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LORD MAYOR OPENS WBF SHOP EXTENSIONOn Tuesday 19th October 2004, the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of the City of London Alderman Robert Finch officially opened the new extension to the Foundry shop. Expanding into what had previously been a workshop has enabled us to finally bring together all the smaller products sold directly at the Foundry into a more logical and convenient arrangement. Items that had previously been kept on another floor of the main building, such as sheet music, gloves, and handbell accessories, are now more easily accessible. We have also taken the opportunity to move items out of what had previously been the only room devoted to the shop and into the extension in order to free up space there and make the displays less crowded.
 As well as providing more space for the shop, another aspect of the extension was to improve access for disabled customers as required of all UK businesses under recent government legislation. Since these premises are Grade II listed buildings, complying with such legislation while not altering their appearance and character can be quite a challenge. Of the several entrances to the main buildings only one, on Fieldgate Street, offers level access without intervening steps. Conveniently, this opens into the short corridor between the rooms housing the shop, so it was decided to make this the point of access for disabled visitors. To this end, part of an internal wall was demolished and a doorway widened in order to provide space for a wheelchair to turn, and a lightweight portable ramp purchased to enable access over a single internal step and one leading to the yard. The appropriate signage has also been adopted, as required. Some additional photos:
 
 
  Photographs by Elizabeth Hughes, youngest member of the Hughes family. For more photos, click here.
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