| THE BUILD |
| Preparation Day - Friday 17th June |
At Hampton Court Flower Show we have the luxury(?) of an
advance day of preparation before the build begins in earnest. |
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| Groundhog Day |
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The site is levelled, and the sheeting goes down. |
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| The concrete block footprint for the structure at the rear of the stand is nearly finished. |
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All prepared for week one now. |
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| WEEK ONE |
| Day One - Monday 20th June |
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| It's so important to get the plinth course right as everything then follows up from there. |
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The rain was heavy at the end of the day (and we weren't under a roof like Andy Murrary),
so I took this picture early the next morning - a good start I think. |
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| Day Two - Tuesday 21st June |
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| More good progress on the Outdoor Kitchen. |
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| The Corner Garden Room is up to jamb height. |
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We came up with nice detail around the oven door today. |
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Actually I skived off for part of the day and attended the opening of Phase II of the Old Manor House Garden at Capel Manor. Here I am opening the Church Ruin in the garden with Capel Senior Gardener Julie Phipps.
Photograph; Harris Digital
I must admit that I was upstaged more than a little by The Marchioness of Salisbury who opened the Drapers’ Banqueting Hall, and Lady Stuttard who opened Madam Susannah Avery’s Kitchen and launched the reprint of the Madam Susanna’s 17th century recipe book. |
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| Day Three - Wednesday 22nd June |
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| The Oven Surround is almost at roof level and we’ve made a start on the BBQ area. |
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| All of the window heads and the gothic arch transform the Corner Garden Room. |
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| Day Four - Thursday 23rd June |
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We are now ready to prepare for the roofing on both of the main structures and for the
Gothic Window heads on the BBQ wall. The blocks and plinths are down for the return walls. |
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| Day Five - Friday 24th June |
Just the morning today as we have a major tidy up before heading back to
Somerset for the weekend (along with the rest of the country!). |
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| Day Six - Monday 27th June |
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We started the day back at The Stoneworks preparing for the week to come, but got back up to
Hampton in time to make a start on the Oven and Garden Room return walls. |
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| Day Seven - Tuesday 28th June |
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Despite the storms we have nearly finished the return walls to the left and right,
prepared the
timber-work for
the Garden Room roof and added the chimney to the Oven Surround. |
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| Day Eight - Wednesday 29th June |
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There is always one day of the build that is really challenging, and it was today! Working at
height always slows things down but the crew had a big day today. The return walls are finished,
as
is the
Mediaeval Balustrade, and the roofing is well under way. It could be another big day
tomorrow
as the end
is tantalisingly in sight, but the finishing touches will slow us down. |
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| Day Nine - Thursday 30th June |
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| We’re getting close now. The stone tiled rooves are on, the paving down and the plinth ready for the Font. |
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| We are very pleased with refinements to the BBQ and Oven Surround since Chelsea but… |
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…we are beginning to feel that our new Corner Garden Room might be the star of our exhibit at Hampton. |
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| Day Ten - Friday 1st July |
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The building work is all complete – now for the planting.
Take a look at the Exhibit section of these pages to see the final result. |
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| The Hampton Court Crew |
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| From the left; Dave Wall, Andy James, Tim Redwood, Lee Clevely, Andy Slight, Carey Legresley |
