Hi,
A little update. I decided to insert a cocktail stick into the touchhole just to see if the 'blockage' went all the way, should have done this before.
The area is free of any obstruction and I can hear the distinct rasp of grains!!! when moving the cocktail stick. As you can see the end of the stick is black and it smells of gunpowder, see photo.
Am going to the tool store tomorrow so I hope to get a few bits to aid in the extraction process. Thanks for your continued interest.
Regards,
Norman.