- Title: Brothers beat boredom in lockdown by building swimming pool
- Date: 15th May 2020
- Summary: HOOK, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (MAY 14, 2020) (REUTERS) HORTON FAMILY DIGGING AN 8-METRE RAINWATER SWIMMING POOL IN THEIR BACK GARDEN VARIOUS OF 19-YEAR-OLD STUDENT, ADAM HORTON, DIGGING SWIMMING POOL (SOUNDBITE) (English) 19-YEAR-OLD STUDENT, ADAM HORTON, SAYING: "We are building a swimming pool in our back garden here, but it's a specifically a swimming pond, so it's natural freshwater. We'll have plants and stuff growing around in the shallows here. And the reason why is me and my younger brother, Edward, last year thought about doing it. We saw pictures of it and stuff, and thought it looked great. And when lockdown came around, we had loads of time on our hands and I was back from uni (university) early and stuff. It was just a great - yeah, the perfect opportunity, basically, to get it done." SPADE DIGGING / ADAM HORTON DIGGING ALONGSIDE HIS 49-YEAR-OLD FATHER, JON HORTON, AND 15-YEAR-OLD BROTHER, EDWARD HORTON EARTH IN WHEELBARROW HORTON FAMILY WORKING ON POOL (SOUNDBITE) (English) 19-YEAR-OLD STUDENT, ADAM HORTON, SAYING: "We're building a natural swimming pool. So basically it doesn't require the use of any chemicals or the big filter system or a big pump, or anything like that. The water is kept clear and clean by, basically, plants planted around in the shallow area and we'll have a small bubble pump - a sort of filter system, the same as used in aquariums to keep the water moving and circulating to stop it going stagnant. Yeah, basically, the plants will do the job to keep it clean and rain water will be used to fill it up because we don't want any of the phosphates and nutrients that come in tap water." VARIOUS OF ADAM AND EDWARD HORTON LIFTING WHEELBARROW OUT OF POOL THE HORTON FAMILY'S DOG / FAMILY WORKING ON POOL VARIOUS OF ADAM AND EDWARD MEASURING POOL (SOUNDBITE) (English) 15-YEAR-OLD SCHOOL PUPIL, EDWARD HORTON, SAYING: "Because it was really hot last summer and I just wanted a swimming pool, really. And I said to Adam 'oh, we should build a swimming pool.' And then Adam looked into it a bit more and found the idea of an organic pool and stuff, and found a guy on the internet who does it with reused materials and stuff to make it a lot cheaper than a normal swimming pool would (cost). We thought we may as well try it. So we spoke to mum and dad about it. and dad didn't really want to do it, but he managed to let us doing it in the end, and now we've got this." VARIOUS OF FAMILY WORKING ON POOL (SOUNDBITE) (English) 49-YEAR-OLD FATHER, JON HORTON, SAYING: "They've really impressed me with the way they've gone about things from a point of view (where) I thought the interest would wane after a couple of days. The groundwork's been the massive thing, but they've been out every day from 9:00 in the morning until 6:00 in the evening, wheelbarrowing, digging, organising things. They've been really good. I've been really impressed with them and I'm really proud of them." MOUND OF DIRT EXCAVATED FROM THE GARDEN / ADAM AND EDWARD IN THE HOLE WHERE SWIMMING POOL WILL BE HORTON FAMILY'S GARDEN MOUND OF DIRT / HOUSE IN BACKGROUND
- Embargoed: 29th May 2020 10:32
- Keywords: COVID-19 construction coronavirus digging fresh water pool lockdown project swimming pool
- Location: HOOK, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: HOOK, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001CE1JVPJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Two British brothers got so bored by the coronavirus lockdown that they are digging an 8-metre (26 ft) rainwater swimming pool in their parents' back garden.
Adam Horton, 19, and his brother Edward, 15, came up with the idea of a rainwater pool a year ago but never had the time to dig out the 50 tonnes of earth for the pond.
The coronavirus lockdown changed all that.
Having returned from university early due to the coronavirus crisis, the Horton brothers thought they had the perfect opportunity to put the time in on a longstanding pipe dream.
The end result will be more of a swimming pond than a swimming pool, Adam told Reuters.
Natural rainwater will be used to fill the pool, kept fresh with plants growing in the shallow end.
The filtration system will be small and basic compared to that of a regular, chemically-regulated swimming pool.
They have dug all day every day for a week for the pond which will be four metres wide, two metres metres deep at the jumping end and 1.2 metres at the shallow end.
The giant rectangular pond now scars the lush green lawn of the garden near Hook, about 50 miles west of London.
A puzzled Boxer dog looks on.
Edward told Reuters the pool should be ready by the start of July, a year after the idea first came to him during the hot summer of 2019.
He said Adam was responsible for most of the research into the project, but it took a lot of perseverance to convince their father to give the go ahead.
Jon Horton, 49, said he didn't really give the green light - it was the boys' mother that let them start digging.
Nonetheless, he's been pleasantly surprised.
Having initially thought Adam and Edward's interest would quickly dry up, Jon has been impressed by the boys' efforts, saying he's really of what they've achieved in a short space of time.
(Production: Gerhard Mey, Ben Dangerfield) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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