Brewers, plumbers and weed grenades

Well as we enter June the panic is setting in again. I am very concerned that I still can’t take a step in the pub without seeing another job to do. This weekend I worked like a dog but, once again, I can’t really recall what I completed. The safe is now rebuilt and operational and the server case is up on the office wall so I now have somewhere to run the cables that I am putting in.

Bar lighting is fixed now and I took the opportunity to remove the flammable rubbish from around the lights. I now have a plan for pool table and machines and have sent one of the licence fees in for this. Further exploration has added to my understanding of the internal water features, it hasn’t helped just added to my knowledge. About three meter cubed of nature’s toughest ivy and brambles were hauled out of the newly discovered void before I realised that I had no means of disposing of them! Luckily my weed grenade* has cleared the adjacent plot so I have piled it there to dry out, next on the list is a garden incinerator.

Plumber tried to commission the heating system this weekend and it has turned into a significantly more expensive exercise than I had hoped. I guess there is no surprise there really, nothing in a pub is simple or cheap. This week’s commercial calls now include plumber and brewery before I get wound into accounts. One minor success was measuring up and gaining an understanding of what I need in terms of furniture. A good job done and, of course, entertaining for those watching me and Andrew pacing out space in his bar.

I picked up the old deeds from the solicitor this weekend and they are a delight. I have deeds back to 1875 when the pub was leased to a couple, well actually a widow and a chap. I know that the pub was in place before that and need to chase the history further back, one day. It does seem rather sad that my purchase is witnessed by a simple entry on land registry website, no italic script, wax seals or tapes in sight.

See what I mean? Doesn’t sound like much does it? But it has been non-stop and even after all of the physical work there was the weekly pile of paperwork to get through.

I did manage to take a break whilst on the little island and it was nice to enjoy the anonymity that I still have. I can sit and observe as Gav in a way that Gav from the Plough won’t find as easy. 

*nature is no match for my belligerent incompetence when it comes to weed control

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Plans, stones and puddles

Welcome to Monday. I seem to have had a productive weekend despite not achieving what I set out to. On Saturday morning I set off with a meter to attend to a defective vending machine. By Saturday evening I had removed a radiator, drained a heating system, removed a tank and got thoroughly soaked in the process, the meter remained unused.

My own research and discussion with the surveyor has, somewhat predictably, placed the stonework at a price that could be achieved with a squeeze. I was in no doubt that the costs would be higher than the contingency but lower than a definitive walk away, after all the task is never easy. Stonemasons have been instructed and I am hoping that they will get there this week.

I have asked the stonemasons to consider just how damaging the pub company and its tenants stewardship of the building has been and I doubt that will make good reading. I have now concluded where the original chimney for the building was and it has been totally removed. Reinstating the chimney would place the fire in the middle of an eventual room and therefore be far from ideal. One of the benefits of a detached building though is that it affords various options for log burners.

I was updating the financials to include the costs of making good after the stonemasons have replaced stones when it occurred to me to go the other way. The core of the building is a very old stone pub so why not emphasise that on the inside. I now have in mind cutting the internal plaster back to create feature ‘windows’ onto the original stone.

Once again this Monday finds me waiting, let’s hope the stonemasons are kind to the venue and my wallet.