At last, the roof on the farmhouse is repaired. The builders left a few weeks to go, leaving behind a dry, secure and long-lasting farmhouse roof. We still have insulation to be inserted with the internal boarding and the guttering needs attention, but we are almost there. It is such a relief to know that water will not longer creep in through the cracks, and nothing is in danger of falling down!
In fact, when the builders were on the roof they spotted some serious problems with our chimneys. One had a structural timber running straight through the middle of it! The result was that two of them had to be almost completely rebuilt. We then took the opportunity to line the chimneys and add pots to stop those lovely birds from nesting inside the top rim. Everything was done using lime morta and all the bricks were reused from our store – gathered and stored when old farm buildings have been dismantled.
There is still a lot of work to do to bring the farmhouse back up to standard, but the roof and associated drainage works were by the far the most serious and costly of the projects. As the work inside the farmhouse continues, it remains a bit of a building site, but we know there is an end in sight.
This is the Fordhall Community Land Initiative’s greatest asset and as such it is vital that we look after it. Plus what a beautiful building it is 🙂
Thank you to the thousands of people who have been contributing to its repair.
Charlotte
Dear All – I was delighted to receive your phone call (all the way to Belgium)
letting me know that the roof is on ! Well done to you all for your faith and
tenacity in all you do especially for young people.
You are all an inspiration to so many, I wish you continued success in all you do
and fair weather to do it.
Best wishes – Jenny