Fourteen weeks on site in the open forest, and a small herd of New Forest ponies who checked our progress every morning.
The garden in Burley backs straight onto open heath, with only a low hedge and a cattle grid between the lawn and the forest. On the first morning of the dig, our foreman opened the gate to bring the digger in and found six ponies standing in a neat row on the other side of it, watching.
They came back every day after that. Usually around half past seven, usually the same six, and always with the air of people checking that we were doing it properly.
Building around the forest
Working beside the open forest changes how we run a site. The ponies, donkeys and cattle are owned by commoners and have every right to be there, so the gate stays shut at all times, the fencing goes up before the first spade goes in, and nothing that could be eaten is left lying about. We kept the skip lidded and swept the yard every evening.
“By week ten they had lost interest in the pool and started on the hedge instead.”
The pool was filled at the end of May. The family sent us a photograph a few weeks later of the children swimming at dusk, with three of the ponies standing at the hedge in the background. We like to think they approved.
