Digging a large clay pond by hand. No liner. No machines. Part 1, beginning the keyway.

In this video I begin digging a large pond by hand.
This pond is being built without using a liner, or machinery, just clay and human power.
This pond will complete the first chain of interconnected water harvesting and retention earthworks on the croft, increasing our resiliency to flood and drought.
It's being dug slowly, by hand, while harvesting high quality clay for cob building projects. I'd be digging clay anyway, so doing it in a deliberate, careful fashion in this spot gives us a whole range of benefits from water retention to ecosystem diversity.
What will make this pond unique however is the ability to empty it easily at any time of year, giving access to the wonderful building quality clay at the deeper subsoil levels that we're using more often on the croft. It'll be hydrated, easily dug, and perfect for construction with minimal processing.
This first video shows the initial keyway trench under construction.
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