100% Floored

The Great Hall is now 100% re-floored! :-) The last remaining quadrant, in the corner with the open Gothic arch, was boarded this week. 

last corner quadrant now re-boarded

I would like to say, "It's great to walk around the room and experience the space.", but in fact scaffolding has already been installed along the west and north walls, restricting one's perambulations.

scaffolding against west and north walls

The scaffolding is to be used to install "temporary" windows in the old window openings, to bring light and hopefully some heat in.

Silver Polishing Room Plastering

Jaymae, the plasterer, and his friend Murdo popped round today to put the final coat on the domed roof of the silver-polishing room at Balintore. Yes, there really is a room in Balintore just for the butler to polish silver.

Jaymae said it was the hardest job he's ever done, as the roof is curved in both directions. Beforehand, he was worried the task might be beyond him, and he only admitted this after completing the ceiling. :-) However, even he is impressed how good the end result looks. He used a trowel with a sponge on it, and a flexible metal trowel to achieve the curve.

final plaster coat on silver polishing room ceiling

The next step is plastering the walls. As ever, top down for plastering!

Curtain Model

One of Ms. Balintore's lesser known rôles is that of curtain model. Friend of Balintore Duncan, who designs, prints and makes curtains for the Landmark Trust, asked if he could tempt her ladyship to model his curtains creations. She was only too happy to oblige.

Duncan wanted to borrow some of Balintore's atmosphere of historic distress, and ironically two of the rooms that were used, have now been restored; so the photos form an unwitting restoration snapshot.

The wolf print curtains were photographed in the old nursery, now largely restored. The design was created for the Landmark Trust property Coed y Bleiddiau, which is the Welsh for 'Wood of the Wolves'.

wolf print curtains

The lion rampant print was photographed in the tank room at the top of the Great Tower.

lion rampant print curtains

The architectural motif print was photographed in Aunt Nelly's bedroom, now restored. And very generously, Duncan has donated the curtains to the room. They look superb in situ, with the walls repainted in the original blue which matches the curtains closely.

architectural motif print curtains

If you would like Duncan to run you up a curtain see his webpage here.

Three-Quarters Floored

As far as putting down a floor in the Great Hall is concerned, we are now three-quarters of the way there. You can see the remaining quadrant that needs boarding by the gothic archway, which once led to the guest staircase. Fingers crossed, we can get the remaining boarding down on Monday.

quadrant still needing to be boarded

The biggest task was clearing away all the scaffolding, insulation and wood in that corner of the Great Hall. And in fact we were able to build-up this scaffolding on the new floor under the north and west windows in the Great Hall, with a view to installing some temporary windows. After 14 or so years of being boarded up, these openings will once again let in light.

scaffolding set-up to install new temporary windows

Sun and Snow

Yesterday, I promised you photos of snow and blue skies. Well, the weather actually delivered today. My accuracy has nothing to do with the fact that I recently worked for the UK Met Office, and everything to do with the fact we are having a cold snap and it snowed heavily yesterday.

My daily constitutional consists of going down the west drive, along the road, and then up the east drive. Here are the photos taken en route:

leaving the castle

looking back at the castle from the east drive

deer prints

the east drive is a fauna superhighway

looking back down the east drive - a single human track!

back at the castle

Walking in virgin snow, illustrates that the castle drives are actually busy thoroughfares for animals and not just the occasional human. By the end of my late afternoon walk, the sun was already coming in at a low slanting angle. I daresay Balintore Castle gets trapped flatteringly twixt blue sky and white ground.

Demi-Floored

Today, Gavin and Gregor reached the half-way mark in flooring the Great Hall. The fiddliest part is installing the insulation, and the actually laying of the boards is the least of the challenge. On reflection, I think it is marginally less than 50%, but it is good to reflect upon progress every day.

Great Hall: flooring progress 16th January 2024

The next task in the Great Hall will be installing temporary windows, so that light can re-enter the room. It has been in darkness for perhaps 12 years, as we blocked off the window openings with sterling board to keep the weather out.

Today, the first proper snow of the winter arrived and it snowed all afternoon. It has been bitterly cold for the last 4 days, so the odds are that the snow will now lie. Jaymae the plasterer got stuck at the castle this evening as the west drive became too treacherous for his vehicle. I set up a bedroom for Jaymae, but fortunately his mother came to the rescue, and Jaymae and I walked down the snow-bound drive so he could get picked up.

Tomorrow, I am hoping to see a white landscape and a bright blue sky. If this does happen, you can rest assured that I will blog the photo here. 

Builders on the Dance Floor

Well, Gavin and Gregor were going to be working somewhere else today but no-one could have been more delighted than I, to find them beavering away on the dance floor when I eventually emerged from my bed this morning.

As the castle has a separate dining room, I can only assume that the Great Hall has witnessed many a ceilidh. This is in addition to its role as a reception area, as it is the first room guests would encounter after the entrance hall. There are exits leading to the toilets, the library, the dining room, the drawing room, and the guest bedrooms - so it is very much like a hub.

In the photograph you will see the swaged netting over the joists, which is used to hold under-floor roll insulation. 

It is a thrill to walk across the floor that has been laid so far. It will be an even bigger thrill to be able to walk around the whole room. Until this is possible, you never quite get the feel for a space.

Great Hall: flooring progress 15th January 2024