So today came a job that I've been looking forward to for some time - building a cattle market. I know, I'm easily pleased.

When I was a nipper, my farming Grandad used to take me along to Kidderminster cattle market on a Tuesday (all sadly covered with houses a few years ago - Grandad's long gone too). Also, as the Welshpool & Llanfair is probably the biggest influence on my railway, a cattle market is essential really.
Don't go expecting a scale model of Smithfield though, we're talking Gooey here, it's going to be a fairly small market even by Welsh standards. If you've ever travelled on the road from Caernarfon down to Porthmadog, you'll have been through a tiny little village that's made up of half a dozen houses and a pub, but it's got a small cattle/sheep market - that's the kind of thing I have in mind.
Here's the basic structure made out of (mostly) best quality exterior marine ply. Now this stuff is expensive, so a top tip if you only want a smallish piece is to try your local independant DIY shop/ wood merchant. Our local B&Q would only supply a full sheet costing the best part of 60 quid - I got enough for this job as an off-cut from my local independant for 8

. I know it doesn't look much like a cattle market, but bear with me

.
You may be wondering why I bothered making it all with wood when I could have cast the base in concrete, but I'm going to have to fit all of the fencing soon and plugging it into wood is going to be a hell of a lot easier. Although it's decent ply, I've still sealed all the edges of the base with PVA and covered the lot (top and bottom) in roofing felt. All of the walls will be covered in tile grout as with the Armada Cottages build which will seal them. The whole lot will also sit on gravel rather than bare earth. I'm not saying it'll last forever, but it should go on for a good few years.
Here it is in position with the felt covering and PVA edging strips added to the platform edge and the end.
Still doesn't look much like a cattle market, so does this help?
