They reckon it’s like trench warfare in the grange at the moment; and certainly, it’s very noisy and horribly muddy.

Nick and Kieran finished digging and levelling the floor last week and started, with renewed vigour, on removing the wine cuves. So for several hours a day they’ve been slicing through the reinforced concrete, cutting it into bite-sized chunks (about 12″ square), then prising the chunks off the wall with the breaker. Bear in mind that I can’t even lift either of these tools off the ground and you’ll have some idea of how strenuous the work is and why they need regular tea and cake breaks. The ground was dry last week, but the Stihl saw has to be water-fed to keep it from overheating; the result is a complete quagmire!

Yesterday the last of the first cuve came away, was loaded into the trailer and taken to the tip; time for a celebratory bottle of wine and a night off, watching a film.

Today they’ve made good progress on the second cuve, removing about a third of it before the Stihl saw developed mechanical problems; a clutch spring had broken. But the lads weren’t going to let that stand in their way; a trip to the Stihl shop (fortunately there’s one in Nogaro) produced 3 new springs, one to replace the broken one and the others because they’ll probably go soon too, then onward to the tip and home to mend the Stihl saw and continue working. Another couple of days and the job should be completed. I think they’ll have shoulders and arms like Sylvester Stallone by then!

And me? I’m kept busy making tea and cakes!