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Wasp nest in the vegetable patch

July 21, 2015 / stephen

Last year, we had a couple of wasp nests – one in the orchard and another in the bottom field. We were lucky. A very nice badger came along and dug both of them up and then ate the lavae. This year we have a wasp nest in the vegetable patch. Given that the have a couple of months to go before they reach the end of the season, we decided that we had to get rid of it. Otherwise, someone (me, Jo or the dog) are going to get stung. Jo got stung last year and she isn’t that keen to be stung again.

Given that it is a vegetable patch we weren’t that keen on using pesticides here, however, we are assured that the chemicals breakdown as soon as they are exposed to sunlight. Even so, I don’t think that we will be planting anything at this end of the vegetable patch this year.

Jo’s idea was to whack the wasp’s nest with a mattock and then run as fast as you can! I think the only thing that this approach would guarantee would be some pissed off wasps. Alternatively, you can get someone suitably attired to spray them with chemicals. I’ll vote for the man with the can!

Not quite sure what is going on here, but it looks like the insecticide might being having an effect!

Dumper fixed (for the time being)

July 3, 2015 / stephen

Turned out the poor performance didn’t have anything to do with the engine – the right hand front brake was seized on! Good job I didn’t go to the hassle of changing the diesel injector!

The brakes have now been sorted together with new oil, new oil filter, air filter and fuel filter. I am proud to say that I managed to do it all myself. It seems to run a bit better although I do wonder if it was worth all that effort.

Despite its age, parts are readily available and I even managed to find a maintenance manual online.

We fixed the ceased brakes and then change the oil, oil filter, air filter and fuel filter. It seems to run (and stop) a little better than when we first bought it.

These are pretty easy machines to work and designed to be repaired in the field (pardon the pun!).

New dumper (well, not exactly)

June 28, 2015 / stephen

This is a 1976 15cwt Thwaites dumper. Just in case anyone is interested, it is powered by a single cylinder Petter PH1 diesel engine. We had quite a few problems getting it started, but finally succeeded by bump starting pushing it down a hill. We did manage to start it after this using the crank. We half filled it with stones before it finally conked out going up a slope in the bottom field. Now, it will not restart.

I am guessing that it is a problem with the fuel lines – the engine turns over and has no electrics, so it can’t be much else other than a lack of fuel. The tank is half full so I suspect that driving it up a slope caused dirt to get into the system somehow. This would also explain the lack of power when we started her up. Looks like the next job is to strip the fuel side of the engine and give it a quick clean. I will take the injectors off first, and crank the engine, to see if it is delivering any fuel.

Ho hum.

You are not going to win any races in one of these. In fact, you are not going to make any progress in one of these if there is the slightest incline. Admittedly, it does go downhill a lot faster than uphill, however, I put this down to the almost not existent brakes.

For some reason, it doesn’t quite capture the feeling of driving one of these! Maybe, it is the lack of the phut-phut-phut of a single cylinder diesel engine. The seat seems to be a replacement – the current one is a wooden seat from a child’s swing!

Going up this slope was the final straw and we haven’t been able to start it since. It sounded like it slowly ran out of fuel despite the fuel tank being half full. My guess is that there is dirt in the fuel system – there are any electrics and the engine still cranks over – so it can’t be much else. We’ll see.

Finishing the wall in the bottom field

June 13, 2015 / stephen

We managed to get half a day today once the rain stopped to finish off the wall in the bottom field. We started on the wall on the right hand side of the gate a couple of weeks ago. There wasn’t a wall here previously, just a gate post. We have used all sorts of odd stone from around the property to build up this wall. In fact, it has been a good way of getting rid of quite a lot of stone. Once it all weathers in, it will look as if it has been there forever.

The rain stopped this afternoon and this gave us enough time to finish off the wall that we started on a couple of weeks ago. We just need to find some coping stones now.

We used a line to get the top of the wall straight and level. It is amazing how this simple approach produces a very straight line. The wall is made up of all sorts of different stone (and the occasionally brick!) from around the property. If nothing else, the wall is a good way of getting rid of a lot of the surplus stone.

Connecting the orchard and the top field

June 8, 2015 / stephen

There is a dry stone wall between the orchard and the top field. There has been a gap in it for a while – where we didn’t quite join the new dry stone wall to the orchard wall. We have decided to close this gap and make a proper one a little further along the wall. The ground level in the top field and the orchard is slightly different, so there will be a step down into the orchard. Fortunately, we had a piece of ashlar left over from the renovation. No one can remember why it was ordered, but it seems to fit here a treat.

The step is level – honest. We used a spirit level on it. There are a couple of flagstones at the back to increase the width of the step. You can see that we have started to build up the left handside. We have overlapped the wall onto the step to make it all a little more robust.

The left hand side has now been built up. Like the walls themselves, the end leans back as it is a more stable structure.

We used some big stones out of the old barn directly on top of the step.

Both sides of the new opening have been built up. The next job was to make sure that the top of the wall was level – both sides of the opening – before putting the coping stones on.

Wall in the bottom field

June 1, 2015 / stephen

There is a wall (sort of) and a gate in the bottom field. I suspect that this was the main route into the property before Upper Hagg Road existed. You can see a “running joint” down the outside of the wall where the wall with the gate joins the wall along the road. I think this is because the gate wall pre-dates the wall along the road.

The wall to the left of the gate was in decent shape and we did repair it earlier in the year. The wall on the right of the gate, however, was largely missing. I am not sure how this had happened since the top part of the wall seems to have survived in tact. Anyway, with lots of stone left over, it seemed like a good idea to have a bit of a tidy up.

The wall to the left of the gate is not too bad, but the wall on the right was largely missing, until I started building it back up. The gate posts have the hooks (iron hooks held in place with lead) on the other side of the gate posts. The only way the gates would have opened would have been away from the camera. So the land the other side of these gates must have been built up – the gates would never have opened against the built up soil.

The wall to the right of the gate was non-existent next to the gate post. We have used all sorts of odd stone to build it up. Once it weathers in, you would think that it had been there for a hundred years.

The wall on the right handside needs to be built up quite a bit – there was no wall against the gatepost before we started. The area beneath the wall with the coping stones has been used as a bit of dumping ground. Lots of old bathroom tiles, concrete and general garbage. We have bagged most of this up to go to the dump together with the other rubbish that we continue to dig up.

Pointing the outbuildings

May 28, 2015 / stephen

Paddy and Jonny have started pointing the outbuildings. Last week we laid a new concrete floor in the end shed that was the original privy for the cottages. The floor in here was raised up with a large stone slab with holes in it. The ground underneath was full of organic matter and straw. I will leave you to work out how it all worked. We removed the large stone slab and dug out the floor – it wasn’t smelly as it hadn’t been used for 200 years! We then put down a waterproof membrane and a concrete floor. The floor level is just above the level of the drive outside to stop any water running in.

It is always a shame to remove original features, but this space just wasn’t usable as it was – there was a big step up and the floor was porous letting in a lot of damp.

We are using the same lime pointing that we used on the house and to point the flagstones in the patio. This way it all matches. It is amazing what a difference it makes.

This end of the shed was the original (18th Century) privy for the cottages. There was a large stone slab about 12 inches up from the floor. The floor underneath consisted of organic matter and straw. I will leave you to work it out! The slab has been removed and the floor has now been dug out. We have installed a new step and a concrete floor. This makes this space much more usable. It does however mean the door is a bit short.

Dry stone wall finished!

May 27, 2015 / stephen

Well, after 2.5 years we have managed to finish the dry stone wall along the side of the orchard and the top field. It was November 2012 when I finished building the first bit of “test” wall – I did this after attending a weekend dry stone walling course. I did keep a record of how many days that we spent dry stone walling, but lost count at around 20. I suspect that we have spent between 50-60 days over the last couple of years rebuilding this wall. We have worked on other walls around the property during this time as well as building the retaining walls in the patio, so we haven’t been doing nothing.

The finished wall is around 110m in length. The wall was in pretty bad shape when we started the project and the vast majority of it has been taken down and totally rebuilt – we have only managed to keep around 3-4 metres of the original wall.

The wall isn’t perfect, but then dry stone walls never are! They are a reflection of the quality of the stone that goes into it. This wall contains the well rounded gritstone that made up the field boundaries, but now contains additional stone left over from the building work or some of the demolitions. While the wall in the orchard is largely straight, the one along the side of the top field has quite a few wiggles in it – mainly due to trees. We still have some stone left over from the building work, so I suspect there is some more dry stone walling to come.

It is just over 110 metres from the gate around to the far Ash tree in the distance.

It is just over 110 metres in length and the original “test section” of wall is in the far distance next to the furthest tree. With each metre of wall containing around 1 tonne of stone, this has been a bit of a labour of love over the last couple of years.

The fields on this side of the wall don’t belong to us so for now we have just had a bit of a tidy up.

You can see the wiggles on both sides of the wall. Plus we also have a fair amount of stone to move before we can start moving right up to this wall.

You can see the wiggles on both sides of the wall. Plus we also have a fair amount of stone to move before we can start mowing right up to this wall.

The bit of wall to the right of the original test section (it is a slightly paler colour) looks a bit of a mess! I think I might have to have a go at rebuilding that bit. If only for vanity’s sake.

Pointing the patio

May 13, 2015 / stephen

The flagstones went down on the new patio before Christmas, but unfortunately the weather wasn’t good enough to be able to point them at that time – it was either too cold or too wet. Well, the weather has started to turn (I did say “started”!) and we started pointing the flagstones this week. We are using the same lime based pointing that we used on the house so that it all matches. Even at this time of the year, there is a risk of rain or frost getting to the pointing before it cures. The pointing is protected overnight with a large sheet of hessian. So far this has worked well for us.

It has take a week or so to complete the pointing on the lower (and larger) of the two terraces. I reckon that the pointing will be complete on the upper terrace too by the end of next week. You wouldn’t think that it would make much of a difference, but it really has pulled the whole area together.

The lime pointing is being mixed to the same proportions as we used on the house:

1: 1: 5 1 portion 3.5 N /sqmm Hydraulic lime : 1 portion white cement : 5 portions Nosterfield River sand

The materials have all been acquired from Womersleys that specialise in materials for restoration projects.

Now the weather has improved we have started pointing the patio. We are using the same lime based pointing that we used on the house. The fresh pointing is protected from the rain and the frost overnight with a large sheet of hessian.

It has taken the best part of a week, but now the lower terrace of the patio is pointed. It makes a tremendous difference to the appearance of this space.

New stairs complete

April 13, 2015 / stephen

The new stairs are now complete! The glass was installed about 10 days ago and this has really brought it all together. There are two pieces of 10mm toughened glass installed as part of the balustrade. The glass is held in place with by grooves in the supporting woodwork. This not only simplifies the design, but also gives the illusion that it is one piece of glass and not two.

We have a spare back and a spare vertical divider that can be installed where the dog’s bed is currently installed. This means that if we no longer have a dog, or sell the house to someone who doesn’t have a dog, then the area for the dog’s bed can be configured as two cubby holes that match the others.

We are really pleased with the stairs and are delighted that, once again, we have been able to rely on local trades people to do an excellent job. The stairs were built by Huddersfield Joinery who also produced all of the hardwood windows for the property.

There are LED lights built into the wooden plinth and, at night, these come on if anyone walks into the hall or the upstairs landing. You can see these on in some of the earlier photos of the stairs – just scroll down. This is achieved using the PIRs for the burglar alarm with the lighting computer. I have a spare LED light and I am tempted to install one in the old road lantern on the bottom shelf in the stair bookcase.

We have still to install the “eyelid” lights that follow the line of the stairs. The wiring was installed behind the plasterboard in readiness for the lights. I just need to find some that will work well in this space.

The two pieces of glass are held by grooves that have been routed into the supporting posts. This simplifies the overall design as well as it making it look as if it is one piece of glass that goes up the stairs.

Hagg Leys Farm