Not something you get to see everyday but this is the view from the main bedroom at Lawson Park, surely this is a perfect opportunity for a balcony, a window, a skylight? but no unfortunately we are in the Lake District National Park where you are only allowed to enjoy the wonderful views if you're freezing to death in the rain in a cagoule.

Posted by Dorian Moore on 15/08/08 at 19:31
Originally posted at www.lawsonpark.org/blog/1668

The first ridgebeam goes in

At last after much discussion, designing, engineering, re-designing and further discussion work has begun on our new roof. As there is a real variance in the dimensions between the walls, along the whole length of the building it has been decided we should proceed with a traditional roof structure. This means they can fit the roof to the existing structure and allow for the internal curved roof structure within the main living space in the barn. Lets hear it for the first ridgebeam and one step closer to the building being wind and watertight.  

Posted by Dorian Moore on 08/08/08 at 17:40
Originally posted at www.lawsonpark.org/blog/1667

This should work

so they line up on the landing board and fan the hive to cool it down. How do they work that out? its weird, first they have to know that if the hive gets too hot it's bad for the babies, then they have to work out that wind will cool it then they have to work out that their wings could alternatively be used as a fan and all that without a brain - genius and all together.

Posted by Adam Sutherland on 28/07/08 at 18:33 : 1 Comment

Bog Garden, July 2008

GARDEN DETAILS
Lawson Park, East of Lake Coniston

CONTACT: karen@grizedale.org
TELEPHONE: 015394 41050

LOCATION:
LA21 8AD
5m E of Coniston. From Coniston Village follow signs East of Lake/Brantwood, car park signed 1m after Brantwood car park. Please use free minibus (runs every 10 mins) from Machell's Coppice car park. On foot 10 mins steep walk up established footpath from car park.

Historic hill farm overlooking Coniston, which since 2001 has been restored to a working smallholding, productive and ornamental gardens, and artist's residency base. Approx 5 acres of reclaimed fellside in spectacular setting. Informal herbaceous, woodland, bog and wild gardens (incl wild flower meadow) and organic kitchen garden with apiary. Many experimental plantings and unusual seed-grown perennials and trees. Wildlife includess deer, red squirrels, badgers, bats and slow worms. Produce for sale.

OPENING DATES AND TIMES:
Adm £3.50, chd free (share to Grizedale Arts)
Cream teas
Day & Early Evening Opening, teas & wine, Sun 24 Aug (12-7). Visitors also welcome by appt July to Sept only, groups of between 10 - 20 (on site parking by prior arrangement).

NB - Lawson Park farmhouse is currently in the process of a major refurbishment, and is not part of this event

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 28/07/08 at 18:23
Originally posted at www.lawsonpark.org/blog/1468

Bog Garden, July 2008

GARDEN DETAILS
Lawson Park, East of Lake Coniston

CONTACT: karen@grizedale.org
TELEPHONE: 015394 41050

LOCATION:
LA21 8AD
5m E of Coniston. From Coniston Village follow signs East of Lake/Brantwood, car park signed 1m after Brantwood car park. Please use free minibus (runs every 10 mins) from Machell's Coppice car park. On foot 10 mins steep walk up established footpath from car park.

Historic hill farm overlooking Coniston, which since 2001 has been restored to a working smallholding, productive and ornamental gardens, and artist's residency base. Approx 5 acres of reclaimed fellside in spectacular setting. Informal herbaceous, woodland, bog and wild gardens (incl wild flower meadow) and organic kitchen garden with apiary. Many experimental plantings and unusual seed-grown perennials and trees. Wildlife includess deer, red squirrels, badgers, bats and slow worms. Produce for sale.

OPENING DATES AND TIMES:
Adm £3.50, chd free (share to Grizedale Arts)
Cream teas
Day & Early Evening Opening, teas & wine, Sun 24 Aug (12-7). Visitors also welcome by appt July to Sept only, groups of between 10 - 20 (on site parking by prior arrangement).

NB - Lawson Park farmhouse is currently in the process of a major refurbishment, and is not part of this event

Posted by Dorian Moore on 28/07/08 at 17:23
Originally posted at www.lawsonpark.org/blog/1468

Posted by Dorian Moore on 24/07/08 at 18:25
Originally posted at www.lawsonpark.org/blog/1666

The builders continue with their series of projects exploring how the building occupies and relates to the space around it. The first project was to plant seeds found in the walls as an ironic ritual - bringing the past back to life - criticing the notion of the shaman figure within 20 century practice. They then took down all the walls and rebuilt them in a different material before facing them with the material the walls were originally made from - exploring authenticity and the concept of presence and absence. The newest work sees the positioning a red monkey with a tennis racket at various points around the building, highlighting the 3 dimensional nature of the space for a virtual audience, extending this notion of the flat into our understanding of the natural and unnatural whilst cross referencing Alan Partridge as a symbol of the confusion of contemporary identity - sounds like a Giorgio Saddotti work.

Posted by Adam Sutherland on 24/07/08 at 14:29 : 2 Comments

Strawbaggedon

Those bloody mice have been picking unripe strawberries like there is no tomorrow - like the cats play with the mice before they kill them so the mice play with the innocent and vunerable strawberry (they are after the seeds and they stock pile them collecting them up in big pyramids). Its enough to make a japanese strawberry otaku cry (they is a weekly magazine in japan dedicated to the strawberry and read by the young and the trendy)

It does however persuade me of the value of cats, and that's a first - trouble is ours are not here just now.

Ted Taylforth, a local farmer visited Lawson Park last night and we trailed around the woods looking for a field he remebered ploughing and planting with potatoes 50 years ago - we found it eventually, the old hedge line and some fence posts still there. Ted has a line in story telling that is very detailed, mostly stories seemed to have brutally tragic deaths at the end of them but during the telling there was a lot of mundane detail to do with car types and sandwiches - kinda made the endings even worse

Posted by Adam Sutherland on 24/07/08 at 13:49 : 0 Comments

Topics: 'cats' 'mice' 'strawberries' 'ted taylforth'

Ruskin would turn in his phrase

Collectors of ante-Ruskiniana will be delighted with the new addition to the Grizedale Arts' Overthought range of products which has now hit the shelves of the Grizedale Arts on-line store. Modelled here by a suitable youth of mixed ethnicity (my eldest son George) in order to keep the funders chipper, the ruskin blue cap in 100% cotton is produced by local firm Coniston Corporate, hand embroidered (in a windowless breezeblock room because the LDNP Planning Authority won't allow windows for people who actually live and work here in case it offends the tourists) with the despoiled quote There is no life but wealth in Ruskin's favoured font colour of red.

A hit with our board members, make sure sure you get yours now - a snip at £12.00 + p&p, be the talk of the town at Bungalow8 or Loungelover or The Red Lion with yours. To order call or email at the usual.

Other product is the range include Giles Deacon farm clothing, heavy garden benches and Mutant Barrovian Dog Penguin Donkeys

Posted by Alistair Hudson on 22/07/08 at 12:05 : 3 Comments

The new fireplace wall tbc...

Its great to see the rooms in the cottage taking shape put the rain continues to pour in, making progress slow and wellies de rigour,  is this really July?

Posted by Dorian Moore on 18/07/08 at 18:16
Originally posted at www.lawsonpark.org/blog/1665