22.06.2022 The Shirl Observatory

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 My wife was always very supportive and expressed amazement that I could construct the things I did. Her vital contributions and sacrifices to my own activities have gone unrecorded. Until now.

 Years ago she collected stones from the entire garden to lay a raised foundation for the large shed I built. [2.7m x 6.6m. 8'10" x 21'7"] The ground fell away steeply beyond the edge of the parking area. So she built up the ground by 4' to provide a level area for the entire shed. Then reinforced the bank at the rear with her dry stone walling skills. It has never subsided. Nor even lost a stone. 

 More recently she helped me to move 22 tons of self compacting gravel. As the foundation for the first, domed observatory. Despite being tiny and slender and already over 70 at the time. She tirelessly filled two wheelbarrows for days. While I walked the 30 yards to the building site with one wheelbarrow. She would be filling the other.

 This was so typical of her selfless and patient way when something needed doing. She willingly volunteered and found an efficient way to rake the gravel downhill into the empty barrow. As it leaned against the vast heap.

 A local business had promised to send a skid steer machine with a bucket to move the gravel. But like other local Danish businesses and tradesmen they couldn't be arsed to turn up for the job. 

 I rang to ask where they were as the lorry had already tipped the huge load in the drive. I was summarily dismissed and he hung up. Beware "wasters" with empty promises and lying websites. Add local electricians, plumbers, car repairers, masons, tree surgeons, carpenters and welders to the growing list of complete wasters.

 Earlier this year my wife helped to build a larger, ring foundation around the new observatory building. By laying bricks and stones in her patient and skilful way. She helped to stabilise the enlarged bank and avoid erosion from the weather. She must already have been very unwell at the time but was hiding the truth from me, and herself.

 The demolition of the old chimney provided raw materials. I have added a few stones and bricks myself but lacked her innate skill. The reinforced bank will all be covered with self-compacting gravel. Then paving slabs laid around the perimeter of the larger building. The additional material reduces the angle of the slope well below the critical [natural flow] angle. A dome drops a fixed ring of run-off from rainfall. Which cuts deeply into the gravel. Hence the paving slabs to avoid the impact.

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 The observatory build had been on hold for some months. It had all seemed so pointless with the impossibility of access for a vital crane. Necessary to lift the large and heavy dome.

 When my wife died in early April I completely lost interest in everything. Which had once seemed so important. Now I realise how much she had contributed to the observatory's very existence. 

 With the overgrown hedges now cleared I could easily bring in a crane. Which [in this case] is usually an articulated lorry, tractor unit. With a telescopic crane mounted behind the cab. These devices carry out routine lifts for builders and factories. Rather than hiring a "pure-bred" crane. The lorry mounted cranes can manage up to a 30m reach with lighter loads. They can often be seen on building sites lifting pallets of bricks over roofs. Or lifting roofing materials to where they are needed.

 I shall dedicate my labours to completing the observatory in her honour. To be called after her familiar name. Used throughout our 55 years of marriage together. Her labours and countless sacrifices over the many years were never in vain. I owe literally everything, including my life, to her untiring patience and devotion. To give up now would be an insult to her memory. Not to mention squandering all the hours she spent making it all possible. The project will be called:  "The Shirl Observatory."  Built on our love for each other.

 

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