A to Z of Period Properties

[Moo]

I caught the last part of a programme on BBC4 yesterday evening all about what goes on behind the scenes in Versailles. The bit I saw showed a delightful man restoring some very battered Napoleonic chairs, from the initial gesso repairs to the final gilding - just as you describe it, Nigel.
The bit you didn't mention is that apparently saliva helps make the gesso easier to work; we saw the craftsman sucking and licking a marble-sized ball of the stuff before he used it.

 

[JoceAndChris]

:shock: 8)

 

[Nigel Watts]

Would that also ensure that this is accurate? (I really, really want one when I have a suitable garden)

When we had our garden done a few years ago I seriously considered a sundial, which is when I dd the research and found out about shaped gnomons. In the end we didnt get one, not least because the garden didnt get much direct sun. What I would really like to do is mount a large fairly minimal one high up on the back wall of the house.

I had a great website reference for a supplier which I now cant now find, but will persist.

 

[Flyfisher]

I've also fancied a wall-mounted sundial and I have plans for our south-facing wall, with a bit of inspiration from Oxburgh Hall

I've read up a bit on the more complex designs to compensate for season variabilty but I'm not too worried about precision; I'm quite happy to go with the flow these days, so a straight gnomon and a painted scale should suffice. If, as a result, I take afternoon tea with less precision than usual then so be it.

 

[DaveBrigg]

A piddling piece of ordnance. I want one of these.

Some men in doublets and tights were loosing off shots at Pendennis Castle this summer with a sound which cleared the sinuses.

GRANTS
No, not the whisky producer. Most local authorities will have a pot of cash earmarked for helping owners of listed buildings maintain them for the nation. Typically these will cover a percentage of the cost and there will be a limit to the number of claims in any period. However, claims far exceed resources, and in a scenario reminiscent of the final hours of the Titanic, the CO has to recommend who to help and who to let stay afloat by themself. Buildings 'at risk' are the women and children of the conservation world and stand a greater chance of succour, usually for work which gives protection, such as roof repairs; don't expect the council to fund your new kitchen. Grants can also come from other sources; English Heritage occasionally splash out, and places of worship have a separate fund, but this is a drop in the ocean compared with the national bill for repairs.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

GRANTS
Most local authorities will have a pot of cash earmarked for helping owners of listed buildings maintain them for the nation.

OPTIMIST (yes, jumping ahead a bit). A wild fantasist, especially one whose world view is based on things as they should be, not as they are.

 

[Flyfisher]

VAT - (yes, jumping ahead even more, but still on-theme) The ludicrous mechanism whereby Government encourages alterations to listed buildings rather than repair.

 

[DaveBrigg]

GLOVES
Anyone with a period property needs at least two pairs. One latex or rubber to protect agains burns when using lime, and one pair of woolly mittens to be worn in bed when winter approaches.

 

[DaveBrigg]

GREENWICH
Borough of London with a fine collection of Grade I listed buildings, including Eltham Palace, the Cutty Sark, Royal Observatory, Church of St Alfege, Vanbrugh Castle, Royal Naval College, Royal Arsenal and the National Maritime Museum.

HARDCORE
Many older properties have cement render. This material is in a transitional phase, awaiting its final desiny as the foundations for someone else's extension. Not a term to be Googled whilst at work.

 

[DaveBrigg]

OPTIMIST (yes, jumping ahead a bit). A wild fantasist, especially one whose world view is based on things as they should be, not as they are.

Our authority struggle to give away their grant money. The CO was telling me the other day that he wished more people would apply, since he can barely close the door of the office safe at the moment. He's complained to the councillors several times, but budget was doubled yet again this year.
....hic, gnight

 

[Penners]

Dear Father Christmas

Please will you bring me one of those sundial cannons that you gave Gareth last year? I promise I've been good, and I really, really want one.

 

[Penners]

Some men in doublets and tights were loosing off shots at Pendennis Castle this summer with a sound which cleared the sinuses.

Well, I'll tell you about Pendennis Castle.

When I were a lad (oh God, here he goes again...) I lived in St Mawes, the other side of the Carrick Roads estuary from Pendennis. This was just after the war*, and large coastal defence guns were still in active service, in blockhouses just below the castle. Quite often, during the summer, they would have target practice with live rounds, shooting at a target towed by a motor torpedo boat, speeding along way out towards the end of the Lizard Peninsula.

That was also a sound that cleared the ears of the folk in St Mawes, but I imagine it also aided the digestive transit of the blokes crewing the MTB.




*Anyone who asks which war is off my Christmas card list.

 

[Feltwell]

Grinning through - the showing through plaster of the lathing beneath

Gabbert scaffold - Scottish term for a sturdy scaffold made of squared timber.

Gaboon - An African mahogany

Gain - a mortice or notch to receive another timber

Garden wall bond - brickwork usually only 1 brick thick, built to show a fair face each side.

Gauged arch - An arch built from gauged bricks, that is soft bricks that are cut or "rubbed" to shape on a stone or another brick.

Going - the horizontal distance between 2 successive nosings on a staircase

Gullet - the gap between the teeth of a file or saw

Annoying know it all - see Feltwell.

 

[Penners]

Garage - a building occasionally used (incorrectly) for the storage of motor vehicles. The garage should, in fact, be equipped with a cursory selection of woodworking tools to act as a disguise, a tortoise stove, an old armchair, a radio and a selection of crossword puzzle books.

 

[MdB]

Great War - the war in which Penners was stationed in St Mawes.

 

[Feltwell]

Great War

I heard it was highly over-rated.

 

[Feltwell]

a tortoise stove

I'm sure you're not allowed to do that any more. Aren't they endangered? Very slow to light as well I hear :wink:

 

[Flyfisher]

Garage - a building occasionally used (incorrectly) for the storage of motor vehicles. The garage should, in fact, be equipped with a cursory selection of woodworking tools to act as a disguise, a tortoise stove, an old armchair, a radio and a selection of crossword puzzle books.

Ah yes, otherwise known as a 'pondering chair' in our household. Many problems can be solved after a few minutes in such a chair with a cup of tea; much better than just resorting to a bigger hammer. A radio also goes without question, tuned to R4 of course.

 

[Nigel Watts]

GATHERING OF PPUKers: A rare coming together of like minded enthusiasts for which a collective noun is desperately needed. For those of us who cant come to the next one we expect to see plenty of photos!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

GATHERING OF PPUKers: A rare coming together of like minded enthusiasts for which a collective noun is desperately needed.

An epoch of PPUKers?

or a Century? A Gaggle? A Trowel? A Beam of PPUKers?