Pick axe for the clay and crow bar for the kerbstone! 2. The Digging:
Most of the topsoil was decent enough to save on one side for use later but once I was down a foot (30cm) or more it became much heavier as it was mixed with clay. Surprise, surprise there was also quite a lot of rubble (old broken bricks and paving slabs) which became quite a big pile. Some of this became useful later for the creation of a soakaway next to the pond – more details later. When I revealed some kind of an obelisk that was almost immoveable that was a shock. It turned out to be what I think was a kerbstone! How that came to buried deep in a garden is a bit of a mystery? Help was needed to get the kerbstone out of the deepening pit. It’s important obviously not to try to do too much and injure your back, though most of the muscles you rarely use are going to ache for a time. I also started on the very deep spot, renamed the abyss, and found the clay to be much more solid than ever. I considered taking up pottery but then decided I hadn’t enough time (joke!). At this point I had to resort to using a pick axe as well as the spade and garden fork – mainly to penetrate the clay enough to remove larger lumps of it. We wound up with about 25 bags of clay to dispose of later.
To be continued...
Most of the topsoil was decent enough to save on one side for use later but once I was down a foot (30cm) or more it became much heavier as it was mixed with clay. Surprise, surprise there was also quite a lot of rubble (old broken bricks and paving slabs) which became quite a big pile. Some of this became useful later for the creation of a soakaway next to the pond – more details later. When I revealed some kind of an obelisk that was almost immoveable that was a shock. It turned out to be what I think was a kerbstone! How that came to buried deep in a garden is a bit of a mystery? Help was needed to get the kerbstone out of the deepening pit. It’s important obviously not to try to do too much and injure your back, though most of the muscles you rarely use are going to ache for a time. I also started on the very deep spot, renamed the abyss, and found the clay to be much more solid than ever. I considered taking up pottery but then decided I hadn’t enough time (joke!). At this point I had to resort to using a pick axe as well as the spade and garden fork – mainly to penetrate the clay enough to remove larger lumps of it. We wound up with about 25 bags of clay to dispose of later.
To be continued...
 The very deep spot - the abyss! |  Top soil put to one side for use later. |
 More revealed of the old plastic pre-formed pond. |  The heavy "obelisk" i.e. the kerbstone. |
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