The Trustees met on October 3rd to consider recent representations and suggestions made on the web and by email on the future of this historic structure. They decided that the idea of using the current state as an exhibit to show how much the rest of the garden had been improved was not in the long term interest of the garden or in line with our objects. They did agree with the proposal that we obtain a fully costed estimate of restoration but that would best be done once vegetation had been cleared and the structure made safe to enter by removing the glass from the roof. It was felt that as the current structure is dangerous, it cannot just be left to deteriorate even further. And the general feeling was that unless we took action the possibility of rescuing a potentially fine asset would be lost for ever.
As of 18th October the process of clearance and removal of glass has been carried out by a small teams of volunteers working with extreme care after a full risk assessment of the proposed method has been carried out.
In line with this teams led by Neil Philpott and Tim Parkinson have completed clearance of vegetation and removal of the glass so that a full assessment can be carried out. The pictures below give some idea of before and after the work.
