THE THREE YEARS IT TOOK TO OPEN.

THE HARD WORK BEGAN.

On the 4.1/2 acres, there was a double block building with two large rooms. Close to the entrance gate and the caravan was immediately next to it, there was an old Car with no wheels on, it was propped up on blocks. Inside the caravan where I was going to live was already set up as a home. The previous owners was Mr & Mrs Murphy, Mr Murphy used to live down here at least three times a week he had it all set up for cooking, and there was a gas bottle which fed the oven & grill, and one ring, there was even a gas fridge, pots, pans, and utensils, there was even tea & coffee in the cupboards, Books, a wicker work chair & a bed. I brought my own mattress & things, I soon made myself at home. In side the block built buiding there was several stored windows & doors, rolls of blue plastic pipes, boxes of nails, three tea chest full of brick a brac, when we cleared out the two room block built garage, I put my car in one, and we stored our Furniture in the other one. It took weeks to do this as every time I went to and frow to Newquay and the land I would bring more things from the houses that we owned. Jeff would like to surprise my dog and myself by calling in early in the morning on his way to work. His work took him all over Devon & Cornwall, and he some times had to be in Torquay by 8 in the morning, which ment he would wake me up at five , we would have breakfast usuaily if it was not raining out side, toast, honey and coffee in a field at five in the morning, You have not lived untill you experence this, the birds are singing and sleepy bees are buzzing in the early sun, We would decide when and were we would eat our dinner in the evening, some days Jeff would arrange to bring me fish and chips or I would cook or have a salad every other day I might go to Newquay to get some more things and we would have dinner at the beach house. I would shop, to buy cement or food and Jeff would sleep on the land with me, it did not seem like we lived apart, most of the time we were together, When we were apart, I was in My World enjoying the country side with it's peace and quiet, I am a Country girl and much prefer the Country to the Town, Planning my next jobs I used to see how much work I could do by the time Jeff came back, but I was easily distracted by watching a bird or mouse or a beetle carrying a twig, or I would hear some thing and start to stalk through the grass to see what it was, if my dog did not frightened them off before I could see them first, We had arranged with SWEB for a mains electricity supply before completing the purchase of the land, but it took a while longer to connect the caravans to the supply that was to be instaled to the garage, in the mean time we used candles and a tilly lamp. There was a septic tank on the land , with very old pipes that was in need of repair, which was soon fixed. we soon made new friends, there is a bungalow just over the road, which was Janet & Bernie Scott's, they would sit around our fire with us untill the fire went low, they would cross the road to their home, and we would sit in are caravan playing cards while we watched the fire. I installed a water tank to provide water to the toilet, sink, shower, washing machine and dishwasher. We had a second touring Caravan which we had used when we were away from home on buisness, we towed that caravan onto the land in May 2000 and stationed it next to the other. I set about connecting all of the components together to form our home, it keep't me very busy. We had south west water and mains electricity. Jeff had to stay in Newquay untill the last minute, because of the phone for his buisness. But there was a problem, We had the rights on the deeds to concede to the phone line on mrs Carters land , but she would not let B.T. On her land, so it was quicker to cut through three fields to get a phone line down here at the cost of three thousand pounds and six months hard work. Bernie had become a victim of domestick violence so we took him under our wing, he then lived with jeff for six months in newquay, along with his 30 Budgies. Jeff & Bernie moved down to live with us along with the two cats. It was one year before we got planning permission for the shop and car parking area and the Lake and pool.

SHAPE OF THE LAKE

Brambles , Bushes & stinging nettles 7" height 4 1/2 acres long & over 1 acres wide. Two bails of orange string a saw thick gloves & closes, was what was needed to start the wake unwinding the string as we go though our jungle. Because we could not see where we were going, and nor did know what we mite find. We had only been able to go down the river to see our land, and in a hand full of places we were able to go in to the centre, from these places we had spotted some trees that we wanted to save we had already cleared 1/2 an acres around are two pollee tunnels, where I was growing all sorts of food, I also planted a small Orchard, Pears, Apples, eaters and cookers, Gooseberry, Cheery's, & a Fig tree, not forgetting my favourite sweet Rhubarb, all was growing well in this rich flood plane soil. I bought my first 8 young black hans they had just started laying . We had a Job and a half in front of us. The man that was going to dig the Lake had come down to see the Job, we were lost in the middle of the land the fauna was so high we could not see over it, the three of us had to wait for a car to drive up the lane so that we know which side was next to the lane. The digger man said that we had to clear as much as we could before he starts in a mouth. He also wanted us to string out the shape of the Lake & inland, and paint a ring on the trees we went to save. We tide one end of the string to a bush next to the lane, are plan was to go down one boundary the lane side & cut across were we thought the end of the Lake wound be, we had hacked & cut and after an hour we had only gone 50 feet and about 10 foot wide, we were dragging the bushes back to the start and the bong fire was all ready way to big, we were exhausted and out of energy, the next day all are energy into finding a second hand Tractor a Massey Furgason it was blue, when the engine started up it was thrilling. Jeff drove first I had a foot space on the back, so I held on tithe it was brilliant, the Tractor had two attachments lager and small, we put the large on first and plod our way thought the brambles, under neigh the brambles there was just brown soil, the sun light had not been able to get though the thickens, when we come to a tree or bush it was cut down or keep it.There was an old iron gate half ling on it side, this was once a gate way in to the land, it was so grown over that had you been looking for it from the lane you wood not of food it, we reopen the opening this is now are in gate. we had huge fires every day. A Environment Agency man come down to see if we would stop for a couple of days for him to get a wild flower man to see the plants that was growing here in the little pockets of meadows , we said yes as we know you must not up set a Environment man, work with them. When he come I showed him around weaving in and around the jungle, he had been writing in his note pad all the time. Suddenly he said "ho my god" and dropped to his knees and shouted I haven't seen this plant growing in Cornwall for years! I tried to see what he was so excited about, expecting to see a beautiful flower but it was just green foliage, cupping his hands around but not touching the plant, he moved the twigs away from the plant and took his camera out to photograph it. I said that he could take it with him because it would be under the lake here, no he said I can not if you move it from here I would have to put it in the same damp soil same humidity same sunlight it all has to be just right for the plant to survive. So we decided to move the position of the island and this would help to save a few of the natural grass's as well, I agreed to this and that is why the island is positioned at one end of the lake. The EA man asked if he could bring a colleague along to see the plant. I replied of coarse, I tried to show Jeff the plant but I could not find it , much to Jeff's disappointment. The EA men came back the next day, they went down to the land on their own, I did not see the EA men or the plant again, I hope they took the plant with them. We managed to tie and string out the lake and island. The day came when the digger man started. There was days when he just dug out the trees and bushes that we could not manage. We imaged he would did a big hole, but it is not like that he dug into clay and were there was just he soil not clay he had to dig deeper and spread clay on to the soil and pack it down hard to seal the bottom of the lake, where he found natural under ground springs he would try to seal them off, because they can work for you bye filing the lake or against you bye tacking water out of the lake, there is still five spring constantly flowing water into the lake. The shallow end tack shape first then he built the bung this is the 10" wall that holds back the water, the wooded path runs around on the top. Next he turn his attention to the island, he lifted of the large lumps of grasses, scraped off all the top soil with all the seeds and small plants in and put this to one side, he then dug down into the lake to put 3ft of soil on the top of the island , because the island would of been under the water, then he carefully put the keep't soil on the top of that. Some of the bush were lost under the soil and some of the tree's died from having there trunks burried, but most of them grow thought the soil. He uncovered huge stones, he also had to keep a hole in the side of the bung so that the spring and rain water could escape, a large lorry came with the gravel , we asked Roger Cannock he is a fish expert, he told the digger man, the best places to put the gravel, we also had five tons of horse mu newer to spread on the bottom of the Lake, this was needed to help with the bugs and red worm, when this was done he sealed the drain hole. And started to fill the Lake from the River. It took six long weeks, there was not much rain when it was needed, A new Lake has leaks and cracks from the clay drying out. The water stilled and you could see the bottom in the shallow end, The depth of the water at deep end was 14 foot, over the years it has stilled at just 11 foot. From the start the Lake had that meicther look as some of the trees saved were one hundred years old. We all most sack the digger man for knocking trees down that we wanted to save, when we saw the damage done to a old tree we told him we were not happy, he reversed into the bung wall making a hole in it. then he calmed down and carried on working. The muddy water went down the stream and on Mawgan Porth beach, fortunately as it was not yet march there was no body in the water , Environment Agency sent there man to see us the same day, to see what had gone wrong, we told him how sorry we were , he said this must not happen again .