[AlaninCarlisle]

The rest of you will probably shake your heads in disbelief at this and wonder where I've been for the last twenty years.

I'm cultivating some old pasture that hasn't been dug for the 40 years we've lived here and from what I can gather not for the 100 years previous either. I've done the obvious and killed off the growth on this area (about 100 square metres) but was finding it excruciatingly tough to turn over the heavy clay soil, largely because of the mat of old dead pasture and its associated roots with my 45 year-old mild steel spade.

In desperation I invested in a new stainless steel one, just £22.99 from B&Q. What a transformation. The additional 9" increase in shaft length, the sharpness and above all the non-stick quality of the blade have been a revelation. I'm digging at twice the speed and with far less effort. Sometimes old tools are not worth the bother

[Trillium]

Tools have come a long way in design and material. Glad you finally found a good solution.