| The annual snowdrop walk took place on Sunday 14th February. Our visitors wandered through the Pinetum at their own pace, enjoying the large drifts of snowdrops and views through the woodland in the weak winter sunshine. Afterwards, there was a cream tea in the Main Building and we pretty much had a full house – some 60 people attended. Thanks to everyone who helped prepare (and clear up) the refreshments. |  |
Regular visitors will know that the hut in the Entrance Area was without its door for some time because the door post had rotted quite badly at the bottom and so the door had dropped and was scraping the floor. We have now repaired it with a new post made from our own timber! The wood came from the Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) bordering Southern Meadow that many years ago fell across the stream. The soft red-brown timber is aromatic and has a high resistance to decay, so it is widely used in outside construction to make posts, decking, cladding, fences and shingles. We managed to chain saw off a substantial limb which was converted into a square post using our Alaskan mill. The new post was bolted to the shed frame and, with some new pintel hinges commissioned from our regular blacksmith, the door was rehung. This all occurred over several weeks and everyone involved was very proud of the result. Well done Edward, Mike, John and Ian.
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