Another Hello From Bedfordshire

[derekmiller]

just this side of the "Here be Dragons" warning

You leave my missus out of this.........

[keith157]

[cannyfradock]

Derek

If you haven't any clay in your immediate vicinity (in your garden) or you can't scrounge any from any building site that is excavating trenches, then a cheap option is to visit your local lawn/turf suppliers. The main suppliers to shops are usually found on the outskirts of the town.city and a local search will probably find their location.

There are 3 or 4 dotted around my town (Newport)....and they sell puddling clay (the bluish sticky stuff) perfect for a first layer....and the normal brown clay (perfect for the 2nd thermal layer) mixed with straw etc......both are only £12 per ton. It's not something they normally sell to Joe Public (local councils buy this for work on canal's etc) but after approaching these peolpe...and telling them I wanted clay to build a wood-fired oven, they were more that helpful......as long as I picked the clay up in a trailer. (1 ton will do approx 2/3 ovens).

....just another option.

All the best with your build.....

Terry

[derekmiller]

Hi Terry.
Although our soil is mainly clay, its not any good for this purpose. There was 150 houses being built in the next village, we tried to see if we could get some there, but they wouldnt let us near the site. Jobsworths No 1.
We dont have any local suppliers for turf etc, but we do have the local brickworks, which have shutdown, Bingo we thought, tons of clay, could we get past security, no. Jobsworths No 2.
My missus, who is very good at negotiating, even spoke with senior management of the company who owns the land, but to no effect.
So thanks for your feedback, good idea, but we shall overcome (sometime).
Derek.