ILP Clarion House

[PanBiker]

It has all come at once recently. I forgot to add that at the Land Society we also ratified a new member. His single £1.00 share was added and the certification signed off and stamped. Open to all supporters of the ethos, members of the Land Society are only allowed to hold a single share but it is done properly

Our secretary Carol said the work on the verandah may start as early as next week. There will be some lecture events at the house a bit later in the year.

[Stanley]

Good to see that you are all so active and that the Clarion House is in such good hands.

[PanBiker]

Thanks Stanley but as in all things the present incumbents aren't getting any younger.

I was thinking that you may be interested in an odd upcoming lecture event,. These are normally held on a Saturday. I will let you know when we have finalised the next one, I think it may be later in Sept or Early October. You would be welcome to grab a lift with us.

[Stanley]

See how I am feeling on the day!

[PanBiker]

Time I did an update. Verandah and steps have been refurbished so should be fit for a few more decades. Naturally we get a lot of cyclists as we have links to the Clarion and other cycling clubs, although the house was never a dedicated cycle cafe. Recently installed, we now have external charging points for electric bikes which are available when the house is open. In addition we have this bike repair and maintenance stand which has integral captive tools and a separate air pump to effect most running repairs that folk may need.



Photo courtesy of Colin William.

[Stanley]

Nice looking bike apart from that back hub that looks suspiciously like a fixed gear! CTC fashion.....

[PanBiker]

It was a good day yesterday for the Friends of Clarion maintenance day followed by our ILP Land Society committee meeting. Our pond was refurbished by the Friends and a proper liner put in earlier in the Spring. The material that was dug out which included a lot of deep rooted tuba type grasses was dumped in one of our four composting bins. The bins are constructed from recycled pallets and are each about 1.5m square.
One of the jobs was to dig all this lot out as it had no chance of composting the material was just too coarse and in large clumps.. The well composted bin was also full and needed emptying to accommodate the nicer material being cut down from the main field. Bob was doing both jobs so I volunteered to do the pond stuff along with John who barrowed it away into a far corner of the field. Bob moved all of the well composted material onto a tarp and between the three of us we cleared and shifted the contents of both bins in about an hour. Rakings from the scything on the field were loaded into a now empty bin to start the process again.

We had our Land Society meeting outside as it was such a nice day. Our electric contract is due for renewal at a much higher tariff than it was previously. No real choice here as many suppliers are at parity with their offers. A good deal of discussion took place regarding our options for replacing the children's play equipment. We currently have three swings, and a slide with a monkey bar section. All wood built and interlinked. We decided to get another quote from a local supplier who also does any ground work required. We also decided to use the Friends Family picnic day to ask any children that visit what they would like. We are also canvassing the kids at Barley and Newchurch schools to see what is their favourite bit of kit.

Today is the Socialist Sunday School Annual Whit Walk from the former ILP Institute in Nelson where the original Sunday School was situated to Clarion House for a picnic. It's a total of six miles.



Sunday 11th June will be the 6th annual Clarion Sunday which is organised by the National Clarion Cycling Club 1895. Likely to be very buy that day. Our maintenance stand may come in very handy for anyone that needs it.

At our meeting and as we already have quite a few events in June, we decided that after this year we will move Clarion Sunday to early September.


July 22nd will see The BIg Red Picnic at the Clarion. Bring your own food, tea and coffee will be provided. Their will be a raffle, stalls and entertainment, 12 till 3pm.




Link to the Friends of Clarion House Facebook Site

[Stanley]

Nice to see Clarion House so active..... Well done to everyone concerned.

[PanBiker]

A meeting of the ILP Land Society Committee this afternoon. We have some capital projects for the house and grounds to discuss amongst other things. New play area and equipment which is the biggest. Entrance driveway levelling, paving and landscaping. A new land drain for a part of the field. Also a partial chimney stack rebuild. We need to sort the latter before we can contemplate the heating issues in the house. Multi fuel heater will probably be the solution to replace the open fire.

[Stanley]

Nice to see the legacy being so well looked after Ian. Pity government can't be run like this!

[PanBiker]

We are waiting for feedback on potential grants that we have applied for. We have prioritised the heating and chimney issues as the first to be done, hopefully in late spring. The chimney stack may not be big enough for a liner, it is also free standing so it may be better to remove it completely and have a metal flu pipe installed instead. We will seek a visit from a stove engineer for best advice. A stove pipe would be a lot lighter and easier to tie into the fabric of the gable. I think the hearth and fireplace was put in in the mid 30's and the stack built at the same time as the outside toilet block. I remember when I was first involved with the Clarion, 40 years ago the gable was rendered at that time on top of the original metal corrugated iron, the stack was only tied to the building with a single J bolt! Since the major refurbishment and extension of the building the gables are now wooden clad. The original heating in the building was a pot bellied stove with a metal flu pipe so we will probably go full circle after 110 years or so.

Fabric of the building prioritised, then the playground replacement if we get sufficient grant funding then the driveway, both the slope outside the gate and the paving strips that will need re aligning inside the gate. We had the gate replaced two or three years ago and the paving for parking a vehicle inside the gate (usually the brewing up team) are no longer aligned properly with the entrance. The chimney will probably need a skip if we end up taking it down and the the new drainage and playground work will require plant machinery so that is why the are leaving the entrance and drive work until last for making good.

That's the plan anyway. A lot resting on successful grant funding applications. We have funds but certainly not enough to fund the eye watering prices for replacing the kids play area which has to comply with current H&S regulations. There is a school of thought that we should maybe encourage more game playing on the field, rather than swings and a slide etc. We mow more of it now than just the raised lawn in front of the house. Lends itself a lot more now to rounders or cricket. There were no swings or play equipment when our kids were little but we had some epic bat and ball games in summer. All outdoor play for the kids is weather dependant and various bats and a few tennis balls are a lot cheaper than a dedicated play area.

[Tripps]

We have funds but certainly not enough to fund the eye watering prices for replacing the kids play area which has to comply with current H&S regulations.

Good to see another example so soon of what I found in the 'Low Traffic Neighbourhood' site. LTN

We are over protected by crushing bureaucracy - some of which is essential, but much of which is excessive.

[PanBiker]

Jinny Lane is already a LTN David. Clarion House being in it's own grounds means it's not a problem. Only traffic on the lane are the folk that live there as a rule.

Google Earth View from this year according to the date info on the imaging. It will be correct as the reinstatement of the pond was a project earlier this year.

[Tripps]

Jinny Lane is already a LTN David. Clarion House being in it's own grounds means it's not a problem.

That wasn't my point at all. Looks like I don't have sufficient English writing skills to convey what I mean.

Perhaps best I don't try any more. . . .

[Stanley]

Don't give in so easily David. Do what I do, be boring and make your point again in more detail.
Ian, I agree totally with the concept of simply having the grassy field for a play area.

[Tripps]

Do what I do, be boring

I'm not here to be boring - that's a cardinal sin in my book. Neither am I here to be bored.

[PanBiker]

Just been reminded via email by one of our Land Society members that the water supply pipe for Clarion House and the bungalow next door comes up the side of the field an then crosses the driveway. I think we found that out when installing a replacement gate about 30 years ago I think we found it by accident by managing to damage it when digging out for the gatepost. It was repaired at the time and has been fully functional ever since. We will have to have that in mind when we are refurbishing the gateway.

[Stanley]

That water pipe. What we used to call a contingency when we hit them at Ellenroad!

[PanBiker]

I'll just drop this here it might be of interest to a few folk. It's a bit like a Northern England version of Uncle Bobs daily offerings on here. The author Paul Salveson is a regular visitor and friend of Clarion House.

Northern Salvo 317

Latest offering, back issues available if you scroll down.

[Tripps]

I welcome it - unfortunately it is yet another site to become addicted to and neglect my daily more mundane tasks. The last three or four Private Eyes remain largely untouched. Stanley's reference to this site Gutenberg is another example. Much as I would wish to - I just can't fit it in.

I enjoyed particularly the railway reminiscences - much of which fitted in with those of Harold Evans' father which I posted on here a long time ago. I'll be back.

So much to read. . . .

[PanBiker]

ILP Land Society meeting this afternoon to discuss latest capital projects. We have secured a very good grant that will go along way to cover the cost of the replacement playground. That is in hand and today's meeting is to discuss the removal of the fireplace inside the house and making good and the chimney stack removal on the gable. This is the first stage in replacing our open coal fire with a multi-fuel stove and new flu arrangement. This will take the Clarion nearly full circle as the first heating arrangement in the house was a pot bellied stove. The fire place which will be removed is a later 1930's addition.

[PanBiker]

I didn't read my minutes properly regarding the chimney stack. We don't have to remove it as it will support a liner which makes the job a lot easier. Rest of the meeting went very well as we also found out that the grant we received for the playground will almost certainly cover all the costs. We have had a new estimate from our chosen contractor which has been reduced as we have done the laying of drainage and the removal and disposal of the old concrete anchor pads and the original equipment ourselves. We have basically provided a blank canvas for the installation to proceed. We have a 7 week lead time as the new equipment is manufactured to order. With a bit of luck and a tailwind it should all be in place by early September.

[Stanley]

Always nice to hear of concrete progress at Clarion House Well done all concerned!

[PanBiker]

Friends of Clarion House secretary Ruth reported that the next working party meet at the Clarion would be tasked with attacking and removing as much of the Rose Bay Willow Herb on the site before it flowers. It has taken hold at the edges of the wild flower meadow and we need to get on top of it if we can.

[Stanley]

A wise move, it's very invasive! I first saw it on bomb sites during the war. It always seemed to grow there first.