Ghost hound at Halloween
30th October 2007
What kind of dog can leave his paw prints in solid brick? The day before Halloween we find the clear impression of a long dead dog and we naturally think about ghosts. Well, it makes good copy even if it is stretching the truth a bit. Okay, quite a lot. We immediately realised that the dog must have left his paw prints on the brick while it was still wet and soft before firing. We talk about people making a mark in history but this dog really did make his mark.
As you can guess, the brick was found by John as he did yet more bricklaying. He did pause from his task to tell us where he wants the footings for the rest of the wall he is working on and even took time to watch Martyn and Kim dig the trench for these foundations.
Apart from John the rest of the team today consisted of Martyn, Colin, Kim, Headley and Richard. The morning was spent using Colin’s van to move the heaviest items from the mill to the stable. We have even relocated our dining area to take advantage of the sun trap outside the stable.
A large part of the day was occupied with measuring and note taking as we make plans for the next phases of work. Some of the jobs are obvious but others need a fair amount of planning if we are to avoid too much wasted time. One or two team members may well find that they can do useful stuff off-site, maybe even in doors out of whatever weather the winter throws at us.
The mill is now quite tidy inside and we have replaced the runner stone that we lifted. The repairs to the hurst will need some new oak, and we are going to research suppliers and prices. Headley has checked out the cracked rim of the large PTO pulley and we have started to survey the upper floor of the barn.
Hopefully the planning will help move the restoration forward and perhaps the ghost hound will watch over us as he used to guard the brickyard.
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