Tours start

"Dear Lou and Shaun

Firstly,... "thank you" for a most interesting and informative couple of hours and thank you for your hospitality.

Having been involved in dealing with listed buildings and scheduled ancient monuments for many years I have some grasp of the enormity of the work that you have taken on.  All of that together with running a working farm - amazing. 

I didn't see too many structural fractures but if there are any that worry you I can suggest a simple method of monitoring these cheaply and accurately over a protracted period of time. I find that this often gives comfort and some peace of mind because fractures often appear to get worse the more you look at them whilst in reality they are more or less stable.

Also a very useful piece of equipment that I have found to be sometimes vital is the timber decay detecting drill which does exactly what it says on the box.  These machines drill holes 1mm in diameter and 200mm long into timber and can detect decay that cannot be seen on the surface.  It occurs to me that this might be useful when you finally get to examine the beams in the roof of the silo.  The equipment is very expensive but for a relatively modest fee there are a small number of timber decay experts who will bring their drill and give a report on the findings of your beams.

I suggested that corrugated iron went back to the 1880s but Google tells me that it goes back as far as the 1840s. It was widely used in the construction of "Tin Tabernacles" which were prefabricated churches which could be ordered (very cheaply) by post from a catalogue.  This takes IKEA to a whole new level!  Some of these chapels and churches are still in use, either as places of worship or as domestic accommodation. Many were modest structured but some were vast. My dad's shed was a reused Anderson shelter until he could afford to make himself proper timber one.

One of the things that I did some years ago was to chair the panel that set up The Conservation Accreditation Register for Engineers on behalf of the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers.  This scheme provides a list of structural engineers who have proven themselves to be experienced in conserving historic buildings.  If you need a structural engineer then this is a good place to look for someone with suitable experience.  However as you have been engaged in this project for so long I imagine that you already have the necessary contacts.  I am on the list but as I am long retired and do not now carry professional indemnity, I restrict my efforts to teaching.

I guess that you already know that the little cast iron vents that crown the ridge of your cattle stalls can also be found on the roof of the Power House at Cragside.  

Thanks again for letting us see your fascinating project - keep up the good work.

Best wishes, IH"