1997
August
Eureka – we found the chapel and our Building Design Consultant!
October
Purchase completed
November-December
Drawing up plans
1998
January-March
Planning application being considered …
April
… and finally granted
May-June
Obtaining estimates
October
Work finally starts
November
The borehole is sunk
December
The drains are dug, some new foundations created …
… a whole lot of new holes appear in the walls
… and the new upper floor goes into the chapel
1999
January
The 'calm' before …
Nick Salt traverses our Dernol 'battlefield' – this, we have recently learned, was called by the ancients, "The Field of Blood"…
February
… the 'storm' (most of the valley underwater), followed by the 'Moment of Truth'
… but the driveway goes down anyway
March
We put Plan 'B' in hand … and the first first of many scheduled moving-in dates passes without incident …
Well, let's be honest, the master bedroom and en suite facilities are not looking too good yet, are they?
… and you'd have to say that, at this stage, the Chapel first floor 'studio' needs more work?
April
The second moving-in date passes
… but the client and main contractor are still friends
… and the garage is taking shape – is this the best decision we made?
May
Underfloor heating goes into the ground floor and radiators on the upper floor … just don't ask about moving-in dates, though, OK!
June
Swallows are already nesting in the new garage … and we have more or less all our windows. Everyone is working flat out to complete the installation of the electrics and plumbing …
… but there still seems to be a lot to do, doesn't there? And that's only before you know we still have no main staircase yet!
July
Inside the dry-lining and insulation are complete, even some of the plastering is underway and the floor tiles have been laid in the cottage
Outside the new bargeboards and 'conservatory' are in place
The nice gentleman in the hard hat is the local Health & Safety inspector here to see fair play
August
Now all the glazing is in and the oil tank is not only in place, but also filled; the outside lighting is up and we even have some fencing and a garden gate. The water is pumping to clean the system and the phone lines are promised, but the television satellite dish (we receive no analogue signal here) may take a little longer …
September
Don't look now, but the mega-move has taken place and we seem to be finally in!
The kitchen sink (left) and the 'conservatory' (right) … and yes, that bucket is there to catch a leak!
Apart from settling in, we are sealing the new woodwork and realising we need to move swiftly onto 'Phase 2' – the lime mortar pointing of especially the west wall, which turns out to resemble a gruyère cheese on a bad day and lets in the wind accordingly
October
Give us a break, OK!
November
Don't ask!
December
Suddenly it is winter – and rather special, too
2000
February-March
The big slates for the chapel ground floor finally arrive from China (would you believe?) and lime mortar pointing begins – on the west side.
The chimney stack (left) and the kitchen window (right) are shown here during the work
… and afterwards
April-May
It is Spring … and the primroses appear miraculously (Luckily this happens even if you don't have to time to do anything about it.)
The porch roof gets tidied up, the south side gets pointed and we take advantage of the scaffolding to paint all the woodwork on that side (except the main door)
Edward Wozencroft (left), who farms the land across the Dernol stream, Craig Price (right), who is 12 years old in this picture and remembers attending at the age of about 2 or 3 what was perhaps the last service at the chapel before it closed, and one of Edward's sheepdogs
July
Pointing the east side
September-October
Pointing the north side
Once again we used the scaffolding to paint the woodwork and also do some pruning of the trees which were threatening to eclipse the chapel
September-October
This vantage point also gave us some new views: looking (left to right) south-east, south …
… and south-west
December
Winter again!
Luckily some people never grow up …