The groundworkers arrived this morning. We removed a panel from our neighbours’ fence and brought the digger across the gardens without any problems.
The four-man team—proper South Wales valleys lads from Ebbw Vale—made good progress. One operated the digger while the other three wheelbarrowed the soil to the bottom of the garden. By 2.30pm, the excavations were finished.
The only incident was when the digger pulled out the mains water supply pipe. We found a connector at a plumbing merchant and managed to repair it. In the process, we discovered that the water pipes were made of lead, so replacing them is another job to add to the list.
The building inspector is due tomorrow morning to inspect the trenches. If he gives us the all-clear, the concrete will be poured tomorrow afternoon!