The build started on Friday the 11th of July of 2008, and what we thought would only take around 12 weeks to complete ended up running in to mid 2009!

Once the diggers and dumpers arrived on the 10th it was just a case of waiting for a few mates to turn up so we could get started.

The first change to the ‘in stone plans’ came around 2pm when we hit very soft sub soil and some water, a quick phone call and £180 later and we had 10 tons of crushed concrete and crushed brick ordered to turn up the following morning at 7am, and after another quick call and we had a large vibra-roller turn up to compact it all, this gave us around 8" of compacted stone on which to lay the 9" of concrete.

We also got a bit of a shock when we went through an old clay pipe and it started spurting water everywhere, quick call to the guy who renovated the house and it was confirmed it was old and no longer used  - what a relief!!

The following morning at 7am as promised the hardcore turned up, by midday it was flattened and vibrated down ready for the bottom drains to be placed, time for a rest? Not really, all the pipe work needed to be ready for 10am on Monday morning when the concrete was due to arrive, a busy Sunday was planned!

Sunday came and went and by the end of the day the 2 bottom drains were placed, levelled and set in place on concrete pads at both the drain point and the bend to take them vertically towards to filters. 4 Spirit levels and rather a lot of patience ensured this took a little while to perfect!

Monday 14th, 10am and 6cu of concrete has gone in the hole, an hour later and another 2cu turned up. Luckily, as you’ll see from the pictures in the gallery, we had direct access for the lorry to back right up and poor the mix straight in the hole.

By 2pm it was all levelled and definitely time for a coffee!

On the 18th of July all the building materials turned up, we weren’t sure if this was our delivery or a delivery for a new housing estate! - And then the fun began!!

After the base went in and all the materials were delivered we had a couple of problems, first was the guy that we wanted to do the blockwork was unavailable for 4 weeks so i had to find someone else. So, after finding some guys i was happy with and arranging for them to start on Monday i got a call on the Sunday saying they would be delayed and wouldn't be able to start till Tuesday, that was no good as we had no power on Tuesday due to a new power sub station being put in at the farm up the road so they agreed to come at 7.30am on Wednesday, when they turned up at 12:30 with a lame excuse i sent them home as i had lost all faith in them.

The dad of one of my son's friends is a brickie, so after a quick phone call he agreed to come take a look at the job he came round and we agreed he'd start on Monday 28th July, all good. 9.30am on Friday the 25th and there’s a knock at the door 'we finished the last job a day early, can we start yours today?' came the question...................Can’t argue at that!

Between 10:30 and 3:00 they managed to get half the pond built, and then they dropped the bombshell that they wanted it backfilling so they can finish off on Friday! So, another quick phone call saw 15tons of hardcore ordered for the next morning, another Saturday morning of lugging hardcore – oh joy!

Saturday morning and the hardcore arrived, I managed to get my brother round to give me a hand and by about 4pm we had the walls backfilled and vibrated into a solid state.

Monday and Tuesday morning saw the brikie’s on site again and when they left at around 11am they had finished all the internal cart lodge walls and brought the pond up to the agreed level, 2.5 days and all done, really happy with their work.