After a long Christmas and New Year break, our builders were somewhat frustrated by quite a long spell of very low temperatures. In such conditions it's not possible to work with concrete or cement. Nevertheless, they used this time to install and then cover over many pipes and drains; also to shift a great deal of soil about. Then with more mild weather they worked hard to catch up. Quite often as many as 10 men could be seen toiling away at once on different parts of the building.

Various sub-contracted firms come in with their particular specialisations: all very well organised and coordinated by Robertsons. There are specialists for the ground works, and for the stone facings, and for laying the standard concrete building blocks, and for the water-proofing, and for the plumbing...

Now, in mid-February, the external and internal walls of St. Joseph's basement floor are more or less complete. They are always double-skinned, heavily insulated, and protected by sealed water-proofing. Our pictures show some stone window and door lintels being carefully placed in position.

Meanwhile, to protect the vertical sides of the earth and spoil which are to cover the basement floor's North wall, massive concrete blocks have been installed. Some of these weigh around 2 tons. They are designed to fit together like lego pieces. You could drive a Challenger Tank along the front of St. Joseph's guest house, without the slightest fear that any of these blocks would ever shift!