The four hard hat tours of the nave ceiling, advertised in the last newsletter, were a big success.  Danny not only gave up his Saturdays, but guided us up the ladders on the second Saturday with a broken ankle!  He gave us a hands-on demonstration of the lath and plaster technique described in the last blog post and also explained how the many ornaments on the ceiling have been reproduced using plaster molds.  When I went up we nagged him to let us each have a plaster ornament to take away - see below.  Given that these were rejects, the level of craftsmanship is remarkable.

Rosie will be posting further details of the tours on the CloudesleyCentre website.  Meanwhile, here are a couple of photos which I took, as well as photos of my own plaster cast, both in its original form and after I was inspired to paint it!  Whether this is anything like the correct colour scheme I have no idea!

Later: here's some photos which Jenny took on the tour.  Bear in mind that everything which looks like wood is in fact painted plaster.  It's incredible the trouble Barry and his men went to, especially given that no-one would see their work up close until 200 years later!