Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Restoration - Week 16

Four months of our restoration work at Old Hampden and making inroads into this EAST Terracing. Really happy with the way the kerb stones now look having wire brushed them and dug out the tree roots between each step this week. Not exactly much fun, but the eventual result is worth the effort!


We have also now found some missing kerb stones which suffered vandalism over the last 50 years and will reset these in the coming weeks, thus outlining the original 1947 pattern of stepping. As I said in previous posts, I am constantly surprised by how much of the original terracing remains buried under mounds of earth and moss and strewn around the wooded areas and wish to use


as much as we can to reshape this section of the park and keep it as original as we can. Cut away more earth and trees this week to uncover 4 more steps and despite the huge regrowth of summer plants and trees recently we are slowly getting there! Only managed to clear a small section of 9 of these terrace steps and filled with red blaes as it is painstaking work and every tiny piece of moss


needs to be cut out and then wire brushed as it grows back instantly! But as these photos show the difference is remarkable. With no power sources nor running water nearby then everything has to be done by hand with basic tools which is in keeping with our ethos of doing this Victorian restoration properly however it is very time-consuming! But we are in no rush and would rather it was done


properly so that it last a bit longer! Good 10 hours of graft done this week before heading off on holiday and very pleased with progress all over the ground this last 4 months, however we now have a huge mound of chopped down trees and branches to get rid of! Will recycle what we can and pulp the rest but for now this is the situation (below) this week! And again the ground has been left


covered in litter and vandalised again, with my wood store being smashed up and bin bags ripped open and the contents emptied again, but undeterred it was all cleared up again and thanks to the GCC boys for taking away another 4 bags of refuse this week. The battle continues to rescue the


old ground from the past and half a century of neglect and slow progress is being made! Now, time for a holiday...


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