Going up!

It occurred to me that my last post would have been improved by a photograph or two, so we tiptoed into The Globe over the weekend and snapped away.

Here you can see the old-looking beam and, above it, the modern-looking ceiling that was concealed. You can also see at the right hand end a piece of original wall that was out of sight and can now be exposed.

At the opposite end, things are less exciting. A fairly modern piece of wall above, and comparing the two pillars shows that the one nearer the camera has been beefed up to take the beam - though there is nothing substantial supported by the beam.The picture also shows how much height has been gained by the removal of the false ceiling. The room is nearly a third taller.

The studwork continues, and here you can see the smaller consultation room at the back of the pharmacy beginning to take shape. In fairness to our builders, the wood is straight and parallel. It's my camerawork that makes it look bowed. The little fireplace at the back will be preserved but will be concealed when we finish.

I am conscious that we haven't shown much of the upstairs work. This is the kitchen, where you can see some fine laths.

The wall was largely held together by the tiles, hence the clean look of the laths when the tiles were removed, because the plaster had crumbled away.

Not all the woodwork is quite so handsome. This is the side wall, one panel of which is in very poor condition and is being dried out.

This is the front bedroom in the existing flat. The photograph doesn't do justice to the yellow of the walls, which looks rather like an explosion in a custard factory. It is likely that our tenants will want us to change that.

Finally for now, this is the front sitting room. The floor boards are up to investigate the extreme curve on the skirting board. The advice we have is that the wall probably settled soon after The Globe was built, and therefore the joists were resited in new cradles to support the windows. Over the years this has bent the skirting board upwards and resulted in a hump in the floor. This adds character to the room but plays havoc with a game of carpet bowls, unless you like indoor crown green bowling. The builders will do some gentle remedial work to straighten as much as can be done without major disruption, guided by our structural engineers.

The ventilation ducting is now being fitted, so The Globe continues to take shape. We must start to think at what point The Famous Old Globe will become The Famous New Globe.