Bishop Dorsey was good enough to come and chair our AGM in February, and reports were received on all aspects of the life of St. Mary’s. Marin Matsuzaka and Allison Brown were elected to fill posts on the vestry, and Jenny Cruickshank stepped down as secretary, handing over to David Rose who has been acting as secretary for some months. Full copies of the papers can be found on the table by the lectern for anyone who missed the meeting.
From the Vestry
Easter Egg Collection
The Easter eggs multiplied quickly by the Green Organ this year! This week we were able to deliver sixty-three eggs to Barnardo’s Zoë Galloway and Amy Duncan, who told us it was their only donation this Easter. Thanks once again to all who donated.
East End Garden Area Update: Tree Survey
As part of our plans to tidy up the East End Garden area, a detailed tree survey was carried out by Struan Dalgleish Arboriculture on 27th February. There are currently eleven broadleaf trees in the eastern boundary of the church grounds on a relatively narrow strip of soil along the eastern boundary wall. The two oldest trees, a mature horse chestnut and a Norway maple occur at either end of the border and overhang the pavements and roads on each side. In between we have four ornamental cherry trees, two more Norway maples and an ash tree. On the southern boundary a semi-mature silver birch and a young rowan grow out of the gravel near the boundary wall with Albert Street.
The tree survey report indicates that the trees along the eastern boundary have not been actively managed for some time, allowing shrubs to become very large and ivy has also become well established. Smaller trees in the area are being out competed by their larger neighbours or have become smothered in ivy.
Tree pruning work will be required on five of the eleven trees in in the border strip to provide clearance from the church building and to the neighbouring house. One of the young Norway maples is likely to outgrow its location and therefore the arborist has recommended removal. Ivy control is required on three trees. This will involve severing and removing ivy stems around the circumference of the lower trunks. Ivy above this point will die, break-up and gradually fall off.
All the trees in the east garden area are subject to Aberdeen City Council tree protection orders. Therefore, tree work must only be undertaken following close liaison with and written permission of the city council strategic planning group.
The Vestry will now seek quotations from professional tree surgeons in order to build a full project plan to present to Aberdeen City Council and also to various funding bodies. Dave Chouman, our architect, will draw up the project plan and it is hoped that this could completed in the Spring.
Our attention will now turn to development of a garden design for the boundary strip. Joanne Evans, of Gerbera Designs, will soon develop up a garden design for the border area. This will then allow us to finalise the costs for landscaping the whole area. The landscaping works will involve clearing the border, replacement of the pathway and tidying up the large area of gravel to the east of the church building. Repairs to the drainage system will also be part of the whole project.
This article is based on the Tree Survey Report by Struan Dalgleish. Photographs also by Struan Dalgleish.
Quinquennial Condition Survey Reports
At our last Vestry Meeting on Tuesday 21st November, Dave Chouman, our architect, gave us a presentation based upon our latest Quinquennial Reports (2021-2026). Dave first of all reminded us that we had done a tremendous amount of repair work based upon the recommendations of our previous condition reports (2016-2021).
We then turned to the focus of the recommendations in the current reports and although we do not face such large amounts of repair work – as these have largely been dealt with during the final phase of the Major Repair and Refurbishment Project in 2022 – we do still have some significant pieces of work to attend to.
Refurbishment of church doors
This is a piece of work left over from the major repair and refurbishment project and involves maintenance of hinges and iron work on the main doors. This may require work offsite and temporary boarding of the doorway. We also plan to attend to security and safety issues relating to the Choir Vestry and rear doors. We did receive some financial support for this work from the Provincial Building Grant Fund in our funding of the major repair project.
Checking Rood Beam
With the drying out process continuing following the repair work undertaken in 2021 and 2022 our architect would like to check the condition of the timber rood beam. This will require a specialist piece of equipment in order to safely examine it.
Insurance Company requirements
Our insurers now require that we carry out various important surveys or assessments. These include an asbestos survey and management regime, a fire risk assessment and electrical testing. We completed the asbestos survey in October and the report indicates that we have some remedial works to carry out in the Choir Vestry roof area and in other places where electrical infrastructure exists. This was also pointed out when we completed the Electrical Testing. A Fire Risk Assessment has been arranged for early in the new year.
East End Garden Area
We have a number of problems in the east end area of the church grounds. In the later part of the autumn, we noticed that the crypt was very damp, and a drainage survey was conducted. The drainage survey indicates that some repairs are required for our 70-year-old external plumbing! We are also aware that the path between Carden Place and Albert Terrace is in a bad condition with lots of uneven pavers. With Dave Chouman’s help we are working on a plan which would tackle the problems we face in this area. This would encompass tree work, tidying the east end border area, drain repair and relandscaping of the east end area. Fortunately, we have already been successful in receiving some funds for this work from Benefact and the Dr John Anderson Trust. Further fundraising will be required once we have a completed project plan to take to the strategic planning department at ACC.
Other areas for continuing repair and maintenance
The recent condition survey reports also indicate that some corrosion treatment on structural iron and steelwork is required in the storeroom areas. There will also be a requirement for further patch pointing of mortar to the external walls and attendance to slipped slates. We also will carry out winter maintenance of the gutting to clear out unwanted vegetation!
The Rectory
This month we are hoping, if the weather is fair, to fix some damage to the rear chimney area above the old washroom part of the building and to some cracking of the pointing on the rear of the Rectory roof. We have also just in the past few days noticed some leaking from the roof into the attic room area. Hopefully this new leak will be attended to whilst the builders are on site.
St Mary’s Peace Garden Project
Good news! Our Peace Garden Project is well underway, and we can already see the raised bed and the beginnings of the landscaped sandstone paving.
At the beginning of June Aberdeen City Council Strategic Place Planning approved our Peace Garden Project. Earlier in the year we had provided details of our choice of landscaping materials, tree protection measures and the planting plan. These were all accepted.
Just as a reminder, this project came about as St Mary’s response to the Provincial post-COVID Recovery & Renewal Fund which was launched in June 2021. We have been very successful in raising funds from several sources, including the Benefact Fund (formerly AllChurches Trust), Aberdeen City Council Place Based Investment Fund and the Provincial Recovery & Renewal Fund. We have also received individual donations from congregation members. Very grateful thanks to all for their support.
Our landscaping contractor, Landscaping in Aberdeen, led by Dovydas Zubernis, began the works on 19th June and has proposed a project schedule of about five or six weeks. The project schedule looks something like this:
Week 1 – Preparing area, removing chuckies, waste removal and ground preparations.
Week 2 – Foundation for retaining walls and build retaining wall, preparation for laying paving.
Week 3 – Complete granite wall and begin circular paving area.
Week 4 – Continue laying sandstone and preparation for installing benches and reposition signage.
Week 5/6 – All finishing touches – completion of paving, grouting, and laying chuckies.
For health and safety reasons the church carparking area will be under the control of the landscaping contractors between 8am and 5pm during the week.
Our architect, Dave Chouman, will be assisting us with us with the technical aspects of the Project Management. Joanne Evans, Gerbera Designs has provided a planting plan for the raised bed and will assist us with the actual planting when the landscaping works are completed.
If you have any questions about the project, please approach David Rose or Freddie Stephens from our Buildings Committee.