More Signs of the Times and some Cladding

Notice board at Settle station and, below, at Ashfield car park:

We are re-using as much of the original cladding that was removed rom the outer walls of the first extension.  The remaining black parts of the outer walls will have identical-looking newly made panels eventually:

Warrendale Knotts

Just saying, we are incredibly lucky to be able to look out of our windows and to admire the incredible beauty of Warrendale Knotts

http://myyorkshiredales.co.uk/hills/warrendale-knotts/

Signs of the Times and a Message to God from The Donald

Every single weekend of the year when the weather is dry, motor cyclists scream their way to Settle shattering the peace of the Dales.  They park spectacularly in the Market Place.

Coronavirus has changed things and some locals have taken direct action overnight:

And mid-afternoon it has all been exceedingly effective:

PLEASE take time to open and view the following link, kindly sent from America:

https://digg.com/2020/trump-impression-coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR3F9p3LhRR3g8LTREPcNyuYVg3jCCL7kb4KkC_ZGWc1kPVLxFemcVNcGow

Social Distancing in Settle Steps Up a Gear

Booths supermarket car park yesterday:

Meanwhile the daffodils on the station drive are in fine form this year:

Not for All the Tea in China

Another welcome side effect from coronavirus lockdown is the proliferation of old TV clips that are appearing.  Like this one of the late Fred Dibnah - sound on:

https://www.facebook.com/OnlyFoolsandLegends/videos/900006070415120/

I have learnt to be OK with heights of water tower scale but nothing like that!  Fred Dibnah - a national treasure who died of old age. 

I think that chimney might have been Lister's Mill in Bradford.  I remember a steeplejack falling from Salt's Mill chimney at Saltaire (below)  Nasty.  At a mere 250 feet it once had an overhanging bell-tower or campanile on the top.  It was removed for safety reasons - maybe by Fred?

Lockdown

One of the unsurprising outcomes of this lockdown is that the EMail Inbox is almost empty.  Social media however is busier than ever.

Try this as a counting exercise if you wake up in the middle of the night-

https://www.facebook.com/RibbleDale/videos/498814237671890/

The warm spring weather is resulting in some lovely and topical Dales photographs appearing:

Above - Social distancing in action at yesterday's Settle market - still going since 1249! 

And below - the Three Peaks from Fountains Fell - taken by a member of the Cave and Mountain Rescue Team from Clapham - all volunteers who turn out unquestioningly whatever the risks.  Two legged lifeboats.   

Probably worth clicking to enlarge and marvel at this landscape.

Cladding

All that now remains to be done is to clad the outside of our amazingly well insulated extension.  The planners and the conservation officer were insistent that it must match the cladding of the previous extension.  That is fine but the salvaged cladding panels and the originals have had 9 years of UV fading so will be no match - but would be compliant.

The original manufacturers Csi of Hull are presently busy but liable to being either closed because of coronavirus or diverted to more pressing needs.  An alternative is near-match cladding by Kingspan which local people are keen to do, if they can get supplies. . .

Another option arose today from local firm Wonder of Wood Ltd - cedar or larch cladding which they have in stock and which turns grey if untreated or a more woody colour if treated.  I could install it whilst under social isolation.

Any of these would look great so I have put it to the planners and am awaiting a working-from-home decision . . . .  I do hope it is not 'you will have to make a further planning application'!

Let's see.

UPDATE
No joy with planning - new planning and listed building consents required if anything other than the original cladding is required which would delay things by 5 to 8 weeks.  This country's priorities seem a bit skewed given present circumstances - or is it just the (failing and self-important) Craven District Council Planning department?  Planning officers don't last long there.

Coping Well

On the first working day after a hectic touristy weekend Settle is almost a ghost town - Christmas Day quiet.   I took out Bess for essential business - walkies and got a couple of pints of milk not problem from the Premier shop on the corner by the town hall.  I was the only person there and paid £1.50 with contactless card.

Meanwhile Ashfield DIY was open - but with its doors locked:

and people keeping a respectful social distance:

Coronavirus on Wheels Comes to Settle?

The question mark is deliberate.  It is a question, not a known fact.  Fact is that the Yorkshire Dales are an amazingly large and beautiful area for recreation and isolation.  Trouble is, Settle in particular has all the associated facilities so visitors tend to swarm here especially on a sunny spring weekend.  Normally this is hugely welcome - indeed essential for our economy.

This weekend has seen exceptionally large numbers of visitors, many on their motor cycles in the market place.   One, just one of them with coronavirus is enough to trigger widespread, perhaps fatal, infection.

The UK's 'advice' is for people to stay at home, not travel and not to congregate.  To keep at least 2m distance between people.  Pubs, restaurants, churches etc are closed.  Extraordinary.

Below shows the usual tables and benches outside Settle's Naked Man cafe being removed:

Uncompromising notices as below are appearing everywhere, including on town gateway signs, printed off by locals:

The motor cyclists clearly think this does not apply to them though.  The usual motorcycle parking area had been cordoned off so they just fill the remaining spaces.  The same thing has been happening at all the other UK tourist magnets.  Urgent legislation and enforcement is needed.

Tuesdays are Market Day in Settle and have been since 1249.  It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow, Tuesday, 771 years on.

Social Isolation Comes to Settle

Since our home became a building site we have had to install high fencing around the perimeter.  This meant taking down the insufficiently high existing wooden fence to our southern boundary, lovingly made in Midland Railway style nine years or so ago.  For a long time it has lain horizontal in long grass, suffering an unknown fate.

Yesterday it was re-erected.  The original had been crooked because of existing trees but now it is string-line straight - and very good it looks too:

When the planting takes hold and the balcony is finished this will be a spectacular feature area.

The grounds to the rear of the apartments next door are, to put it politely, a natural habitat.  We have left a gap in the fence at the top which will enable four footed friends access.  To be fair, residents of the apartments simply had no safe access whatever to their grounds at the rear.  Now they have, via ours by arrangement if they wish.

Coronavirus will, we hope, think twice before entering.  Settle social club have changed the wording of their blackboard from 'Open as Usual' to:

No prizes for arithmetic or spelling but a nice thought.

Balcony Reinstated

The Wendy House had a ramshackle and towards it demise dangerous balcony from its outset.   Then the big tree under which it nestled went - all with necessary planning consent - opening up glorious and sunny views from where it was.  So it became a 'nice-to-have' to reinstate it after the extension was completed and the steep embankment below was properly secured.

Dry stone walling, terracing and planting have tamed the slope but the Wendy House remained in rather uncomfortable hilltop isolation, lacking its balcony and external stairway access.

Tomorrow the stairway wizards from JRFabrications Ltd of Keighley are coming to take exact measurements for the stairway so it was timely for us to get the deck of the balcony located as a top datum line.

As a bonus and thanks to coronavirus two volunteer helpers became available so the three of us heaved the balcony railings into place and secured:

We may yet cut off the scaffolding corners as they look a bit like what they are!

Still quite a lot of work to do on the balcony overall but you get the general idea.  A wooden kick-board cum fascia will finish off the deck as well as sidewalks and the access stairs.  Planting will screen off the subframe supporting the deck.

Amazing what can be done with fibreglass decking panels that came with the tower, some old scaffolding tower components and a brand new set of galvanised and powder coated steel  railings bought for £50 on E-Bay (for that story see the link below)

https://settlestationwatertower.blogspot.com/2019/05/what-day-first-of-may.html

and now with a 6 inch fascia board for added rigidity and a neater edge for the deck:

That rather leaves the ends of the structure sticking out 4ft either side.  Unsightly but necessary to support the walkways around the structure.   A solution may be below - making use of then by creating lattices up which can grow climbing roses:

Yes I know, I know but it might work - and I have ordered the roses so we'll give it a try.  I might give the concrete supports a coat of neutral colour to soften them visually.

Carpets Laid

Big milestone today with carpets and other floorings laid and all looking very smart indeed.

above with underlay in the lounge and below the finished lounge, kitchen and bedroom 2:

Hallway:

and bedroom 1

Full marks to Peter Allen's men whose skills and experience saw the whole lot done in a day.

https://www.peterallenflooring.co.uk/category/residential-projects/

On top of that, arrangements well in hand for the final external staircase, external cladding and boundary fence reinstatement.

Plenty still to do with furnishing the rooms.  What a pleasant way to fill the time when under self-imposed coronavirus isolation.  Fascinating times for somebody who remembers air raid sirens, Spitfires and Heinkels being the daily norm.

Well, Well, Well

Slightly off piste perhaps but definitely water related, this remarkable photograph shows a man fetching water from the well at the top of Well Hill in Settle, behind The Folly:

It looks like hard and tedious work.  That shoulder brace or yoke? may have survived as a curio?

The origin and date of the picture are unknown but social media in Settle is on the case.

Phenomenal Progress

Last time we went to local supermarket Booths Pat was in a wheelchair.  Today we went for a minor replenishment of essentials and Pat was mobile and fit enough to walk!! albeit using the supermarket trolley as a makeshift zimmer:

Later, totally unaided she was standing up and walking around the kitchen making our evening meal!

Slightly under-lit but you see the idea.  The daffs. by the way are from the garden.

Meanwhile, despite it being Sunday we managed to locate three of the heavy 4ft x 4ft fibreglass decking panels for the Wendy House balcony.   Not level yet but they very soon will be after a few mm.s being shaved off their widths so that they will then rest on the cross bars of the former scaffolding tower frames:

This is shaping up to be a wonderful sitting-out area with a view.  May not look it yet but trust me on this one.

Twitter message from George (Restoration-Man) Clarke today remembering it was two years ago that he and two of his children visited the old place.  "Seems like two days ago" said George.  Here's a picture of pre-broken neck me, taken by George:

You can see in the background the slope on which the new extension now sits.

Mystery Raffle at Downham

My career as a'narrator' is blossoming.  Last evening it was at a sell-out concert in the lovely village of Downham, Lancashire where the fabulous Karin Grandal Park was performing her S&C-based songs 'Lives on the Line'.

It was part of a weekend-long Folk Festival at Downham's amazing village hall, surely the biggest village hall anywhere.

First item on the programme was a one-prize mystery raffle.  Tickets purchase had been made a requirement of admission.

The prize?

A large pack of toilet rolls*.  The evening didn't look back.








* That is a reference which may not stand the test of time.  It refers to the current worldwide coronavirus emergency where some people have been panic buying loo rolls.  As they say in these parts, 'there's nowt so queer as folk'.

Stone Wall and Aluminium Cladding

A quite ornate stone wall had to be partly demolished to make way for digger access in the staircase area.  That was a shame but we kept the stone carefully and they have been most excellently rebuilt into the wall:

You can barely see the join.

Neighbours have politely enquired how the external cladding is coming along as for now the walls are covered in black Tyvek which does look untidy, if effective at keeping the weather out.

In fact the walls have been the subject of a good deal of planning:

Forgive the orientation of the drawing but the panels on all of the five outside walls  have been carefully worked out.  The grey panels on the drawings are existing panels recovered from the earlier extension which will be re-used.  The red panels will be made anew.

Huge Strides and a Streak

Reaching the exciting pre-carpet stage now.  Small progress on so many fronts.

Major progress though on Pat's mobility as she recovers from her major right foot 'reconstruction' surgery.  Yesterday we went to the Yorkshire Clinic's physiotherapy department again - into which Pat WALKED, defiantly carrying her zimmer!  Here she is with two sticks walking towards the physio:

and walking back with just ONE!  So good has been her progress during the last seven days that the expected stage of crutches between zimmer and sticks has been dispensed with.

But back to real business - here is a super picture of A4 Pacific Union of South Africa heading north past Blea Moor signal box:

The Balcony's Subframe goes in

The Wendy House at the top of the banking has been a virtual no-go area since the embankment below it was reduced but steepened and with the removal of its existing but rather ramshackle balcony.

All that has changed today with a substantial start being made on the steel subframe that will support the decks, handrails and the landing for the access stairs:

The steepness of the slope can be seen here.  The actual deck will span between the top rail of the subframe and the lower of the two horizontal timbers at the base of the building.  The stairs will rise up to a landing by the entry door.   The sections of scaffolding tower pieces should be unrecognisable as such when the deck is in place, very soon.  Once tidied up and fully planted the embankment will be a very pleasing feature and a very enjoyable sundeck.

By the end of what turned into a horribly wet day the subframe had rounded the two corners:

This view is from the entrance / kitchen doorway

Painted Throughout, Heated and a glimpse of Semerwater

The plan has worked - all the interior painting has been completed and mighty fine it looks too.  We have taken the decision to paint everything plain white for now to enable us
a) to see how that looks and
b) to see how things look when carpets and furniture are added:

This is the door to bedroom 2.   The heating of the whole extension is working exceedingly well with just the two modern efficient electric radiators set at 18 degreesC.  They reach temperature in next to no time and the heat recovery ventilation (HRV) plus the deep all-round insulation works well too.  The thermometer is located well away from the radiators and the 56% humidity may reflect the water based paint drying out.  The HRV acts to some degree like a dehumidifier.  The condensate tube on the main Vent Axia HRV unit below the floor drips reassuringly steadily.

And talking of water here's a lovely picture from Twitter today - Semerwater.  Not in the Lake District but not far from here in the Yorkshire Dales:

Blooming Rocks

In next to no time since planting by Lay of the Land our magnificent rockery walls are starting to blossom:

When Brewing was Nationalised

Discovered an interesting and relevant piece of history whilst disturbing the soil at the top of the embankment in preparation for reinstating our southern boundary fence - a screw top from a beer bottle, embossed with a large letter C surrounded by the lettering:

CARLISLE STATE MAGMT. BREWERY:

It is an amazing story which dates from World War 1.  Below is the story from Wikipedia - a very quirky British thing in Carlisle - rather like Hull's own telephone company with defiantly white boxes:

The State Management Scheme was the nationalisation of the brewing, distribution and sale of liquor in three districts of the United Kingdom from 1916 until 1973. The main focus of the scheme, now commonly known as the Carlisle Experiment, was Carlisle and the surrounding district close to the armament factories at Gretna, founded in 1916 to supply explosives and shells to the British Army in the First World War. However, there were three schemes in total: Carlisle and Gretna, Cromarty Firth, and Enfield. In 1921 Carlisle and Gretna was split into two separate areas. Carlisle was the larger part and supplied some beer to Gretna. In 1922 the Enfield scheme ended and its public houses were sold back to private enterprise.

The scheme was privatised by Edward Heath's Conservative Government in 1971 and its assets were sold at auction in six lots, mostly to established brewing interests.

A central pillar of the scheme was the ethos of disinterested management: public house managers had no incentive to sell liquor, which supported the aim of reducing drunkenness and its effects on the arms industry. From 1916 to 1919 the scheme had a "no treating" policy, forbidding the buying of rounds of drinks.

It is unsurprising to find  evidence of drinking in a working railway environment.  Nowadays strictly prohibited for railway staff, drinking beer was very much part of railway culture in steam days.  It was almost encouraged among engine crews with staff bars at terminal stations and large engine sheds.  There is an old chestnut about a traveller taking to task an engine crew for being the worse for drink.  The standard reply used to be especially valid on a route like Settle-Carlisle "Would you like to drive one of these things in all weathers when sober?"

Carlisle's amber output clearly travelled as far as Settle.