Tan yr Wyddfa Working Party, July 2016 by Snod Helliwell
Even before the working party officially started Nodge was in there, slashing, strimming and burning so the garden was pristine by the time most of us arrived on the Tuesday evening. He’d spared our lovely spotted orchid, flowering for the second year at the top of the garden.
Wednesday was a beautiful fine day so much wood was chopped, hedges trimmed, boundary fence re-instated and lots of cleaning done inside and out. We creosoted the coal bunker, sealed the landing window cill and painted the patches on the railway wall repaired by Peter Banham last year. Inside we rubbed down the damp-damaged plaster and paint on the bay windows and repainted. We repaired the broken door latch to the Oread room where Kevin Sarson had so recently been incarcerated – rescued by Margaret who slid a knife under the door by which means he pushed back the latch and escaped in the nick of time – in dire need of a pee! To savour the full flavour of this escapade you really must read the hut logbook entry!
By lunchtime on Thursday we were running out of jobs.
“Anything else need doing?”
“Just the chimney sweeping.” Ruth says, consulting her list. Off goes Derek and returns with the necessary implements of destruction. Rock and Ruth hold the curtain over the chimney as Derek starts work.
“I know you have to keep turning it as it goes up.” he says confidently.
Disaster! Seven sections up the chimney suddenly brush and rods part company!
As five men sit down to brainstorm the solution to the problem – including the option of building a BIG fire and burning the brush out Joan and Ruth decide it is time to go to Caernarfon and collect the laundry!
On their return they see not one but two brushes poking out of the chimney. Apparently Brush A has been driven out by Brush B. All that now remains is to collect them from the chimney stack.
Derek devises a line, made of numerous lengths of pink baler twine, weighted by a socket from his tool box and this is thrown over the ridge. Around the 10th attempt it tumbles down and we are able to attach a rope to it. At this point Joan forcibly prevents Derek from any heroics so it is agreed that I, being more expendable, should go up and retrieve the brushes – which I duly did with many expert belayers and much contradictory advice from both sides.
Well, that was all a bit exhausting so we had a nice cup of tea and cakes before a lovely wander up Yr Aran in the evening sunshine.
Thanks to everybody who attended: Nodge Norris, Roy Eyre, John Fisher, Rock Hudson, Derek and Joan Pike, Ruth and myself.