Electrics Finished. Fiat Lux

Electrician Steve Dinsdale was able to energise all eleven? electrical circuits this morning thanks to the modest excellence of my installation of lights, fire alarms and such.  And, of course the  thoroughness of his first-fix wiring.

I am about half way through installing the light fittings and jolly good they look too.  Quite deliberately we chose 600 mm square 48Watt LED ceiling panels for the main bright lights rather than those holes-in-the ceiling spotlights which would compromise the air tightness of the rooms.

So far the lounge, kitchen and one bedroom are lit.  Hopefully, the rest tomorrow.

The visual effect of these ceiling lights is like that of skylights shining a daylight-like light from above:

The wall lights and seated level lighting will have warm wavelengths and the bright ceiling lights have off-switches!

Oh yes, and bedroom #1 now has its sliding glass window wall:

Forgive the ton bags etc outside.  Temporary I assure you.

Storm Ciera

Storm Ciera has been with us all night but we have not heard a thing, low down and triple glazed behind the immense stone wall of the water tower but the driving rain is giving us a stern test.  No rain penetration anywhere happily.

The river Ribble on which Settle sits is prone to rapid risen and falls given its immense catchment area of the Yorkshire Dales.  The Met Office has just issued flood warnings for the Ribble through Settle, especially the area around Settle Bridge:

Fingers crossed for the people who live in that area, and at Mearbeck by the by-pass.  That by-pass, a boon to Settle in that much traffic was diverted, created a huge dam at Mearbeck, seen at the bottom of the map.  That leads to occasional flooding - today almost certainly.

This is Settle's Millennium Bridge this morning.  Queens Rock is well covered:

https://www.facebook.com/philip.lord2/videos/10221231156998229/

Just taken the ducking fog* for walkies (she obliged promptly) and returned home soaked.  Called by the station.  Northern did bravely attempt a normal service today but first train north had to turn back at Skipton.  Seems like local roads are impassable so Settle is in effect cut off just now.

*ducking fog - n. term of affection for canine companion.  Feline equivalent is cooking fat.

Is That Schuco?

We took delivery of the long awaited (our fault) sliding door/window for the main bedroom on Friday.  It will be fitted tomorrow, Monday, when we shall be fully and finally glazed and airtight.

The door was delivered by a three man team from Aire Valley Glass.  One of the men was older than the other two and he had tears in his eyes as he looked towards the south facing glazed screen wall of the original tower.  "Is that Schuco?" he asked.  I was bewildered and tempted to reply "No it's a water tower" but restrained myself.  He was meaning the actual glazing system of that screen wall. "Schuco!" he declared again. "That's Schuco glazing that is".

This was news to me but I was in no position to argue with him on that.  "If it is Schuco is that good or bad?" I asked.

"Good, good!" he exclaimed.  "The best!  You only see that on big posh buildings, skyscrapers and such" he said.

There we left it but I was intrigued so I later Googled Schuco and sure enough there it was - a very commercial glazing system indeed.  Hardly surprising perhaps having been supplied and fitted by 'Commercial' Systems International of Hull.  For completeness, Schuco has an umlaut over the u but Blogger and me don't do umlauts.  All that told me was that there is a Schuco glazing system out there but was ours Schuco?

Yesterday architect Stuart Green called round to see the near finished extension in all its glory so I asked him.  Was our glazing in that southern wall, roof room etc. Schuco?

It was.

Let There be Light - and Plants

A busy Saturday here in the run-up to storm Ciara tonight and tomorrow.  During the still before the storm our new embankment was planted with carefully chosen planting by no less than Andrew Lay of Settle's super-garden-centre lay of the Land.  Here is Andrew getting his hands dirty:

Above is the completed planting - inevitably unimpressive just yet but just wait.   Barely visible but definitely there are tiny rockery plants between some of the large boulders, including aubretia that will cascade downwards.  This really is an outward and visible sign of finishing touches.

Indoors was another milestone - the near completion of the second-fix electrics by electrician Steve Dinsdale.  Poor Steve has been off work for many weeks following a serious foot injury.  Bless, him he gave up his Saturday for a pre-return to full time work to get our electrics finished.  I had spent much of the past week fitting sockets and lights for Steve to inspect and test before anything could be made live.   Happy to report in all due modesty that my wiring was fine.  Excellent indeed.  All the power sockets are now live, so too the lighting circuits:

To cap it all, the second steam special of the season flew through Settle at 1608, bang on time with the Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express London Euston - Carlisle - London Euston, hauled by Royal Scot locomotive Scots Guardsman, seen here earlier in the afternoon near Armathwaite, just south of Carlisle:

See the real Scots guards in the link below parading through the streets of Glasgow after a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

https://youtu.be/JVxb2dXCXTY

So sad that such a large police presence, some no doubt armed, is required for soldiers on ceremonial occasions like this.  A stirring spectacle nonetheless.

What's It Like Near You? Now, Here's a Glorious Answer

People from 'away' often ask what the world looks like here in the Yorkshire Dales.  This superbly filmed video by the Yorkshire Dales National Park shows you.  Click on the link and enjoy

https://youtu.be/nT2sTUv2QmQ

The mountain shown in summer and winter at around 2 minutes is Pen y Ghent and we have super views of it from the water tower.

Somebody seems to have got a drone for Christmas but boy, have they put it to spectacularly good use!

I particularly like the very final scene of course.

Stairs Completed - and Look Spectacular

The lads from the Keighley firm of stair-manufacturers JRFabs Ltd paid a final visit today to do a few tail-end jobs on the external stairway such as making good the welds between sections of handrails and drilling five holes on the landing by the top entrance door so that water can drain away.

They certainly go the extra mile to make sure things look and are properly finished.  In this case they shifted the pile of stones that came out of the retaining wall below the stairs a) to get rid of the unsightly pile and b) to arrange them back loosely onto the retaining wall top so that builders Hopleys can cement them in place later.  Those handrails were in four or five pieces each welded together on site.  You simply cannot see or even feel the welded joints.  The stairs, landings and supports are complicated enough but those handrails are spectacularly impressive.  The dry stone wall backdrop really makes the picture complete.

Here then is the finished stairway - and mighty fine it all looks too:

When the rain-screen cladding is eventually in place this end of the building will be quite spectacular without being unduly showy.  Indeed it will look deliberately functional, as befits an adjunct to a water tower.

http://www.metalfabs.co.uk

Kitchen Installed and Bathroom Almost - and a Big Bunch of Flowers

The bathroom is bigger than the picture suggests and it is nearly there:

 I cannot get a picture of the entire kitchen but below is the south end of it, awaiting flooring, tiles and equipment but you begin to get the idea. there are two more windows to the right out of shot, one of full height:

 Here is the north end with the BAAF (see earlier post) on the left, then a pull-out tall unit, oven, cupboards and induction hob and hood.  No handles anywhere.  Ceiling wires await lights and heat alarm:

 This is the nearest we can get to a kitchen panorama, form the entry door:

 This lovely window overlooks the towers entrance lobby and then right through the tower towards the station.   It should make for a stunning visual centrepiece for the lounge:

Pat is still laid up as her foot mends.  Below is a beautiful vase of flowers that arrived by post from FoSCL people Douglas and Margaret Hodgins and Andrew and Rachel Griffiths, collectively on the accompanying good-wishes card "Your friends in the north":