Latest Projects & News
The Environment
On my web site you will have learned about how I cut and prepare timber using a 1890' saw bench, I have for a long time been searching for a steam engine of the period to run it, particularly with one that can use the off cuts of wood to fire the boiler. The point of all this is so I can reduce my carbon footprint, timber being carbon neutral .
I have recently acquired a english 1912 portable steam engine that was used in a saw mill in France, and has undergone boiler tests recently to meet with regulations. Now she is all up together, she should be running the bench by the end of the month.
I hope to cut the majority of timber for my shepherds huts on her, coupled with the fact I source my timber as locally as possible this really has has got to be a good for the environment particularly as we are all trying to reduce our emissions. Once installed I hope to harvest the rain water off the barn for the boiler, I will put some pictures on the web site once it is all set up.In the meantime you can view a small selection of images here.
I have made progress with the steam engine and I am now cutting out timber for the shepherds hut's with her . I have used a late 1950's rack saw bench to try her out on ,it is a wonderful set up , using up all the off cuts of timber in the fire box, and to think that it is carbon neutral makes me very happy .
As an added bonus I have discovered you can do really nice jacket potatoes in the fire box, pop them in for about an hour and a half, perfect.
It takes about two hours to gently raise enough steam to start cutting, but by the time I have oiled all the bearings on the engine and sharpened the teeth on the saw, it is all ready to use.
Now I have familiarized my self with the running of the steam engine, I have set about getting her coupled up with my old wooden Stenna 1890's rack saw bench that used to be run by a Burrell steam engine years ago.
The Sunday Times Feature
I was recently mentioned in an article in the Sunday Times Home supplement. This is what they had to say...
While the majority of huts are built from scratch, original examples are increasingly being rediscovered an restored. Rebecca Hill, 42, who runs a farm near Blandford in Dorset. acquired two picturesquely decaying ones four years ago: " One was in quite good condition and was about 100 years old. the other , apart from the original wheels needed a complete rebuild." She and her husband, James, 42, who owns a fencing company, have positioned their restored huts in a field with stunning views of the Purbeck Hills, and, along with their daughter, Flora, 6, and son JJ, 5, use them as a retreat from the demands of running their businesses.
"We enjoy having somewhere to get away from the hubbub of the mobile phones and have some quality family time" Hill says. "There's a little range inside, big enough for a kettle or a saucepan. There's a bench along the back and I've put a gate-leg table in there. There's nothing like a fried breakfast in a shepherds hut."
The Hills century-old example is a gem of traditional agricultural engineering, originally constructed by George Farris in Coombe Bissett, near Shaftesbury. It was nursed back into life by Eddie Butterfield, a Dorset blacksmith who is receiving an increasing number of calls to resuscitate crumbling cabins. He has stripped back and renovated so many old huts, he can now identify several local foundries' work at a hundred paces., among them Farris ("look for wood axles and round spoke wheels") and Lott & Walne of Dorchester ("plain cast-iron wheels, a wood chassis, but wrought-iron axles, good for resisting corrosion"). Butterfield remakes iron components and replaces worn out woodwork with new, seasoned timber, using tools from the 1800's handed down from his great-grandfather Thomas Butterfield, who was a wagon builder.
* From spring 2011, Rebecca Hill's shepherd's huts will be available fro B&B, call 07974 425547 for details.
Shepherds Huts for Holiday Lets
A local landowner has commissioned me to supply two shepherds huts initially to go on her 500 acre private estate for the purposes of holiday lets.
After research It was of paramount importance to her that If you are going to offer shepherd hut holidays, the correctly built period shepherds hut should be chosen to compliment the beautiful setting on which they will stand.
I had a tour of the estate and two sites were deemed suitable both giving the guests complete privacy (no public access across the estate) and breathtaking far reaching views to enjoy.
Considerable interest has been generated for the venture already, once they are installed I am sure they will be a great success and I will provide a link for full details in due course.
What's in a name
Shitterton has been in the news of late, this time it is all about the new Stone Shitterton sign we have had made. It has been quite an event full few days with the worlds media descending upon us, as many newspapers and national television have taken up the story.
The old one kept being stolen so the residence of Shitterton led by Ian Ventham our parish councilor, commissioned Val Quinn a local stone mason to carve a new one in a piece of purbeck stone weighing 1 1/2 tons. This we hope will deter it being stolen again, we will have to wait and see.
Picture courtesy of Phil Yeomans