WHAT LIES BENEATH….

YOU’VE READ THE BOOK; YOU’VE SEEN THE FILM; NOW VISIT THE LOCATION…..

WELL, OUR LOCATION ANYWAY.

We thought you might like to see what improvements have been going on at the kennels during the deepest depths of winter.

We’re pretty sure that Gil had no idea what he was taking on when, seeing the flooded and muddied areas at the paddock gates whilst visiting one day, he offered to do something about it. “Is this man foolish or insane” we asked ourselves, but gladly we accepted his kind offer. Anything that improved the quality of life for our greyhounds was not to be sneezed at, and if they could eat their food without standing in puddles and without the rain lashing down on them surely that would be more comfortable?

Thus begun an epic journey for Gil. A journey which grew and developed as the days went by, a journey which would have defeated a lesser man. Gil gave up all his free time to complete the task. He was often at the kennels when we arrived in the morning, and was still there trying to grab the last of the daylight when we left. Gil was literally ‘moonlighting.’

So below, for your pleasure, are the pictures of our new and improved paddock entrances.
Of course, the pictures only tell part of the story……..What lies beneath is a new drainage system to help move the water away from the gates and disperse it further down the paddocks. If only we’d thought to take pictures of the work in progress then all of Gil’s hard work would have been revealed.
To give you some idea of the scale of this project here is a list of just some of the materials involved;

101 bags of pea gravel
25 concrete paving slabs
36 bags Concrete mix
9 bags post-crete.
1 tub fast drying cement
2 bags sharp sand
6 bags building sand
3 bags concrete
2 bags mortar mix
Waste pipe 5 x4m lengths
2 sets of treated timber Wood framing for slabs
2 sets of treated timber Wood framing for roof panels
3 treated timber 4x4 wood support posts for canopies
2 drain boxes and associated pipe-work and fittings
3 packs of 5 boards Weather board treated timber
2 Gallons cementone cement accelerator / hardener
Some 156 metres of trench dug and filled with gravel containing main drain pipe.
So, from all of us here at the Welfare, and especially the hounds, a very, very big thank you to Gil and to his partner Carol, who lived and breathed this project alongside him and saw it through to it’s completion. Carol and Gil have donated their time, and all the materials for this project free of charge. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, “We are so very lucky to have such kind and generous friends. What is it about these beautiful, gentle, greyhounds that make people feel compelled to reach out and help?”

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I couldn’t resist adding a couple of extra pictures, taken one evening at the end of January as Gil was just packing up his tools for the night. We were just finishing tucking in the hounds and we looked up to see the most amazing sunset over the kennels. In the blink of an eye it was gone, only to be replaced almost immediately by a full moon – so bright that it lit up the sky once more. It was a breathtaking moment, and for me it just added to the magic of this very special place. I think as we stood there we all felt incredibly lucky to have shared such a beautiful ending to a cold January day.