Durham Market Place Celebration July 1st 2011

All the months of work are finally over.

Friday July 1st saw the Heart of the City project officially completed with a small unveiling ceremony.

Looking up....

Looking back down.....

The Time Line is now part of the Heart of the City.

10 year old Stefan unveiling the final dedication stone. Stefan had written to the Durham Time in 2009 suggesting a Time Line was included in the designs for the Market Place. He was invited by the council to officially perform the unveiling .

Busy Market Place

'This stone commemorates the completion of the Heart of the City project on 1st July 2011'.

Sunderland Echo Tuesday 5th July 2011

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/local/mp_boycotts_celebration_but_stefan_makes_his_mark_on_durham_revamp_1_3542961

Durham Times Saturday 2nd July

http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/news/9118429.Fanfare_for___2_5m_city_revamp/

Installation of the Durham Time Line

On Tuesday May 24th work began on the installation of the Time Line which has been in storage since delivery in February.

Preparing the site.

Lifting gear.

Manoeuvring No.11 into place..... just 31 more to go!

Further down the line....

Thursday 26th May approximately a quarter of the Time Line is down in its final position.

Loading

Eleven pallets of granite Time Line are now on their way to Durham.

Packed and Ready to Go

The Time Line is to be delivered to Durham on Wednesday 23rd Feb. It is now all packed on pallets, a bit of strapping and wrapping and it will be ready to go.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the whole thing installed. It seems to have been floating around in the studio and yard for a long time. It will be good to see it in its final position.

Final Touches

The Time Line has now been moved out into the yard. We've put it together to make sure everything matches up correctly. One or two minor adjustments have had to be made but all in all it looks pretty good.

One or two of the lines have to be corrected.

The last 8 metres.

Nearing Completion

The project is now nearing completion.

Just 2 more stones to engrave and one more bronze to fit.

By the end of this coming week everything should be ready for delivery.... perhaps then the dust will settle and I can get cleaned up!!

Week Commencing 3rd Jan 2011

Our return to work has been hampered by me being struck down by seasonal flu. Thankfully Hamish has, so far, avoided the dreaded lurgy and has been able to continue to work on the Time Line. He has begun to fit the bronzes, see below.

Monday 20th December

-8 degrees in the studio this morning.

Enough is enough I'm going home again!

Week commencing 13th December

The snow has now cleared and we can get on with the job.

The first stretch of the Time Line laid out in the yard.

Recesses are being cut to fit the bronzes.

Inside the studio the pieces wait to be engraved.

Bronzes laid in place waiting to be fitted.

December 1st..... Uh-oh!!

This was the sight that greeted us this morning on arrival at the studio.

Even Hamish's shelter had been defeated by the over night snowfall.

Due to the access road to the studio being slightly treacherous we decided to postpone work today and headed home.....

... but couldn't resist doing this first!

Nov 30th.... More work in progress

Having moved most of the stones indoors we have drawn up the designs and transferred them to the stone.

Work continues....

25th November 2010

A light dusting of snow covered the granite this morning.

We decided to move some of the half worked stones inside to thaw out.

Cold feet!!

Some of the bronzes have now been cast and I have applied an initial patina. There is still a bit of work to do on these but I'm fairly happy with how they look.