On Saturday 19 December at the bone mill many plants were in bud due to the exceptionally mild weather.

On Wednesday 23 December, eleven of us worked on the wagon. Fred had already removed the rest of the side panels and roof at the weekend and made three new roof panels. We all rubbed down, ground away rust and painted the metal frame. Adam used the grinder on the end panels and the needle gun on the bottom rails which got rid of rust and scale, then these were painted. Eddie and I cleaned up and painted the roof end clamps.

As well as helping with rubbing down and painting, Debra made tea for us at break time, then brought us egg and bacon rolls and pizza rolls at lunch time. Jan was busy at home making cup cakes with pictures of waterwheels on them, and was planning to bring them round to us all, but time ran away with long phone calls and I was home before she had the chance to visit.

After lunch we started fitting the three plywood roof panels. Fred made these by laminating sections of ply with an overlap to avoid gaps. When the first one was put in place it was clamped in the corners to hold it onto the curved profile of the roof and screwed down. Graeme and Fred were on top of the roof and their helpers were at the sides. The next roof section was overlapped and fitted, the last section was a bit more tricky as it had to slip under the other one which was screwed down so we had to carefully clamp it in place without letting it spring up and cause damage. When they were all in place the overhang was sawn off and extra screws were put along both edges. A fibre glass layer will be applied later to make the roof water proof. Rubbing down and painting the metal frame continued while the roof was being fitted so the paint could dry ready for the plywood sides to be fitted which will be done soon. Finally a tarpaulin was tied over the top of the wagon to keep it dry over the holiday.

I would like to wish everyone involved and interested in the bone mill a Very Happy Christmas.  

Graham Bartlett            Interactive Plan            Volunteer         Previous      Next