Deep hole being dug in odd place. Dinky earth mover dumps ballast into bridle path. 29th August 2023

A very grey, overcast morning. Not good for photography. All the gulls and terns have gone. Tern island very bereft of birds. Fairly quite on Colebrook lake (north), pretty similar for Manor farm.

Inert have changed to a much lower gear, restoration wise on Manor farm. A lot of effort on Chandlers farm.

A digger operator was digging a very deep hole in a very odd place: just east of the hole for the east sluice gate. I really can't work out why this hold is being dug where it is being dug. Inert went to a lot of effort to fill in this part of Manor lake.

However, this does seem standard practice for Inert. Fill in a place, smooth it over, then dig it out again.

The digger was bringing up blue-grey soil. It normally forms in anaerobic conditions; which could mean deep under a lake e.g. Manor lake. Quite baffled as to why the hole is so deep. Except it might be for gravel extraction. Shame Inert infilled the lakes around this area.

I saw the smallest earth mover I have ever seen on the site, trundling its way, quite dinkyly, eastward along the bridle path trench. It went over to the digger operator to take him to Chandlers farm for a tea break.

The earth mover had dumped three loads of, what looked like, ballast on the bridle path trench, immediately south of the Colebrook channel, which heads under the Longwater road. It looks as if Inert are cracking on with constructing the bridle path, and not leaving for some other time in the future, by which time the trench will be over grown.

Two odd points about the process. Firstly, I could have sworn a weed proof, permeable membrane should have been laid in the bottom and sides of the trench. I couldn't see one. Secondly, the stuff being dumped looked like heavy duty ballast, not gravel. It sort of makes sense. When I build patios, I put down a decent foundation of ballast, and any hardcore I can lay may hands on.

Actually, I need 22 yards (tons) of soil. Seriously, to fill in a ditch. I wonder if Inert have 22 tons spare, and would they deliver in five four ton loads and one 2 ton? We have a nice wide, deep driveway. Gives me time to shovel into ditch if loads come every other day.  :-)  :-)  :-)