Thursday, October 27, 2011

The Old Stables

The horses moved out of the old stables in the spring to the converted barn and since then the stables have been empty. There are three stables inside the old building along with a corridor and a good size room in the roof which has some interesting old beams. We would very much like to convert the roof space into an office and just keep two of the stables with the third stable being used for the staircase access. However we need a new roof and all the ivy which is growing up the back of our buildings needs to come off before we can assess what state the cob wall is in and how much repair work is needed. We hope to clear all the ivy off the buildings this autumn.

Clearing the Stream

This year we have had a problem with an invasive pond weed which is taking over our stream and covering it with a horrible green mass. We have now got to the stage where you can't even see the water which makes it difficult to cross as you end up stepping in th water, as well as it being so unsightly. We think the warm weather and lack of rainf this summer has helped the plant to grow, but we have no idea where it has come from. So we thought it was about time we started to clear it out of the stream and this half term week we have had some help from our young guests Matthew and Abigail from Dorset.