We were contacted by the Follett estate in Hertfordshire with a very special fencing request, of fencing the famous authors estate and making it completely Dog proof.
The country estate is home to two young large dogs who are expert escape artists and have been found in local fields and busy roads, so was quite urgent a solution was found.
Being January 2023 and the UK experiencing heavy snow fall, it made the job somewhat more challenging as temperatures were freezing or teetering just above zero, so the team had to work for two weeks in heavy snow fall at times.
The grounds of the Follett Estate are substantial and the perimeter is approximately One Kilometer.
There is a large garden turfed area and woodland that had to be fully enclosed as the two dogs would find the smallest gap and dig, so we had to lay the specialist dog fencing panels slightly under the ground level.
We had a team of six for this specific job, working in teams of two. A digging pair who dug holes two feet deep for the special PVC coated angle irons - a total of 555 holes and posts were required! Yes 555!!!
At every 1.8m interval the holes were dug and a post concreted in by the next pair of two and levelled.
Once the posts had set hard in the concrete (around 6 hours) due to the frozen ground, the next team of two would then install the special Dog Panel, which are made from welded steel and PVC coated in green to blend in to the border of the grounds. We also counter sink the panel in soft mud and heel in so when dries out it hardens and locks the panel in the ground to prevent the dogs digging.
Due to the extreme distance we had to fence we had to use the superb Kawasaki 650 quad to deliver the panels and concrete all around the site and without it would have taken days longer. Driving the quad around the woodland was always the most sought after job! I cant think why...
We were on the job for around two weeks in total and made ourselves quite at home in the woodland, with kettle running off the generator and the Mrs bringing food to keep the troops going in the cold weather.
An army marches on its stomach and the guys did a great job in some very extreme conditions.
The job was completed and the dogs are still unable to escape, so objective completed.
We have been asked back to complete more work for the Follett Estate and thoroughly enjoy the time there and working with the grounds team and other staff.
