Sockburn Hall Project :: Update 40 :: News of our recent Working Weekend

Hello everyone!

Sockburn Hall Project's summer 2011 Working Weekend

Once again, the July weather was on our side – as the photos will show!  We had a wonderful group of volunteers at our extended Working Weekend: many of our ‘regulars’ whose return we always welcome, and several great new volunteers, some local and some from further afield!  A huge thank you to you all for a magnificent weekend’s work; what we all manage to achieve is quite remarkable!  We had a lovely tent/marquee for the weekend, kindly donated by the owners of the site, which was a huge benefit for the large group that we turned out to be, and hosted some lively discussions at the end of working days before some of the hardiest turned in to their tents for the night.

 

As always, there was a variety of tasks... there are lots of photos on www.flickr.com/groups/sockburn or follow the links:

• important and ongoing maintenance on the Lime Avenue – now looking very neat and tidy again
• in the Coach House Yard and Kitchen Yard buildings were cleared of accumulated leaf and tree debris
• the crazy paving in the ‘formal gardens’ had some much needed attention
• great work was done in clearing away some collapsed wooden buildings at the side of the Coach House Yard and using the salvaged material to secure one unit of storage space
• the attack on tree stumps, wherever they occur, was continued with amazing energy and patience – thank you!
• under the direction of our Church contact, some clearing was done in the churchyard – really opening it up and giving clearer views across the ‘archaeology rich’ field beyond
• further clearing and re-seeding of the river bank – along with building up and securing a footpath to extend the original, where there had been collapse
• modern animal pens were demolished from within the Coach House, revealing a wonderful clear space – fantastic hard work went into this and the dedicated team were unstoppable! 
• as if that were not enough, they transferred their attentions to the Piggeries – more space revealed!
• we had a team working diligently in the field cutting and sawing up fallen scrub trees – the difficulty we had was to get them to stop and come for refreshments!

In addition, two of our skilled volunteers secured some sheeting over an exposed area of roof at the back of the Coach House, to prevent more ingress of water and further collapse of that section of roof. 

 

 

Sockburn activities would not be complete without the bonfire – lots of volunteers had a go at tending it.

On Sunday Dr Sarah Semple, Durham University Archaeology Department, came to Sockburn to tell the volunteers about the archaeology on the site, their findings from a Ground Penetrating Radar survey earlier in the year and what that leads them to believe might be available for further research in due course.  Thanks for your time and energy, Sarah and colleagues; it's all very exciting stuff!

We had some group visits over the weekend – from Brompton Heritage Group on Saturday, Northallerton History Group on Tuesday evening – both led by Erik Matthews.

Northumbria Gardens Trust with colleagues, led by Martin Roberts and Marcus Jecock carried out a survey of the layout of the former formal gardens.  This is all such helpful information which adds to our overall knowledge of the site - we are excited to read and see the results of the work!

Date for your diaries 
Our next Working Weekend will be Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 October 2011: we’ll be on site between 10am and 5pm on Saturday, and 10am – 4pm on Sunday. 

There will be a Working Day on Saturday 3 December 2011: we will be on site 10am – 4pm, it will be more of a festive get together with a bit of normal activity thrown in.

If you would like to come along to visit, rather than get involved with activities, to see how we are getting on, please come around 11.30am on either day – to coincide with our ‘coffee break’.  If you are able to phone to let us know you hope to come we will know to expect you.  If you are planning to bring a group of visitors, then it is essential to let us know in advance and we can arrange the best time.

Our 2012 Working Weekend dates will be out to you as soon as we can.

As always, a huge thank you to everyone for their wonderful efforts over the most recent weekend.  A quick thank you also to Dot and Mick at Darlington B&B Harewood Lodge for making Sockburn volunteers (including some who weren't actually staying!) so welcome.  To all Sockburn Hall Project supporters, we’ve said it before and it is so accurate: we wouldn’t be where we are today without you!

Enjoy the rest of the summer... we'll be in touch in advance of our October activities!

Laura, Sarah and the Sockburn Hall Project team x