Visit to Touchwood

I went down with Bob & Steve to Touchwood which is part of the community recyling organisation based an the New Smithfield market on Ashton Old Road. They recycle waste timber and it is a place to behold. I didn't know other people who love old bits of wood like I do, but Bob & Steve looked as if they had died and gone to heaven.

Michelle  (see above with Bob & Steve showed us round and was incredibly helpful. I had rung her earlier in the day and she said they had some wood in from Siemens which might be really helpful provide a base for the bike rain shelter, so we scooted round the same day. 

 Bob & Steve inspecting the timber





We bought a load of wood (at a very good price) and we were also offered a flat bed lorry full of timber from Siemens as support for out project. It will contain all sorts of wood of different sorts but of good quality, but will require sorting an denailing. There will be lots of it so we will need as many people to turn up when it is delivered, which will be next Wednesday 12th Dec between 11am and 2pm or so to help move the wood to the backyard and (temporarily) to the community garden until we can sort it

As a final gesture we were given a piece of the old Velodrome track whihc was torn up and replaced a few months ago. It was made of Siberian Spruce and of course was raced on during the rise in British cycling and many world records were made on it.

Here is a picture of me holding the piece of track which we can put up on the wall  to inspire the Bike Project we are about to launch

The day the concrete arrived

Making the Concrete base for the Bike Shed

We are assembling a large metal shed for our Bike Project. We realised we would need a level concrete base. After advice from John, we constructed a frame which was level and then ordered some Barrow Mix concrete, which was delivered yesterday. Fortunately, Chris, and experienced joiner was there to direct proceedings. He nailed the hardboard lining which had been made the previous week which would prevent the liquid concrete from spilling out

This is a video of the arrival of the concrete, it being barrowed in to the yard and dumped into the frame. After much shovelling  and then tamping and scraping of the concrete to make it level, the job was done. Next week we will get back to assembling the shed to put on the concrete base

Slowly assembling the Shed....

Hywel, Rick, Jim   and Saleem get stuck in to assembling the bike storage metal shed

     

                        

Terry contemplating where the rain shelter might go

Wayne who just lives across the road came in with a bike for us to have

This is where the bike stand will go on the right

      

                         .........and on the left

Meanwhile Bob is still working on the mud kitchen for the nursery

Touch wood - wood and more wood:

  Visit to Touch wood – My Kind of woodyard

I was shown round by Mechelle Gibbons from Touch Wood who was really friendly and helpful in my search for wood for various projects we are undertaking at the Shed Touch Wood sells re-cycled wood which is my kind of wood

Mechelle, with Laura Kenny & Jason Kenny and their new table made of wood from the old Velodrome track

(sorry I don't know her work mate' s name)

Laura  Kenny

These cycling stars were at Touchwood to collect the table that had been made for them from the old racing track at the Velodrome in Manchester which Touchwood are


recycling. 

Laura & Jason Kenny

The track was made from Siberian Spruce. Maybe we should get a piece for the Men’s Shed, but at £30 sq metre? 


Mmmmm...would look good having a piece on the wall of our shop, especially if we could get a some ex-track with a coloured line on it 

Hard at work

!

Touch Wood are a part of  Emerge, based at 

New Smithfield Market, M11 2WJ

                                                                              

                                            

Scaffolding boards

    
2400mm long x 70mm thick x220m wide

You can make raised beds with these but they don't last as long as sleeper   sized wood. Good for constructing things like the borders of vegetable plots

Sleepers  -  very thick ones

2400mm long x 115mm thick x240mm wide

Can also buy half sleepers
(1m to 12.2m long) 

Also chunky timber is available:
70mm thick x190mm wide, various lengths

Great for raised beds. Could make one that was two sleepers high (480mm) for about £85 and with that thickness of wood it would last a long time

Pallet Wood

At £1 per 2m slat, this is good value. It is a bit thicker than normal pallet wood and good quality.I bought 15 strips of the wood for the Mud Kitchen project, whilst I was there. 






Here I am ready to  drop them off  dropped them off at our Merseybankpremises ready for Bob to get to work on them

This is the mud kitchen which is part of  an outside play areas at Barlow Moor Community Centre where young children can play in a 'kitchen' with lots of mud, water, kitchen utensils and opportunities for plenty of splashing, pouring, squishing, mashing, stirring, and splatting! It is in a bit of disrepair so we are going to work on making it safe and looking better. The new wood will come in handy

Large Posts

These posts are 2400mm long x 95mm wide (square) and cost bout £5 each

They will be very useful when we build a rain shelter with a perspex top in the back yard of the Shed for the bike repair workshop we plan to open soon