Right, so I had a chance to do a bit more with this today. As you've all suggested I dug down a bit further and the pipe began to wiggle a bit a bit more and I could see the joint on to the bend. I was very gentle clearing it all out (mostly just scraped away with a pointing trowel tbh) but...
Thanks for the replies guys. I think that it's probably about another 350/400mm before I get to the bend. Is it a particularly involved procedure to replace? Not too much more to dig I suppose, though more of the tarmac driveway will have to get smashed up.
I'm sort of on this 'may as well do...
Thanks CBW, that's really helpful. Do you have any thoughts on the clay pipe moving around a bit? I reckon I can probably move it around 10mm in any direction at the very top of it. Should I excavate a bit further down and replace the material surrounding the pipe with anything more appropriate...
Hello, long time lurker/first time poster here.
Basically I've had to remove (and will hopefully replace..) the cast iron soil pipe on our early 60s semi. The old one came down without too much trouble but before starting I noticed the collar on the clay pipe was cracked. Sadly the crack turned...