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Sustainability Project Latest Update

12 minutes ago
3 min read

The team hard at work during the site visit in April.

Site Team Visit

For over a week several members of the team and a few volunteers met on site to start work on the toilet block for the sustainability project. With an extensive job list and a wish list of activities to complete, as well as both plumbers and electricians on site, the week was pretty busy.

For the most part the weather was ideal, apart from a very wet evening and one morning, we had plenty of sun to make life on camp at least a bit pleasant. As the nights were cold, especially for those camping, some people decided to shelter in various cabins instead.

When we first arrived the main task was to get the toilet ISO boxed out, floored with internal walls in place before the plumbers and electrician arrived. This was a pretty tight deadline and meant that we had several late nights, with one being until 11pm so that we could lay the floor (an interesting task in the dark – working with lamps and torches).

When the electrician was busy inside the ISO on the Monday, the team spent the day cutting the trench that would get the power and water over to the building. This went very well, but was a huge team effort as we had to cut through compacted chalk to the required depth.

Once the electrician and plumber had gone the team got back to the job of fitting the noggins for the internal walls and adding insulation. A small team worked beneath the cabin on the sleeper retaining wall, and to make frames for various concrete areas, or on other tasks around camp (such as fixing the kitchen step).

We have made a huge progress, more than we even imagined at the start of the week. A huge thanks to all who came and helped during the week, in no particular order this includes Steve, Sam, Ray, Roger, Joe, David, Terry, Ann, Karen, and Anj.

New Enviro Cabin and Solar Frame

New environmental archaeology hut with solar panel stand.

Shortly after our visit, a local carpenter was on site to build our new solar array frame. This was designed to be built over the top of what will be a new cabin providing Tom with a dedicated space for environmental sciences at SHARP.

What has been created is an excellent quality cabin that will hopefully last for decades to come. The new environmental space has three windows, so will have plenty of light. There is also lots of space and a few new areas suitable for shelving and storage, both inside and outside the cabin. We still have a bit of work to do on the inside, such as a new continuous work bench and moving the furniture in but its looking really nice.

At the same time Bryan Smith did us a huge favour and laid concrete into several areas for us for the sustainability project but also to improve the site in general. Two pads for the composting bins to sit were laid, as well as a new ramp to the information hut.

Bryan lays concrete for the new information hut ramp.

Next visit

The next site visit to do works will be from 17th-23rd May. Again, any help offered will be gratefully received. The main job will be to insulate the inside of the environmental cabin (where the electrics will be) as the solar engineer is due during this visit. After this we will move back on to jobs related to the toilet block, where we have to cut and attach wall and ceiling panels, and finish the plumbing for the toilets themselves. We also expect visits from the electricians and plumbers to finish off plumbing for the sinks and wiring for lighting etc. The hope is that we will have the majority of the toilet block complete and tested so it can be used (if only part of it) during the season.

We will be camping on site, there will be a portaloo available, but no other facilities. Last visit we had some shared evening meals, and lunch (bread, cheese, ham, salad) supplies are provided. If you would like to help us please email bookings@sharp.org.uk so we can make a plan.