Can I first say in the last 43 years I have made it a policy not to to write to "points of view" or the editor of The Times, or anyone else to express an opinion or to give the rest of humanity the benefit of my experience. You just don't do that sort of thing. We English keep our own council, unless someone has had the effrontery to put the tea in the cup before the milk. However I’m breaking the cardinal rule. After looking suspiciously at the Azada in the corner of the shed for about a month I finally plucked up courage to handle it. I’ve been planning on clearing the ground that our predecessors’ old chicken run stood on. Lots of roots, some bordering on tree stumps; lots of buried chicken wire, and a large enamelled bath that had been sunk into the ground then filled over the years with a concoction of chicken guano and concrete blocks. I stood. I rolled up my sleeves. I swung. Six swings later I was a convert! I will not describe the technique, but I will say it is by far the most logical way to dig, move earth, cut roots and stumps. The combination of swinging and pulling is totally natural and works with the body and not against it, unlike traditional digging. I genuinely enjoyed myself, got the job done in very quick time, and worked up a tremendous sweat, but without the accompanying aches and pains. Although I normally just chuck the dirty tools back in the shed when I’m finished I actually found myself ceremoniously washing the Azada before putting it away. It has clearly proved its divinity to me. I stand as an awe struck disciple of the mighty Azada. Thank you for showing me the light. Gareth Draper, Kent
Thank you for sending my order. I have done some work with it and wished I had bought one years ago. I have been gardening for 34 years now and never had such a well balanced and easy to use hoe. Many thanks. John I just felt compelled to write and thank you for my Azada. I have a seriously overgrown and rough allotment which has been neglected for a number of years. Until now I couldn't see my way to digging it over using traditional spades and forks. Anyway, I took a chance and bought the heavy medium Azada. What an amazing tool! In 6 hours I dug out and laid a base for a 6 x 8 greenhouse and dug over a 4 x 8 plot. The Azada took the effort out of the job and I can't wait to use it again. Mr I Phillips, Blackpool Received and put to serious work on the allotment over the weekend. They all work a treat. Many thanks for the excellent service. I shal certainly recomment you to friends and family. M Smart Hi Simon, The Azada arrived on Thursday by courier. As we are relatively remote the delivery time was fine. My wife and I have both been trying out the Azada and we are very pleased with the results. Indeed I would say delighted! Our story is this: I had previously been looking for a tool that I referred to as a mattock. I was searching for it largely out of curiosity because I had seen it in drawings and paintings by French artists and wanted to give it a try. My wife managed to find a "pick mattock". When it arrived I was rather disappointed and put it to one side for some time before using it. Indeed I had almost forgotten about it. Then, faced one day with clearing some  ground and making no progress, I remembered the pick mattock and tried it. The results were magic! That experience sent me to the web to learn more about this tool. It was on the web that I first learnt the name Azada and, through your site and others, discovered how many variants of the tool existed. I could not however find a supplier in the west of Ireland or indeed in Ireland. The 4" Lightweight Azada you sent seems to be the ideal follow-up tool after the pick mattock has done the heavy clearing. It's much faster than a spade and produces little fatigue. I get bad back and painful ankle from digging - relating to past injury. Neither of the tools causes me any pain. Indeed, we are making progress on jobs previously avoided. So thank you and thanks also to others who posted information to your site as I found their comments very helpful. Kevin Fitzpatrick - Galway, Ireland Hi Simon, Azada arrived this morning - interesting packaging - very enterprising indeed!! Excellent service and response to my query about delivery dates. Birthday boy will be happy! Kate S, Leicester It's a rarity in my experience that gardening tools live up to the billing. These hoes are perfection!!! I have for some time felt I needed one but could not find a UK source. They are way better than I had hoped. Putting in new plants...dead easy and creating a new bed again easy. So very happy with delivery time and very happy with the tools. Thanks very much. M Proudlock, Surrey.	Just to let you know my Azada has arrived safely and has already become my new best friend. I have a piece of land that has not been touched for many a year in the agricultural way but has been used in the past as a bit of a dumping ground as well as by someone who used to sandblast items and left a covering of patchy asphalt and bricks. The Azada has been put through its paces and has worked very well in finding the soil and ripping out the bramble roots. Despite having severe arthritis I can manage this tool easily without any discomfort and find it extremely therapeutic to be able to turn over this hard ground which caused a spade and fork to bend under my husband's gentle touch (once he managed to get through the first inch of ground.) I am certainly recommending this tool to others around me. Thank you for supplying this great tool. A Hollis, Nottinghamshire The Azada arrived safe and sound this morning, Saturday, and I am very pleased indeed with it. I appear to have a world population of brambles living in my garden but, with the aid of this tool, not for much longer. Bramble roots are no match for it and what a joy it is to be finally freed from struggling with a traditional spade and fork to do a job the Azada does with so much ease! Richard F, Wales When a friend of mine recommended that I try an Azada for digging I was dubious but I'm so glad that I did. I am well over six foot tall and have several bad discs in my back after a rugby accident. Digging with a conventional spade aggravates my back but I find the Azada so much easier to use and this allows me to dig for longer. It is more efficient as well so I get much more done. I am a real convert and tell everyone I can! You were right about the handle as well. A shorter handle makes a good thing even better. Many thanks for an excellent product. S Webber, Herefordshire I  have now taken delivery of my Heavy Medium Azada.I would just like to  say how easy it has made the clearing of my newly acquired allotment. I have to be careful of my knees and have found that the Azada almost eliminates any bending unlike tha spade that I started with. It also allows me to progress through an area without needing to stop and take a breather so often. My use of an Azada has also sparked interest from other plot owners around me who have commented on how easy I  make clearing the allotment. The Azada deserves all the credit, I have told them. Matthew Ewens	Thank you for the Azada which arrived Friday. Used it to begin clearing a second allotment we've taken on. Our first allotment took us about 60 hours to clear (thorough digging with spade and fork to eliminate couch grass). I reckon this second one, judging by the progress we've made already, woll take twenty hours less work and less bending too. Fantastic tool! We've settled on a technique of starting with the Azada, levering out the large couch clumps and genearally chopping and mashing the ground up and then following on with a fork to sift out the remaining roots. Fast and relatively easy work. Every allotment should have one. D Newstead, Middlesex Just to let you know, my 12 year old son has been using this Azada and and it's his favourite tool. We have been using it to clear an overgrown allotment before digging it over. It really does speed up the job! Our allotment neighbours have been asking where we got it from so I'll be passing your info on to them! M. Sheahan, Eastbourne Tools received yesterday, thanks. I now have a fair collection of your tools including a Medium Azada, Long Handled Spade and Crome. They are all absolutely brilliant and make the job of keeping the garden and woods in order so much easier! Mr Bates, Ayr Received Azada this morning, thank you. I had to try it out on a piece of rough ground covered in ivy, nettles and other dross. It is beautifully balanced and correctly angled. Such a good design (I guess the design has stood the test of time). I am 64 and find it much less hard work than a spade. The tool does most of the work. Now for those brambles! Mr Alan Clark, Norfolk The Azada arrived this morning  and I have just used it on the dirt patch that caused me severe back pain earlier in this year.  I think that the Azada is fantastic and I can't understand why they are not more popular.  S Knight, Doncaster My wife bought me a Heavy Medium Azada for my birthday. I am over 6ft tall with back problems to match. We are gradually accumulating long handled tools and finding new ways of working etc. The last veg patch I dug took hours and was finished literally on hands and knees and medication. I turned over a 6 x 6ft veg patch last weekend in less than half an hour - still standing! And, the amount of spoil removed was much less once we got the hang of controlling the depth of the Azada's cut. The Azada is spectacularly efficient at lifting turf without taking all the soil beneath with it. It  also makes a fine "plough" for turning top soil, using leg muscles not back muscles. Since we got the Azada, it is - as so many have already said - my main gardening tool. In putting up the green-house a few days back we used the Azada to scrape away soil, level the ground and tamp it down. This used to be hard work, bending with a shovel to lift and shift soil to level the ground. Only when you use an Azada do you realise just how mechanically inefficient a spade is; for a start, you are lifting a heavy weight - that probably doesn't even need to be lifted - on a lever that is working against yourself. At least with an Azada, if you have to lift soil and can't scrape it, you are lifting vertically with no mechanical disadvantage and with legs, not back, doing the lifting. We have been recommending them to all our friends. My only request would be is there a longer handle available, say another 6-8 inches longer, for us tall types? (This is no reflection on the Azada, it's to do with my tall build and lack of flexibility!). Many thanks and keep up the good work. T Wernham, Suffolk