Customers often ask me “do you work all year?” or “what do you do in the winter?”. My answers are “yes”, and “I get wet and cold”.

Thatching can be done all year round, but in some exteme weather you have no choice but to stop. When there are a few inches of snow on the roof, you just have to clear it off first before you can do anything. In fact, the most dangerous thing about snow can be getting to and from work, rather than the work itself – especially down those country lanes!

When it is raining heavily and it looks like it’s in for the day, you are better off gpoing home and catching up on paperwork. However, when it isn’t too heavy you just get on with things. If you go home every time there is a small bit of rain, you should change jobs! When using straw, you have to wet it first anyway, so it doesn’t affect it too much. With reed you have to be more careful.

The most dangerous weather is high winds. It can look like a nice day from inside an office, but when the wind is really strong it just isn’t worth chancing it.

During the summer people will often say “you have a lovely job”. But no one says that in the winter.