Building progress has been fair at the club this last ten days – to show on the outside, the office wall has come down and the brickwork for the hall extension has started; the scaffold has gone up one extra lift and the brickwork for the WCs and kitchen is up to plate (eaves) level. All of the new openings have been formed and the new downstairs space can be appreciated.

Behind the scenes, the lift shaft is complete, the landing has been shuttered out ready for the concrete pour early next week, the break-through to form the enlarged gents WCs has been made and the external skin of the kitchen wall (that is due to come down) has been removed. The steel to support the old office roof (soon to be entrance stairwell) has been fitted and the remaining steel beams for the project are on site.

We have encountered a couple of problems – an internal drain needs to be re-routed and the kitchen extractor is going to need to be replaced, rather than modified and re-installed. Neither should delay the project, but will put us back on budget as opposed to being slightly below! On the plus side is that the stairs now have a target delivery date of week commencing 4th July. Which should mean that the new lobby and stairwell is water tight (with its new roof) by the end of July. Windows are manufactured and the first batch are due for installation in mid-July.

The clubhouse kitchen is now closed and we are aiming for it to re-open in time for the pre-season match against Old Albanians on Saturday 13th August. The clubhouse continues to be operational with bars and servery open for pre-season training, touch rugby and pre-planned events (including the Australia - England matches this Saturday and next).

Next week’s key tasks are to cast the concrete landing, break through into the kitchen and form the first part of the roof. Let’s hope for sunny weather!

Bob (aka Hon Sec)