Upper deck nearly there

Upper Deck booths

With the arrival of our expertly crafted table tops from Alistair the installation work has continued.  Of course that means more cleaning of the original seats before re-installing them.

Upper Deck begins to take shape

Of course it still looks messy as everything is put in what will soon be its final location, the seats have been steam cleaned and orientated to soon form a comfortable booth for enjoying the delights of the cafe or bar.

Upper Deck booths Upper Deck booths

Once in place and secured the craftsmanship really shines and the overall look and feel starts to take shape. Each booth will seat 4 people but of course what if you have a larger party? no problem you sit at the back of the bus

Upper Deck rear seating

This arrangement will hold up to 9 people and will be ideal for a large group.  There is still more work to be done of course, we have another nice piece of the puzzle yet to be installed on the upper deck plus of course lighting and heating; but we are almost there.

Starting to take shape

Its been another busy couple of weeks for the bus.  Unfortunately we have not been able to trade in the bar due to a licensing issue but that meant more time to concentrate on the bus conversion.

We owe a massive thanks to Alistair Mann from Westward B & B who is an extremely talented craftsmen and has tuned the raw slabs of Elm that we obtained from our friends at Black Isle Brewery into the absolutely stunning tables that have now been installed in the downstairs area of the bus

Downstairs booths Downstairs booths

With the seats re-arranged and the tables installed, the downstairs area is really starting to take shape. A little more cleaning, a little more painting and we shall soon be welcoming our first customers on to the bus

Downstairs booths

A busy fortnight

Laphroaig whisky barrel courtesy of Black Isle Brewery

Wow!! What a busy couple of weeks we have had.  We have so much going on at the moment and lots to report as we go ahead in leaps and bounds on bringing the bus online.

Firstly we have been gifted some very nice slabs of Elm from our friends at the Black Isle Brewery. The slabs were expertly chosen by local craftsman Alistair Mann of Westward B & B who is now crafting the slabs in to some very unique table tops.

Elm Table Tops in the making Elm Table Tops in the making

We have also obtained a couple of old Laphroaig whisky barrels again via the generosity of the Black Isle Brewery, these will be cleaned up and used on the upper deck to support a rather unique and characterful piece the Ali is working on for us.  No previews yet but cant to show that off when its ready.

In the meantime a lot of the seats downstairs have now been removed and the cleanup done, painting to be undertaken this week to prepare for the re-installation of chairs when steam cleaned and the fantastic tables once ready.

X435FGP Lower deck X435FGP Lower deck completely stripped out X435FGP Lower deck completely stripped out & cleaned

We have heating equipment on order and some electrical work scheduled so that we can hopefully bring the bus online in the coming weeks, even if it is in a limited capacity.