Simon and Helen were driving down to Rais and were shocked to see a huge JCB digger sitting in the middle of the wayleave and a big brown scar where it had been clearing brush. A closer look showed it was next door but one, with a group of half a dozen or so directing the activities from an ATV. It was difficult to see what they were up to but they were busy pretty much all day, at one point moving quite a bit of earth as well as clearing brush so perhaps they are digging a pond?
Having checked out the digger they went down to see how the dam was doing and were met by a scene of devastation .... there had obviously been a huge amount of rain at some point this week, and the dam looked like there had been a flash flood... all three pipes were blocked, one with a big bit of wood Simon could hardly lift out, and water has not only been going over the top but also through a really big hole in the dam (and another smaller one) next to the lower pipe.
As we were looking at the damage and clearing the blocked pipes we noticed it also seemed really shallow, even though the top of the lower pipe was not far above the water, and then we realised that the bank where Flee has been taking clay from has collapsed and there’s a load of new silt in the pond, almost up to the level of the pipe. They cleared out the blocked pipes but the holes will need Flees assessment to see what can be done.