A view

Clearance of the overgrowth and leveling of the plateau at the rear of the water tower has revealed this stunning view of Pen y Ghent.   What is a mountain with a Welsh name doing in the Yorkshire Dales?   Let us  hope the Welsh never ask for its return.

Here we see the annex very nearly up to roof height. Pen y Ghent is on the horizon.

Threshold and ground floor

This was a very large stone step that we discovered in the wall to the south of the tower. It was underground and had been covered by a relatively modern concrete slope, removed for all sorts of reasons. It has been cut longitudinaly to yield two large slabs which will support the steel and glass screen wall and the entrance steps.



















Here is a detail of the craftsmanship in the 'new' stones - the work of stonemason Nick Cook at Stan Jordan's stone yard in Settle.











Meanwhile, the shape of the rooms on the ground floor begins to emerge. From the far end we have bedroom 1, the main bathroom and bedroom 2/office. The blocks will support pre-fabricated walls.
The wetness on the newly laid concrete floor is from the tank high above. The tank does not leak a drop but we are preparing four base plates for removal to make way for the lift shaft and stairway.   The concrete floor still has to have insulation, then the underfloor heating pipes and a screed lain on it.

Ground floor concrete, the annex takes shape, so too the garden

This is the upper floor of the annex taking shape. The doorway will lead out onto a bridge, connecting with the embankment. This is just the blockwork. The finished building, when clad in metal and glass, will be of ultra modern and stylish appearance.

Concrete is being laid on the ground floors of the main tower and of the annex. Tim the apprentice has the hard job.

This shot, looking south along the top of the embankment, shows its flat plateau - now cleared of trees and vegetation.

Two lorry loads of concrete cover what will be the areas of the main bedroom and bathroom. 4 or 5 more lorry loads still to be laid. The concrete has come from Lancaster. A spinning laser beam ensures things are dead level. Note the reinforcement mesh and the damp proofing and radon barriers.

First floor in, annex nearly up, earthworks taking shape

Just three weeks to the day since builders Kilburn and Johnson started work on the tower the first floor is in and the scale and proportions of the main room begin to emerge. Here we are looking south with the doorway to the annex on the left. Straight ahead are the existing doors, to disappear this week as the south wall is opened up for the glazed curtain wall.

This is the first floor of the annex. The blockwork in the foreground is the start of the kitchen walls. The embankment has been cleared of invasive vegetation and graded down to the tanked retaining wall of the ground floor, now below ground. That wall is thicker than the walls of the tower itself. Over-engineered? Maybe.

This view from Station Road shows how the water tower has regained its prominence at the entrance to Settle Station. The earth bank to the left has been much reduced. The first floor of the annex is evident to the left of the tower. Note the railings on top of the tank, completed yesterday.

Further left than the previous shot, the now much reduced earth bank has had its tree stumps removed and a row of massive, presumably glacial, rounded boulders have been lined up along the edge of a single zig-zag pathway up the slope. These boulders were just below ground level at the top of the mound.   The impression is that they were there since time immemorial so maybe this was a moraine?   The majesty of the wall to the rear has been enhanced by the lowering of the land in front of it. Whitelock's digger men have worked hard today and created a useful area from what had been a steep wilderness.

We have an electrician

Settle electrician Jonathan Mounsey has accepted the challenge of wiring the place and exploiting its potential for innovative lighting and electronics in general.   As can be seen, he arrived mob handed today and fixed a great big sign on the side of the tower - and replaced our three phase electricity meters back on the wall whence they had fallen overnight.   

The Stig is revealed

Wind the clock back from the previous post. Here are some of the steels and the Bison beams going in. It was tricky stuff, involving a hydraulic lifting machine called Merlo (the green thingy in this picture). So intense was the work in hand that the hitherto camera-shy builder Richard Kilburn had no option but to expose himself, as it were - and here he is, perched high up with heaven knows how heavy a steel beam in his custody.













The beam in place, with just millimeters to spare. The Stig is second from the left.













The Bison beams were manhandled in. Merlo thje hydraulic lifter was a bit on the wide side for access for anything but the heaviest loads. Looking something like a human caterpillar one Bison beam is aimed at its target. The Stig is fourth from the left.

All joking apart, the speed, skill and attention to detail of these builders has been of the very best.

First floor in!

There has been spectacular progress today. The steelwork, delivered yesterday were inserted during today as were the Bison beams and concrete blocks. During the course of just one day we have gained a first floor and can now really get an appreciation of how the ground and first floors will look.

Here is part of the first floor. The views from the windows are spectacular and the room itself is stunning.

Besides the floor, groundworks have continued with Whitelocks dragging out immense tree stumps as well as grading the slope of the embankment.