KHPC Fabric Team

As Promised: All back for Christmas. Hunter & Clark have achieved what they said they would and we are back in the Sanctuary for Christmas. The Scaffolders have also been able to dismantle 5 'flights' from around the Fleche, to enable further repairs after the New Year. It also reveals the detail of the very top of the the Fleche. Our little French Chanticleer is back on top with newly fixed Metalwork. The quite detailed design of this metalwork has been lost to all for quite some time, and now this has been repaired and the Sunflower centres have been re-painted in gold to replicate the original gilding. All of this decoration together confirms a very French feel to the external design. Please feel free to correct me if I state that there is quite a lot of French Design influence within the West End. Possibly because of the Great Exhibitions held in Paris and London about the same time as much of this area was being developed. The Architects and Designers of that time woul...

The snow held off this morning and the Contractors were hopeful of taking down 4 'flights' of scaffold before Christmas. however it was deemed too dangerous for that this morning. 'What about the weather vane?' I asked. 'Well we;ll see how it is the afternoon and we've got a back-up with the Steeplejacks if necessary' said Hunter & Clark. Off I went on errands and on my return driving along Queen Margaret Drive I noticed that the scaffold around Oran Mor had been taken down and then I noticed a 'High -vis' figure on top of our Fleche which clothed in its scaffold looks a bit like a pineapple over the roof tops of Grosvenor Terrace. Once it was safe to do so, I of course took photos of Archie and Craig tackling the re-installation of our very own 'Chanticleer' All this was of course whilst the snow was coming down again. Hard! However the Task was successfully accomplished. Thank You both, very much. It is much appreciated by all of us at ...

The old Cross is of course the original Belmont Cross which has been cleaned up and re-hung in the Chancel today. The new Cross is in fact fashioned from perhaps an even older piece of wood. The wood was retrieved from within the roof-space during the major works. So it was fashioned into a 'hanging' cross for use downstairs, as a memento of the old wood in the roof space which has done such a good job for all these years.

All of a sudden, it's really winter! Deep and crisp and even!----- At least for a little while! The snow and ice did mean that some of the Nativity Performers were unable to reach us; particularly noticable this year; a shortage of shepherds. However having a baby angel as well as baby Jesus did make up for that. There were over 80 people in Church to see the well-loved story told in tableau form. What is important to note, is that the majority of the people in Church this morning were local enough to have walked there. The snow continued to harden as evening fell, and a new heavy fall of snow greeted those arriving for Candlelight Carols. East Dunbartonshire Concert Band played for all their worth and their interval rendition of Greensleeves was really much appreciated. It seems to be traditional now that the Sound System is always non-evident at this performance, despite being overhauled last week. Problem solved! Someone switched it off! So that was easily fixed once I realised ...

  This morning at 11am, our Young Church will present their interpretation of the Nativity. Lambs, Shepherds, A horde of Angels, Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus (x2)

The snow fell today and thankfully the holding repairs on the roof gutters seem to have worked --- so far! Father Christmas slithered down the scaffold and visited the Party downstairs, but due to the inclement weather and his haste to carry on around the globe, he didn't stop to chat for long, nor to bring any goodies from the party. Alas! However he did comment on how much better the Church looked than it did last year! I just need to try and remember to take my toolbox to Church tomorrow, to fix odd bits and pieces.

Daylight and the Chancel is looking good. We ran out of time today, so the Belmont Cross will be hung next week. At least the new drapes are hung in time for the Carols by Candlelight Service and the Nativity and by Christmas we will really be showing off all of our clean and bright Sanctuary. Many thanks once again to all who have helped us over the last few months. More 'posts' tomorrow, it is the Children's Party and we are hopeful of a special visitor; I'm just wondering if he'll use the scaffold ladders to get off the roof as we don't have an open chimney anymore!?

A very quick 'Post' Each day something new arrives, Sorry for the poor colour representation, I'll take another shot tomorrow during daylight hours. but I just want to share these with you.

As the Contractors' permanent workforce has diminished each week, the work itself seemed to reach an ever more urgent intensity, and the number of different trades involved grew. I don't think the car park will ever be the same again! I counted 13 cars and vans on Thursday---that was just the ones that managed to get in. We've had blue skies this week which has allowed the men to 'get on' with fixing the Fleche -- which you might remember was the starting point of all this! However there has also been a mist and it is very cold. Today I noticed how the very top of the Fleche vanished into the mist, A neighbour mentioned how weird it was to hear the men talking to each other, unseen and from way up high above us. I wonder what that reminds us of? Christmas is coming, and we will celebrate the birth of a child; a child whose birth was heralded by angels above us. A child whose birth was welcomed with great joy in a world full of uncertainty and doubt. A child who was ...

Well; Sometimes things just happen, and everybody gets into the spirit of the thing and wonders become common place. Mnay little tasks were accomplished this week ---as well as some very big ones. Some of the workmen finished up at our site today, we'll probably miss them, they seem to have been around for ever! they will probably miss us---well I hope so--- just a little? Michelle and her cleaning team have been in the last couple of days, supplemented by the KH Task Force! Many hands have made light work and we're still not finished. However, just before I left this evening, I took a photo of something, which many probably thought they might not see again------- A Christmas Tree in the Sanctuary. A hint of the promise of the Light in the Darkness.

The lads were very busy scurrying about this week, clearing, sweeping, hoovering, washing, plastering and painting; and replacing pews, I stuck my head through the door, and was amazed at the difference in the place, then I pointed out that the piano didn't actually live among the pews on the left, but that it lived over on the right. Lots of jaw dropping, but just in time, 6 hefty males moved it back into position. Job done! That was earlier in the week, today all the pews were back in place and further cleaning was continuing. The Organ Tuner is now coming in on Wednesday and that gives us at KH time to deal with other fiddly bits. The Sanctuary is now safe for us to move about; still watching out for the odd trip hazard; Lesley washed all the glass vases today ready to go onto the new shelves!? and I spent most of my time making a start on the metalwork polishing. As many of the workers were finishing today they all received a small gift from us, beautifully wrapped KH Mugs with...