Jarvis Foresters Exteriors Beginning to Show

Today's visit, again on a sunny day, showed me what had changed in the interim since my last visit. The trench newly dug on my last visit was now being populated with pipework. Many more kitchen and bathroom fittings were going in, and the floor tiles which had been down earlier, were all covered by protective rubber mats.

Windows which had been barely visible behind a lattice work of scaffolding and some deteriorating plastic sheeting were now visible to the world, so the final look of the buildings is becoming more apparent with each visit.




Beyond and to the left of the Site Office Portakabin, the garages now have the roof trusses up, here is one of the few places on site where scaffolding is still visible; the majority being behind the buildings to allow the renderers to work.

Whereas on most previous visits I would move around the various buildings using the outside stairs and ladders, today I did most of walking within the building using concrete stairs, so despite the bitter wind, I traversed the site in comparative comfort.

The unseasonable weather this late autumn is certainly a far cry from the snow that was here this time last year, and is probably very welcome for those still working outside.

Late Autumn at Stockwood

Most trees have now shed their leaves for another year, but if you look carefully there is still colour aplenty, as I discovered yet again on a visit to the gardens at the Stockwood Discovery Centre.
The mild nights of late and the heavy dews have brought out fungi, the added shelter of the walls and trees have kept a few more leaves than elsewhere and this year's weather has resulted in some added richness to the leaves' autumn hues.

There were still a few lone roses to be seen, and the weak sun had not burnt off the dew on many of the blooms. I was fortunate once again to be allowed to visit the greenhouse, so the gallery of pictures was augmented by some shots not available to all visitors, though nevertheless I still feel that even this late in the season, a stroll around this venue is extremely rewarding.

Foresters Losing the Scaffolding

It is good to see the brickwork more clearly and most of the blind gaps replaced by windows; the building show much more of their finished looks, and now that the render at the back has been completed, they were getting ahead with the same for the top halves of some of the buildings at the front.

On the left of the site a row of garages are nearing completion of the walls, and in the apartments many of the kitchen cabinets are going in and some of the bathroom fittings, elsewhere more of the plasterboarding is also going up, together with more of the wooden staircases.

Externally trenches are now being dug for some of the services, and the basement plumbing is even more apparent. It does not seem long before most areas will be weather-sealed, which will mean many of the workers will be inside carrying out their fitting whilst those outside will be concerned primarily with groundwork activity and very much at the mercy of our famous British Weather.

But just for today, we were treated very well indeed with sunshine the entire time I was on site.

Autumn and Remembrance

The weather for Sunday was forecast fair, so I was up and out early; not quite up with the lark, but certainly early enough for the mist to still be hanging around, and for me, it was early!

I knew only the general direction I was heading, as it seemed as if there was a corridor of early sunshine, and I meant to stay in the sun! Coming down the hill from Whipsnade and Bison Hill, the sun shone strongly on the roadside Indian restaurant, so I took the opportunity of its capture as there was a nearby lay-by just beyond the roundabout. I then continued towards Aldbury to the Pitstone Hill, before returning to Bulbourne and on to Tringford and the reservoirs, where I came across two more camera-toting photographers.

All the reservoirs at are at the lowest for several years, with Tringford falling victim to a score of cormorant who were manning a spit leading to the outflow towers and presumably gorging themselves on the hapless fish who had no depth of water in which to hide. Startops had many different varieties on the newly uncovered sandbanks, but most were lethargically preening themselves or dozing in the unexpected warmth of the sun. The most active birds were the gulls, the coots and the grebe, and just twice a pair of swans took to the air, I therefore tested my panning skills to capture them at takeoffs or landings.

Around the time of the two minutes silence the wind rose somewhat and there was a new chill in the air, and for a while I regretted not wearing fingerless gloves, but I soon found that dropping to the foreshore brought me slightly closer to the birds and out of the wind.

Later, I drove back to watch a delayed recording of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and first and third for McLaren and a welcome return to form for Lewis Hamilton.

Craneless Foresters

The defining sign of the Foresters Development by Jarvis in Harpenden has been removed, and the void from which it rose to tower over the skyline of Harpenden, has been sealed up. Much of the scaffolding that laced the facades of the buildings, has now been removed, and now glimpses of how this development will look in its completed state are visible. White render is being sprayed and smoothed across parts of its surfaces.

Many of the internal rooms are being plastered and tiled and even fitted out with sanitary ware in the form of showers and baths, where floor tiling has been completed these read are now covered in large rubber mats for their continuing protection, wooden staircases are going in, as are internal doors, and outside at the far end tarmac has now gone down. Though there are still several months till completion, at least from outside the impression of how this enclave will look is becoming apparent, but the basement does give some idea due to what it is storing, just how much has still to be built in to achieve completion.

The work to be done is now far more detailed and time consuming, so progress will seem to slow down, even though this is far from the reality. Out at the back are changes that no casual passers-by will see at all, but it is taking shape.

Important Meeting with Jarvis Directors

Having worked hard to create photo reports of progress on the Foresters Development by Jarvis, just off the High Street in Harpenden, the dismantling of the crane gave me the vehicle to transport me, to the offices of the developers. Today, I had an important appointment with the Managing Director, Steve Cook.

I had originally been drawn to the site by the sight of the crane as I approached Harpenden back in November of last year. When I learned of its impending removal, I decided that I would attempt to create a time lapse movie of the work by shooting the dismantling one shot every ten seconds over the six or so hours that it took to be carried out, and compiling them into a movie. I was a time-lapse virgin, but I spoke to colleagues and read various articles and mentioned to the site manager, James Blackie that this was my intention, and he thought it might be a very interesting project, and discussed how the operation was to be planned.

Later when he saw what I had produced, he and several of his colleagues told me that it was a very interesting result and when I asked who I might contact at head office, they gave me their Managing Director’s name and contact number, and Jason said yes, he would try and put in a word for me. I then contacted Steve Cook on the following Monday and today at nine thirty I found myself in his office and soon after, in walked the Marketing Director Geoff Hollis.

Only time will tell whether I have convinced these two of my competence and value, but certainly I felt that the presentation went well, and I sincerely hope that at some date in the future I may be invited to tender for work with the company. Above is a photo of the headquarters building shot just the afternoon before.