A BIG project

Earlier in the summer we met Adrian Stapleton in the magnificent Southwell Minster.  The Minster was hosting a craft fair and he was there showing his work as an artist/ blacksmith.  Strangely he lives only s few miles away from us.

To say we acted on impulse is maybe over egging a bit (although not much) but we had needed a new gate to replace our collapsing five bar wooden one for quite some time.

To cut a long story short we asked Adrian to make us a gate.

I used the skills I have been learning and between the three of us we came up with a design that we all liked and crucially, could work in metal with all the engineering calculations being taken into account.

We have an area of the garden that is meadow and Richard and I wanted it to figure in the design.  It took some time but the two images that ended up being the inspiration were these:

                                      http://www.sanderson-uk.com/search-results.aspx?q=dandelion

Adrian could immediately see how it might work and he made some sketches and then more detailed drawings.  We looked at them, modified them and then he tried making some grass and some dandelions.  The dandelions were tweaked a bit but things were looking good and he ordered the materials.

Our first view of the large gate (there's a smaller pedestrian one too)

My husband helped with some of the hands on dirty work.

A steel dandelion

A blade of grass

The gate posts are round steel bar with convolvulus twined around.

I wouldn't have had the confidence to have so much influence on the design this time last year but I'm really pleased with the result we have collectively come up with.

Just now the gates have gone for their protective zinc coating and paint job.  In the next week or so we should have them installed and I'll post a photo.

Later...

It's been more than a week or two but this afternoon our gates were fixed.  They look wonderful.  We just need the finishing touches like the gravel being put back and the hefty bases to the gateposts covered up.

http://www.trinityforge.co.uk/