To infinity and beyond

Well, perhaps not infinity, but certainly up to the roof.

The scaffolders have been to erect the scaffold for all the exterior work, and people have been busy inspecting all the things that they couldn't see clearly before. It's clear that some work needs doing on the roof but the render has proved to be in better nick than was expected given its great age.

There is a slight optical illusion here. The men erecting the scaffold are a normal height, not half the height of the building. They're just nearer the camera.

The interior is moving on apace. It's fascinating to watch the plasterboard being cut and fixed. I almost get the idea I could do it.

Board already

The electricians have moved on for the moment, and James and his lads are now framing and boarding out the cabled areas. This, for example, is the ground floor where the coffee shop will be, now damp-proofed and cabled.

At the other end, the preparation area is taking shape now that the boards have gone up.

Over the weekend the scaffolding will go up to allow the external render to be examined and repaired. Since this has to involve traditional methods, repairs take some time. This is a good point at which to acknowledge the co-operation of our neighbours at Godolphin Chambers and the Wig and Pen, who have kindly allowed us to put scaffolding supports on their land. As I've remarked before, our neighbours on all sides have been extremely helpful in this project and we hope we will be good neighbours to them in our turn. There is certainly a lot of relief locally at discovering that The Globe will no longer be a pub!

The block already has one good pub, and we were delighted to see Tim and Georgie getting a good review in the West Briton this week. It was well deserved, and we'd encourage everyone to try eating there, though preferably not on the nights when we want to go.

The Sound of Silence

The flats are above the pharmacy, so we need to put some fireproofing and sound quilting between the levels to make both parties more comfortable. Now that the electricians have weaved their magic with large quantities of cable, the padding has been going in between the floors.

It won't be long now before the place looks tidier because a lot of the framing will be concealed. We were especially impressed by the gadget in the middle of this picture that allows one person to fix a ceiling panel on his own and keep it perfectly horizontal.

The ducting has now snaked its way up to the roof space.

There's still a lot to do, but you can now see the internal layout a bit more clearly. It's looking more like a pharmacy and coffee shop and less like a derelict pub.