Dredging a Choked Boundary Dyke
Posted: 9 March 2022
Having erected "Dave" in the morning, the weather continued to be bright after lunch. The plan had been to work on separating the twigs and small branches that were in the last of the piles of material that had been brought down in the recent storms. However, once outside, knowing the waters levels in the dyke were quite low I took a closer look and decided this was the moment to try to clear it.
Armed with just a rake it was relatively easy to drop the tines in the water and drag the weed and silt and drop it on the bank. At least, it felt that way for the first ten minutes. After that it began to seem like quite hard work and I began to pause work from time to time. As I leaned against the second post, in one of the breaks I took, it gave way, so you don't see it in the picture I took at the end of my session.
After an hour and a half, when my breaks began to be taken more frequently, I decided I had made enough progress to call it a day. I reckon I was about a third of the way towards the house and, maybe, if I started in the morning, a second session after lunch could mean the job would be completed.
At the end of work I took a stroll over our bridge onto the Poor's Allotment where I thought I might get a better view of what I had achieved but, if anything, while it may show a clear dyke for part of the way, the wide angle shot makes it seem as if I have not got as far towards the house as I thought when I was standing on the bank where the dark dredgings on the bank end.
