Wednesday on the Canopy
We've been in isolation for 9 days now, but yesterday there was daylight - a reduced Covid value in the Lateral Flow Test, and today the latest test shows none. Too late unfortunately for work today, so this blogpost is by 'remote control'. We also missed Stevie's funeral on Tuesday, still positive at that stage.
By all accounts is was an extremely well attended affair, with 240 heads counted in St Peter's church, of which 30 in orange workwear clustered at the back of the church. That wrinkle was suggested by the family, and we were happy to oblige. Stevie was held in very high esteem by everyone he knew, and the strong attendance shows that abundantly. We shall miss him thoroughly.
During our enforced absence the rest of the canopy team, supported by one or two visits from the Broadway maintenance guys, laid in all the glass panels except the two pairs on the end. These will stay off for a little bit longer, in order to allow Neal to complete to top end of the boarding. A bit like a pair of skylights. Inside we are almost fully dry now, and a lot of the steelwork has even had its top coat painted on.
Neal has spent the most recent days cutting the daggerboards completing the run down the side of the steps, and then taking them off again for painting those areas exposed by his cuts. The valley gutter is also in.
Still to come is the electrics for the big hex lamp, and fitting the hanging tube for it. The actual lamp will have to wait until the scaffolding is down, but we will have a week at the end, before the railway opens again, to fit that. The scaffolding is due to come down in the week starting 28.2.
Usketeers.
Just three of them today, but looking at the pictures so kindly provided by Dave, a fair bit of progress nonetheless. Jules was on family duty today, and yours truly self isolating, as so many people seem to be doing at the moment. It seems to be all around us, but all mild cases, as we are all vaccinated.
Work today was at the southern, front facade, as that is where the trestles are at the moment. We have to go and get the yellow safety rails out of storage every time, so depending on when the picture was taken, you may see them, or no longer. They are almost new and we don't want to see them - gone.
A new quoin was manhandled on to the corner, and here you also see a tool that we made for ourselves, to ensure that the walls are a constant 16 ins thick. It's the metal 'U' shaped bracket you can see - the ends are exactly 16 ins apart, so if we can slip it over the top, we are good to go.
Of course that doesn't count here behind the fireplace, which swallows up huge amounts of rough stone and mortar. As well as a time capsule, now already deeply buried.
Looking the other way, we can see that the front layer has been backed up as well, right up to the window, where an extra piece has been laid level with the top of the frame.
Our lintels are away for galvanising, but are expected back soon, and we need to be ready for them.
More backing up was done over the fireplace too. Remember when Paul did the brick arch? We are several courses above that now. If you look at the historical picture at the bottom of the blogpost, you can see how much further we need to go here.
As we said earlier, the new system, now with trestles, is to do as much as we can in one area, then take the trouble to dismantle and move the trestles on to a new place.
This original picture, taken in situ at Usk in March 2018 - yes, 4 years ago now - shows the original fireplace tucked into the corner. You can see the rotting lintel above the window on the left. We are almost at that height now.
An interesting detail is the two legged table on the left, where the back of it is in fact the window sill. We don't have any plans for window sills at the moment. Maybe think about that later.
Next week we should be back up to full strength.
Hi Jo, thanks for the post. If you give me your email address I can send you some pictures of the station that I took on Sunday if you would like
ReplyDeleteIt's breva2011 (at) hotmail.co.uk
Deletethanks, 2 emails sent with 3 pics each
DeleteGlad that you are negative again, Jo! Thanks for the picture from the footbridge. Nice to see things in daylight instead of the ghostly picture visible from the webcam at night! It's great to eee the fantastic progress.
ReplyDeleteThat black guttering certainly stands out now, though. I seem to remember there was a plan (years ago!) to paint it light or dark stone colour. Any chance that will be done?
It also looks like the corrugated sheets are a slightly different colour to the original sheets. I wonder if they were painted after installation (despite being already coated)?
Peter The sheets are the same, half of the area covered is by spare sheets that have been stored on the station roof. The difference is that the sheets have weathered over the four years that they have been on the roof.
DeleteNeal
Excellent progress on canopy and Usk hut. I bet that the caged bear will be glad to be released, Jo !!
ReplyDeleteRegards, Paul.
Did the Usk hut two legged table fold up to double up as internal board/shutter for the window?
ReplyDeleteA very fine informative blog...so sad about Stevie.
ReplyDeleteWill the building on P2 be increased in size by the same proportion as this one, as otherwise it could look like a bus shelter in comparison. Great job BTW
ReplyDeleteYes, it's always been the intention to make it a little bigger, in proportion.
DeleteAs we need to work in units of trusses, it will have one extra truss, and that means two rooms instead of one.
A way forward could be to cast the slab, and that would allow work to make the platform usable by surfacing it.
Not been following the build from ground up, but has any provision been made for services in the build ?, e.g. electricity, if ever required. Drilling a rubble-filled wall later usually involves an over-sized hole and protection in the form of a solid pipe.
ReplyDeleteYes, we have a conduit leading into the building. Electric light is all it will need.
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