New Gates at last....

Ever since we arrived and renovations were started at Cloghermore, the gates were always in plan to be replaced. They were corrugated sheets placed onto a steel frame painted black and had certainly seen better days. Every time they were opened something would fall off or you would loose skin, or trap fingers. They didn't fit together, had to be blocked with large boulders and I am surprised they have lasted this long. The wind has tried to dispose of them on a couple of occasions, lifting them off their hinges and depositing them in the field opposite, but they have continued to do the job.
A few years ago Diz asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said 'new gates'. My mistake was I never specified which Christmas! Needless to say I never got them for that Christmas or any of the following.
Eighteen months ago, Diz got the steel for the frames and a neighbour welded them together. Twelve months ago I managed to paint one side, as we also got the wooden planks to go over them, which I also stained.
These gates have caused a great deal of amusement between us and our neighbour who has been waiting for a couple of years to have the right weather to get the remainder of his driveway and yard concreted. They have joked between them that he will get his concreting done before the gates were put up and visa versa. Before Diz went back to the UK in May this year, I made an effort to get the other gate painted as we had some dry weather, but it didn't happen. Too many other dry weather jobs to be completed first.
Then suddenly our neighbour started to make Diz aware that he would be completing his concreting in the next few months as he was getting ear ache from his household and the mickey taking increased between them. Then while Diz was away the neighbour told me he was hoping to get his concreting done at the end of May and would we be able to give him a hand. I won't repeat what name Diz called the neighbour, but he was rude (all in good fun of course). The neighbour said he would help hang the gates, much to my delight, but that he would have his concreting done before we put our gates up. And he was right.
Diz spent the day helping him tamper the lorryloads of concrete down and I raked it into position. There is always a bit left over, so Diz said to the lorry driver that we could put the remainder in our gateway opening, which would fill in the dip left from when the road was done last year. The first I knew was when Diz and the driver appeared. I told Diz that the old gates would have to be taken off otherwise we wouldn't be able to get them closed and they would get cemented into place, something I definitely didn't want. 'It will be fine', he said and when the mix was sloshed into the opening it was very obvious it wouldn't be.

The mix had been made very wet so it would go where it needed to go to fill holes. Which also meant it went into places we also didn't want it. Rocks were moved, and anything else which we didn't want to be a permanent feature.








The old gates were thrown to one side and we now had a big opening filled with concrete. Keeping the chickens and dogs off it was going to be a challenge. The chickens always escape at the first opportunity of an open gate and the dogs would find it equally enticing. Jes was first, but not sure about the grey stuff stuck to her paws up to her ankles and was less impressed with water being sloshed all over her legs to wash it off. But at least the concrete had been christened.
The neighbour said he would be over the following week to hang the gates for us, so I made sure it was painted and Diz welded the hinges on ready. Diz was going to be working, but the neighbour said he was fine to do them himself.

There was a lot of swearing and cursing as he found the pillars fell in opposite directions and were different heights, which was only to be expected from an old property.
Diz had also made the gates slightly smaller than we had expected, but it all worked out in the end.
Once the frames were up the neighbour asked for the wood, which we were not expecting him to do and after a very short argument I allowed him to fit the wood. Glad I did because it wasn't straight forward and he knew what he was doing.

Diz returned home just as he was finishing and what an amazing job he had done. We were both delighted they had turned out far better than either of us had expected them to.
This is the inside, with a level driveway.

 

And this is how they look from the road side. They are lovely to open and close, no fighting with them, no scrapes or cuts, they glide and lock open or closed, bliss. They certainly put a smile on my face.
The two of them now comment 'nice gates' and 'nice concrete'.

Cheers
Stell & Diz