Winter starts with
a route across the grass.

The first delivery arrived on a grey November day, with autumn leaves around the trackway and the Abbey grounds beginning to take on a different purpose.

Today, 9 November, the first infrastructure started moving into place. Heavy-duty trackway is going down, giving the build a route across the grounds and bringing a different rhythm to the project.

The photograph captures a moment I enjoy: familiar surroundings beginning to change, with the first practical pieces of a much bigger experience arriving on site.

In a few weeks, people will be browsing the Christmas market at Torre Abbey, skating at Abbey Park and following the lights along the seafront. My attention now is on how we get from this first delivery to that evening.

The first move sets up the next

Once deliveries begin, the order of work becomes visible.

A position that suits today’s unloading may be the space another contractor needs to reach tomorrow. Equipment placed for convenience can become an obstacle as the site fills. Each arrival changes what is possible around it.

This is where my coordination role becomes particularly hands-on. I’m bringing together delivery arrangements, contractor requirements and the sequence of installations, keeping the next stages in view while dealing with the work in front of me.

The trackway is an early part of that sequence. It gives shape to access across the site and helps establish how the rest of the infrastructure will move into position. Decisions made at this stage carry through the build, servicing and eventual removal.

I need to understand what each contractor requires from the site, what they will leave ready for the next team, and where those activities could get in each other’s way. That understanding has to stay current as the layout develops.

There is real satisfaction in seeing those connections work: one stage leaves the space and access needed for another to begin.

Three locations. One connected evening.

The scale becomes clearer when you look beyond any one delivery.

Alongside the market in the grounds of Torre Abbey, there is a large ice-rink installation at nearby Abbey Park and the wider 1.5-mile light trail, with concessions at the Banjo roughly halfway along.

Each location has its own build requirements, contractors and operational needs. Together, they form the evening people will come to enjoy.

In my role with Torbay Council, I’m coordinating site preparations and the practical connections across those locations, working with Council colleagues and the specialist teams delivering each element.

That means being able to change focus without losing the wider picture. A conversation about a market delivery sits alongside preparations for the rink and the requirements of the trail. I need to recognise where those arrangements depend on each other and bring the right people into the discussion.

For visitors, the connection will be the experience of moving between the lights, the market, the rink and a place to stop for refreshments. During the build, I’m working on the arrangements that will make that possible.

A working site within an everyday town

At Abbey Park, preparing for the rink involves a temporary change to how part of a familiar public space is used.

The closure and fencing establish the working area for the build. From there, the site needs to accommodate deliveries and specialist installation while taking account of the people continuing to use the surrounding area.

I’m looking at that boundary from both sides: what the contractors need to carry out their work, and how the preparations fit into the life of the park and seafront around them.

An event occupies a place that already belongs to people’s everyday routines. Keeping that in mind matters throughout the transition from public space to build site, and later to an open attraction.

Keeping room for what comes next

As more infrastructure arrives, the space available for decisions starts to change.

I’m keeping an eye on the room we still need: for a later delivery, for the next installation and, eventually, for taking everything away again. Thinking through those stages now can reduce repeated handling and unnecessary movements later.

It is also a practical way to bring my interest in sustainability into the build. The opportunities sit within everyday choices about resources, access and how efficiently the work is sequenced.

The next few weeks will bring much more visible change. I’ll share how the different elements take shape, the coordination behind them and the decisions that help the programme move forward.

For now, winter begins with a route across the grass and the first delivery moving into position.

My job is to keep the next stages connected, with the finished evening firmly in view.

THE STORY SO FAR

Where the planning began.

My first article explores the historic setting at Torre Abbey and the creative thinking behind working within it.

Read the first article ↗

A personal reflection on my site-coordination contribution within the wider Torbay Council event programme. Views are my own.