In the past a large part of what is now our garden was used commercially to grow flowers and vegetables. In the early days we used to have artichokes (not globe) popping up everywhere and to this day we still have a lovely show of daffodils all along the far side which were left behind after the whole area was ploughed up and grassed ready for sale as a domestic garden.

It is this large area that we call ‘the field’, where we have planted the trees and made the vegetable garden. It has never been completely flat and I know it will never look like a bowling green, and to be honest I wouldn’t want it to.

Gentle undulations and a few deeper dips and hollows give it character but can make mowing the grass quite interesting on a ride on mower that prefers to be at 90 degrees to the horizontal. Over the years we have tried to fill in some of the worst offenders, and last Spring worked hard on one particular area, using compost from the newly liberated compost heap (a story for another day) to build up the level.

Although it appeared to be successful, towards the end of last year we felt it was sinking again. Not only that but other areas of the field seemed to be sinking too. In fact one of the grass paths between the vegetable beds is more like a shallow bowl than a path, which also makes mowing it a bit of a challenge.

Then there are the areas where small ankle deep holes seem to appear for no good reason. I’m surprised no-one has broken an ankle in one yet. In short I think our field is going to hell in a handbasket.

Our ex-neighbour (not the one who liked rats and sparrows) told us that the previous owners had buried a lot of rubbish in a large hole in the field before they put the house on the market. Too tight to fork out for a skip I suspect. Could this have something to do with the apparent subsidence?

She indicated the area involved but I’m afraid the hollows are appearing elsewhere too, though it would appear this squirreling technique has stunted the growth of one of the flowering cherry trees.

We also found evidence of this burying in the far corner when we were digging the now defunct second asparagus bed a couple of years ago. There was all sorts of rubbish including a little ramekin dish completely unharmed which I rescued and sometimes use.

Could the subsidence be caused by moles, we have certainly had lots of mole hills over the years, but I can’t help feeling it would take a small army of them to create this kind of sinking effect over such a large area.

So the subsidence remains a mystery. I won’t know the extent of the deterioration until I get on the mower for the first time this year. Watch this space. If I disappear from view altogether I think we may have a problem.