View of part of the island... Dogs enjoying the water - not yet to full capacity
Driving down to the field one morning we went past a cottage with a large garden, in which I fleetingly espied a pond with a tiny island in the middle of it. Now I have always had a dream to own my very own island one day, and by now we knew that if we dug a hole at Cae Non it would soon fill up with water. Perhaps neil would dig me a big broad hole before he removed the digger?
Neil was as enthusiastic as I with the idea and shortly afterwards he asked me to mark out where I would like my island to be, and not to restrict myself too severely to size; after all, I have got five acres to play with!
Beginning the channel round the island... Water already gathering
I paced about the field for a while with an armful of 6′ garden canes; made my decision and began marking out where I would like the edges of the island to be. Then Neil brought in the digger and began to scrape off the top flora. Once we were satisfied with the shape, he dug deeper. Over several afternoons of work he made a channel 6′ – 8′ wide and 2′ – 4′ deep. Because of the way the land ever so gently slopes, he had to put in two clay barriers to prevent the water from the top end running over the banks at the lower end and flooding everything.
Part of channel around island; now filled with water, clay dam holding higher water in distance
We now have access by stepping stones, one large boulder that Neil found while digging and didn’t want to try and remove, and a couple of others dislodged in the process and repositioned as required.
The Island… Ynys Non… is roughly tear-shaped and large enough for a group to gather there, or for a couple of small tents to be put up and someone camp there. There are four low bushy willow trees growing on it but I would also like to plant at least one apple tree there, which would become a very magical apple, and the whole island will be my own little Isle of Avalon! (At Cae Non, dreams really can, and do, come true!)