HLF-WINTER'S TALE

Following on from “The ‘Prospect Before Us” in the ‘Omnibus’ no.170, it is intended to keep readers informed of progress towards our goal of a new display hall by Easter 2007 in each edition of ‘Omnibus’.

It is often true that when things disappear one does not notice that they have gone and even, sometimes, cannot think what was in the space left. This is the stage we have reached with the HLF project. There is nothing new that has appeared on site to show for it but things have been moved and disappeared. The mezzanine floor which was constructed last summer is not, strictly speaking, part of the HLF project but nevertheless is an essential part in clearing what was the blind store and the railway carriages. A lot of effort has gone in to identifying new homes for the items stored in both these places and then moving them. Special racking has been constructed in the mezzanine and as I write – late January – the task of shifting everything is nearly complete. 

The store at the end of the café/shop building has now gone and the end wall made good. This area is now ready for the construction of the new vehicle access ramp which it is hoped will be possible before Easter, in advance of the main construction project.

Removal of the railway carriages is more complicated but we now have an agreement on how this will be done. Essentially, the four carriages will be stripped of all useful parts by two railway enthusiast groups, who will also remove the non-steel rubbish. The remaining carcasses will then be broken up on site by a scrap man so that, hopefully, by the time we open for Easter these will have gone.

Again, with no visible impact on the site to date, much work is being done by our architects and the various other professionals – Structural Engineer, Quantity Surveyor, Planning Supervisor – to prepare working drawings prior to going out to tender for the building contract. Some holes and test bores have been made on site to check the ground conditions and no problems encountered. The architects have also checked some of the levels. A recent meeting with the architects was also attended by our Interpretation Designer to ensure the needs for the display to be installed are met when the building is constructed.

Finally, our HLF grant came with a special condition requiring us to do some additional work on the education side of things. Malcolm Keeley has put a lot of effort in to consulting with appropriate professionals and drawing up the necessary paperwork with the result that our Grant Monitor was able to pass off as satisfying the special condition at the end of the year.

Phil Ireland

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