From this...

To this..... Now what shall I do next?

Finally finished

Colin's apprentice

The Clubhouse was built in the late 60's, and at that time it boasted a wooden balcony where a limited number of people could sit out at lunch times enjoying superb views over St. Austell bay. Unfortunately there were two fundamental problems. No 1 was that it only enjoyed sunshine during the mornings, though did make a very sheltered spot to sit, unless the wind direction was onshore. No 2 was that over the years parts of the wooden construction of the balcony rotted away.

It was decided to replace the wooden balcony with a concrete version. An architect was engaged to draw up plans to replace the wooden balcony with an enlarged concrete version. Due to the amount of building work needed we also engaged a builder and over the winter of 1997-98 the new balcony appeared. Unfortunately problems arose almost immediately.

The join of the concrete balcony to the Clubhouse was not good enough and we suffered whenever it rained, with water pouring into the changing rooms. We also suffered from the poor condition of the front windows which over the years had also rotted and let water into the Club House whenever we had wind and rain from an easterly direction.
Colin Wainwright produced some plans showing that we could fix the leak by effectively converting the baclony to an extension of the Clubhouse. So in the Spring of 2003 work was started, a wall was built on the front edge of the balconey, new windows fitted and a roof erected over the whole assembly. At the same time the race box was moved into a more user friendly position. The extension proved to be an excellent addition as it made the Clubhouse lighter, weatherproof and most importantly also enlarged it. However it left us missing a nice spot for sitting out at lunch times.

Many people suggested having some decking built alongside the Clubhouse, so much so that Colin drew up a set of plans for a decking platform to be built. Plans were submitted to the Council and eventually planning permission was granted and work finally started in June 2007, with the intention of finishing in mid July ready for the Osprey Nationals. Unfortunately bad weather and trouble with the building inspector caused delays and we had to wait until September before the concrete base could be laid. Fortunately we were blessed with good weather during October and November and Colin ably helped by Tony Dunn managed to complete the timber after Dave Cobbett had built the support walls. The decking had its first real use on Boxing Day when superb weather brought many people down to the Clubhouse to witness the swimmers braving the cold sea. The weather was good and quite a few people gathered on the decking, socialising.

Stages of the Decking

Date:21/01/07 Area chosen, meant one Laser place less, but we can cope with that   Date:21/06/07 Long delay whilst we waited for planning permission   Date:21/06/07 Ground marked out for foundations   Date:07/08/07 First diggings, hard shale, hard going!   Date:07/08/07 Enter the digger, muscles meets the machine   Date:08/07/07 Lots of Stones to dig out   Date:08/07/07 Trailers used to dump the rubble in the field   Date:18/07/07 Foundations dug, reinforcement laid   Date:12/09/07 Concrete base laid   Date:30/09/07 Blocks ready for laying   Date:11/10/07 Support wall built, courtesy of Dave Cobbet   Date:11/10/07 Support wall built, courtesy of Dave Cobbet   Date:11/10/07 Support wall built, courtesy of Dave Cobbet   Date:21/10/07 Decking support timber laid   Date:21/10/07 Decking support timber laid   Date:01/11/07 Noggins made & inserted   Date:01/11/07 Railings tried for size   Date:01/11/07 Railings tried for size   Date:01/11/07 Railings tried for size   Date:01/11/07 Railings tried for size   Date:03/11/07 Tony's version of myspace.com   Date:06/11/07 Railings re used from redundant balcony   Date:06/11/07 No Colin, they won't fall down   Date:06/11/07 A few more adjustments   Date:11/11/07 First decking boards laid   Date:11/11/07 First decking boards laid   Date:11/11/07 First decking boards laid   Date:13/11/07 First decking boards laid   Date:17/11/07 Remainder of the decking laid   Date:17/11/07 Almost finished, just waiting for the railings to be refitted