Skillingtons have just been awarded the contract for re-flooring St. Nicholas church at Wells, on the north Norfolk coast. The existing floor of hard plain quarry tiles and (mainly) woodblock, all laid on concrete in the 19th century, has been giving problems for years, particularly with the wood rotting. Having won the work by competitive tender we have been working with the client to design a suitable layout of Ancaster Weatherbed flagstones in the nave, aisles and Lady Chapel – in total about 400m2. We have also been looking at a finish that combines a high enough degree of polish whilst achieving sufficient slip resistance. The work commences in July and will take about 20 weeks.
We have for some years been operating out of two premises in Grantham, Baxter’s Yard – which was formerly a town joiners’ workshop – and a modern light industrial unit. Running backwards and forwards has never been ideal, and we have been short of space for some time, so when an adjacent industrial unit became available we leapt at the chance to take on a long-term lease. The new unit needs fitting out for offices and workshops, which will take the rest of this year to reach any kind of conclusion, but once done we will have around 7500 sq ft of secure indoor space as well as a secure outdoor compound all on one site. We will be expanding our stone processing capability and creating a new ‘wet’ mortar and plaster mixing area here as well! When things are further advanced we will have to change our postal address from the current Baxter’s Yard one, which we have had for some 15 years now – and rather liked! Watch this space.
