On bank holiday Monday we went down to the allotment to start driving in the fence posts.  This proved to be pretty difficult as we couldn’t hammer them in without digging holes first and the ground was very hard for digging.  I did a quick run round the local hardware stores to see if I could get some sort of driving tool to help get the posts in and protect the tops, but couldn’t get anything.

The net result was only a few posts in (to a much shallower depth than we’d planned) and significant aches and pains.  A very sore elbow was added to the stiff back and rumbling left knee.

Later in the week I went  up to Princes Risborough to get more fence posts and to see if I could get some sort of fence hammering tool.  I was offered a post driver (a huge metal cylinder that fits over the posts and acts like a man-powered pile driver.  This was pretty expensive, but while I had to buy this, Briants will give a full refund on it once it is finished with, which is amazing service.

By the end of this week, the first of the promised rain arrived, accompanied by thunder.  So it was down to the allotment with the post driver this morning and we succeeded in getting all the posts in – what a difference the correct tool makes!  We were no doubt helped by a further batch of heavy overnight rain, which has also helped the spuds to shoot up.