I dug it all on my own, honest!

For some strange reason a huge amount of earth works were not started until long after the JCB had left us. These were for the rain drainage which fed into the soak away in which Dave can be seen standing.

The trenches would also contain the outlet for the sink drain which fed into the regular sewerage system.  The old rain drainage pipes needed to be re routed around the new building.

Andy J. was more than slightly concerned during the process of the digging of the soak away as the trench was so narrow and deep it may have infringed a few health and safety standards.  But all was well.

Digging these trenches was very frustrating as the great lengths of pipe all have to slope down a hill. So we were constantly adjusting the depth and gradient of the trenches.

The pipes were finally buried in gravel and covered with mud. Key parts or parts that may have weight on them were encased in concrete.

It was decided that our new driveway had to be aesthetically pleasing so that it wouldn't look out of place in front of the church. Rather than simply concrete it, we paved it with bricks.

The driveway also has a long drain that has removable covers so that oak leaves can be removed.

Jim Carlaw and John Goodwin both Scouts at the time can be seen below using weights on sticks to tamp down the hard core under the drive.

Older Scouts were encouraged to get involved in working on the extension. The church had stipulated that the exterior of the building would have to be complete within a year so most Scout camps etc were cancelled for a year to get things done.

By the time the picture on the left was taken on the 26th of June 1995 the edges of the driveway had been cemented into place. The gate posts in the background had also been cemented into place. (One was later moved in 20017 to widen the drive)

Building the driveway was also a huge undertaking. Its entrance was not allowed to be directly opposite the Church entrance so it had to be routed out between two protected trees and across the pavement to the church's road.

The picture on the right was taken the week before. At this stage the concreting around the edge of the driveway hadn't been started.

Mark and Andy are still digging the shape of the driveway out of the mud whilst Tony supervises the mixing of the cement.

The trouble with using Scouts and Ventures to do the work was that they are inherently lazy and lippy with it.

In the picture on the right we can see the wonky concrete fence post a foot away from the end of a fence panel. 20 years later getting the box trailer on the drive was becoming a challenge so the concrete fence post was removed and the gate widened.

Despite the challenges of using youth members to do a lot of the work a lot was achieved. Most Saturdays a gang of leaders, Ventures, Older Scouts and an occasional Parent could be found busy building our new hall.

In the picture above the route of the driveway has been dug out...