On our visit to Scotland in October we were keen to help out again and Jon suggested that filling in the cesspit would be a fun project. This was located in the first fairway alongside the remains of the shower block.After a quick lesson on cesspit design....the waste goes into a tank where solids settle out. Liquids flow into another tank from where they run out into a soak away and eventually the ground. Periodically the solids need to be taken away. When we started the excavation Jon had located the soakaway but wasn't sure where the liquid/solids tank was and if it had been emptied.
The first task was to clear away the fencing and all the overgrowth around the area.
That done, we uncovered a breeze block lined pit divided into three sections, the soakaway, liquid and solid tanks. To everyone's relief, the latter had been emptied. The pit had been capped with concrete beams and the picture shows Alisdair and Jon removing one from over the solid/liquid tanks ready for loading into the Cushman truck.
Keen as always to recycle as much material as possible, Jon and Douglas (the digger) removed several cubic metres of large gravel from the soakaway.
The final job before the area could be filled in was the rescue of four frogs from the liquids tank. Jon very bravely climbed down into the pit to scoop them into a bucket before Claudia released them by the stream.
We also found a fork, toothbrush, orienteering punch, batteries and various other rubbish which we disposed of properly.
To be continued
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