Fishy farewell

How the ponds looked when first built

After demolition

Well, the fish ponds have all been destroyed now... it was sad to see them go, but what's left of the garden after the conservatory went in was just too small for them. There would have been no space for drying laundry, and little for adding plants, so they've gone (I found a new home for the fish using Freecycle - they've moved to Mile End, to a pond which had lost its fish to a marauding heron). Now we have piles of rubble to sort and remove, and then we can start the process of reconstruction.

I plan to keep the layout similar - but where the ponds were will become fruit and flower beds. The gap between the conservatory wall and the new beds will have room for a pathway and also a herb garden (my cunning idea there being that we'll be able to open a window and cut herbs without even going outside!).

I bought a replacement for the bay tree ... and have restored an old half barrel which I found on the Thames shore to hold it. Red cedar preservative and black Hammerite were used to give the old barrel a new look: