Thatchers at work

There is a barn conversion going on four doors away from my home which is being thatched with Norfolk reed - at last the local planning officers have seen that forcing the use of wheat straw makes no sense - this barn has taken two large articulated lorries each with a large trailer behind to deliver the reed bundles, but at least the thatch will have a good chance of lasting 70 - 80 years rather than 15-20 for wheat straw.  The barn is being converted into a luxury 5 bedroom house, but from the outside will retain many of the features of the mediaeval barn that it was.  Last week there were nine thatchers working on the roof, but today that had reduced to just five. I shall be returning with my camera to try to catch some of the work without intervening scaffold poles when the action is higher up the roof, but meanwhile here are my first shots at what I believe will be a beautiful building.