Since this a low point in the garden, Im going to dig a "soak" nearby
and fill it with/sand gravel, probably only a meter deep and square
(not alot of room). Then dig a sloping trench from the raised bed and
fill with similar, overlayed with soil. Will this help or do you think
it will just attract ground water from elsewhere? (The area is under my
"playarea").


Don't forget the soakaway has to be deep enough to go down through any clay
or clag so that it can 'soak away', otherwise you will have a deeper soggy
patch than you have now.

we have a new Garden Centre near us, and before it was built, they dug a
deep hole and filled it with water to see how long it took to drain. The
idea being that the rainwater off the roof was going to be discharged this
way.

A week later the water was still there :-((

Mike