Renovating an old farmhouse and living on the Pennines
Discussion
Chebble said:
Mr Scruff said:
I’ve got nothing useful to add, other than to say I’m hugely enjoying reading this and thanks for sharing
Have to agree. It’s fascinating and I’m in for the long haul! The compost is a load of s
t though. You don't have to post up useful things, questions are ok too
Yes I totally agree.
Someone unwittingly did a good job at the front here, 'good' in that it was very well done, just with the wrong material. It's a very strong mix and has bonded well to the millstone grit, it's going to take a lot of time, hacking and patience to get it off. Oh and then squish a small amount of lime in.
I will try washing the old lime out a bit deeper with the powerwasher to see how that goes. You need to go deep so the new stuff keys. I've purposely left the old lime in for now over Winter.
I've hacked of a couple of Sqm by hand to the front, it's revealed some very tight (circa 3mm) joints between the stones. I think back in the day a high quality job was defined by how tight they got the joints. It's classic older building style with a high quality frontal façade and a much lesser sides and rear. Old experienced stone mason at the front, apprentices to the rest.
Front pictured here, note the bit of slate wedged in there to hold the quoins level when they were walling up, there is quite a bit of it in the front wall:
Round the corner on the gable it looks like this:
Shale.
As you can see i've been hacking out the gable end today. Whoever did the pointing here has done a crap job, the pointing is quite easily dislodged, the quality of stone and laying totally different.
I got to within 1sqm of finishing before the light started to fail. Trying to get a job finished when you're tired and at the top of a triple ladder is never a good idea so sensibly I went in to admire the internal pointing instead.
'Going inside' time is also marked by some really strange wailing and screeching noises, they're so loud and repetitive I thought it was someone taking the piss, but now I think it's an owl setting off out for the night. I've just been listening to some owl noises ont'net and the only one close is a little owl and that doesn't sound exactly right either. I have seen them, but can only describe them as big and tweedy brown which is of no use. Maybe i'll have to sit out on the top of the hill one night to see.
These are the tools I use for hacking out:
Lump hammer needs no introduction, the others are a seaming chisel and scutch.
A tip for you there if you have a hammer like that and the head is a bit loose, leave it in 3" of water overnight and it'll tighten up nicely.
I've also made a breakthrough in how to cut stone slate (Note: not blue slate) properly so will discuss that later. It's taken me ages to find out how they did it.
Someone unwittingly did a good job at the front here, 'good' in that it was very well done, just with the wrong material. It's a very strong mix and has bonded well to the millstone grit, it's going to take a lot of time, hacking and patience to get it off. Oh and then squish a small amount of lime in.
I will try washing the old lime out a bit deeper with the powerwasher to see how that goes. You need to go deep so the new stuff keys. I've purposely left the old lime in for now over Winter.
I've hacked of a couple of Sqm by hand to the front, it's revealed some very tight (circa 3mm) joints between the stones. I think back in the day a high quality job was defined by how tight they got the joints. It's classic older building style with a high quality frontal façade and a much lesser sides and rear. Old experienced stone mason at the front, apprentices to the rest.
Front pictured here, note the bit of slate wedged in there to hold the quoins level when they were walling up, there is quite a bit of it in the front wall:
Round the corner on the gable it looks like this:
Shale.
As you can see i've been hacking out the gable end today. Whoever did the pointing here has done a crap job, the pointing is quite easily dislodged, the quality of stone and laying totally different.
I got to within 1sqm of finishing before the light started to fail. Trying to get a job finished when you're tired and at the top of a triple ladder is never a good idea so sensibly I went in to admire the internal pointing instead.
'Going inside' time is also marked by some really strange wailing and screeching noises, they're so loud and repetitive I thought it was someone taking the piss, but now I think it's an owl setting off out for the night. I've just been listening to some owl noises ont'net and the only one close is a little owl and that doesn't sound exactly right either. I have seen them, but can only describe them as big and tweedy brown which is of no use. Maybe i'll have to sit out on the top of the hill one night to see.
These are the tools I use for hacking out:
Lump hammer needs no introduction, the others are a seaming chisel and scutch.
A tip for you there if you have a hammer like that and the head is a bit loose, leave it in 3" of water overnight and it'll tighten up nicely.
I've also made a breakthrough in how to cut stone slate (Note: not blue slate) properly so will discuss that later. It's taken me ages to find out how they did it.
Edited by Evoluzione on Saturday 4th September 08:58
Edited by Evoluzione on Wednesday 20th October 21:42
Fermit said:
That pointing really is rather unsympathetic, to put it mildly. In our front room (1875 terrace house) we took the previously blocked up fireplace back to bare brick, and were deliberately 'slap dash' with how we re-pointed it, not wanting it to look too perfect. Is there scope to grind or chisel it out and re-do accordingly?
I had an exposed chimney breast like that in my last house, the old bricks were made locally just down the road from where it was.If we took this pointing off there would be a cement stain on the stone, plus the doorway and the fireplace were never there originally. This means there will be some disturbance beneath that hefty stuff with various thickness of joints and no doubt other damage. Also i'm thinking we have enough exposed stone now, we don't need anymore!
Maybe a stone fire surround with a (maybe lime) plastered wall would look ok.
Celtic Dragon said:
From your description Evoluzione, I would say your owl is a Tawny owl, also known as Brown owl or screech owls because of the noise they can make.
Mid afternoon this time, but that weird noise again, definitely owl. There they were high up in a tree, what do you think?
Thank you for the ID, i've just spent some enjoyable minutes reading up on them. I think in the pic the female is the one on the left as she's a bit bigger, apparently they mate for life. They have their own regular hunting patches, any offspring has to go off and find it's own area, if they can't find anywhere then sadly they die.
We have lots of wildlife here, but I haven't posted up about it yet as I haven't managed to get one picture of anything interesting until now. It's either too far away or flying/running away. We have:
Cuckoo
Barn owls
Tawny owls
Frogs
Lizards
Stoats
Rabbits (seemingly hundreds!)
Lots of Kestrels
Pheasants
Grouse (various)
Jackdaws
Mapies (doesn't everyone?)
Buzzards (we need more to eat the rabbits)
European green woodpeckers
Tits
Thrushes
Blackbirds
Goldfinches
Oystercatchers
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I think that just about sums it up, it's a very strange and loud noise to hear at 3pm too!We have lots of wildlife here, but I haven't posted up about it yet as I haven't managed to get one picture of anything interesting until now. It's either too far away or flying/running away. We have:
Cuckoo
Barn owls
Tawny owls
Frogs
Lizards
Stoats
Rabbits (seemingly hundreds!)
Lots of Kestrels
Pheasants
Grouse (various)
Jackdaws
Mapies (doesn't everyone?)
Buzzards (we need more to eat the rabbits)
European green woodpeckers
Tits
Thrushes
Blackbirds
Goldfinches
Oystercatchers
I mentioned before that the big Sycamore was probably drawing part of the house towards it in times of drought, it wasn't far off touching the house in some parts.
It was also shading that gable end from the sun and wind, preventing it from drying out.
I didn't want to chop it down though, that earlier pic of the owls was taken in its branches.
The best compromise was to give it a bit of a trim. Change the proportions a bit, open up that end of the house which in turn will lessen the amount of water it uses a little.
When did it crack the house? Who knows, might have been many years ago. Will we have a prolonged dry spell like that again? Well Global Warming predications say so. My thoughts are that we repair the walls and monitor it, if it does it again then we'll have to think (quickly) about chopping it down.
So I got the ladders and chainsaw out and started lopping.
I chained the fallen branches to Terry and dragged them off to the edge a field to dry out for a bit. When I have time i'll chop them up for firewood.
Boosted LS1 said:
She says 'to whit' and he says 'to who'? Noisey anytime soon as they set out their winter territories.
Just like the Robins which have now started 'chitting' instead of singing.
Good thread OP but crikey, what a lot of work. Those views are something else and come winter will look amazing all over again!
I wouldn't even know how to describe it, it's definitely not the classic soft toned twit a woooo, go to 1.10 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIr7XuR6pu8&ab...Just like the Robins which have now started 'chitting' instead of singing.
Good thread OP but crikey, what a lot of work. Those views are something else and come winter will look amazing all over again!
And turn up the volume, these things aren't quiet when they let out that outburst, they seem to throw the sound out quite far too. From what i've read the wooOOOooo is more of a late Autumn/Winter thing so must mean something else.
Everytime I looked the male looked like it was sleeping, she was watching me with wide eyes though. They're so still, never move a bit.
Like you say with the Robin, everything changes. You forget and expect there to be the same birds here all the time, but no many of them come and go. Late Spring and early Summer seems to be the busiest, probably as they're busy with the young ones.
The Green woodpeckers don't make that pecking noise they're supposed to, they just shriek.
No I don't think i'll be building any engines for a while
Just taking a break from the sun, it's very hot here today like many other places in the UK, but very windy too, it's blowing all the blasting grit off the roofs like rain.
T'old cat propped up on all kinds of meds to see out her days here like us. She is like a thermometer to look at, if she's sprawled out (ligged aht) then it's hot, tucked up tight then it's cold. Certainly ligged aht all ower place today.
Our spring is down to a trickle, lucky we aren't dependent on it anymore and can drink our own Iron Bru.
Running around getting everything damageable outside in, wrapping up some unfinished work and covering over the firewood. As you know lots of rain due tomorrow.
A short word about living out here, to those who think it's wonderful. Well it is, but not to everyone...
I recognised because of my background I could pull off living out here, I have tools and knowledge to do many practical things. K is pretty much the same too, we've done a few practical jobs and courses between us in the past, laying a patio, felling trees, building stone walls, even stone lettering.
I think some people think they can live out here, but flounder. There are those who are here for the long haul - until they can cope no longer due to old age and all it brings. I love going out and chatting with the neighbours, but it's clear that the ones as just described are all very much 'hands on'. Closest neighbour (you'll see his place in the background of some shots) has been a leaded glass maker and joiner in his time. He's also done sandblasting and has taught himself masonry skills, he's actually made an elaborate stone spiral staircase in his house. He's been rebuilding the place up for circa 7yrs now and is still not ready to move in.
He described the place as having 'Two lightbulbs, one one light switch and a sink' when he bought it, amazingly it had no toilet and he's never found where they went to do that either.
Another neighbour a bit further afield is in oil, but taking a break from it right now. He's lived all around the World in many third world places and difficult climates. Back here he's laying drainage, doing stone masonry and welds his 4x4 up himself. He knows where his water is collected from higher up on the hills and how it gets to his Spring, all the birds around and their calls (I now know what a Buzzard sounds like).
People like to talk, probably because of the isolation you're glad to see someone to chat to now and again and it all comes out.
There is an old guy who lives above us a few hundred metres away, lovely fella to chat to, but doesn't seem impressed with the weather at all. He said he dismissed the buying of our place as it's too remote, yet he's so close! He is on the roadside though up there at the top right:
We're behind the trees lower down to his left. I'm not sure why he's here yet or how long he will last, time will tell.
I think the people who do struggle here are the ones who come and go, nothing wrong with that of course. They probably think it's a lovely romantic thing to do and that they can pay someone to do everything for them. Problem is that's no good when something breaks and it's needed Right Now, or there is 6ft of snow all around. The terrain and weather takes it's toll on many things, particularly vehicles and buildings.
I believe these kind of people just see it as a part of their life, something they did once and then scuttle off back to a village or town. As I said, nothing wrong with that at all, just two different ways of doing it.
T'old cat propped up on all kinds of meds to see out her days here like us. She is like a thermometer to look at, if she's sprawled out (ligged aht) then it's hot, tucked up tight then it's cold. Certainly ligged aht all ower place today.
Our spring is down to a trickle, lucky we aren't dependent on it anymore and can drink our own Iron Bru.
Running around getting everything damageable outside in, wrapping up some unfinished work and covering over the firewood. As you know lots of rain due tomorrow.
A short word about living out here, to those who think it's wonderful. Well it is, but not to everyone...
I recognised because of my background I could pull off living out here, I have tools and knowledge to do many practical things. K is pretty much the same too, we've done a few practical jobs and courses between us in the past, laying a patio, felling trees, building stone walls, even stone lettering.
I think some people think they can live out here, but flounder. There are those who are here for the long haul - until they can cope no longer due to old age and all it brings. I love going out and chatting with the neighbours, but it's clear that the ones as just described are all very much 'hands on'. Closest neighbour (you'll see his place in the background of some shots) has been a leaded glass maker and joiner in his time. He's also done sandblasting and has taught himself masonry skills, he's actually made an elaborate stone spiral staircase in his house. He's been rebuilding the place up for circa 7yrs now and is still not ready to move in.
He described the place as having 'Two lightbulbs, one one light switch and a sink' when he bought it, amazingly it had no toilet and he's never found where they went to do that either.
Another neighbour a bit further afield is in oil, but taking a break from it right now. He's lived all around the World in many third world places and difficult climates. Back here he's laying drainage, doing stone masonry and welds his 4x4 up himself. He knows where his water is collected from higher up on the hills and how it gets to his Spring, all the birds around and their calls (I now know what a Buzzard sounds like).
People like to talk, probably because of the isolation you're glad to see someone to chat to now and again and it all comes out.
There is an old guy who lives above us a few hundred metres away, lovely fella to chat to, but doesn't seem impressed with the weather at all. He said he dismissed the buying of our place as it's too remote, yet he's so close! He is on the roadside though up there at the top right:
We're behind the trees lower down to his left. I'm not sure why he's here yet or how long he will last, time will tell.
I think the people who do struggle here are the ones who come and go, nothing wrong with that of course. They probably think it's a lovely romantic thing to do and that they can pay someone to do everything for them. Problem is that's no good when something breaks and it's needed Right Now, or there is 6ft of snow all around. The terrain and weather takes it's toll on many things, particularly vehicles and buildings.
I believe these kind of people just see it as a part of their life, something they did once and then scuttle off back to a village or town. As I said, nothing wrong with that at all, just two different ways of doing it.
Edited by Evoluzione on Wednesday 8th September 17:07
Magooagain said:
What's them there things down in the valley. Crane Jibs?
Looks proper rugged there. Lovley.
Them there is blades of grass, no cranes here, maybe a washing spinner thingy though:Looks proper rugged there. Lovley.
I was digging a trench by the house wall and turned up possibly the base of someone's hefty old tea mug:
Was instantly taken back in time when some Victorian stone mason knocked it off the scaffold building our house.
Then this broken crock:
It wipes off quite easily with water and is possibly a Pozzolan called Cocciopesto rosso, or to put it more bluntly; fired clay or brick dust. I believe it was added to lime to colour it, speed up the drying process and give it waterproofing qualities when used on foundations.
This bloody mucky bugger rolls around in all the blasting grit then runs in the house...
Wills2 said:
PorkInsider said:
That's the road from Haworth to Laneshawbridge (near Colne) it's Watersheddles reservoir 
You look at the beauty and wonder how on earth can someone launch all the rubbish out of their cars there, but they do regularly.
People that litter are nothing but sub-human scum. There is little point in complaining though, it will never stop. One of the enduring pictorial memories I have of my late father is of him coming back from his dog walk clutching handfuls of rubbish he'd picked up out there like a 6ft Womble. I was seeing it all over on the beautiful moor roads around here, it made me cross, but also a bit guilty when i'd driven past. So I took to picking it up. It then goes home, gets sorted out and re-used, recyclables go in the correct bin etc. I don't know if you knew, but food wrappers are generally not recyclable. The reason is they've got food and grease on them so they go to landfill. Here they go towards making compost for the garden along with other waste we (and the local animals!) produce.
Compost fans; Mk1 is still kicking out the heat and I top it up as it slumps. That's Mk2 in the pic, as you can see lined with some offcuts of insulation I had kicking around.
Lime pointing fans:
I happened to be in that there Beckinshaw passing a house wall 3 of us repointed in lime about 20yrs ago now so I called in for a pic. It was soft stone and had been damaged by OPC strap pointing. We had to hand scutch the whole face of the wall as it was all loose and hanging off before hacking out the pointing and doing it with lime.
It's Westerly facing so gets the worst of the weather, yet still looks as good now as it did back then.
Escort3500 said:
That pointing looks excellent Sir!
Thanks, it's quite easy to pick it up too. One tip is you have to decide whether to go left to right or right to left. Personally I go from the right to the left, pressing the new stuff in by moving my trowel to the right.Once you've laid one piece in you need to lay the next bit in up against it, so you're not laying against a void if you see what I mean.
Lime is much more forgiving than OPC so great for DIYers. You can push it in and smear it about a little, it doesn't stain and look a mess like cement based mortars do in the hands of a non professional.
You come across a few hardened zealots in old building restoration, 'everything old is great, all modern stuff is rubbish' types and i'm not one of them. I will adapt, include or blend in a modern method wherever I can, but as far as old walls like these are concerned Lime is the clear winner.
It's a very positive thing for anyone to look at a garden or house wall they put right decades ago and see it still looking good.
bristoltype603 said:
Something that's always confused me is what's the difference is between lime putty and the bagged limed that you sometimes see in builders merchants? And which one should you use for repointing?
If it's for pointing It depends on masonry hardness, permeability and exposure.Non-hydraulic lime is made from a pure limestone, this is what your putty is. It's premixed so probably more expensive and it dries as the water leaves it, but mainly by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air.
The bagged stuff is natural hydraulic lime (NHL) which is made from an impure limestone and sets through a chemical reaction caused by the addition of water. It comes numbered, the higher the number the harder, less permeable it is.
The putty is softer and a touch more flexible, even sold as 'self healing' in that any minor cracks can be pressed together. Where pointing is concerned it's not as hard wearing, but better for use with very poor and soft stones.
NHL is the opposite, if the stone is relatively hard and exposed then NHL (plus one of the numbers 2 through to 5) is better.
bristoltype603 said:
Evoluzione said:
If it's for pointing It depends on masonry hardness, permeability and exposure.
Non-hydraulic lime is made from a pure limestone, this is what your putty is. It's premixed so probably more expensive and it dries as the water leaves it, but mainly by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air.
The bagged stuff is natural hydraulic lime (NHL) which is made from an impure limestone and sets through a chemical reaction caused by the addition of water. It comes numbered, the higher the number the harder, less permeable it is.
The putty is softer and a touch more flexible, even sold as 'self healing' in that any minor cracks can be pressed together. Where pointing is concerned it's not as hard wearing, but better for use with very poor and soft stones.
NHL is the opposite, if the stone is relatively hard and exposed then NHL (plus one of the numbers 2 through to 5) is better.
Thanks that's really interesting. So for pointing Victorian brickwork use NHL + sand?Non-hydraulic lime is made from a pure limestone, this is what your putty is. It's premixed so probably more expensive and it dries as the water leaves it, but mainly by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air.
The bagged stuff is natural hydraulic lime (NHL) which is made from an impure limestone and sets through a chemical reaction caused by the addition of water. It comes numbered, the higher the number the harder, less permeable it is.
The putty is softer and a touch more flexible, even sold as 'self healing' in that any minor cracks can be pressed together. Where pointing is concerned it's not as hard wearing, but better for use with very poor and soft stones.
NHL is the opposite, if the stone is relatively hard and exposed then NHL (plus one of the numbers 2 through to 5) is better.
I'm sorry, but i'm no expert, i'm re-learning what I found out and used to good effect some 20yrs ago and then adding more to it and write about what I find, i'm not experienced enough to be advising people on their own jobs, especially without seeing them or knowing the details. Someone with great experience would look at your bricks, maybe chip a little bit off and make a decision based on that.
A lot of what I write here is to introduce you to something you never knew or had thought of so you can pursue it further, sometimes the minor details are beyond me!
This one of the reasons lime was ditched in favour of OPC. It is quite a complex subject, with many recipes and techniques to learn which the pros knew back then.
With OPC you just mix it with sand and water and slap it on which is why it took over.
Edited by Evoluzione on Tuesday 14th September 12:50
Swervin_Mervin said:
FYI - most stuff like that won't end up in landfill, if it makes you feel any better. Very little goes to landfill these days. If your green waste collection goes to In-Vessel Composting (as the Greater Manchester waste collections do) then that sort of waste can be shredded up and thrown in the green bin. Obviously maybe not in your case as it's useful added brown material for your compost. If it doesn't go to IVC then I'd still stick it in the paper bin. It will be separated out in all likelihood anyway and even if it's not ultimately recycled, it's most likely to go to EfW.
There are so many different claims with recycling, you never know what to believe.What is EFW?
My point is that whilst it says 'Recyclable' on the packaging, it isn't if it had food in it, they would be better off labelling it as 'Compostable' perhaps. If it did go for landfill it would rot down harmlessly anyhow.
One thing is for certain, it's better off as compost here rather than littering the countryside
Water again.
I warned you there was a lot to talk about
I went over to see another neighbour while the good weather lasted and admired the water flowing past his house, he told me I had the same on my land as it went from his to mine via a sough (pronounced Soff I think), but I assured him It didn't. Just to make sure I went investigating with Terry. Terry found an open sough
Terry doesn't have lockable diffs and luckily said neighbour was around to drag us out in his Ford, Tezza was mortified. I thought i'd got away with it, but the phone rang whilst we were waiting to be towed, much mirth ensued and pictures taken
I found nothing but a trickle where the sough met the beck at the bottom there so back to my neighbours to find out why.
It was a familiar story; large, heavy, modern tractor on the fields causing the Sough to collapse. It was so bad it had caused a flood inside my neighbour's house.
In the pics below you can see what has happened. The red line is where if flows by his house, black line is where it should flow but has been damaged and filled in. It's then spread out all ovver t' bloody place marked in blue. Our boundary wall is in red, Estate land is to the left. Apparently it gets so bad in Winter it collects and heads off where the red arrow is. Yellow line is just of interest, as you see it's man made and i'm told they are spoil heaps from when they took the lime out. They didn't go down a mine, it was found near the surface.
We know who did the damage so have had a polite talk about it, hopefully some kind of reinstatement will happen.
You may be wondering why bother. Well the first thing is it's ruined the land of course, nothing eats reeds in a bog, sheep need grass. The other thing is i'm thinking of utilising Hydro power so need running water to make it work, if and when we do it i'll write about it, but let's get the water flowing first.
I warned you there was a lot to talk about
I went over to see another neighbour while the good weather lasted and admired the water flowing past his house, he told me I had the same on my land as it went from his to mine via a sough (pronounced Soff I think), but I assured him It didn't. Just to make sure I went investigating with Terry. Terry found an open sough
Terry doesn't have lockable diffs and luckily said neighbour was around to drag us out in his Ford, Tezza was mortified. I thought i'd got away with it, but the phone rang whilst we were waiting to be towed, much mirth ensued and pictures taken
I found nothing but a trickle where the sough met the beck at the bottom there so back to my neighbours to find out why.
It was a familiar story; large, heavy, modern tractor on the fields causing the Sough to collapse. It was so bad it had caused a flood inside my neighbour's house.
In the pics below you can see what has happened. The red line is where if flows by his house, black line is where it should flow but has been damaged and filled in. It's then spread out all ovver t' bloody place marked in blue. Our boundary wall is in red, Estate land is to the left. Apparently it gets so bad in Winter it collects and heads off where the red arrow is. Yellow line is just of interest, as you see it's man made and i'm told they are spoil heaps from when they took the lime out. They didn't go down a mine, it was found near the surface.
We know who did the damage so have had a polite talk about it, hopefully some kind of reinstatement will happen.
You may be wondering why bother. Well the first thing is it's ruined the land of course, nothing eats reeds in a bog, sheep need grass. The other thing is i'm thinking of utilising Hydro power so need running water to make it work, if and when we do it i'll write about it, but let's get the water flowing first.
Edited by Evoluzione on Monday 27th September 11:53
Yes one 4x4 pulled the other out really easily, It probably wouldn't have gone so well during Winter.
Regarding the router; we do have a wifi one, but the ground floor of the house is fairly long with 3 reasonably sized rooms all in a row, The router lives at one end and Alexa at the other so won't pick up the signal, I can't get it upstairs either. It's not something we've been bothered about yet or even considered, but typing that out it's going to be worth trying putting the router in the centre of the ground floor and see what happens. If that fails are boosters available?
Regarding the router; we do have a wifi one, but the ground floor of the house is fairly long with 3 reasonably sized rooms all in a row, The router lives at one end and Alexa at the other so won't pick up the signal, I can't get it upstairs either. It's not something we've been bothered about yet or even considered, but typing that out it's going to be worth trying putting the router in the centre of the ground floor and see what happens. If that fails are boosters available?
When my OH moved in with me at my old place a couple of years ago there was no-where for her stuff to go. That's one of the reasons we have so much 'stuff', two of everything and neither of us wanting to get rid.
We knew we were going to buy somewhere with land so we bought a large shipping container and filled it with her worldly goods. The idea was we could just get it lifted and take it with us, unload at the other end at leisure and then it become storage for other 'stuff' like my tools, workshop items, materials etc.
In the event a large container truck wouldn't have fitted down the track here so that idea went West. I sold it off at good profit as prices have about doubled recently. Pondered over buying a smaller one, but would have been sickened at paying more now for much less. We're a bit stuck for storage now so progress stalled. K then had a gem of an idea
We'd talked about getting a Polytunnel (PT) ages ago. We knew growing veg etc would be difficult up here as it's so windy and a PT extends the growing season by roughly 6 weeks at either end, so a whopping 3 months more overall! I could grow Winter veg in there and it would house my small cactus collection too.
A friend of mine is a rep for a plastics company - polythene etc. He'd recommended a business that he supplied to, he also had one of theirs and lives further North where the weather is a bit lively.
Previously i'd owned a greenhouse which had some panes blown out every Winter, also a cheap PT 'just to put me on a bit'. That didn't end well either. I wasn't expecting it to get through Winter so bought it in late Spring, it was then that a gust of wind sent it flying in the air. It came down in a crumpled heap of broken poles; got a refund, lesson learned.
So anyhow, long story short and we bought a top of the range 5 x 15m Polytunnel. It'll do for storage and even working under in Winter for now. Any space left over can be planted in if I get time, but eventually it'll take on its proper use.
I found the recommended northernpolytunnels.co.uk site and had a good browse. It's a very easy site to use, well thought out and packed with info for a beginner like me, their blog is well worth a read too.
My only mild gripe was it's a mix of metric and imperial, I found myself an online converter and changed all the feet to metres, but it would be handy if the site did it.
You don't need to ring them up, everything is on there, but I did anyhow as I wanted to go up and collect so I could get busy ASAP. No bother they said, we'll have it ready for pick up in 24hrs.
I've always found people in that area of Lancs to be very friendly and here was no exception. The lads in their yard were efficient, helpful and chatty as they loaded me up. Absolutely nothing was a problem to them and they were a pleasure to deal with.
They have a great pole anchoring system which sadly I couldn't take advantage of. Basically they just screw into the ground like a corkscrew and take a lot of load. I couldn't use it as the ground is too stony here so we had to go the difficult route by concreting poles in.
I specced it for strength as per their site recommendations, but with no ventilation. It's often breezy here so hopefully opening a door at either end will see a through draft. If not I can order the necessary vents, I'll eventually get a watering system too.
So back to base and I marked it out. I'd previously got a rough idea of where it was going with the red crates, but now I set it out accurately with a laser, metal spikes and string. I had to do the laser stuff at dusk so I could see it, it's a 90 degree thingy so very useful over these long distances. It was windy so no midges present, wahay!
The whole place is cut into the hillside and I've often thought there must have been some human intervention and major earthworks to get it that way, when I tried digging it supported this theory. The first swing of the pickaxe ended in a 'ding' as it bounced off a huge stone. I arsed around for too long digging around it and smashing it up with a heavy steel pole. The next hole was stony, but not as bad.
Third hole contained a stone slab half the size of Yorkshire so it was out with the big stuff. The hills were once again alive to the sound of an old Magirus Deutz and a road drill. It's got a 6" spade attachment which is perfect as the holes need to be about 12" wide.
It's back breaking work as it goes in easily enough partly due to its excessive weight, but dragging it back out is something else.
Many hours later I was ready to start concreting them in so dragged out Dizzyski, the polish mixer.
I found a drainage pipe in one of the holes, i'm guessing it goes into a soakaway somewhere.
You only need to set the heights very roughly, the hoops slide over the top of them.
I hand shovelled a ton of ballast plus cement and water.
The ground slopes from one end to the other, i'd guesstimate about 2 feet over this length, too much to dig out so the PT will have to follow the ground. Across the ends will have to level though so I can set the door openings up square and level - which is important. At least the gutter will be easy to fix and there will be no problem getting it to flow to one end.
I'd taken pics of my old Festoon lights ready to put them up for sale, but never got round to advertising them. Really glad I didn't now!
The midges were back that evening with increased ferocity, I'd bought some non-sticky cream which didn't do much so we wore nets.
Nearly finished:
I don't think the doors are a very good design, if I was to do one again i'd choose one without doors and source my own.
Will see if they last Winter up here.
I left the skirt on as the ground is hollow in between the two ends, will dig it in later and cover it with soil.
It took 10 days and i'm knackered
We knew we were going to buy somewhere with land so we bought a large shipping container and filled it with her worldly goods. The idea was we could just get it lifted and take it with us, unload at the other end at leisure and then it become storage for other 'stuff' like my tools, workshop items, materials etc.
In the event a large container truck wouldn't have fitted down the track here so that idea went West. I sold it off at good profit as prices have about doubled recently. Pondered over buying a smaller one, but would have been sickened at paying more now for much less. We're a bit stuck for storage now so progress stalled. K then had a gem of an idea
We'd talked about getting a Polytunnel (PT) ages ago. We knew growing veg etc would be difficult up here as it's so windy and a PT extends the growing season by roughly 6 weeks at either end, so a whopping 3 months more overall! I could grow Winter veg in there and it would house my small cactus collection too.
A friend of mine is a rep for a plastics company - polythene etc. He'd recommended a business that he supplied to, he also had one of theirs and lives further North where the weather is a bit lively.
Previously i'd owned a greenhouse which had some panes blown out every Winter, also a cheap PT 'just to put me on a bit'. That didn't end well either. I wasn't expecting it to get through Winter so bought it in late Spring, it was then that a gust of wind sent it flying in the air. It came down in a crumpled heap of broken poles; got a refund, lesson learned.
So anyhow, long story short and we bought a top of the range 5 x 15m Polytunnel. It'll do for storage and even working under in Winter for now. Any space left over can be planted in if I get time, but eventually it'll take on its proper use.
I found the recommended northernpolytunnels.co.uk site and had a good browse. It's a very easy site to use, well thought out and packed with info for a beginner like me, their blog is well worth a read too.
My only mild gripe was it's a mix of metric and imperial, I found myself an online converter and changed all the feet to metres, but it would be handy if the site did it.
You don't need to ring them up, everything is on there, but I did anyhow as I wanted to go up and collect so I could get busy ASAP. No bother they said, we'll have it ready for pick up in 24hrs.
I've always found people in that area of Lancs to be very friendly and here was no exception. The lads in their yard were efficient, helpful and chatty as they loaded me up. Absolutely nothing was a problem to them and they were a pleasure to deal with.
They have a great pole anchoring system which sadly I couldn't take advantage of. Basically they just screw into the ground like a corkscrew and take a lot of load. I couldn't use it as the ground is too stony here so we had to go the difficult route by concreting poles in.
I specced it for strength as per their site recommendations, but with no ventilation. It's often breezy here so hopefully opening a door at either end will see a through draft. If not I can order the necessary vents, I'll eventually get a watering system too.
So back to base and I marked it out. I'd previously got a rough idea of where it was going with the red crates, but now I set it out accurately with a laser, metal spikes and string. I had to do the laser stuff at dusk so I could see it, it's a 90 degree thingy so very useful over these long distances. It was windy so no midges present, wahay!
The whole place is cut into the hillside and I've often thought there must have been some human intervention and major earthworks to get it that way, when I tried digging it supported this theory. The first swing of the pickaxe ended in a 'ding' as it bounced off a huge stone. I arsed around for too long digging around it and smashing it up with a heavy steel pole. The next hole was stony, but not as bad.
Third hole contained a stone slab half the size of Yorkshire so it was out with the big stuff. The hills were once again alive to the sound of an old Magirus Deutz and a road drill. It's got a 6" spade attachment which is perfect as the holes need to be about 12" wide.
It's back breaking work as it goes in easily enough partly due to its excessive weight, but dragging it back out is something else.
Many hours later I was ready to start concreting them in so dragged out Dizzyski, the polish mixer.
I found a drainage pipe in one of the holes, i'm guessing it goes into a soakaway somewhere.
You only need to set the heights very roughly, the hoops slide over the top of them.
I hand shovelled a ton of ballast plus cement and water.
The ground slopes from one end to the other, i'd guesstimate about 2 feet over this length, too much to dig out so the PT will have to follow the ground. Across the ends will have to level though so I can set the door openings up square and level - which is important. At least the gutter will be easy to fix and there will be no problem getting it to flow to one end.
I'd taken pics of my old Festoon lights ready to put them up for sale, but never got round to advertising them. Really glad I didn't now!
The midges were back that evening with increased ferocity, I'd bought some non-sticky cream which didn't do much so we wore nets.
Nearly finished:
I don't think the doors are a very good design, if I was to do one again i'd choose one without doors and source my own.
Will see if they last Winter up here.
I left the skirt on as the ground is hollow in between the two ends, will dig it in later and cover it with soil.
It took 10 days and i'm knackered
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