Drain issue

[phil_GT]

hi all

I’ve just bought a house which has a weird drain down the paving next to the house

Please see pics below

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23696526@N08/4685166669/

The other day this was over flown with water due to thunder storm however I don’t know if this is a drain or just a hole that’s been dug to allow surface water to run off

However I was prodding this with a garden cane to see if blocked and could feel what felt like soil and mud, after this a checked a couple of hours later and it had stopped being flooded and left some water in the pipe

The inside under the lid looks like this

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23696526@N08/4685800548/

Also near the driveway there is a long rectangular grate which just appears to capture run off water and it just has an oval hole in the centre, which is full of soil indecently.

ive tried to push my hand in to remove any mud that may be blocking it and i just seem to keep pulling out handfuls of mud. got as far as my entire arm is in there

here is a picture after i have tried to see if it was blocked

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23696526@N08/4687870150/

may be it just goes to ground.... i dunno

here is a second grate that is there 2 and i think its safe to say this does just go to ground

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23696526@N08/4687870770

and here is what it looks like after a couple of hours of fairly persistant rain

any idea's what i can do to stop the surface water?

dont think a soakaway would work as the soil is heavy clay

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23696526@N08/4697604074/

[lutonlagerlout]

well what hasnt helped is that there is no fall on the path and it has sunk
you can see this by the ponding
the drain looks like someone has sunk a pice of land drain vertically into the ground==> not good
really you need permission from the local authority for a suds system with an overflow into the sewers
cheers LLL

[phil_GT]

is this a big expensive job?

or will it be easier to have the path taken up and raised a little because either end of the path there are normal rainwater drains?

also would removeing a couple of bricks in width and filling with decorative gravel help?

[lutonlagerlout]

without looking at it its hard to say phil
but taking up ,rescreeding and relaying the path to correct falls shouldn't be too expensive
decorative gravel is an epic fail
LLL

[phil_GT]

the water from last night has now drained away and there is no surface water.

i know this as i went past the house at 5am this morning on the way to work, so it does seem to drain away in a few hours, although how long im not sure.

would rather it not puddle at all though