Some pretty pictures of the tower

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The enormous wood pile that has for so long been stacked in front of the tower has now been sorted and stored under the garage roof where it is drying out nicely.   Pat's car is parked where part of the wood pile was.   This is the tower basking in yesterday's evening sunshine.

By way of reminder here is just some of the wood, back in June 2012.   The buffers are completely covered by wood.

Railway Heritage Awards

We have decided to withdraw from this year's Railway Heritage Awards for two reasons:

1.  there is still work to do here and the place should be on top form by this time in 2013
2.  the refurbished Appleby Station has been entered this year and it is thoroughly bad form for there to be two competing entries from the Settle-Carlisle Line

Today we had a formal visit from award judge Robin Leleux, with his wife Rita.   We were able to assimilate Robin's great experience of these things on a beautiful sunlit day - very rare this year!   We had worked hard to prepare for his visit but the effort has not been wasted.   We have cleared the decks, of wood especially, and the place looks absolutely stunning .   A good start for the Heritage Open Days from 6 to 9th September.   Photographs when the lighting is next good.

Garage roof completed

 

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After just two days of monumentally hard work by Peter Bennett and me the roof of the garage block is finished.   It has transformed from looking like the remains of a beached whale to something resembling a building.   Note Peter working in what will be the workshop in the top left picture; this gives an idea of scale.   The neighbouring industrial unit is totally hidden, which was part of the idea when planning this building.   For a pair of amateurs who have never done any roofing before we are quite chuffed with our efforts.   Extremely heavy showers kept interrupting the roofing work - but we always had shelter and not a drop came through.

There are four clear panels on the south side of the roof - hidden from view from the public faces of the structure but very useful from inside - see bottom left picture.

Until the walls are in place it looks a bit like a market hall from the middle ages.

Garage roof begins to appear

Yesterday we (me and Peter Bennett) nailed on the first few Onduline sheets of the garage roof.   This remarkable material is made of paper and bitumen essentially, is light and flexible.   Once things are set up nice and square, progress can be rapid.   In fact we were well and truly rained off.   Still, with the roof appearing and with the barge boards in place it is really starting to look like a very fine building indeed.

The rain that falls on this 60 sq m roof will eventually drain into the tower's rainwater harvesting tank.   It would just be handy if the rain could wait a while.

Garage block looks clearer now

These two pictures show the garage block cleared of building clutter and the layout becomes clearer.   From the left are the workshop, the lock up garage and the car port.   Weather permitting we may make a start on fitting the first of the roof sheets tomorrow.   This building is attracting every bit as much interest as the tower itself.   Visitors are intrigued by the possible navvy connection.   Locals ask one of two things:
1)  "What are you going to do when that's finished?" or
2)  "Is that for when she kicks you out?"

 

Flying Summerhouses Batman

Two remarkable pictures taken from high above Settle when our summer house was being craned in.

The crane towers above the town and the summer house flies over the trees, under the perfect control of Brian Thornton, in ideal weather (no wind).

Stuart of Wonder of Wood Ltd took the pictures.   It is now officially ours as we have paid for it!   Wonder of Wood's invoice itemises the summer house in good Yorkshire fashion as 'T' 'ut'.

Click pictures to enlarge

In the zoom-in picture below, notice how high the summer house is in relation to the water tower's roof room.   You can just see the white top of Orange's radio mast behind the crane's black jib.   At that point the summer house was higher!   Also visible in a line across the centre of the picture are some of Settle Coal's buildings - where the crane lives.

 

Hey you Jimmy

Working today on the garage roof and a car pulls up.   The driver, a man of pugilistic countenance shouts at me in Glaswegian, "Hey you Jimmy!"

"Y-es" I reply, tightening my grip on my hammer.

"Saw ye on telly.   And daat", he said nodding towards the water tower, "Is amazin.   Gude job.   Wew done!"

Window up, drives off.

For me it was like an Olympic medal.

The Station Drive - before and after

 

click pictures to enlarge

The pictures on the left of the collage show our bit of the station drive before (right) and after (left) the attentions of Northern's Strategic Development team on their team building day.   The task looked simple enough but Northern's finest could not quite complete it when their return train was due.   David and Barbara (see previous post) finished off the job.   The overgrown and untidy driveway now befits the '72 Miles of Scenic Splendour' to which it is the gateway.   What a difference.   Grateful thanks to everyone involved.

More muscle

Nephew David and his fiancee Barbara spent another day with us today.   Between them they finished off the pathway at the back, cut back the final bits of hedge and, as seen here, levelled up the mighty great tank base plates which will form the run-in to the garages.   Barbara rode shotgun on Model T Gladys Emmanuel which we brought to the water tower to see if she would fit in the garage with her hood up.   She does - just.
The Model T that is.   Not Barbara .  

The Arrival of the Summer House by Road and Air

See https://picasaweb.google.com/follyatsettle/SummerHouse?authkey=Gv1sRgCK-lmrDmvP2JqgE

for pictures of the summer house being lifted from its location at Wonder of Wood in Stainforth, arrival at the water tower and its amazing flight over the treetops to its landing pad.

Not shown is its eventful journey.   It would not fit under Ingfield bridge, by just two inches, despite the suspension of the low loader being lowered.   Brian Thornton, with help from police and colleagues had to reverse the mile or so from Ingfield Bridge to the by-pass roundabout - unable to see the back of his vehicle because of the load.   A remarkable operation.   Then up the by-pass, down Buckhaw Brow and through the middle of Settle, the police stopping oncoming traffic.   They were philosophical when they heard of the destination.   "Him again eh?"

Towards the crane's limit of weight/ reach ratio the two ton structure was expertly landed safely.   What an achievement.   

I congratulated Brian Thornton and shook his hand.   It was the third time he had moved the structure and I remarked that he had profited from it over the years.   Whilst agreeing, he did remark that if it ever needed moving again, count him out!!!

Postman's devotion to duty

Couldn't resist this from yesterday.   Picture the scene.   Empty summer house sits in Wonder of Wood's compound at Stainforth with crane poised to lift it skywards and onto a low loader.   Down the drive comes a little red van.   Out jumps Postman Pat, letters in hand, heads straight for the door and tries to deliver them.

Retreat of postman Chris Cheetham, who nonetheless sportingly agrees to pose for this picture.

W of W boss Robert Handy shows Postman Chris where the new office is.   "Bugger", says Chris.   "That's further".

Altogether now -

Postman Pat, Postman Pat, Postman Pat and his black and white cat, Early in the morning, Just as day is dawning, He picks up all the post bags in his van. Postman Pat, Postman Pat, Postman Pat and his black and white cat, All the birds are singing, And the day is just beginning, Pat feels he's a really happy man. Everybody knows, his bright red van, All his friends will smile as he waves to greet them, Maybe, You can never be sure, They'll be knock, Ring, Letters through your door, Hay hay, Postman Pat, Postman Pat, Postman Pat and his black and white cat, All the birds are singing, And the day is just beginning, Pat feels he's a really happy man, Pat feels he's a really happy man, Pat feels he's a really happy man

The Summer House has Landed

 

More pictures and details later but this has been a day of excitement with the arrival of the summer house.   Here we see the 2 ton building being lifted OVER our large sycamore tree and into position out of a glorious summer sky.

Northern team building event

 

Some weeks ago I had a surprise request from Northern Rail's Business Development team.   Could they do some work on the S&C, get their hands dirty and have a team building experience.   Here are some of them getting stuck in to the overgrown hedge on the approach to Settle Station.   In the foreground is Business Development Director Barry Graham - who proves to be a dab hand at replacing strimmer cords.   They had a ride on the line, a night at The Lion, a visit to Settle signal box and fish n'chips.    The drive now looks much more befitting of a world famous railway.   

The Beached Whale

 

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After a weekend of hard work the shed's purlins are in place.   Those are the horizontal timbers that stretch the length of the roof, to which the roofing sheets will be fixed.   Then we shall have a large waterproof area under which to complete the job.   The three bays of the building can now be seen and its size can be appreciated by comparison with the industrial building behind it.   Next job is the fascia boards, then the roof can go on.   At each stage of construction it gets to look better and better.

Raising the Roof

 

Following a great effort by Wonder of Wood and by Settle Coal, the roof trusses went on without the slightest problem this morning - and everything lined up perfectly.   Wonder of Wood pulled out the stops and cut and delivered the purlins and the massive horizontal lintel first thing this morning.   Then Settle Coal's Hiab crane lifted the trusses gently into place.   Picture shows crane driver Peter (PC) Claughton (left) and neighbour Les (to whom especial thanks), both confident enough to stand under the roof overhang.   The heap of apparent firewood we brought from Appleby really is beginning to look like a building now.