Jim Waring, of Ebbw Vale, discovered a long-buried feature beside his home after his fence blew down during Storm Darragh. He’s spent the months since bringing it back to life.
Jim Waring uncovered a hidden stream in his back garden after his fence blew down in Storm Darragh(Image: John Myers)
A man uncovered a beautiful forgotten stream beside his home after his garden fence was brought down during a major storm. Jim Waring, from Rassau in Ebbw Vale, completely lost his fence during Storm Darragh in December.
When he began looking into getting a new fence he realised the land was too soft to put fence posts back in, and he decided with the support of neighbours to take a look at how deep the stream was beside his home.
Pictures from before Jim began digging out the stream following the storm last year showed it wasn’t recognisable as a water feature at all.
It was filled with bins, tyres and breeze blocks and had been used as a bit of a dumping ground. Love dreamy Welsh homes? Sign up to our newsletter here
What the area looked like before the storm(Image: Jim Waring)
It took Jim months to remove the rubble and reinstate a brook in his back garden(Image: Jim Waring)
Having struggled with his mental health Mr Waring said he saw uncovering the stream as an ideal project to help with mindfulness.
Months later, after hours on Youtube learning about dry stone walling, he has restored the stream back to full health.
“I’d been off sick from work for a long while primarily with mental health issues,” Mr Waring said. “I was hospitalised the beginning of last year and it transpired I had some internal bleeding as a result of misuse of alcohol, which I was using as a sort of coping mechanism.
“So I’ve been on this journey of reevaluating my life really and I’ve had some therapy and it has led me down a wonderful path of mindfulness, a bit of meditation and Buddhism.
“When the fence fell down during the storm it dawned on me it was a lovely opportunity to have a blank canvas and really work on something which could help me.”
After Jim discovered the deepness of the brook he set about clearing it and bringing it back to life(Image: John Myers)
More of a trickle than a flowing stream on this day, but Jim says the brook often flows well during periods of rainfall(Image: John Myers)
Mr Waring has reinstated his section of the stream which he said involved “a lot of digging – both figuratively and literally”.
“I’ve learned a lot about the history of the brook and how to build them,” he said. “It’s been very therapeutic, spending hours at a time placing rocks in places.
“It became a bit of an obsession and I’m now towards the end of that. Our side of the brook has now been re-established stronger than it was when it was first put in.”
The brook transformation has almost doubled the size of Jim’s garden(Image: John Myers)
Jim says the project has been therapeutic and involved hours of Youtube videos on dry stone walling(Image: John Myers)
The stream, fed by the Llangynidr Moor, is now flowing strong during times of rainfall making for a less confined garden area for Mr Waring and his family.
“It was a bit claustrophobic before whereas now it’s just a joy to be in,” he explained. “When it rains it doesn’t take long for the brook to build up a head of steam as a lot of the runoff goes into the brook. It’s been a tremendous thing to do and pretty rewarding.”