Tuesday 12 March 2024

Dwang Noo Sark Efter

Construction of the replacement big turret is proceeding apace in the Great Hall. The dwangs, or horizontal cross braces between the vertical struts, are now in position.

I asked Gregor if it made more sense to fit the dwangs once the skeleton of the turret had been reconstructed outside i.e. less to dismantle. However, he indicated that fitting the dwangs is a footerie, time-consuming process, so he would prefer to do it indoors.

However, Gregor stopped at installing the sarking, or external sheeting, indoors, even though it has been cut, because being a surface layer it only has to join up with itself and so is less troublesome to fit outdoors.

Anyhow, the turret will be marked-up (tab A into slot B) and dismantled tomorrow into IKEA flat-pack format. Hence the timely photo below, recording this key stage of the construction process.

with dwangs but without sarking

Keen students of the Scots dialect will observe that the title of this blog entry is fully Scottish.

Sarking is legally required in Scotland but not in England. I got quite a surprise when I climbed into my first English loft, and was appalled by the flimsiness of construction. The tiles were nailed onto thin batons instead of being laid onto an entire and complete wood-sheeted surface.

English readers will be more familiar with the term "noggin" rather than "dwang". And finally: I manage to secrete another Scottish dialectal word into the text above. What is it?




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