St. Katherines Car Parking Works

Works were completed over the weekend to rearrange the white lining in preparation for the later phase of works to the Masters House.

The layout as it stands in front of the Masters House nearest the High Street may seem a little strange until the likely extent of the scaffolding is viewed. The spaces have been rotated to allow for the scaffolding to encroach from the front of the building whilst maintaining access to St. Katherines Hall. 

Additional spaces have been created in front of the HCC offices and in the corner of the carpark where the recycling bins used to be located. Parking for motorcycles has also been refreshed.

Shopmobility

Ledbury Shopmobility ran by Community Voluntary Action Ledbury & District has now moved to the old Ambulance Station in Bye Street. There are 3 new disabled bays outside the Ambulance Station for users of the scheme.

For more information contact them on 01531 635339  or visit their Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/CommunityVoluntaryActionLedbury?fref=ts

St. Katherines Car Park Works

As part of the precommencement works for the main Phase 2 of the project due to commence in 2013 we will undertaking carpark alterations commencing Tuesday 30th October which will run for 3 weeks.

There may be minor disruption to the carpark but this should be minimal and should not affect the normal usage of the carpark.

The Carpark will be closed on Sunday 18th November (weather permitting) for Line Marking.

The works include the removal of existing flower beds to provide 5nr additional standard carparking spaces, 3 extra disabled spaces, the formation of an area of a site compound and the installation of an upgraded telephone line system.

3 further disabled spaces have also been already formed at the former ambulance station users of the Shopmobility scheme.

These alterations are necessary to offset the carpark spaces that will taken up by the erection of the scaffolding on the North & East elevations once Phase 2 starts.

Ledbury in Bloom

As one of the sponsors we are pleased to announce that Ledbury struck Gold in the Britain in Bloom competition for the 6th successive year and has also won the category of best town!

http://ledburyinbloom.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/ledbury-in-bloom-strikes-gold/

Ivy Removal

Just a reminder that for the next few days part of the car park adjacent the Feathers will be closed whilst ivy is removed which is damaging the hotel and old barn. We will endevour to keep disruption to a minimum,

Jubilee Poems and Queen's visit to Hereford

As part of Ledbury Poetry Festival SpellerMetcalfe and Ledbury Primary School jointly sponsored a poet to visit the school and spend time with the children to create Jubilee inspired poems.

These are now on show on the hoarding - which we are planning to continue to use as a blank canvas for future artworks and displays.

As part of the Queen's jubilee visit to Hereford - she paid a visit Ledbury's tent at King George V's playing field yesterday. The model of the Masters House formed part of a display that the Queen looked at as she passed through. Although her visit was fleeting - the model was seen by hundreds of people on the day - and the whole event was considered a success and a great privilege for all those involved to be a part of.

http://www.ledburyreporter.co.uk/news/9811061.Ledbury_great_and_good_meet_Queen/

Car Park Works

There are few elements of work that will be undertaken in St. Katherines Car Park over the next few weeks.


Thursday 5th July - White Lining - Creating additional Car Parking/tidying existing lines.
Monday 9th July - Survey Works - The North-East section of the Car Park will be closed while Amey undertakes below ground surveys. This is to assess whether the ground is capable of undertaking the loadings that will be imposed by the scaffolding.
1st August - Ivy Removal - Ivy which is damaging the old barn and the Feathers will be removed. Small sections of the carpark will be closed as the works progress.

We will endevour to keep the disruption to a minimum as these essential works take place.

Telling the story of the Masters House in Ledbury

Telling the story of the Masters House in Ledbury

Herefordshire Council is encouraging residents to have their say about how the story of the masters House in Ledbury should be told. 

Residents are invited to a community consultation morning on Tuesday 3 July outside the Market House in Ledbury from 9am to 2pm.

Herefordshire Council have been awarded a stage one pass from the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop plans for the restoration, and to tell the story of the Masters House, which forms part of the medieval St Katherine’s Hospital site in the centre of Ledbury.

Once restored the building will be used for a range of community services including a community library, Herefordshire Council customer services and the registrar’s service. It will also become home to Ledbury Voluntary Action and the Victoria County History Trust.

The Friends of the Masters House and PLB Consulting (heritage consultants working on the bid) will be available to discuss possible themes and stories that might be told about the Masters House and the wider St Katherine’s Hospital site via a range of interpretation methods. This may include information boards, guided tours, heritage open days, family history sessions and the development of education packs for school visits. 

Andy Tector, Herefordshire Council, said: “This is a very exciting project and we’d like to encourage people to come and look at the ideas that have developed so far and tell us what they think. “

“The team will be available from 9am outside the Market Hall in Ledbury until 2pm. There will also be an opportunity to have a look inside the Masters House. The building has now been stripped out and the medieval timber frame is exposed for the first time in hundreds of years.”

Open Day at the Masters House

A 'Hard Hat' Day was held on site on the 26th May allowing residents and interested parties a chance to tour the site now that the works have been stripped out ready for planning for Phase 2.

The event was a success with over 120 people attending and raised the collection and BBQ raised £80 for St. Michael's Hospice.

Before works get underway to fully start restoring the area in New Year we plan to hold another open event to allow those who missed out this time a chance to see this exciting project.

Buzz Site Gear's Visit to Ledbury Primary School

Buzz Site Gear has paid a visit to Ledbury Primary School to promote Health & Safety and warn children of the dangers of playing on building sites.

In two sessions the children from ages 4-11 learnt about what the different signs meant - including those they might come across at school or in town.

SPLAAT - Safety Please Learning At All Times.

Further visits are planned to other local schools and nurseries in the future.

Masters House Medieval Fabric Exposed

As the stripping out work continues - removing many layers which have been added on unceremoniously over the years - reveals the splendour of the original Medieval frame which the project is attempting to restore. See below pictures taken internally. If you would like a closer view then please feel free to attend for a site visit between 2pm-4pm this Saturday 24th May.

Looking in East in the Main Hall reveals the lath and plaster to the walls. The timber roof structure can now been seen directly from ground-level.

The original roof structure has been cut through when later extensions were added causing structural deformation to the building

Bill Cave (SML director) and Ed Mandrell (Site Manager) discuss the structural elements of the roof whilst Aaron carefully remove lath and plaster.

Looking across into the old HCC reception area - modern brick piers meet historic fabric.

The inscrpition in the panelled room dated from 1588. Whilst the panelling dates from then - it is believed to have been moved from Hereford to Ledbury at a later date.

The Timber roof structure now fully exposed as send from 1st floor level

15th Century Wattle and Daub (Centre)  adjacent to later Lath and Plaster shows how the building has been significantly altered over its lifetime.

What does the text say?

In today's Ledbury Reporter there is a article about some medieval writing that was discovered on a beam in the Masters House.

The text is difficult to read as per the picutures below . Colour and Black/White Versions.

But after posting the picture of Facebook and asking for help the best translation that has been come with so far is that the text is Latin and is Proverbs 28:18. 'Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once'. 

14th May - Update - This has now been confirmed by Joe Hillaby an author of many local history text books as being a correct interpretation.

Hard Hat Tours of the Masters House - Saturday 26th May 2012

Residents and visitors to Ledbury will have seen that work on the Master’s House has been continuing apace over the last few months.   The Customers Services Team have temporarily moved to the recently refurbished wing to enable stripping out of the rest of the building.  This work will enable Herefordshire Council to do the preparatory work for the next stage, due to start in 2013, which will see the restoration of the Medieval Hall and kitchen.

The stripping out has meant that much of the medieval structure has now been exposed for the first time in many years and it is now possible to begin to understand what the building would have looked like when it was first built in the 15^th Century.

Herefordshire Council is organising an open day, to enable residents and visitors to don a hard hat and have a look at some of the work that has been done to date and to see the stripped out Mediaeval Hall.  Staff from Herefordshire Council, Volunteers and the builders, Speller Metcalfe Ltd, will be on site from the 2.00pm to 4.00pm on Saturday the 26^th May to show visitors around the building.  Entrance will be free but there will be an opportunity to make a donation to the St Michael’s Hospice Charity.

Completed Phase 1B

Handover of the Phase 1B was made on time to Herefordshire County Council and they have now taken occupation of the fully refurbished 19th Century Wing of the building releasing the previously occupied area for stripping out works.

Below are some photos of the finished article!

BBC Hereford & Worcester Interviews

Ed Mandrell SpellerMetcalfe Site Manger & Andy Tector from Herefordshire County Council were interviewed last week by Nicola Goodwin from BBC Hereford & Worcester. The interviews were played as snippets but they are all available to listen to below. They provide an interesting insight into the completed works and what is planned for the rest of the project. Just click the links below.

BBC Interview Part 1

BBC Interview Part 2

BBC Interview Part 3

BBC Interview Part 4