Sunday 18 September 2011

Stormy day, sunnier evening

Today was one of those days, when the garden visitor's intrepid nature truly showed itself.  Just after opening time, the heavens opened.  Torrentially.

Some minutes into the downpour, we were visited by a lady in a motorised mobility scooter, who was being kept very dry indeed by her plastic covering, which enclosed both her and also her scooter - a brilliant solution.  Her walking companion was less fortunate, as he was wearing a mere raincoat.

Armed with the accessibility map they headed back out into the rain to negotiate the sloping paths and the accessible back routes to the upper levels of the garden.  An hour or so later I saw them return through an upstairs window, seemingly in good spirits - it says a lot for the determination and hardiness of the Great British Garden Visitor to negotiate the vagaries of the September weather.  These hardy pioneers certainly deserved their cup of tea - I hope they enjoyed their visit.

This evening, by contrast, was a stunner, and I was able to pop over to the kitchen garden to collect some rhubarb and apples for a crumble.  Some shots of the garden around 5.30pm.
 The last vestiges of the painted meadow, still just about in flower:
 Apples ripening in the distance behind the sculpted box bushes on the lawn. 



Onwards and upwards

Now we're motoring - the weather is starting to be less amenable, and so time is of the essence.  With seemingly endless steel reinforcement going in, the shuttering is being erected in haste to form the frames into which the walls will be poured.  Here are the latest update pictures.



Tuesday 13 September 2011

Yet more concrete

Apologies to anyone not in fact interested in civil engineering or hydro-electric power... I appreciate that the project has rather taken over the blog as though nothing else is happening at the moment.

I am nevertheless conscious of the wide interest that the hydro scheme has created amongst the local residents, walkers through the valley and visitors alike.  On my walk from the house to my office over the river, I regularly get stopped and asked questions about the scheme, which is great - I'm pleased people are intrigued.

Indeed, yesterday I had a very enjoyable chat with an environmentally involved lady about our shared belief in  using our sustainable natural resources, especially where it doesn't impact negatively on other elements of the environmental system - since this scheme actually enhances the environment, especially for fish, she was very bullish about it.  Encouraging news all round, I'd say.

The photo above is a spot-the-difference with the one from last time, because they managed to get enough of a break in the weather to pour the next load of concrete today - exciting, because it is nearing the big moment when the screw arrives in 4 weeks time or so.

Thursday 8 September 2011

Bring up the reinforcements...


I really didn't expect to find myself getting this excited about civil engineering... conversations about piling, grades of grit and slump values were liable to leave me pretty cold, I thought.  How wrong I was!


Last week we saw the pouring of the foundation pad for the Archimedean screw.  This week the reinforcing bars have been laid out through which will be poured the main trough (using a fairly dry mix to avoid it slumping down the slope).  This is a make-or-break moment, because if it goes wrong it's a heck of a lot of effort to cut it out again - it's reinforced for a reason, after all...

When looking at the quantity of concrete going in here, it gives an idea of the forces which are being accommodated in the design - this is serious hardware, and a stark reminder of the underlying power of an otherwise tranquil river in spate.

Friday 2 September 2011

Hydro week 6 or 7

Week 6, week 7, I've lost track rather of where we've got to timewise.  Nevertheless, it was a big week because that big hole that Suttle's had dug previously (where the eel trap used to be) has received its first concrete pad upon which is going to stand the trough to hold the archimedean screw.  You can see the shuttering being constructed to contain the second pouring.

Before:

After:

Whoever said concrete was pouring? (surely, "boring"? Ed.)

Blue sky thinking

Some rather imaginative cloud formations this evening.