The Endless Saga of the Endless Pool - measuring

Before the final decision was made there were many phone calls to retailers of 'container' pools and lengthy discussions on the relative merits and demerits of different products but ultimately Endless Pools, Inc simply had the best product for our requirements. The Americans with whom we consulted were (and still are) charming, extremely helpful and ready to advise on any problems. The deposit was paid in September 2008 and the serious planning started.

We had already considered different locations; the garage (too dark and unwelcoming and where would my car go?); the conservatory (where would the cats go – it's their favourite room?); on the patio which would have to be extended (where would the pond go??); on the terrace outside the Pavilion (mockingly renamed the 'sheddio') which houses all the exercise machines; in the 'sheddio' (we could rearrange the equipment); in the garden shed (we could put the garden tools 'somewhere else;') We decided that it had to be indoors. It became clear that there was only one place the pool could go – at the end of the garden where the shed was. The shed was not an attractive building to accommodate a swimming pool; it was a safe haven for spiders, ants and other beasties and the space underneath was a shelter for itinerant rats. It would have to be demolished to be replaced by a 'POOL ROOM' which meant that the contents of the shed would have to be relocated to the garage (!)

Then we started endless measuring for the Endless Pool. There would be a concrete base on which a log cabin would be constructed. We calculated width, breadth, depth, height and tried to visualise the finished product. To comply with local planning regulations the structure must not exceed a designated height and must be within a determined distance from our boundaries. We measured again and again to be sure we could maximise the area which had been allocated to the pool. The pool itself would be eight and a half by fifteen and a half feet with a maximum depth of fifty-two inches. Finally satisfied that we had observed the rules it was time to empty the shed. Prior to that, however, the accumulated rubbish of years must be removed from the garage to make room for the contents of the now despised shed. It took us two days to clear the garage, making generations of mice and spiders homeless. We threw out pots full of solidified paint, broken lamp bases, miles of wire that had been hoarded 'just in case', plug adapters that used to work, bubble wrap that was home and final resting place to the remnants of a plague of moths which, curiously, seemed to have arrived in a consignment of logs.

Finally we were ready for the shed!