First Week of Work - Sunday

On Sunday we took more sick ash trees down. We needed to get as many out of the way as possible before the week began, because we had help coming. I kept a small fire going and fed it with the debris from the tree cutting to try and clear the site a bit.

Then we hit a snag, Huw refilled the chainsaws with fuel and suddenly there were clouds of smoke when he tried to start them. He persisted for a while but eventually I got my first glimpse of grumpy Huw. The saw was dumped into the undergrowth and some silent swear words were sent heavenward and he went to investigate the fuel can. He had been given the wrong fuel. It seemed to smell of petrol but not very strong and unfortunately it meant the saws were out of action for the rest of the day until we could get more petrol.

We decided we should open the well and see if there was any water in it. The mechanism for pumping the water was seized long ago but the manhole cover seemed relatively modern. I was expecting a muddy hole that had collapsed inside, leaving a slurry at the bottom, or even be completely dry. But as Huw opened the cover we were pleasantly surprised. The well was fully lined, wide and deep and with water at the bottom, albeit a bit murky looking. We need a bucket to drop down and see if we could pull some water up to see how it looks and smells. At the very least we could use it to water plants and the allotment we will create. And maybe we could even get a working pump up top to draw the water without the need to open the cover all the time.

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