belated update

It's been a very busy three years since the last update in fact it is so long I can barely remember how to update this blog.
'Sirene' was sold in 2009 and 'Chantue' (Contessa 32) was bought to replace her, we had one too many very rough passages in Sirene, which is a very wet boat. We collected 'Chantue' from her mooring off the Medway Yacht Club in November and had a boisterous sail back round to Eastbourne that weekend. I have always wanted a boat that would look after me when I'm too tired (or too old) to look after it, I think I have found it,
So far we haven't performed very well in the RIR with her in the last two years, our fault not hers, last year we were 40 minutes late crossing the start line, which didn't help. This year we will be sailing short handed so depending upon the weather the spinnaker is unlikely!

Chantue nearing the end of the 2011 RIR off Norris Castle

Aldershaw Tiles has been very busy as well, with many churches under our belt, another project at Hampton Court Palace and many other notable jobs including the re-roofing of many of National Trusts properties in West Wickham.

We have mostly completed the modernisation of the works now, the next project is to instal biomass (log) boiler heating for the Dryers. Fuelled by home grown Chestnut and birch from our own sustainably coppiced woodland not only do we save £6000 a year in Gas we attract a significant RHI payment for doing so.

 The Real Tennis court at Hampton Court Palace

'Stag & Huntsman' Hambledon

As I said earlier, not very much sailing this year but at least we got to the Solent for the 'Round the Island Race' this time. Despite a few tactical errors Sirene managed 77th out of 746 which we felt quite pleased with, a lot to do with the race favouring small boats but none the less a pleasing result.

Some time since we had an update! With the ecconomic climate being so bad as well as the weather, there has not been much time for sailing and more time has been needed on the business 'Aldershaw handmade Tiles ltd'. to keep everything going. Actually with many brick and tile companies suffering very badly and shutting factories down either permanently or for six months at a time we seem to be weathering the reccession reasonably well. This year we have supplied Handmade Clay Peg tiles to Hampton Court Palace for the re roofing of The Real Tennis Court, Floor tiles for St. Paul's Church in Brighton as well as St. Pauls Cathedral, together with two other churches and numerous renovation projects and new buildings in sensitive planning areas. There have been a great deal of enquiries in the last 5 -6 months many from very loyal architectural practices for whom we hope that we can provide that little extra that helps them meet their aspirations in terms of colour and texture of their creations. As all of our products are 'Truly hand made' we can always produce exactly what our customers want whether it be one tile or one hundred thousand tiles.

Earlier this year we organised an open day for many of our architect specifiers with a 'home grown' Hog Roast and a talk by Ben Law of Grand Design fame which was enjoyed by all.

Incidentally we shall be exhibiting at the Grand Designs Exhibition in October 2010 so come along and join us there to see what its all about!

New this year has been our range of Handmade Glazed Wall Tiles which compliment our terracotta and encaustic tiles all of which are on our web site http://www.aldershaw.co.uk/

Ok that was quite easy! This is 'Sirene', if you revisit this blog I expect that you will see quite a bit more of her in time to come, this one was taken in Boulogne harbour last year, Boulogne is the nearest foriegn port to her berth in Rye. Sirene is a Contessa 26 (feet that is) she was launched in 1970 and still sails like a dingy. She's a good sea boat too but with limited space below, all boats are a compromise but I'd rather have one that sails well and has good sea-keeping qualities! Last year was appalling for weather and sailing was quite limited even the two weeks annual holiday resulted in 5 days gale bound in Fecamp which is limited in its interest and excitement after the Palais de Beneditine and the Abbey has been visited. We did manage to resolve two worrisome leaks though during our enforced stay. There is a Contessa 26 (much younger, this one was launched 1972) currently on her way from the Canaries to Australia via Cape Horn sailed singlehanded by an Aussie...Brave man, but and excellent boat if a little small for such big seas. We have planned a full programme for the coming year but will leave that until later. Its still too cold and wet to contemplate the spring clean up and shake down sail.

4th February 2008

I've always wanted to know what a blog was so no better way than to start one and find out, will anyone be remotely interested? Probably not but here goes! It seems quite easy to start with, but the real problem comes when you are confonted with "what do you want to say (that might possibly be of interest to anyone else)?" Shall I do a grumpy old man about current politics/society/education, Hebridean sheep, roof and floor tiles, biking, or sailing? I guess time will tell when I get used to the idea or maybe wait until the next news item that really upsets me. I do need to find out how to add a photograph at least that will make the page look a bit more interesting.