The Big Dig

March 14th 2018  CHALK!

As can be seen from the Architects plans, there is to be a basement in the new house. Without a basement, the house would be very much smaller, as may be calculated from the drawings. Not sure how much smaller because of difficulties in understanding the drawings in millimetres,  instead of feet and inches which I can immediately visualise.  I am a little apprehensive about the basement for a number of reasons;  They are very common here in Brighton , but can be dark and also sometimes damp, as everyone knows. However my new basement will be incorporating current technology which ensures, as I understand it,  thorough waterproofing, and a courtyard drain, aided by a pump if necessary.  The west facing front of it will open into a fairly roomy courtyard , which I am already planning as a small Japanese influenced garden. Light will also enter via the open stair well up to the ground floor, so I am trying to be optimistic that the architect knows his light and basement combos  and I won't be risking light deprivation depression if I spend too long in it. On the plus side, the log burner will be located there and I envisage a cosy place to be in the Winter months looking out through the floor to ceiling triple glazed windows to the subtly lit courtyard garden outside.

Anyway, a there's a long time to go before that happens, so back to the dig. It is deep. A thin layer  of topsoil, beneath which is fairly crumbly chalk, and under that, more solid chalk. I've lost count of how many lorry loads of it have been taken away regularly since the dig began. Note how the flint wall of the Church Hall next door echoes the chalk being dug out  for the basement.

Big Chalk Mountain

Getting even bigger

 For those interested in construction machinery. 

 The digger is devouring everything. You can see the soil from the vegetable garden piled up to form the new garden. The espaliered pear tree looks endangered but the prize greengage tree in the corner should be safe. Fingers crossed. 

Update: Fingers crossed failed to be effective. The espaliered pear came a cropper and  was rushed into intensive care in a friend's garden. We hope it manages to survive there. Most sadly, the beautiful greengage plum tree that can be seen in the corner , couldn't be saved. It was too big, and it was the worst time of the year to attempt to move it ;  the blossom had gone and the fruit had begun to appear. But some consolation was that I still had the brochure and recognised the name of our variety.I spoke to the owner of the fruit tree nursery in the Isle of Wight, and he has promised to send me another one to plant in the winter. There won't be room in the tiny garden  so it will be planted in a sunny spot in  the 30 acre wood we have  a few miles south east of Horsham. We hope it will thrive there and that in the not too distant future we can once more enjoy the delicious fruit. All the rich earth from the ex-vegetable garden that we toiled at moving to the back of the site has now been lost to the greedy digger. I think I was very naive/uninformed/over optimistic in thinking I was a match for the digger.

Next photo will show the depth of the finished dig. We can't actually see it because a health and safety barrier has been erected between the building site, and the back garden  to stop us taking selfies right at the edge of the dig.