May 7th 2019

[H] Having got planning permission the first thing we need to do is find a way of saving some of the lovely plants we have in the current garden as most of the site is going to get trashed once we start groundworks. Eventually we want to have a vegetable plot so the plan is to prepare that now and use it as a holding bed for plants while the build is going on. Much of our garden is undulating and pretty rocky (it is called Cragside after all!) and the area we've set aside for the vegetable plot is on a slope with a rocky crag at the back of it and a huge old oak stump, so we need to level the space out a bit. Malcolm has been hacking away at this bank for days (weeks even!) with a pick axe, shovel and crow bar, not making much of an impression and getting incredibly frustrated. The old roots have grown into and around the rock making it almost impossible to either chip away the rock (as the tools just bounce off the wood) or cut out the roots (as the bits of rock ruin the chainsaw blade). He's not a happy bunny!

In the end there was nothing for it but to move on to Plan B - we hired a digger for a week to see what damage that could do! Quite a bit as it turns out!!!