Rebuilding Diary

As the restoration work at Annandale Distillery progresses, we are determined to capture as much as possible in photographs and video. On 19 December 2011, Martin Mayer and Jane Pamenter from HeadSpin Videography came to Annandale to film progress to date. This was HeadSpin's third visit. On the first occasion, in February 2010, we had a cold but beautifully sunny day for filming. The next instalment was on 13 September 2011 when the weather was sunny but very windy, which made sound recording quite difficult. Today, 19 December 2011, the weather is still and mild but it's absolutely pouring with rain. Everybody is droukit (soaked) as we say in Lowland Scots.

The first photo in the attached series shows Jane and Martin from HeadSpin in the foreground, wearing high visibility vests and trying to keep the camera gear dry under an umbrella. Martin was very concerned about the quality of his videography but we were determined to keep shooting because this is how Dumfries-shire is in December – very wet!

We hope to upload some of the video footage and commentary from today's filming during January 2012.

Work on the Maltings is progressing well. The second photograph shows the area inside the Maltings that will house our Porteous Mill and the pit for the malt elevator.

Wherever possible, the roof trusses on the Maltings have been repaired but many were too far gone and needed to be replaced. The challenge for the joiners is to have the trusses completed, the sarking nailed on and the waterproof membrane in place by 23 December so that the Maltings would be wind and watertight before the long Christmas break. We don't expect that slating will be complete but, as you can see, the slaters are making steady progress.

Major engineering work is required in the Still House and Mash House. The south elevation of the Mash House was so dilapidated that it had to be demolished. We had hoped to save the north elevation even though it too is fairly decrepit. Unfortunately, we've now established that the footings for the North facing wall are much shallower than expected which means that the whole building will probably need to be demolished and then re-built, stone-by-stone on much deeper foundations. Our architect (Fiona Sinclair) and structural engineer (John Addison) are developing a scheme which we'll need to present to Historic Scotland for approval. More expense!

The final photograph in the sequence shows the steel frame inserted into the mutual wall that separates the Still House from the Mash House. It looks like a disaster area at the moment but, 12 months hence, it will be possible to view our three shiny copper stills through this new entranceway. Here's hoping!

Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2012.

Slainte Mhath!