BS: Thatcher is finally finished!

Subject: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: skipy
Date: 16 May 07 - 10:25 AM

Every day (well most) I pass through the tiny village of Denchworth, there is a large barn on the left going in. For the last 4 months it has been worked on by thatchers and today they are finally finished.
It has been interesting to see the daily changes taking place, to watch this ancient craft in action. So from here on in it is a case of watching it grow old!
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: GUEST,Canadienne
Date: 16 May 07 - 11:21 AM

Oh Dave - you "tease" you :)

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 16 May 07 - 11:30 AM

*sigh*

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: skipy
Date: 16 May 07 - 11:34 AM

Well thats 2 caught!
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Stu
Date: 16 May 07 - 11:39 AM

Three.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 16 May 07 - 11:48 AM

It's great to hear that the old crafts haven't died out.

In Dorset, there is a thatcher named Dunford. I'm pretty sure he's one of the side branches of my own Dunford family, who have thatching as their main occupation from the mid 1950'2 way back further than I have been able to research, over 200yrs back to 1730. Because I've always thought of it as a trade (and not hearing anything about it on the news) I didn't immediately think of the Iron Maiden. So ya boo sucks to you!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 16 May 07 - 12:15 PM

Nor did I, as I knew from something I heard earlier on't radio she is still with us. So no need to order my black suit yet.
G.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Sorcha
Date: 16 May 07 - 03:17 PM

4

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 16 May 07 - 06:21 PM

Thatch provides excellent thermal insulation and also reduces external noise.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 16 May 07 - 11:43 PM

Five!

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 16 May 07 - 11:44 PM

Thatcher finished. Bush cut down. Falwell dead. Something is definitely happening here.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Rowan
Date: 17 May 07 - 12:02 AM

Everything in the garden is looking rosy?
Not quite, yet.

Not sure whether I'm six or seven, but I was almost at sixes and sevens.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Jim Lad
Date: 17 May 07 - 01:56 AM

7

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 17 May 07 - 04:56 AM

Thatch may be excellent at insulating, reducing noise, is organic, recycleable and fairly indestructable, but you try getting planning permission to thatch a house that isn't in a conservation area!

The Globe theatre in London is the only thatched building in city - and there had to be some pretty fast talking and convincing demonstrations to get it past the planners, thanks to some laws laid down in the 1660's after London was razed by fire. When properly laid and maintained, thatch may actually act as a fire barrier. The problems in 1666 were poorly maintained thatch, wooden framed houses too close to each other, little or no access to large amounts of water and no trained body of people to deal with blazes.

I've seen a thatched building burn. The roof supports went well before the main body of the roof caught.

Trouble is, planners see 'roof of straw' and they start thinking back to the Three Little Piggies and their house of straw.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 17 May 07 - 10:27 AM

8

Thanks for posting, skipy. I didn't know people thatched anymore, especially barns. A thatched roof is so beautiful, with its graceful curves.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: skipy
Date: 17 May 07 - 12:06 PM

Surpised by your post Leeneia! around here they are very, very common. What part are you from?
Regards Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Pistachio
Date: 17 May 07 - 12:09 PM

9 !
Yes, I thought of Maggie but knew I'd not heard anything on the 'news'.

For the last 4 weeks I've been working opposite a row of thatched cottages that required a thatchers assistance. It's lovely to see the craftsmen in action and the finished result. My colleague's son recently did 'work experience' with a thatcher and thoroughly enjoyed his fairly unique placement.
H.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: GUEST,Cris
Date: 18 May 07 - 03:13 AM

I wonder how many will be tempted by BS:'Brown is through' sometime ahead.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Geordie-Peorgie
Date: 18 May 07 - 08:35 AM

Broon is aalready through!

It wez a serious curry lunch yesterday followed by a chili con carne last neet.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Wyrd Sister
Date: 18 May 07 - 10:07 AM

Hook line and sinker!
If only!

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: guitar
Date: 18 May 07 - 10:20 AM

I'm not finished, i still have work to in hell, and thaching rooves is great as well

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: GUEST,Seiri Omaar
Date: 18 May 07 - 01:25 PM

*sigh* You got me too.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Declan
Date: 19 May 07 - 06:11 AM

Not caught, but it certainly roused my curiosity.

I thought the opportunity might have arisen to join with another more famous Declan, and Tramp the Dirt Down.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: GUEST,Janine
Date: 19 May 07 - 06:27 AM

Thatcher finished?! OK Blair is going, going, not quite gone but Brown will be the same minus the prima donna act. And we've got Sarkozy.
Jan

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Jim Lad
Date: 19 May 07 - 01:24 PM

Doh!
17

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Mr Red
Date: 20 May 07 - 09:32 AM

yup the thatcher repairing the roof next to Joy's farmhouse has definitely finished.

Not allowed to use Norfolk (and good) reed - because we live a long way from marshland and the broads. Has to be wheat straw which doesn't last as long. And this is a ruling from a council that allowed a business down the road to start a factory salvaging blue asbestos and built a stable block (that never existed) into an office.
Money must have talked there - no doubt about it. Corruption? Not a bit of it - quite a lot - all over the district jurisdiction.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: JennyO
Date: 20 May 07 - 10:37 AM

Last week I saw an episode of Grand Designs about a thatched cottage that was rebuilt after a disastrous fire. It wasn't the thatched roof that caused the fire - it was a fault in the very old chimney. In fact they say that a well-made thatched roof will actually inhibit a fire.

They used Norfolk reed, although the local authorities wanted them to use wheat straw. They had gone ahead without permission, hoping that they wouldn't be forced to remove it once it was there - and fortunately, they got away with it. When it was finished, it really was a work of art!

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: FolkTDG
Date: 20 May 07 - 03:59 PM

Make that 18!

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 21 May 07 - 12:21 AM

Wheat straw is a terrible way to thatch a roof.. it's lighter, crushes more easily and you have to use shorter stems. Reed, whether it's from Norfolk, Cambridge or Dorset, is much better as it's longer, stronger, less likely to blow away and lasts longer. Stitch it down with hazel staples and you'll have a roof that will outlive you.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: GUEST,The black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 21 May 07 - 08:04 AM

You didn't catch me. I'll be told first by my mate who still has his bottle of champagne stored ready to celebrate when the day comes.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: cobra
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 10:22 AM

Hell, I even kept the champagne I had been saving for the Queen Ma's shuffle off, thinking the Thatch being finished would make it taste even sweeter. Now, all I am left with once more is a serious druth... Damn you, sir!

There is another poster of this parish who has a wonderful tale about the QM's passing. It involves a tontine, a balcony suite at the Savoy, copious amounts of bubbly and a rollicking good sing-song. Since the plot was first hatched I think the plan may have been updated to include a stirring war march on the pipes for the Great Satan when she goes.

But I will leave it to the man hisself to flesh out the tale rather than reduce the value of the tale myself.

Over to you. You know who you are.

Subject: RE: BS: Thatcher is finally finished!
From: Rog Peek
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 01:38 PM

Blimey Canadienne, you got me all excited, I thought you meant Margaret the old cow!. At last! At last! I shouted, then I opened your thread. Such disappointment, don't you dare pull a stunt like that again.