29th October, 2023:
Work on the footings has begun! It kicked off in style with the dig party on Friday. Thanks to all the volunteers who came and helped. In fact, they worked so hard that they finished the job on the same day, so unfortunately we had to cancel the next day’s party. Our apologies to those who had kindly agreed to come and were looking forward to it. We hope to see you at another event – maybe the pugging workshop?
Each footing is carefully inspected.
So, what’s been achieved? Soil was carefully cleared away from under the footings and the slate flag stones. The condition of most of the footings was as expected, but the builder did express surprise a couple of times to see how intact some of them were. A trench was dug along the back wall. Supports were put in place to secure the wall, and it will be lowered again when the footings are done. Any pug that was removed has been kept so that it can be reused.
All in all, a great day’s work! And they had time to stop and have German apple cake for morning tea:) It’s really exciting to see this next stage of the conservation happening, as it’s a big step closer towards completion. Don’t forget you can be part of our ‘foot of footings’ campaign, and have your name, or someone else’s recorded on site and on the website.
A trench is dug along the back wall
German apple cake for a well-deserved morning tea
Seems he’s in a bit of a hole…
