Depends on what you want to spend I suppose? You could build or have built a nice aviary and keep birds

Unfortunately not - well not without going through someone else's property and I think the previous owners approached them and they said no

Good idea Kazz, it would go really well there too Would you say decking is dog friendly? Can they get splinters from it? Only prob is I think it might just cost too much as it's pretty big back there

Decking or a lovely chicken run and chucks.

if you are going up to it, then decking and a summerhouse would be great - especially if it gets the sun.

Decking doesn't need to be expensive, we decked our garden last year using old timbers that came out of a building that was getting pulled down - so its thick wood not normal decking boards but looks great and will last longer as they are thick and hardwood. We topped it up with hardwood boards to match from builders yard and its just built on timber supports. Hubby did it all himself and looks great. Summerhouse you get some fab deals and you could also try free cycle etc to see if anyone getting rid or clearance deals etc.

its a large space and would be good to make it a worthwhile space.

To be honest, something that big and with little funds, for me it would be the hire of a mini digger and then lay it to lawn.

Seems to be the cheapest option.

Alternatively, strategic flags placed here and there and plants - perhaps heathers or alpines and make a feature of it

Steph - Chickens... are they hard work?

Dani - pics please! And will your hubby do mine? I'm crap at stuff like that

Chris - Just looked at Mini diggers and they're £165 a week, not bad... although I'd be scared of falling into the river with it also, am I actually allowed to 'move' the rubble to the embankment, or will they see that as tipping :/

Have you used a mini digger before? They aren't as easy to use as they look!!

One thing I would worry about if its been used as a dump and if you want it for dogs is that rubbish does make its way up however far down it is if there could be nails etc in there.

If its just rubble stones etc what about top soil or sand? We had a rubbly area at the back and sanded it then let it grass over. It perfect for the dogs now. Never gets over wet or muddy in winter or too hard in summer.

Not at all, they are great characters, obviously need cleaning out, I do mine about twice a week as I don't like the smell
I have battery rescue chickens which TBH due to what they have been through probably don't have a long life but I just love to give them some freedom but you can buy some excellent layers. Isochick is a very good person to ask about what type.

They give you your eggs which are much better than shop ones (fresh) and if you get too many friends are always at hand to have some off you.

I feed mine layer pellets and mixed corn, any potato peel I cook allow to go cool and feed to them, they like pasta and veg/fruit.
I pick their feeding dishes up at night so no rats are encouraged in, they put themselves away when the dusk comes so you only have to shut the door, and they will happily rummage through the soil, even with stones in it.

Mine do have a sand tray so the can dust off, but thats not a must as they will dust off in the soil too

I would burn the rubbish so your just left with the rubble. And go with the shady side for chickens - I'd love to have my own fresh eggs! Then the other side could be a veg patch.

If you want low maintenance veg patch you could go for perrenial stuff. Fruit bushes are easy enough and you can put a weeb membrance around them to stop the weeds. Strawberries are easy enough too. But they would need covered from the birds.

I'd get a mini digger and skip, and get rid of as much rubble as I could....

I'd be tempted to put the area to use with a veggie patch (you can build raised beds if the soil is poor) and some chickens...

In fact - you could reuse any bricks from the rubble to build your raised beds... we're reusing bricks to build beds in our polytunnel. We had them onsite, so thought we might as well get some use out of them!!