I cannot believe that after all the rain we have had in the past three years and now "they" are threatening a hose pipe ban in parts of the country.  We have four water barrels around but they do not produce enough water for a garden this size and of course with a thatched roof we do not have the ability to catch water that way.  I see that they are big adverts in the gardening mags advocating these huge water containers that are stored under ground.  If things get too bad the under gardener has said we will open up the well and install a pump to bring up water that way.  In fact with the bills going up and up with might just do that anyway.