Having cut the main timbers for the bridge I needed to move them over a wall and to the worksite. It was a fun days work and a friend and neighbour Mark Wallington came to help. Mark is a scriptwriter and author so I think it was a bit of a change for him but a gorgeous day which we thoroughly enjoyed. Ollie was still on school holidays so he helped and took photos. We had lunch of fish and chips sat on the cricket field in Hayfield, wonderful.
These timbers are still a good weight so it is important to work carefully, slowly and use leverage rather than brute strength.
Close to the pivot point, when we get there the weight disappears as the beam becomes a giant see saw.
And sliding down the bank onto a huge flat bed trailer borrowed from a neighboring farmer.
Even so the beams stuck out a little way beyond the trailer.
Hayfield is just the other side of Kinder Scout from Edale and played a critical part in access to the countryside in the UK as it was the starting point for the mass trespass in 1932 the trespassers met in Bowden Hill quarry before heading off onto the moors, they would have walked past my tree on the way.
I forgot to take photos as we unloaded the timber and put the first beams across the abutments but thankfully Nigel who was helping for the day took some. Bradfield’s idyllic cricket field in the background.
First timber across and I get a really good visualisation of the curve for the first time. I am very pleased.
Third timber in and a well earned break.
This was yesterday and we had lots of folk working on the job. Geoff and Kia walling and me, Andy and Nigel working on the bridge. Here Andy is drilling the main timbers to take a threaded steel bar which will help hold the three timbers tightly together.
The bars also support the uprights which hold the handrails. It took several attempts to get just the right amount of lean out on these but it makes a huge difference to the bridge aesthetically when it is finished so I wanted it just right.
End of the day it looked like this.
Next week I will be fitting boards across the timbers and handrails.