Digging in the mud

2012 was the wettest year on record for England, and one of the effects in our woodland is mud, in this case in the wayleave in front of our entrance:

It's caused by water draining through the very point we have to drive over most often. This hasn't been a problem until this year, but now we're having to do something about it. So I bought a drainage pipe:

and made a start today on digging a trench for it to go in across the track, uphill from the muddy area:

The ditch needs to be a bit longer on the far side, and there'll need to be a trench parallel to the track on that side too, to funnel the water draining from there through the pipe. It won't deliver results overnight, but it should start making a difference over the coming weeks....

I cut up some logs while I was there too:

We've still got a fair amount left that's just over two years old now, and it's ripe for burning, so we've been selling a few loads to one-off customers, and restocking our firewood store back at home.

Today I found that I was in a part of the log pile where a bit of water had got between the tarps, so some of the logs had got a bit damp. Not wanting to give these to a customer, or use them myself, I've piled them up at the side:

It's annoying, having gone to the work of preparing and moving the logs, but at least they'll make a nice pile of wood for bugs to live in, so that's some compensation.

If I could have one wish for the next couple of months, it would be for some frost, to get rid of the mud!

Mike

UPDATE: more pics of the finished drainage system here.