Blue Flower

Three of us were working today and we came prepared. Eddie had new safety boots, so new that they still had all the labels and tags on them. We also brought a knife this week so we were able to cut the geotex material, just as well as we covered most of the site with it. This material will be topped with soil to protect from frost damage to the brick floors and features.

First we measured the area next to the cistern and cut a sheet to fit, when in place we weighed it down at the edges with bricks. After covering the cistern last week we realised its not practical to cover these large areas with soil by hand so this will have to wait until machines can be taken to site (the track is too slippery after the heavy rain at the moment). The next part to be covered was next to the trench and hammer mill, this contained the curved channel and sloping trench so we marked out these features on top with bricks so people do not fall in.

Work is still ongoing with the gate frame, the drill bit is stuck in the wood where the drill burnt out, and the frame still needs to be attached to the walls so we were asked not to cover the pier with sandbags yet as it would be hazardous while working on the pier.

We walked down river and investigated some twisted metal which Adam found last Saturday, this could be fencing, farm machinery, or something from the mill. We noticed a few burgers and sausages on the barbecue left over from last Saturday, but managed to resist the temptation to eat them.

The covering up continued with the hammer mill base, this is an awkward shape to cover but we measured up and worked out that one piece would cover it, this was cut and held down all round. Broken and mis-shaped bricks were used for holding the edges down as this saves good bricks for re-use and clears up what would otherwise be rubbish. We thought the covered hammer mill looked like a prototype car under wrap, there was a suggestion we should get a bikini clad model to pose on it.

The next area to be covered was the upstream brick floor and the corner area towards the boiling house. Then the downstream brick floor was covered, the sandbags on the river wall were used to hold down one edge. This area is going to be permanently covered with grass and two of the millstones will be displayed there. The large offcut from this area was used for the pit in front of the wheel. The last area to be covered with material was the feature near the furnace. Finally sandbags were used to cover the slabs over the small channel and the brick work of the furnace surround. Still to be covered are the pier, building walls, water wheel inlet floor and some other small areas of brick.

We managed to get some finds today, a metal spike near the river wall, two nails in the spoil heap, and a small bone near the furnace area.

Graham Bartlett         Interactive Plan          Volunteer       Previous      Next

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