Blue Flower

There were 5 volunteers today. The elevator pit was cleared of debris ready for a brick foundation. The elevator originally sat on a wooden plinth but this has rotted away, although several pieces of wood survived and have been kept. Two layers of bricks were cemented in place, which will be allowed to dry before the elevator (which is very heavy) is cemented on top.

The tunnel in the blacksmiths area had soil and debris blocking the entrance so some of this was dug away to enable access to view inside the tunnel. Work stopped here as the bricks above the tunnel entrance looked loose so it was agreed it would be unsafe to work below them. We could see that there was a large pile of soil at the far end of the tunnel. A small area of the floor in the blacksmiths area was uncovered to see where the edge of the building is.

We noticed the river level is higher than usual as the brick floor on the downstream side of the wheel was fully covered in about 10cm of water, previously most of it was dry apart from one corner.

While we were down on the brick floor we looked around the recently completed water wheel, we also oiled the bearings again and decided to make wooden covers to go in each bearing cap including the new one, to keep the bearings dry.

The river was crossed to take pictures from the opposite bank of the new sign and brick wall, as well as general views. A group of ramblers again walked past who were looking at the signs and asking about the work. Labels with the website address will be made and added to the signs.

The machinery base area, cistern hatch, furnace opening and elevator pit were measured to determine the quantity of materials needed for frost proof covers. It was suggested that a glazed unit could be used to cover the elevator pit if a suitable one could be obtained at minimal expense. When materials / budget are available, work will start on covering the areas now exposed in a way which allows the interesting features to be seen while giving frost protection.  The metal detector was used on the spoil heaps and a large iron plate was found, also a small bone was noticed.

Graham Bartlett    Interactive Plan            Volunteer       Previous      Next 

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