One day towards the end of July several large trucks turned up here at St. John's and off loaded this collection of earth movers and portacabins on what has been, each Summer Term, the site of the cricket nets. The next day work began.
This was taken from much the same spot as the previous photo - but what a difference! Much of the earth that has been taken out to level the site and dig the foundations will later be needed to make a terrace out in front of the building.
Where the JCB is standing will eventually be a terrace. The concrete delivery lorry is standing inside what will be the Art and CDT wing and pouring the foundations for its eastern wall. These photos are already well out of date, as boys returning on Wednesday will see for themselves.
A building like this is a long time in the planning and preparation stages. These surveyors were here two years ago in September 1996.
Then in May 1997 this drilling rig turned up to take sample cores of the sub-soil. Only then would the engineers know what sort of foundations they would need to design for the building.
This brings us back to the work being done at the moment. This photo was taken by Mrs Dickson, the school secretary, in the last week of August and shows the framework for the new Assembly Hall wing of the building.
© St. John's - DTP, 1998 & 2005 - N. Pauli