It's BIG Isn't It?

Overheard in conversation on the station drive today:

"It's BIG isn't it?   MUCH bigger than on the telly.   Wow."

Gladys Emmanuel Has Moved In

The centre bay of the shed is now home to Gladys, who fits in rather nicely don't you think?

We Have a Date

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Who would have believed it?   Thanks to the dedicated work of paper conservator Stephen Allen the fragments of printed material found below layers of limewash on the inside of one of the cladding boards has yielded a date.

1878

The image is difficult to read but the date of the newspaper is very clear.   Not only was there lime-wash on top of the printed paper, there is lime-wash below it.   This presumably means that the paper was stuck onto the wall that had already been lime-washed at least once - meaning that the shed dates from earlier than the date on the newspaper.   The navvy huts would have been built at any time from 1869 onwards.   Although the line opened to passenger trains in 1876 there was still much work to do so the huts, or at least some of them,  would still have been in use in 1878.   The branch line to Hawes from Hawes Junction was not opened until 1878 and at least two of the stations were not built until after 1878.

This dating evidence is an amazing find.   Stephen Allen is still working on the conservation of the paper but thanks to his painstaking work we have the most compelling clue to support the case that the Appleby shed was originally a navvy hut.

Ladies who dine

Earlier this week Pat and I had the honour of speaking to a gathering of 40 or so 'ladies who dine' once a month at the Craven Arms in Settle.   Besides it being a delightful evening, a splendid meal and a £50 donation to the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line there was a very touching vote of thanks from one of just three of the 40 ladies who was born and bred in Settle.

She was kind enough to tell us that she had not heard a single soul say anything negative about the water tower's restoration.   Everybody was full of praise for it and what a welcome difference it had made to Settle.   That was very, very much appreciated.

Oh yes, and I had the Gents all to myself at the comfort break.

The Rain Chains Work

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It has rained cats and dogs for most of today.   The weather forecast said showers.   Well, today's showers have been joined on to one another into what I call rain!

Anyway, the new rain chains got a thoroughly good test and here they are - water cascading down them, all under control and all destined for the rainwater harvesting tank.   Do click on the collage to enlarge it.   The real thing is quite mesmerising to watch, and to hear.

Rains and Drains and Chains

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The magnificent shed now has drains which go to a manhole by the front steps thence to the rainwater harvesting tank.   The building never had gutters and drainpipes so we decided to use inconspicuous black gutters and abandon any idea of down-pipes in favour of rain chains.   We first saw this idea in Canada on log cabins with overhanging roofs.   Less obtrusive than downpipes with lots of bends.   We had chunky chains on site so have used them instead.   Fun too.

Spot the difference

One very obvious difference is the sunshine complicating things in the lower picture but what I am driving at is the door frame in the lower picture.   Painted maroon it is in fact a false frame, serving no purpose other than to deceive the viewer into thinking that these doors are real.   In fact their hinges are much further out - and can just be seen, though painted matt black.

The true doors are 96" wide whereas the false doors are 66" - far too narrow for a modern garage.

Don't tell a soul.