It's all finished and perfect!

We're in and running now. The project has gone perfectly - to time and to budget. And doesn't the outside look great compared to how it did only a few weeks ago? It's hard to imagine that the whole refurb only took just over eight weeks.

Inside is even more of a transformation. This is what our lovely reception looks like now (including the lovely Stacey on desk):

And our fab new waiting area:
Just a reminder of the work involved to get to this stage:

A Big Apology!

It has been brought to my attention that I have spent too much time praising our wonderful, wonderful builders and electricians and far too little on our facilities management team, Compass FMB, led by Gary Champion and Jamie Cartwright. I aim to put this right here. Gary and Jamie have managed the Grand Junction conversion from the very start - ripping out the inside - to the very end: organising office furniture and the reception desk. Jamie is also my go-to guy for dealing with British Telecom. In all seriousness, they have been fantastically supportive, have organised the work to be done to a very high standard, to a tight time schedule and on price.

And I've also noted we don't have enough pictures of Gary and Jamie. Well, this is what Gary looks like:I still need a good picture of Jamie. I want to show him at his best, so watch this space!

Well, we're out of the old place ...

... and into the Grand Junction. Pictures later! However, there's a lot of work going on at the old premises. First, a reminder of what it used to look like when we were still there (yes, we kept the Christmas decorations up all year round just to cheer the place up):

This was Edmund's old surgery: Well, with our lease coming to an end, we had to restore the area to its original state. So Paul and Chris and their team of demolition guys started dividing their time between the Grand Junction (nearly finished) and the old premises. This is what the reception area looked like after just one day - suspended ceiling and all partitions removed:

Please don't say it looks better half-demolished! After several days of hard work (blocking out a door, repairing walls and windows, stripping out wiring, reinstating and painting), we were left with an empty shell:

The lease came to an end on Friday 25 September and it's a ten-year chapter of our life closed. New one starting!

Some areas still need a little work ...

There are some areas of the Grand Junction that we either haven't done much to or nothing at all - namely the cellar and the first floor.

The cellar is actually one of my favourite areas. While the rest of the pub has been gutted and messed around with countless times in its long history, it's my bet that the cellar is largely as it was a hundred years ago. Of course, it's cold, a bit eerie but it's full of character and maybe the echoes of former landlords?

And this beer barrel is actually full!!

Nearly there!

Some pictures of the all-but-finished magnificent new premises!

One surgery - completely finished and ready for patients! This is in no small part due to the fantastic work done by Paul and Chris, the builders, and by Rob Taylor, who removed the chair from the old premises and installed and tested it in record time.






Believe it or not, this is what the surgery looked like about three months ago! Who needs a drink at the bar when you can lie in a comfortable dental chair having a luxurious examination and scale and polish?








On the top is what reception looked like at the beginning of July. Below - what it looked like first week September. It's such a lovely, light area - and the floor looks beautiful. Although the old sticky pub carpet had its charms too.

Toilets and ceilings going in!

Things are really moving apace. The toilet areas have all been tiled, a tasteful combination of pale grey and tomato (chosen by me, hated by Edmund). Surely they're not that bad, really??



Next, the suspended ceilings are going in, over the already-fitted air-tempering and climate-control system (it may be winter outside, but in my surgery it's spring).

Finally - the mystery of the stable block revealed!

When we bought the Grand Junction we never actually got to see what was in the room on the right - the old stable block. Well, we finally opened it up last week and it was very interesting, but unfortunately no buried treasure (quite a lot of broken old furniture, none of it antique, sadly).

The doors open at last! Edmund on (on the right) discussing what on earth we can do with the area with Gary from Compass, our facilities manager. The photo on the right shows an old trough (and some of the non-antique rubbish).

Here's Paul, our very patient builder, just about to remind us that we can do anything we like with the space, as long as our pockets are deep enough. Seeing as our pockets aren't very deep at all, locking the doors and waiting for another 20 years may be the best option.