WEEK15 - Day 57 Final Preparations

As our Enabling Works draw to and end we received fresh deliveries for our Butterfly Garden this morning. 15 tons of soil improver were tipped at the entrance to the emerging garden. Sue Beesley and Isobel Brooke will distribute this through the flower beds tomorrow and make preparations to spread the top surface gravel onto the paths.



More details on the garden in tomorrow's posting.



The racking in our timber store has been filled with timbers from the dismantled Stove House 5. It is also holding our new front gates over night as the post holes are prepared for the concrete supports.
The framework to attach the wrapping sheets are almost completed. The green material gives the interior an unusual, and artistic light.

WEEK 10 - Day 37 Dismantling Floorboards of Stove House 5

Work started today to dismantle the floorboards of Stove House 5. The boards are being lifted for replacement whn the building is rebuilt on new foundations in Phase 2. Following the removal of the boards the floor joists will be taken out and the outer walls will then be taken down brick by brick. There are over 400 boards to lift before lunchtime tomorrow.

Also posted today a movie prepared by APR Services to show the coverage obtained during their laserscan survey of the Stove House areas of SH 2,3, 4 and 5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmRBwrhPs30m/watch?v=bmRBwrhPs30

The NW Industrial Archaeology Panel held their meeting at the Lion Salt Works today. Left to right: Ian Miller, Oxford Archaeology North; Julian Baum, Take 27; Mike Nevell, Salford University; PaulineWeb, Museum of Science & Industry Manchester; David George

WEEK 9 - Day 35 Removing Scaffolding, Racking and Other Works

Having removed the last roof trusses all the scaffolding erected inside the roof space can now be taken down. On Monday all the scaffold tubes above the warehouse floor will have been removed. The tubes and boards will now be used to build walkways and props within the main core of the salt works.
Looking from the north east the main salt works buildings can be seen through the scaffold tubes. The hatches allowing salt blocks to be 'lofted from the stove (hothouse or 'otters'- see below)' to the warehouse floor are covered with plyboard to avoid anyone falling though. The floorboards of the warehouse floor will be removed next week when we can show you the detailed construction of the flues within the stove area.

The scaffold racking is now being built to store the truss elements, roof boards and other structural pieces. As each timber is put into storage a condition report is made grading it with a recommendation as to whether it is OK to be re-used, if it needs a repair or if it should be used as a pattern for a new piece to be made.

Within the main complex 110volt festoon lighting allows the other stove ('otters') areas to be cleared of debris and supports to be inserted to the warehouse floor above. Compare these areas with the dismantled section of Stove House 5 over the coming weeks.
The Enabling Works will allow safe access to the architects to inspect these parts of the salt works so that we can prepare a schedule of works and go out to tender for repairs to costed in Phase 2. The Stove House has flues and ditches where the salt blocks were dried.
Within these areas the decades of salt build up in the ditches and ash in the flues will be cleaned out. The condition of the cast iron columns, which have deteriorated in the salt are of particular interest to the overall stability of the buildings.
A video has been placed on the Cheshire Museums YouTube channel where the timelapse camera installation can be seen. click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt9TkGwrohY . This is continuing to record work to dismantle Stove House 5 and will form a special video compressing the work ove the past weeks to a few minutes.

WEEK 8 - Day 30 Dismantling of Eastern Gable of Stove House 5

With the complete removal of the roofing structures we started to dismantle and remove the roof trusses today, starting at the eastern gable. This was removed by lunch time and work moved on to the next roof truss. Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8jx_JVf4VQ.

The asbestos team started to remove sheeting from the collapsed areas around Salt Pan 2 and the former Packing Area around the central chimney.
The scaffold team started to install an access platform around Salt Pan 3.

In the evening there was a short presentation to our immediate neighbours in Marston village. Site Manager, David Marsh of William Anelay Ltd (centre with hard hat) gave an outline of the work being carried out by his team and was enthusiastic about the challenge they faced to carry out work programme to his companies high standards. It was opportunity for local people who have endured living next to a derelict site for many years to see how the HLF grant would transform their local environment. They could also see what all the banging and hammering was achieving and for us to get feedback about any of their concerns and try to address any problems.
Steve Woolfall (right) Heritage, Museums and Tourism Manager, Cheshire West and Chester Council explained the challenges being tackled by the council to move the project forward to Phase 2. The presentation was made in our temporary timber store. The Pump House and chimney can be seen through the open doorway.

WEEK 6 - Day 21 Timber Store Completed

We left the site on Thursday of last week with the temporary timber store starting to be erected. On the Friday and Saturday the construction team completed the main erection, leaving only the roller shutter doors and internal lighting to be installed today. Work can start today dismantling Stove House 5.

The scaffolding has been completed around the outside of the building giving access to the external boards at each of the gable ends.
After horrible weather over the week end we have a calm and sunny start to the day, but the forcast for the week is for showers and rain.
The ground surface between the store and Stove House 5 will be cleaned and covered in a membrane and stone giving a firm and clean surface to work from.
The scaffolding is being inserted within Stove House 5 to provide a safe working platform from which to begin dismantling the roof trusses. The work wiill commence on Monday 7 September with the removal of the asbestos sheeting that covers the roof.

This work will be captured on our time lapse camera and posted here and on Youtube.

The removal of the external cladding boards from eth east and west gables was completed today, and scaffoldong was started inside the Stove House rising through the warehouse floor. This will support working platforms below the roof structures and around the trusses from which we will dismantle the timber frame. Watch the work at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSvI97QibJo

WEEK 5 - Day 20 Arrival of Timber Store

Our temporay building arrived this morning, on an Irish lorry with a Lithianian driver, containing a German building with erection engineers from London. The store will take three days to fully erect, but the frame will be finished today. Our work takes a break over the August Bank Holiday weekend, so Day 21 of the Enabling Works will continue on Tuesday 1 September 2009.























A dragonfly resting on a timber beside Pan No.5. Can anyone identify it please?