New Top Hat!

Today we had our second site meeting with the contractors, architects etc. After a slow start we are now pretty much back on track. The scaffolding is up and the boundary wall behind the building is being underpinned so that it doesn't fall down when they dig out the foundations for the new extension.  Also today the slates came off the roof which revealed a problem - most of them are disintegrating so it seems we will need more new slates than first anticipated.  The rafters don't look too clever either - dry rot in many of them. So in the words of our contractors it looks like we are going to need a 'new top hat'. The financial implications of this are still unknown but we are bracing ourselves.

Last week so much was going on that I did not have much time to write this blog.  See the link below which shows the long-awaited day when the heavy equipment arrived.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEmd_TpoYqU&feature=channel_video_title

Signfest at Ford Park

If you've walked through Ford Park today you may have wondered if some strange art installation is happening. There are signs everywhere telling you where you can and can't go, what you should be wearing if you go there, what dangers await if you dare to breach the barriers and why its all going on.  Its a veritable festival of signage!

Trouble is there are so many signs now that its become wallpaper and we are still having to direct folks onto the diverted pedestrian route and I am sure there will be some who have turned back thinking their way has been barred.  Let's hope the message gets through soon. We are trying our very best!

Pathway to nowhere

Sorry folks but some of the paths are temporarily closed. I have already had two complaints and its only 11am! The contractors have put barriers up with notices but it appears that having to double back is an inconvenience. I will put out some more barriers and notices at the end of the paths to try to prevent this from happening again.

There are two paths closed - the top path behind the pond, and the main path beyond Ford House.  So if you don't want to double back then please avoid the ziggy-zaggy path and the path from the field through the woodland. You can still walk through to get to Hoad Hill - stick to the main drive in front of Ford House - there is a diversion just past the house to the right, which takes you onto Poplar Grove.  Please take care as there may be delivery and other vehicles moving about.  For you own pet's safety, please put your dogs on leads as you approach the gateway to Ford House.

I hope you will bear with us as this is only just the start and, as the saying goes - you have to break eggs to make an omelet!

Video - Wisteria wrestling

The Wisteria has been taken down to preserve it and will be put back after the work is completed. Have a look at this video which is only a few minutes of the 6 hours it took to complete the task.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OelHk2deb2s&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Wrestling with a monster

Friday 8th April - A beautiful Spring day and the grounds are looking stunning.  The grass has had its first cut, the trees are coming into leaf and the tadpoles are swimming about in the pond.  Our 150 year old Wisteria, trained around three walls of the Coach House is just coming into bud, promising the best show of flowers since we rescued it a couple of years ago. But today it has to come off the walls so that the contractors can repoint the building. Colin, Tom and myself arrive ready to help David Redmore, landscape consultant extraodinaire. We set about cutting the ties and wires carefully and after a while the main branch on the cable end is free.  We hijack Kirsten, who is passing through the park and the five of us line up to man-handle the branch, feeding it through the gap in the hedge. Then its onto the main side wall, where the Wisteria is rooted - it has huge woody main branches and covers the whole wall.  It took a while to get all the ties and wires cut, but eventually we stand back as David eases it away from the building and we have a massive tangle on the grass. It was a bit like pic-a-stick trying to sort it out but eventually, stakes are hammered into the ground and we start to tie the branches together. David, sad that we will not see the flowers this year, has a flash of inspiration - lets make a living barrier  - at least we will have some flowers.  So we carefully tie it to stakes along the path - its about 30ft long! Once the building is finished we will start putting it all back and it should recover well over the next year or so!