The Castle

A 'warts & all' account of the transformation of a run-down pub in Bradford-On-Avon into a 'proper' Inn (food pub with rooms). Written by Alex Reilley & Pierre Woodford

Monday, April 09, 2007

Some More Interior Work and Shopping






Our stone mason, whilst waiting for the go ahead on the re-pointing, has re-built the window so we can make a bit of a feature of it in what will be the snug area (first picture) and has cleaned up the lintel over the snug entrance that previously looked like a rabid dog had had a chew on it (second picture). Meanwhile Phil and Kev have been busy knocking walls down and and laying a smooth foundation for what will be our ladies and disabled toilets (third picture). Whilst this has been going on we have been out and about scouring local rec yards looking for our front door, which needs to be fairly meaty and possibly with a bit of luck Georgian. We come upon such a door (fourth picture) at a rec yard in Bristol and also discover a couple of fireplaces that would look perfect in a couple of our rooms (fifth picture), especially the fireplace in the snug where we will have to be completely rebuild what is there currently.

Work Continues






We are now into our fourth week of works and things are starting to take shape. We have replaced some of the old joists that we were allowed to and put new ones alongside some of the remaining older ones to strengthen the floors (seen in the first picture). The stud walls for the en-suite bathrooms have gone up and we've had the plumbers and sparkies on site running pipes and wires whilst we have the floors up and they have easy access. We have since been given permission to use the old floorboards from upstairs (the ones that hadn't been eaten by woodworm) for the flooring downstairs, which is great as it will add a bit of character to the ground floor and saves us a bundle.
Meanwhile the decorators are busy stripping back the old windows ready to have them tidied up and repainted (second and third pictures). We have decided on the colours for the exterior parts that are already painted and have a couple of sample patches ready for the conservation officer to come and have a look. Whilst we have the officer out we also need him to check our proposed railings from the early 1800's (fourth picture) to go alongside our garden wall and a sample patch of pointing (last picture), until we get the go ahead the stone mason will have to get on with other jobs.

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