Supersize My Birthday Timber and Going for the Test Burn

When someone asked what choice activity I had lined-up for my birthday (today),  the answer was that I would be humphing beams. :-) Well, the two beams have just now been humphed, and thank goodness this is over.

These beams are monsters, one foot square, and around 15 feet long. They were so heavy my builder and I had to roll them along the ground on short sections of scaffolding pole. When we were lifting them, we could only do so for a few seconds. 

These are 200 year-old beams reclaimed from a Dundee jute mill. The beams' cross-sections are more than twice the dimensions they need to be, but the local sawmill found too many nails in them to cut them up - so we had to use them "as is". This is a known risk with reclaimed wood. My builder cut the ends to slip into the pre-existing corbelled stone sockets in the walls, and when the last one fell into its socket, with a final whack from a baton we were so relieved.

We put in the first beam yesterday. The effort require was so enormous, that I almost fainted on numerous occasions, and it genuinely makes you instantly tired - a very weird phenomenon that I am not used to. My builder and I were yawning all over the place! :-)

The pictures show the first beam in place (taken yesterday), and the second beam in place (taken today).

An on a lighter note. :-) Note double pun - I once did a triple pun i.e. four simultaneous encoded meanings that were all applicable! Anyhow, I picked up a wood-burning stove in brilliant condition, found on gumtree, from a lovely chap in Broxburn (outside Edinburgh) on Wednesday.

There was some uncertainty over the make and model, which was a bit concerning because there are many Chinese import looky-likey stoves, with components which will wear out in a couple of years. Anyhow, by some detective work via the original supplier of the stove, I worked out it was the real deal: a "Yeoman Country". Yeoman is an excellent British manufacturer, and the Country is the biggest model they make - just right for a chilly castle.

My builder and I set the stove up in place, to check that it would draw OK - as in the picture.  Even without the flue sealed-in to the chimney, the heat output was phenomenal. That room has never been so warm. I have taken out a temporary more industrial looking solid cast iron Norwegian 11kW model, and put in this British 13kW steel model with glass doors so you can see the flames. This befits this "living room to be" more. 

My builder and I put the stove at various heights to check the aesthetics within the old curved alcove - a pain with such a heavy object - but definitely worth doing. The right height appears to be around 10" off the ground - easier to insert logs and logs can be stored underneath if we raise the height using small dwarf walls.

The chimney is not central in the alcove sadly, so we has to move the stove slightly to one side for the "test burn". I now need to buy two 45 degree pipe bends to create a dog-leg at the top, so the stove can sit centrally. Off to eBay! :-)

Thanks for all the happy birthday wishes on Facebook!

beam one in place (taken yesterday)

beam two in place (taken today)

test firing of newly purchased stove (taken yesterday)

Let's Go Explore !

When I was looking for a historic property to restore, I snooped around a lot of ruins.
Most of this is all in the past now.......


However, I did my first bit of ruin snooping for ages about a week back.
I was driving my friend Andrew around (he's also been a big friend of
Balintore Castle) on a glorious warm and sunny day, but we took the
"wrong" route back to the castle by mistake.

As we passed a old stone cottage high up on the hill, almost
hidden by vegetation, I exclaimed "Is that occupied, or deserted?".
Andrew indicated he suspected this had been deserted for some
time, so I couldn't help a "Let's go explore!". :-)

This we did! It was/is an incredibly picturesque place with fruit trees
growing in front of the building, but nature had taken over and it must
have been deserted for decades. The wooden outbuildings had collapsed.
but the stone building itself was good, with just one corner of the
roof needing fixing.

It was a traditional single story "but 'n' ben" i.e. a 2 room cottage consisting
of kitchen and bedroom - in this instance with a short bit of corridor and a
bathroom between. However, the rooms were generous as was the size
of the building overall. We peeked into the loft space through the hatch in the
bathroom - the roof was both high and quite steeply pitched with no beams
crossing the space. The building spoke to us both simultaneously and said

•                two good-sized en-suite bedrooms in the roof space
•                bathroom becomes central stairs
•                two downstairs rooms become kitchen and lounge

The building was on a steep slope of the side of a hill. However, it was
south facing and looked down over a beautiful broad sweep of glen.
The setting could have not been better. The extent of the jungle indicated
the garden must have stretched all the way down to the road, and as such
would have been beautifully staged, and the evidence suggested it would
have been magnificent in its heyday. The only downside would be the
snow in winter given the elevation - though last winter the whole UK was struck.

Anyhow, a perfect little "do-er upper". I have my own little project of course, but
could not help teasing Andrew with this as his!

First Kitchen Lum Reek in 50 Years!

Having removed the wood burner from the scullery, in order to dismantle the dangerous flue above this, there was nowhere to keep guests warm, for the ensuing castle party. And keeping warm at Balintore Castle is a matter of life and death, rather than mere comfort! :-)

I thought this might be the right time to create an open fireplace in the kitchen. The long-standing plan has been to install an open fire, reminiscent of a mediaeval great hall fireplace, in the location of the old range.. Indeed, the kitchen has been designed to look like a mediaeval great hall, so it would be entirely fitting.

Accordingly, Andy, Andrew and I photograpically documented the sad in-situ remnants of the Victorian range cooker, carefully removed them, and placed them in the basement for future generations. We lifted a recently purchased large dog grate into the aperture that was left. Andy said that the way to test if the chimney is working is simply to light a large fire underneath and see where the smoke goes. This we did. As you can see from the photograph, the room filled with smoke. Our eyes stung, and we flung open the windows. Any passers-by would have been alarmed by the dense plumes of smoke pouring out of the castle windows. :-)

So total failure! Or so one might think. From outside the building we could see smoke streaming out of one of the chimney tops - probably for the first time in 50 years. So the chimney was not in fact blocked. Andy rodded the chimney from the top and from the bottom - this is around 30 metres high - and did some unblocking from the top of others in the same stack improving the situation perhaps slightly. But the bottom line was that the draw inside the kitchen fireplace was not correct for an open fire - so this idea had to be put on hold.

It would be possible to move the fire dog back a foot or so by removing the crumbly brick packing that was at the back of the range, and less smoke would certainly get into the room. However, the draw still needs to be majorly improved and in my positive way I think it must be possible. The large opening above the fireplace has to be throttled, in my view, to a thin strip at the back. The velocity of the rising hot air will thus be greater (Bernoulli's principle) and this will pull the smoke through. Open fires are always throated with a surprisingly small opening at the back.

As a temporary solution we stuck the old wood-burner inside the opening. The metal flue pipe vents into the chimney and as it is not sealed in, the draw is not great. However, the stove still works fairly OK in this location and only a relatively small amount of smoke escapes into the room.

The best outcome of the failed dog grate experiment, was that despite the smoke, on walking into the kitchen one was just hit by a wall of heat. And I have never, ever known the kitchen to be warm before. :-) The promise of warmth and comfort at Balintore continues to tantalise.

remnants of old Victorian kitchen range

failed experiment with new dog grate (smoke everywhere!)

temporary compromise wood burner heating solution

Art and the Archetype

With my Internet running at 128 kbits, and unreliably at that, it is
folly to attempt a blog entry, but then that's me all over. :-)

This may sound a very silly fear indeed, if not grandiloquently
pompous, but I am in a state of continual concern that I confuse art
with the archetypal. And yes, it is a real fear, and yes it does
occupy my thoughts.

Despite the philosophising, we all really know what art is: something
that moves us through its beauty in a very personal communing with the
work. Preconditions for this communing are an openness for new
experience, unprejudiced but keen observation, and some knowledge of
rules that can be made and rules that can be broken - in short the
cultural context.

However, once we have learned to pattern match a style (Art Deco), an
artist (Van Gogh), or a painting (the Mona Lisa), do we enjoy what is
quintessential or do we actually engage in sufficient observation to
judge the art?

The quintessential is comforting; art is discomforting. My castle is
damningly quintessential,  facilely archetypal, or as a child would
put it, a really "castley-castle". It is a cube with turrets on the
four corners. Was its purchase a quick fix, tick box in life (the
quintessential) or a response to its art. There is no doubt that it
was an investment in beauty and beauty alone, but was it commoditised,
as with an artist with a name, or suitably and artfully reckless? I
very much fear it was the  former. Interestingly, a number of ruined
buildings I tried to buy were by the  same architect (William Burn)
but I just did not know it at the time. I am certainly consistent, but
this is the indistinguishable hallmark not just of good taste but of
the archetypal.

Castles are ripe for archetyping, and I very much enjoy this. I attach
two such images from the Polanski film "The Ninth Gate." This film is
severely under-rated, and somehow I felt vindicated in my admiration
when he later came out with "The Pianist" which is both genius and the
definitive holocaust film. This is possibly because it stays outside
the concentration camp door - avoiding the emotionally undepictable
rather than the technically so.

Anyhow, the film features a recurring castle image throughout ( the
attached photo) and mediaeval woodcuts which provide the clues for a
bibliophilic puzzle: one example is the attached illustration. Did I
like the film because of its art, because of its castles, because of
its archetyping (I am a bit of a bibliophile) or because of its
archetyped castles? :-) Oddly, in this instance I almost certainly
liked the art, but then I am a cineast,  but boy do I like those
castles! :-)

I am now looking at "classic period" light fitting designs for the
castle's interior. This is fraught with danger, as the period enforces
boundaries now that were not present then in the period. Should one
like a light in order to go for it, or should it simply be in keeping
with the period, or should it simply suit its location? I am trying to
go for all three - but a little blurring in the period seems to be
necessary. Victorian lighting is not hugely inspired, as the basic
purpose was to make the best of low intensity light sources: oil, gas,
candles. Electricity frees light fittings from this straight-jacket,
and Art Deco starts to revel in colour and design - and I am a bit of
a reveller. :-)

So for "classic" read archetypal. Not all Victorian lighting looks
Victorian,  so one favours a look that is clearly Victorian, to prove
to others/oneself that one has got it right. :-)

Sadly, I am no further forward in my conundrum, even after its first
expression in prose. Am I art or archetype? You decide!

recurring castle image from film "The Ninth Gate"

woodcut castle image from film "The Ninth Gate" 

The Professionals Know All the Best Angles

Two delightful guests at last Saturday's castle party were Kyle and Louise who together have recently opened a photographic studio and gallery in Kirriemuir called "Hamilton Kerr", after their respective surnames. I was fortunate enough to attend the opening of the gallery, and this is where I first met Kyle and Louise.

A joyous surprise was seeing this stunning image of Balintore Castle at the opening exhibition. It really is one of the best photographs of the castle I have seen. Using the "ha ha" as visual symmetry for the castle is genius: why didn't I think of this angle? I always think of yesterday's ha-ha as today's infinity pool. :-)

Kyle and Louise have given me permission to use this image in my blog. You can find further examples of their work on their web site:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hamilton-Kerr-Photographic-Studio-Gallery/177388308962225

There is a strange coincidence in this picture. The Victorian architect, William Burn, who designed the castle would always produce a scenic painting of every building in its landscape for his clients, in advance of construction. Quite rightly, he did not expect a client to buy a concept "off plan" and "off elevation". Anyhow, he would always add "pen and ink" crows to the painting to zhuzh-up the gothic atmosphere. Fascinatingly. Hamilton Kerr have upheld this tradition with Photoshop, unconsciously tapping into the original vision of the architect.

Indeed, a number of talented photographers have each created their own unique vision of Balintore Castle through their art, and I hope to be able to showcase these works in future blog entries.

Subconscious Rastafarianism and Vexillogical Detection

Some days ago I was clearing out the room that is my "bathroom to be" at the castle. This is because I am finally taking action for it to actually be a bathroom.

There were 4 boxes wrapped sturdily in black plastic. What on earth could these be? I looked in one box and found a large Bob Marley flag - I had absolutely no recollection of this object. Had I converted to Rastafarianism, and been deprogrammed by some well-meaning secularists, who had stuffed the evidence of my colourful past in these boxes? Was I perhaps now merely a residual Rastafarian in my subconscious?  I waved the flag wanly in front of my face to elicit any memories, none came.

Out emerged another more attractive flag with golden castles (I was liking this already) on a green and red background. This would look lovely on my castle "flagpole to be", but again I had never seen this flag before in my life, and doubts in my own sanity were coalescing.

I opened another of the containers, the box was one for a shuttle computer - and I suddenly twigged! These were the boxes my Turkish tekkie friend Gorkem, had left in the castle 2 years previously before emigrating from Scotland back to Turkey. Phew! The irony was that he was coming back to Scotland the following weekend for the first time in two years. I alerted Gorkem to his long lost chattels, and the successful reunion has now taken place!

Gorkem left some of the chattels including the "golden castle" flag. Buoyed by my genealogical detection success (see the previous blog entry comment)  could I now identify this flag? I am not an expert in vexillology (the study of flags) but hey, I got the Internet and I'm gonna use it!.

May I introduce you to the marvellous:

http://www.flags.net/search.php

for identifying flags. I looked up the Jamaican flags obviously, but the "golden castles" flag was nowhere to be seen. I entered the attributes of the flag (red and green with a coat of arms) on the search page, and lo and behold 20 or so flags popped up. One of these, the Portuguese flag, matched perfectly. Success!

Of course, why a Turk in Scotland should have a Portuguese flag, let alone leave it before flying to Sweden is one detective investigation too far for this evening.

Up The Flue With a Frozen Banana

A certain sort of madness prevails at Balintore: one finds oneself doing things that when viewed objectively in the cool light of day appear very strange indeed. One evening after tea, my friend Andrew walked in on me, standing inside the huge fireplace in the castle kitchen. My head had disappeared up the chimney. In my hand was a frozen banana - which was my simple, delicious and economical dessert for the evening. I was studying the shape of the inside of the flue, as an experiment earlier in the day has revealed the draw was not yet correct for an open fire.

Needless to say, Andrew burst into laughter at the eccentric spectacle in front of him! :-)

And for this blog entry's picture. A local friend alerted me to the fact that the local church (Lintrathen) had closed down and was selling off its fittings. Two charming church personnel, greeted me outside the church this morning at 11AM and showed me around the remaining pieces. I am now better off by a redundant communion table. :-) This is a lovely piece in oak in memorium of one Charles Chree who was minister there between 1855 and 1893, and I feel there is good karma in keeping this in the locality: Lintrathen is the closest church to the castle. I was also offered the pulpit at a very good price. This is a marvellous monumental piece which you can see in the picture behind the communion table. As much as I would loved this, even with a castle, I was wondering where I would put it. Should I have gone for it?

By an irony of timing, the deadline for offers on the property was at midday today, while I was looking around the building. They are looking for offers in the region of 50k, and I understand that at least two sealed envelopes have been deposited with the solicitors.

My slater Andy came with me as an informed second opinion on the pieces for sale. However, he was straight in with a workable solution to sensitively convert the building into a domestic dwelling. So many churches and chapels have been badly converted, but Lintrathen looks very convertible modulo planning permission. Andy was admiring the brass and iron umbrella stands, and was offered these for free! Some people are just lucky. However, he has generously donated some to the castle.

I reflected upon the sadness of a building's well-coordinated fittings leaving and of a building ceasing to function as originally intended - it had been a church since 1801. De-consecration is the emasculation of a church. Yet, a new life awaits this picturesque building, and I wish the new (as of today) owner the very best of luck.

My new communion table,  and behind  the pulpit which I left at the altar. :-)

Lintrathen church - a snip at 50k (OIRO)