And you thought your job was bad!

We have recently added a new range of British made recycled plastic planks to our product selection. These planks are a composite made from recycled polymer and glassfibre, and the glassfibre makes the planks so stiff that they can be used for all those applications where the flexibility of most recycled plastic planks would be a problem.

We supplied planks to one of our regular customers, Gaskin Brothers of Sutton, for a special project they are working on for Cambridge City Council. Hobson’s Conduit is a 17th century historical monument in the city which brings water from a spring in nearby Great Shelford. In recent years it has been silting up causing a serious blockage. Gaskin Brothers are clearing the silt and installing a number of silt catching barriers to stop the watercourse becoming blocked where it continues beneath a major road. The barrier was prefabricated by Gaskin Brothers using our new Rigid Decking Planks with a range of standard recycled plastic profiles to form a framework. The barriers will be hidden in the water once the conduit is reflooded.

Initially a wooden structure was going to be used but Gaskins suggested using recycled plastic since it would not decay. When they came to buy the materials we offered this new product as an alternative. Director James Gaskin enthused “It’s a brilliant product, lightweight but also very strong. We’re really glad Filcris could offer it, it made our job a lot easier”

Gaskins Brothers and Cambridge City Council are hoping to install another four barriers along the length of the conduit. As a Cambridge based company we are really pleased to see our products used in such a beneficial way in our home town.

Interestingly the originator of the phrase Hobson’s Choice was also a Cambridge business, Thomas Hobson, this time a 16th century stable owner who offered his customers a choice of the horse he wanted them to use, or none. We hope that with our expanding range of products we can continue offer a large number of alternative solutions to our customers.

This product is now ready to purchase on our website here: http://www.filcris.co.uk/products/product-details/cr4522536pkbk

Our recycled plastic sheet has been incorporated into a contemporary artwork as part of the Garden of Reason Project at one of the National Trust’s stately homes, Ham House, in Richmond, Surrey. Graeme Miller used our white faced recycled plastic stockboard to create a series of planters, in which yew bushes have planted and carefully cut to make a pair of telescopes! The artwork is entitled Yew Tube.

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Last Friday I placed a Trail Camera by one of the Mink Rafts we supplied to the Countryside Restoration Trust, on the River Rhee in Cambridgeshire. It was in an isolated spot away from prying eyes, but not ideal since it has not had any tracks so far.

Mink Raft on the River Rhee in Cambridgeshire

You might need to be sharp eyed to find the camera though, I have hidden it well! It is in the picture above – maybe we should have a competition…

 I won’t be able to go back and check for a couple of weeks, we have a big exhibition looming (http://www.16mm.org.uk/newsite/show/default.html always great fun and very busy) following our financial year end (always no fun what so ever and and also very busy).

But with luck I will get some useful footage.

I delivered an A2 interpretation board to the local Cambridgeshire village of Little Shelford on Saturday morning, with the aim of helping them to install their lectern, and take a few pictures and some films to provide advice to other customers wishing to install their lecterns. Although our interpretation boards are often installed by contractors with plenty of experience, they are also frequently purchased by small community groups who would really benefit from some advice.

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Michael Sharp, the Biodiversity Officer at Aylesbury Vale Dsitrict Council has sent us another picture of his mink raft, this time with two otters sitting on top of it:

Mike has promised to send us more pictures as he gets them. Thanks for the feedback Mike, I was planning on doing the same thing with one of the local Countryside Restoration Trust rafts as part of their “Bourn Free” project.

The mink raft used by AVDC can be seen here:http://www.filcris.co.uk/products/product-details/minkrafteco

In spite of having a back injury which meant I needed a lift to Chatham from Phil, and his help putting up the stand, I was looking forward to the Mammal Society Spring Fair last Saturday (10th of March), I thought it would give me a great opportunity to get some feedback on our mink rafts from the exerts. It was also a great to catch up with some old friends. But the biggest surprise was the sculpture on the neighbouring stand (belonging to the PTES a conservation charity, see here for more info), a fantastic hedgehog made from recycled shopping trolleys:

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