KPT News December 2011

• Watch our Finchingfield Guildhall renovation project as featured on the BBC News! http://t.co/QNkZr4Rw
• Listen to the BBC radio interview featuring our Finchingfield Guildhall renovation project! http://t.co/2NHl4C4S 
• Great Chesterford Church has a new carved oak and modern glass screen enclosing their new meeting space which we designed. Lodge and Sons have nearly finished this, so do pop into the church a have a look!  This project is due for completion during January.
• The Building works at Bush End Church have started on-site with R J Pinnock & Sons, to create a new Kitchen, WC, tower balcony and staircase. The works include some lovely new oak joinery.  These new facilities will be a welcome addition to this lovely little church opposite Hatfield Forest. 
• The first month of building works continue at Finchingfield Guildhall. The demolitions have started and the site hut is up! This is an exciting repair and restoration project, which has been funded by Heritage Lottery and English Heritage, to create a museum, library and meeting room!  
• Stripping off of the cement render has commenced to the rear of the frame, exposing the C15 timber structure.   At high level, the oak seems to be in fairly good condition, while the West end has some rot in the sole plate and lower studs, which will require some splice oak repairs.  The two old inglenook fireplaces have been exposed, and the brickwork is in good condition.  FWA Conservators have also done some samples to see if we can remove the black staining from the oak frame.  This has been successful.  The brick pammets have been lifted from the floors and saved for re-use later.  In the passageway, we found some old lath and plaster that survived stripping during the 1950’s, so this will be preserved.
• The thatchers, Dodson Brothers, have arrived to thatch the Rotunda.  They are using traditional drum threshed long straw. This is attached on every second run with a sway.  Metal ties, the modern-day equivalent of the hazel staples, are screwed into the rafters to help hold the sways in position, which in turn hold the long straw in place.  Dodson Bros grow their own long straw in Cambridge.  Once the straw is firmly in position, a trimmer is used to push the ends into place, giving a firm layer.  When all the layers are in place, a hedge trimmer (replacing the traditional shears ) is used to trim the ends, giving a very tidy finish.  Finally, the eaves will eventually be finished with two rows of hazel stitching and the ridge piece goes on last, in Dodson’s own distinctive pattern, fixed in place with hazel.   It is estimated that 3 tons of straw will be required to thatch this roof.