The Lune is rising and the periscope too!

April 1^st saw the completion of the first phase of building work at Forgebank. The work, funded by a grant from the Dept of Energy & Climate Change under a local partnership called Halton Carbon Positive included re-roofing, new windows and airtightness work to the mill building that will become workshops and offices.

A small celebration was held to thank those who had pulled out all the stops to get the job done in double quick time. The building was ‘Topped out’ with two bits of spruce by Joe from the main contractors The Better Roofing Company. As well as those who had worked on the job ( Alian Energy & Out of the Woods) the event was attended by people from local Community interest company  LESS and  Halton Lune Hydro who had been involved in the Halton Carbon Positive partnership: 

Chris who had been the site manager for the Cohousing company read out a poem that had been specially commissioned for the occasion from poet, printmake, artist, theatre director and general cultural provocateur John Fox. 

Having poetry on a building site was inspired by the tradition of POETS Day  - nothing to do with national poetry day. We rounded off the celebration with a toast of champagne from commemorative builders mugs.

TOPPING OUT AT HALTON. by John Fox . 25 March 2011.

 The Lune is rising

and the periscope too.

But never fear

the roof is on (before its time)

and the ghosts are gone.

The periscope reveals

dreams made concrete.

Who would imagine that here

they engineered elephants

bigger than clock work?

Who would imagine that here

an eco village would grow

bigger than concept?

A dream of utopian commitment

made truly concrete.

Where past and future meet.

Pine boards a century old

repaired and overlaid

with foil and foam and membranes

from our technological  decade.

After a combination of graft and craft and sheer bloody nous,

our workshop’s ready.

(Well nearly )

And soon we’ll see the very first house.

A community is waiting.

Waiting like the elbow of the river

with energy to power new generations

to illuminate and forge

Forge Bank at Halton.

So never fear,

the roof is on

ghosts are teased

ivy is cut and vandals appeased.

Where a naval periscope once strangely rose

now raise your glass to metamorphose.

Like the rusting elephant found a golden sultan,

we’ve topped out

Forge Bank at Halton.