Orange Line – B4RN’s original. Purple Line – as built.

From left to right:

· As it happens there is a steep bank behind house 1, so the spur duct can only approach from the west.

· To get to DD806 we chose a different route avoiding those trees. There wasn’t much in it, but the northern route looked safer.

· The old position of DD806 was not reachable by car.

· From there the way forwards seemed to be to head for the next two houses (the old version sent the spurs there, it might as well have taken the core that way). The strange northern loop was where a farmer insisted we didn’t cross his water pipe. Even with this loop the total digging on that section is less than the original. The idea is to connect the houses, not join the chambers by the shortest route.

· We now head for our new DD805. A point between the 2 houses keeps the spur-digging to a minimum. Also house 7 was not on the original list.

· Our DD804 puts it away from the buildings and less obtrusive and has an obvious route from DD805.

· Which gets us to DD803. Here, the old route correctly identifies the house, but the owner wants the connection to a different building.

There are other factors.

§ Who exactly owns each field changes things – when you get a choice of whose land you cross, if one guy will give you the go-ahead easily, you go with him. Like looping round that barn at the top there, it’s easier not to argue or risk hitting his pipe, so you just go the long way around.

§ Where exactly each person wants it to enter their house can affect the spur line.

§ Nearly all these houses are farmhouses or ex-farmhouses, which can get pretty complicated to weave through because of extra buildings, areas of concrete and heavy traffic.