Project progress photo blog

The project's photo diary. Come back regularly and see how things have progressed.

Text and photos by BRE's Peter White, and are copyright BRE 2010

UPDATED 23 JULY 2010

Following a pause in the work on site owing to the economic downturn, work restarted in earnest in January 2010. New roof tiles to supplement those stripped from the roof early in the project arrived on site ready for re-roofing to begin. Window sashes were removed from site and taken for refurbishment, and significant structural works including the straightening and strengthening of the clock tower were carried out. Work to replace and strengthen roof timbers is complete, and the roof has been recovered with a mix of the original and new tiles. Internal works have included the installation of several differing types of insulation to allow comparisons to be made between them, new and renovated windows are in place. Externally, different render systems have been applied to two parts of the building, including a section with external insulation used beneath the render. The scaffold was 'struck' mid June and the site hoardings taken down from the front and one side elevation. Rooms have been decorated and floors carpeted with tiles using recycled material, with linoleum used in the kitchen and bathroom areas. By mid July, work on Phase 1 of the project was substantially complete

Below the restoration of the building's iconic clock tower captured in pictures.

And here, the second set of photos for 2010 which gives a quick flavour of other work done to complete Phase 1 of the project.

(Photos from the 2008-09 stages of the project can still be seen here)

Read a little more about the project, including viewing the building plans here in this article from BD

Restoring the clock tower: February to May 2010
The clock tower was a later addition to the original Victorian building, possibly added when the stable block was extended for the first time in about 1878 (when Bucknalls, the country house served by the stables, was also significantly altered). The tower stands on four timber legs, two of which were mounted over a load-bearing wall, but the other two simply rested on the floor joists of the room below. The combined effects of the weight of the tower and water leaking onto those floor timbers owing to a poorly-detailed valley gutter, had led to the tower leaning considerably to one side, and much of the timber becoming quite rotten. In the earlier parts of this blog it was suggested that the tower would be removed for restoration. However, in the end it was strengthened, jacked straight and made good in situ, as the photos below show...

16 Feb 2010: (left photo) Steel angle plates were secured to each of the four main uprights (seen in the upper centre of the photo) and temporary support beams were placed beneath (seen protruding through the floor), with a temporary cross beam being used to support two jacks. The jacks were used to raise the leaning side of the tower, moving it about 100mm upwards to bring it into plumb. (Right hand photo) the team at work...

22 Feb: Steel joists placed under the reinforced tower legs to support the clock. The jacks and temporary beams were removed a couple of days later.

10 March: A representative from International Paints applies a newly developed paint 'disbonder' to the flaking exterior of the tower...

... and a day later the paintwork easily peels away. Once the paint was all removed, remedial work was carried out to replace damaged timber...

... allowing the application of primer and undercoats of the first new paint on the tower for many years.

Painter, Don, at work applying the gloss coat on 18 March.

A week or so later, we can now clearly see the new paint with new timber cill and circular frame below the clock.

Mid April 2010. Replacement rafters have been inserted into the roof section below the clock.

26 April: Roof membrane in place and tile battens ready to receive the new Redland roof tiles...

... which were fitted by roofer Steve a day later.

Tiling complete, and part of the newly-formed (and much improved over the original) lead valley gutter created by 'Fred the lead'

On 4th May the site was visited by a delegation from the key funders of the project, and we see them here at the top of the scaffolding admiring the completed new roof.

And by 14 May the leadwork was nearly complete around the clock too. A lead capping was added to the cill beneath the clock a day after this shot was taken)

A couple of 'odd' photos: the left one shows the counterweight pointers inside the clock face. The small rod at '2 o'clock' is counterweighting the 'real' hour hand outside which is actually at 4 (the inside pointers work on a dial that is reflected top-to-bottom compared to the external face, making setting the clock quite tricky!). The inside minute hand counterweight points at '5', which is actually 1 outside (so the clock shows five past four). In the right-hand photo, the small electric motor (only 5cm across) which drives the clock. (The original weight-driven pendulum clock will be displayed inside the building once completed)

3 June 2010. The upper lifts of the scaffold have been removed, the front elevation of the building rendered, and the clock revealed from behind its protective plastic and scaffolding cover for the first time since the beginning of 2008.

A close-up of the finished tower against a stunning June sky. Elsewhere around the project a considerable amount of work has gone on: this will be featured in the next update to this blog very soon.

One of the last shots taken before the scaffold was removed completely, showing the tubes of the solar thermal water heating system, installed on the roof of the demonstration 'house' to the left of the clock tower.

See the next set of photos...