Thanks to the generosity of our incredible supporters, we have begun work on Coed y Bleiddiau, a 19th-century cottage on the Ffestiniog Railway in the Snowdonia National Park. Landmark Surveyor Richard Burton is overseeing a sixty-week programme of repair and restoration with a completion date of December 2017. Once finished, this little Landmark high up in the hills will sleep four.
The resident bats have vacated the cottage for the winter, giving us until spring to conduct repairs to the ground floor ceilings and install underfloor heating. Windows will be taken out and repaired; fortunately most are in good condition and can be reused. There is a fine quality slate floor in the sitting room and we’ve made the decision not to take it out, ensuring it remains well preserved. Slate can be found all over the area and the team will probably use some for the new fireplace.
When spring arrives the team on site will move onto clearing debris from the house and removing polystyrene wall linings and rotten flooring. We’re already started making some interesting discoveries on site, including this newspaper dated 1919 that was under the floor of the future ground floor bedroom.