The post is late...

Due to the need for an urgent bit of dumping for the track replacement works at Winchcombe, your blogger wasn't at Hayles yesterday.

Or was he?

It seems the smell of fried sausages drifts a long way, because round about lunch time Stevie at Winchcombe decided a trip to Hayles for a cup of tea would be a good idea.

We found a good gang of 11 busy laying slabs that Dave P had brought up with the Telehandler, while Dave D was trying to trim them, very slowly with what looked like a blunt cutting disk. Much dust ensued.

Our arrival was very timely, as Paul was just finishing the fry up, and the rolls had already been laid out. Yes, there were some spare sausages! Help yourself to ketchup, and tea.

Although the weather wasn't particularly balmy, we did just about manage to sit outside in the temperature of 5 degrees C.

John M entertained us with several of his awful jokes, and we cannot unfortunately delve into further details here. But a picture speaks 1000 words:

Did you hear the one about Nicola Sturgeon?

The unmentionable punchline is delivered.







After lunch, a quick look around the site:

The corbelling, at lunchtime, was on the home straight, with only two more sections to go. More slabs for this are being sorted out at Winchcombe, with logistics and accessibility issues in their slow arrival. But 5 more arrived today and were duly placed.

The newly placed slabs are in the foreground, with the mortar for the next one placed but left to go off a bit more while we ate.

On site Stevie and Jim G are having a tactical discussion as to what happens next. Behind them is the partly excavated area for the foundation slab of the corrugated iron hut. This needs further digging out, and the remainder of the slope needs landscaping.

If anyone has other pictures of the work on Monday, do please pass them on for posting.


Post Script 

Paul very kindly sent in a batch of Monday photographs, but due to an address error they only came in today.
Here they are:

Minnie had one of her turns and wouldn't start.

It took six goes to get her running!

Julian on the final stretch of corbelling, on the southern end ramp.

Dave brought in the Telehandler from Winchcombe, as well as half a dozen additional slabs. (more are waiting on a flat in the yard)

Dave D had a good go at squaring them up, but it wasn't so easy with a disk that was getting increasingly blunt.

All hands on deck at the southern end of the platform now.

Tim on the top row of corbelling at the start of the slope.

A small number of slabs was put on, and the row of them is getting increasingly long, amplified by this view along it.

Remember the scene in Blackadder III?

SAUSAGE TIME !

This impressive shot shows the almost fully completed brickwork, faced with creosoted planks to look like the original sleepers that were used her in the 1920s.