This is how I found it - manky old bit of grass full of holes - a couple of waitresses had tripped whilst carrying food, so not good.
So I dug it all out, and found out why the grass was so boggy - there is a rainwater downpipe from the roof just out of shot on the left. The numpty who installed it left it sticking in the turf with no drain whatsoever, so all the rainwater was just left to soak in to the wall and soil. So I installed a gulley, five meters of 110mm drain towards the canal and a little soakaway about 2 foot deep. Then barrowed in 4 tonnes of MOT sub-base and wackered it down.
Flagstones are Pavestone Midnight Black natural slate, edged with red block paviours - Thanks to Cotswold Builder for advice on laying this
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This is the (nearly) finished result and a shot of the pub with its new patio in the corner: