'Can't Stop the Moss'

Having sat outside in the elements for many years, the waggon had developed a roof with a garden.

The pre-dated 1900 waggons didn't have a mollicroft roof, they were only developed after this date and different builders used different styles. This full length roof however, came with its own adaptation - a cushiony, thick mossy layer, with the odd twig, acorn or seed throw into the mix. The weight of it not helping the already bowed roof. (150 years of settling)

Moss on a Hot Felt Roof!

Well not so much hot felt, but cold felt on a bowing roof. Not long after the waggon had been moved to its new location (for restoration) in 2019, I took to the scaffold to check out the roof and how much moss was up there. Shocked at seeing a full thick, furry, green carpet dotted with various bits of tree debris, I decided to lessen the load on the bowed roof. I got a scraper and found an old piece of 2 x 1 baton, then began to scrape and push the moss off. It was a fairly quick job as the moss was quite interwoven within itself and came off in relatively large sections. 3 full bin bags of moss in total were removed and taken to the local recycling centre. This de-mossing revealed the not so traditional but practical felt covering underneath. Unfortunately down the line, this will need removing too and a traditional skin of calico canvas will be applied and layer painted with a good quality oil based gloss.