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What are the alternatives when you find yourself with a run-down swimming pool on your property? Patricia Birch lives with her family in a village in Essex, and found a natural solution by converting her pool to a swimming pond.
“When we came here there was already a swimming pool but it was already run down. It was a concrete and metal hole with a liner. I don’t think there was ever a boiler and it was already in a poor state.
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Old Pool, Nov 2007 |
"At the time I had very young children and it was not high on the list of priorities so we fenced it off and made it safe. Eventually we decided that we had to do something, and so what do you do?
"You can fill it in, but I didn't want to do that. I grew up by the sea and I love water and it just seemed a shame.
"We looked at making it a pool again. But the cost of rebuilding and having a pool with all the chemicals, and that you could keep heated at the right temperature, didn’t seem sensible. So that was quickly forgotten.
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"Next I looked at turning it into an ordinary pond. But the costs of relining it and using pumps to filter it were about the same as for a swimming pool. So we still weren’t winning.
"Then I heard about people using reeds to filter water. I can’t remember where I first heard it, but there was a chap a couple of villages away using a reed filtration system for his sewage so it was clean when it went into the river.
"So I started looking on the internet to find out about it but there was very little information. No-one would tell me how to build a reed bed. There was just no information out there.
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Old pool, January 2008 |
"I shouldn’t think about the hours I spent searching this on the internet. On one of my searches on a garden site talking about reeds, I linked to Tim’s site at Gartenart.
Construction, July 2008 |
“Gartenart were enthusiastic about working with what we’d got. They were prepared to work with us and for us to use our own men, and Jose, their foreman, would come and oversee it all. I already had a plan in my head and they listened and came up with the designs - and it was as if they could see exactly what I wanted.
"Our own men changed the shape and depth of the hole in a few places and Gartenart installed the liner and filtration system. It was a case of everybody working together really.
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"The pond was finished in summer 2008 and it's matured since then. Yes you can swim in it, but it’s far more than that. It's my favourite part of the garden. I've got a little pony up at the top and without fail I go and see my pond every single day - regardless of the weather, I include it in my walk. It's just wonderful. Where it is, it gets the sun all day so the temperature is fantastic. You can swim quite early on in the year and you can still swim in September. It gets up to 26 degrees in the summer. The shallow parts keep it warmer.”
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What do other people think of it?
"At first my husband wasn't into the pond as much as I was, but now he loves it just as much. It might not get swum in all the time but it is always used. It's where we entertain – even though it's not outside the back door.
"Friends are always surprised. You can swim in your pond? Really? Are you sure? When they see the girls getting in, they all come in. Any parties we have now, people know to bring their swimming costumes. No-one ever comes out of there and feels they have to shower. Never. It’s always a really clean feeling.
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August 2011
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August 2011
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"The children are all in their teens and twenties now and if they are having friends over, they’ll prefer to sit up there, even late in the evening.
"It's a gathering place, it's like the Aga in the kitchen. It brings people together. In the garden this is the heart, the hub
"It's a playground for all ages. Even my father goes up and enjoys sitting up there. He's 87 and I can leave him just sat up there dozing in the sun and listening to the birds.
"Cup of tea, lunch, whatever, we take it up there. I wouldn’t be without it.”
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Did you discover anything about it that you hadn't been expecting?
"The wildlife we have up there is fantastic. We swim with the frogs. We have deer, rabbits, pheasants and the birds first thing in the morning.
"I was up there three weeks ago and a kingfisher just skimmed over the water. Not a sound. You could easily have missed it. It was the most beautiful blue. Now where did that come from?”
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August 2011
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December 2009
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It seems like a very relaxed and liberating experience?
“Yes, it is very much so. I think it’s very healthy. It’s a holiday in the back garden.
"You’re much more likely to be outside. Even in the winter we’ll go up there. I’ve bought a little fire and you can go up there and still enjoy it with the little fire going.
"Being a large family this is not a quiet house. Everyone is always coming home and sometimes it’s just hilarious. Everybody gets thrown in the pond."
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It wasn’t the best of summers last year. It doesn’t have to be hot, hot sun? Did you still get a lot of use out of it?
“Loads. I’m always up there. Even if no one ever swam in it again it will always be beautiful because it’s enjoyed by everybody.
"It gives you a different perspective. It just makes you stop. Even if I don’t do anything, I’ve sat there and had an instant result just from the pleasure of sitting there. You watch the reflection in the water. You can’t help but be affected by it."
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August 2011
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