also have to write an essay, and a report on the data gathered during the field day. So this is only half of that kind. But I will undoubtedly also have to moderate other people's marking; that boils down to checking if the marking has been consistent and fair. But that should be a lot less work...

 

My marking so far...

And after Christmas the marking of exams starts. I'll have to do the exams of my own Ice and Oceans module, and the answers to the questions regarding my part of the upcoming module on shelf seas. And probably more. There is a module coming up in the new year too; that will probably have an exam and a field report and whatnot.

So how am I liking it so far? I started a bit uncertain. I started with the IPCC stuff. I had been a bit caught unawares by the fact I had to sort out all these different assignments. So I basically just updated everything to 2014 (just in time) and left it there. But in hindsight I would have liked to prepare a bit more thoroughly; the IPCC work came with a self-assessment sheet that revealed how this would would be marked. In hindsight I would have liked to change that! I thought it was ambiguous and badly balanced. And both poses problems when you're trying to mark. So I started somewhere, did a number, decided I should have a different approach, and started again. I think I got it sorted now! So I think from now things will move fast. Good. And as long as you don't have to look things up online all the time (checking references the students use, for instance) you can do it at home, on the couch, with a big mug of cofeee next to you and, say, Mozart over the speakers. It doesn't really feel like work that way!

It's good I think I have broken the back of it by now, by the way; I still have lectures to prepare, cores to X-ray (more about that later), a meeting to prepare, and whatnot. Before the next batches of marking come in!