Guildhall Walk graced with new red door.

The Guildhall Walk in Totnes now has a new red front door.

We re-used the original heavy knocker and brass handle. Also re-used the existing stained glass of St. Mary's church. The door looks out on to the Guildhall Walk and St Mary's beyond (and the window perfectly matches the view).

There has been a lot of footfall this week, as the re-modelling of St. Mary's is happening and pedestrian's shortcut through the church grounds has been blocked. There has been much admiration of the new door.

The Guildhall Walk has some crazy rooflines and is usually a peaceful respite from Totnes High St on market day. 

The door has a new Greenheart step/cill. This ancient piece of very hardy timber was most likely a part of Plymouth Docks a long time ago. It then sat in a local barn for many years, before I came by it recently. It's not going to rot in a hurry. Greenheart cill, bronze red water-based paint from Little Greene.

Then over to tidy up, at Jasmin Cottage, where the lime rendering is now finished. Cracked cement render removal, repair of timber frame, insulation with ionic sheepwool and re-rendering in lime to match existing.

Then over to Torquay to survey another prospective job on this converted windmill.

A bit more East Devon carving and the start of the joinery.

So, the front three panels are taking shape. 

The two outside need more detail, but I'm not sure what yet. I'm going to move on to making the front rails and stiles, decide on the pattern for them and come back to the front panels. It seems fitting that organic designs are coming together, well, organically.

The nearest/right one still needs grounding.

On to the top rail.

An old familiar way of working, with well used tools. I don't get to work this way all the time, so a day on this is joyous.

This board was twisted and I am surprised it planed up ok.

Setting the marking gauge with my Rabone rule for the thickness.

All change tomorrow, hanging a front door.

Time for some East Devon carving

 It's been a while, and I do love it so.

Those East Devon joiners and carvers, whoever they were, made something special 400 years ago.

I was going to re-create one chest from the several that have survived. Looking over them, I realised that apart from the one, this was based on:

there were elements on each, that I was not so keen on. So I decided to scavenge my favourite elements from all of them, and put them into one.

As always there's a few South Devon influences as well. I do live in South Devon, after all.

Spoon post

It's not everyday you are asked, to come and take your pick from a freshly thinned wood, that is almost exclusively cherry. I haven't had any fresh cherry for a fair few years, so to be faced with a cherry woodland on the verge of spring, with piles awaiting selection is a rare treat.

I think I will celebrate, by carving a spoon, for Clare and Nigel, the woodland owners.

Split with the froe, into halves, quarters, billets.

Axe a crank. Sketch an outline. The cherry grain has provided me with a centreline.

Saw down to the line.

Axe to the line. Same with the profile, then out with the knives. Time to catch the last few rays of the sun. Almost Equinox.

And we have a spoon. The first of many, I imagine, given the big pile of cherry logs next to me.

From tree to log to spoon, before the sun went down.

I offered some of the cherry to Mick, but I don't think he wants, to carve a spoon; says it's too much like a religion. That made me smile, I used to do a lot of Buddhist meditation; nowadays carving is my meditation. People do all sorts of things in the name of religion, but I've never heard of anyone doing bad in the name of carving spoons! I do treat my chopping block like an altar, though, I guess.

Door and some hunting and gathering.

 A door in Accoya.

Wedged tenons. Pinned with brass. Fixing the drip, with brass flatheads and my turnscrew. Holding temporarily with the Jorgensens.

Hunted and gathered this new old anvil today. It was a lively beast and took some subduing, but with Mick on the seesaw, we roped it in! 

So, forging ahead with the forging. Bang bang bang.

Angles

Lots of angles in the roof lantern. Basically a miniature hipped roof, with glazing bars instead of rafters.

A temporary structure and tent was placed over the roof lantern, as the work was happening in the middle of winter.

On installation day, a genie lift was used to raise the lantern up in two sections.

Over on to the scaffold tower.

Then slid along, and posted through the 'letterbox' in the tent structure. Over the hole and then the scaffold boards slid out and the lantern fixed down.

The tarpaulin battened back down, for work to continue, in the dry!

New roof lantern for Birdwood House

Birdwood House is a listed building, overlooking Totnes market square. It was originally called Somerset House and was the home of the Babbage family; later to produce Charles, the inventor of the Difference Engine, the first mechanical computer.

The building was refurbished in 2005 to house the Gallery, a venue for art. The art gallery is partially lit by a roof lantern. Unfortunately, the lantern had seen better days, so we were called in to do a restoration of it, starting on the 23rd December last. Listed building consent was acquired by the owners. After stripping the paint back, it was obvious restoration was not possible, and so a new lantern was made, saving and restoring the roll-top cap.

Here it is this morning, complete with anti-bird wire to replace the nasty bird spikes that were there before.

From below.

It has been blanked off for years, because of it's unsightly appearance, but now the possibility of using it to add a vertical element to exhibitions, has been opened up.