Will the shipping container fit?

Well, to be more exact (as we knew the container would fit in the space assigned) would we be able to crane the container from the lorry to its resting place, given that we knew that there was very little leeway underneath both a major branch of our TPO lime tree and the telephone cable installed to the front of the house from the telegraph pole across the road. This container is twenty feet long, eight feet wide and eight feet high.

Steph arrived to help (and, it turned out, to talk to the lorry/crane driver in Welsh). The latter looked very dubious indeed about the job, but was relatively easily persuaded to give it a go. In the event, unsurprisingly, he turned out to be a master operator of the HIAB crane fitted behind the cab of the lorry. Admittedly, a short section of dead branch did part company with the tree, and the lifting chains had to be released from the jib and subsequently reattached to allow it to pass behind the telephone cable, but the whole job took only about twenty minutes. So it's in place, almost level (a task to be addressed another day with a hydraulic jack and concrete pads) and we are already planning a rainwater collecting roof together with trellis and planting disguise for the sides which aren't hidden by the beech hedge.

There are many operations to be completed before this container takes over completely from the one I have been hiring at Gallaghers' Garage since just before we sold Coed y Mynydd Isaf.  I intend to sort out a few rust issues on the container (rub down, prime, repaint) and temporarily empty the garage contents into it in order to paint the floor of the garage and set about equipping it as my workshop - then the shelving of the container will begin so that (in theory) my 'stock items' can be efficiently stored for easy retrieval. Not the work of a moment, but a worthy aim, I feel.

it's a matter of perspective, but as it arrived it looked as big as the house behind it

a neat bit of reversing took the wagon all the way to the fence

time to attach the chains

going for the lift, taking care with the branches

lift-off (the driver has the controls box round his neck)

a critical moment - we're not quite off the wagon but we're running out of space under the telephone cable

we're down, but not yet far enough back, and Steph is about to disconnect the chains while the jib moves over the cable before reconnection

nudging the last metre towards the house

we chose this position so that the container is pretty well masked by the beech hedge

few will see the container from this angle as another hedge masks it pretty well from the road

this untidy mess - the view from the house end - will change: we plan a greenhouse, garden shed and a plant-covered trellis




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