Having stripped the building back to the brickwork the excellent builders from Farlwood have progressed really well in the last week fitting thick insulated boards in the roof and all the walls.  Its amazing to see the skill of the plasterers as they complete a perfectly smooth finish to these surfaces.

A really interesting discovery has been a set of mermaid like gargoyles found embedded in the concrete running up the side of the staircase.  These have only been discovered as this old staircase is being removed.  Five of the cast iron figures were found behind a couple of layers of plaster mounted every foot or so onto a timber backing board.  At least a further three appear to be fixed behind a steel beam across the head of the stairs.  As this part is to be removed too we shall see if we can recover any more.  We would love to hear from anyone with any thoughts about what or why these were here.  In the meantime we are going to have a go at refurbishing them - some are missing various parts and all need a good clean.

Aside from the building work we have been planning the interior details.  Its great to have skilled suppliers so close on hand.  Aries Lighting in Darnall is working with us on some feature large hanging pendants, Full Volume looking at the AV installation with speakers made at Cloud Electronics (both based 2 minutes walk away) and the Daniel Bros are working on tables, curved feature walls and window sills!