Friends of Belan Association

Metal work

FOBA has chosen to undertake, (in as far as possible), the restoration of the very badly rusted and corroded iron work to be found around the Fort and Dock.  

Belan has four very large white-painted doors. Originally three of these were held firmly in place by two very long latches which hooked into the walls.  

Three of the original latches were missing, one from each of the two most southerly doors and these have now been fabricated and fitted by Justin Taylor.  One replacement  hookeye holder was also made and fitted.

Similar work is underway for the two remaining doors.

Railings

It has taken time to find a person with the skill and enthusiasm to tackle such  difficult tasks as replacing railings and door fittings where they are too badly rusted or are missing altogether and refabricaiton and renovation of this sort is always be done on a like-for-like basis.

Justin Taylor, (JT Engineering), is proving to be that person and we are very pleased that the first job has been successfully completed.   

Fabricating and fitting new railings to both turrets proved to be a far from simple task as the remaining rusty posts snapped off at ground level, - (the posts to the West turret were missing altogether; only the stumps remained!) and removing the stumps and old lead in which the posts were couched, proved to be extremely difficult.  To avoid drilling a larger hole than the original, Justin tried drilling a succession of small holes around the stumps and then heating the stumps to melt the lead, but the stone drew too much heat away from stumps. As this wasn't successful, a diamond core drill was hired to drill around the stumps which were then removed as a core.

The new railings were fitted into the core holes which were firstly filled with molten lead. 

The timing proved to be lucky as vociferous oyster catchers were nesting in the West turret.  The chicks hatched out the day before the new railings were fitted, so the job didn't have to be postponed!

The Bakehouse

The interior of this rather hard-to-find small building has now been restored.   The work was carried out for FOBA by 'Celtic Heritage Construction and Stone Masonry Ltd'. 

This small and decrepit building houses a fine example of a late 18th century oven which is in good order. It was decided that the restoration of the building would be a FOBA project. Quotes were sought and Celtic Heritage started work in early March. Whilst the work on the interior of the building has now been completed the roof remains in disrepair. To fill the holes in the roof, large slates were ordered by Selwyn of Celtic Heritage and these have been deliverd and are ready for fitting after further necessary work has been carried out.

Liz Green, an Architectural historian, (also a one-time member of the committee), kindly advised us as we were not sure of the best way ahead. She believes that we should clear the rubble, kill the brambles, then carefully remove the upper slates to reveal what is underneath. This work has now been instigated. 

 FOBA member Maggie Mckean, who worked for the National Trust, was at one time in charge of the Mansion at Tatton Hall where there is a similar oven in the basement. She was able to tell us how the oven will have been used.  She feels certain that faggots will have been laid inside and lit.  After the embers had been swept out and the floor of the oven cleaned, loaves of bread will have been loaded into the oven on an 'oven peel' (long wooden paddle) and cooked by steam, as there is no chimney to let air in or out, - just like a pizza oven!