Demolition of the coal shed and w.c would have been even more fun than it proved to be, had I not wanted to reclaim the bricks.
Look at the tiles on the roof to judge how far the demolishion is proceeding
The foundations ran about 9 courses of bricks deep. In this picture (left) features of interest include a lead pipe which once carried mains water to the old WC cistern, a length of vitreous clay drain pipe at the bottom left of the picture which I think must once have conveyed rain water from the roof gutter and down pipe of the WC to a soak away. The top section (gulley) had been removed and reused when the coal shed was built later.
The clay drain from the decommissioned WC can be seen running deeper as it approaches and joins with the main drain which runs parallel to the side of the house.
With the old footings, drains and water main out of the way, I dug out the foundation trench. I used a water-level (red coloured hose pipe) to help keep the trench bottom at the same level. This might have been achieved more easily using a spirit level atop a long length of timber bridging the two wooden "depth markers".
This picture shows the trench ready to fill with concrete. The height of the concrete fill is marked by lengths of steel reinforcement bar which have been hammered deep into the base of the trench. This method worked well for me.
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