Visitors, glaziers and kitchen conundra

Renowned water colour artist Les Packham and his wife Judy visited today. Les has done me the honour of asking me to write a foreword to his next book of paintings - dealing with the scenery of the Settle-Carlisle Line.

CSi are back in a big way completing the glazing of the annex and hanging the external doors. Here we see the double glazing going in to the north side door - in the utility room.

The control manifolds of the underfloor heating system for the first floor. This paraphernalia will be hidden inside a kitchen corner cupboard from tomorrow.

Ollie the elctrician makes adjustments to the electrics in the kitchen after the kitchen fitters demanded changes yesterday. Irritating at worst, but just about the only real wobble we have had in the build so far.   Emphatically not Ollie's fault.

This is what a kitchen looks like when it is piled up in the middle of the living room.

The outside staircase arrives

Merlo was again in action to lift the tonne of steelwork that is the outside staircase.

Tiger Aspect's Melissa Mayne gets expert help with her harness before braving the hairy scary ladder.

Merlo starts the big lift.

Filming me filming you, aha. Cameraman James acknowledges the irony (is that the right word?). He was in HD but I wasn't.

A pretty picture of the sky above the now open lift shaft, taken from three floors below.

The magnificent outside staircase in place. It is a tribute to CSi Ltd and to builders Kilburn and Johnson that the staircase fitted exactly - dead level and all bolt holes matching perfectly.

The railings - beautifully executed. From the balcony at the top one could imagine oneself on an ocean liner.

Getting plastered

This trendy collage shows the Kilburn and Johnson synchronised dotting, dabbing and plastering team in action today. These guys do not hang about.

Rufty tufty fencer Les Brewer's pink wheel barrow has been the subject of comment. His defence is that 'At least no bugger's going to nick it'.

Towards the other end of the scale Unimog was back today, this time delivering a load of limestone from the quarry at Horton.

Looking like something out of a science fiction movie is the rainwater harvesting tank - to be concreted in during the coming weekend, after which all those pipes and wires will be buried for ever.

The early evening sunshine lights up the western face of the tower. The fence line can be seen as can the smoke trail from a very satisfying all-day bonfire. We are gradually clearing the site of rubbish with a view to making a start on the landscaping.

Fountain and fence

Today, we took the bull by the horms and cut into the big iron pipe, 4 feet below ground, which carried water from tower to the station. When Carl Johnson cut into it there was an unexpected fountain of water which persisted for a distressingly long time. Bucket chains could not keep up with the flow so we started pumping. Eventually it ebbed. The problem was the water contained in the pipes to the station platforms back-flowing to where we had cut. We did wonder if we had cut into a water main. Picture shows Carl with the sawn-off pipe, now dry, starting to construct the sump which will take the tank water to the rainwater harvesting tank.

Before long the sump, lined with waterproof cement, was taking shape.

Mean while Les Brewer's fence was progressing. Note the elegant curves as the fence makes its way up the knoll. This fence will be a fitting first layer to the vista of the water tower for people arriving at Settle station.

Classic fencing

By chance, Settle's Wonder of Wood happened to have a huge quantity of redwood spare, of just the right size for the palings so fencer Les Brewer, seen here creosoting, stepped in and bought it. Creosote is now back on the agenda after years in the 'Elf an' Safety wilderness. Les uses a mixture of creosote and a secret Yorkshire Dales magic ingredient.

This shot shows the gentle sweep of the fence as it curves to follow the station drive. If you press your nose to the screen you can smell the creosote. There were constant interruptions from passers-by taking in the nostalgic vapours.

Here we see the Jeff Wilson field gates and the Les Brewer fence, both built to Midland Railway drawings. This must be as good as these things get. Note the site supervisor, Bobby, looking on.

This is sometimes the scourge of building sites - the radio. Not so here. Kilburn and Johnson are Classic FM builders. Smooth classics and creosote on a summer's day. What bliss.

Sewer side

Fresh back from his holiday in Majorca builder Carl Johnson is back down to earth with a bump and is seen here part way down the main sewer on The Sidings - where mobile telephones clearly work! He is speaking to a colleage at the business end of the pipe. Somebody has got to do it!