Timber!!

The first picture shows Claudia and Jon's friend Willy felling the last tree on 31st March. Willy was over from Switzerland for a weeks holiday with his partner Edith but as last year, put his skills as a woodsman to use. They also helped out putting up the framework for walls in the scout hall. In the third picture, Jon is salvaging floorboards in the Croft Cottage.

Hard Work

With opening day fast approaching, Claudia and Jon have been working some really long hours often starting at 7am and not finishing until 10pm. Yesterday they laid the base for the machine wash pad which required Jon to barrow many loads of concrete from the front of the property.

However it's easier with a little help from your friends. The lovely Andy P made a recent visit and amongst other things, helped to move the old pool table from the scout hall.

Flags a Flying

The course flag flies proudly on the fourth green whilst over on the first fairway, the new bridge is finished and ready for use. As well as keeping the golfer's feet dry, this will also carry machinery and provide much quicker access out onto the course for the greenkeepers. Again, this has been built by Jon & Claudia using material sourced from the land whenever possible.

The Machine Park

The pictures show construction of the machine park which has been Jon and Claudia's most recent project. This is located at the back of the croft house on the site of an old stone built shed, the foundations of which have been used as footings.

Wherever possible materials have been recycled from other parts of the course. For example the base comprises of chunks of breeze block from the old shower block and the roofing was also saved from this building. Jon had a bit of a crisis when he was a few sheets of roofing short and discovered that the panels have a profile that was discontinued a while ago. Fortunately the local merchants had a few sheets hidden away that got the job done. The mowing machines are due back from servicing soon and it will be a luxury to park them in this shed. Up to now the machines have been stored in a regular sized garage which has required millimetre perfect, precision parking in order to fit them all in! I know that as Jon's sister I am slightly biased but I

think that constructing this is a another fantastic achievement and I am really proud of them.

Ready for Croft Warfare

Guess who?

Working on the Croft House

Jon and Claudia have started work

on turning the croft house and scout hut into living accommodation for themselves. This has involved ripping out old kitchens and bathrooms etc. One picture shows Jon removing old plasterboard so that the walls can be insulated before new board goes up whilst in the other, Claudia is attacking a boarded up doorway.

An application has been made for a building warrant for the creation of two doorways at either end of the croft house. The walls are about a metre thick so they will take some knocking through. Question is, will the builder let Claudia have a go?

Douglas has an Accident

Jon has been busy in recent weeks constructing tees around the course. He has finished 3 of these on the 9th but has a little problem on the lower 5th tee when Douglas the digger broke through the surface crust and started to sink. Fortunately Jon was able to hook the bucket around a tree stump but not before the machine was submerged up to the cab.

After escaping through a window, Jon enlisted the help of local resident John W Sinclair who with the assistance of a co-worker and a big digger managed to rescue Douglas. A huge thank you to these chaps for coming to the rescue. Luckily no damage was done and both the lower and upper tees on the fifth are now complete.