Compromise ?

[DERYN]

Erm . . . not quite sure what to say.

In no post did I say I was going to buy a grade listed cottage, raise the roof, rip out the ceiling, and slap on an extension. These points were raised by other people, either the agent or a prospective buyer and raised questions in my own head. Not knowing the answers myself to questions being asked I brought them to the forum.

Here in North Wales I must have walked thousands of miles in these hills and mountains and seen hundreds of empty cottages. Some reduced to rubble, some just shells of their former selves, most now uninhabitable. But, down here on the outskirts of villages there are many empty cottage that can be lived in. For instance the cottage I was interested in has been empty for around 10 years. This cottage is a wonderful typical example. And it is water tight, it has running water, it has electricity, it has 3 acres of land, it wouldn't take much work to make it comfortably habitable. Now, why has such a fantastic home been empty for so long ? I reckon in another 10 years the roof will have fallen in, the wooden window frames will have rotted, and it will look like many other cottages in the area. The Ty Bach where my mother in law was born still has a roof on it, but, it has been empty for over 20 years ! What a travesty !

This is why I think Ty Bach and that cottage have been empty for so long and others follow the same fate. I believe if these cottages are to have any hope of surviving there will have to be compromise. Okay some purists may cringe at the mere mention of compromise. Now the only thing I have said for sure is that if I were to live in that cottage I, and my family and friends, would need somewhere inside the cottage to have a wee, and have a shower or bath. Without these compromises we wouldn't be living in a home we would be living in a museum. Compromise ?

This cottage, and others like it, have great big warm hearts, but they have stopped beating ! It pains me to see them. Compromise, I believe a pace maker would revive some of them and stop them from dying.

Deryn

 

[JoceAndChris]

Well, I wish you the knowledge, skills, understanding and deep pockets to be able to take on such a challenge and do it successfully Deryn, same as I wish that for myself. It's not about the romance of reviving a beating heart, or any such nonsense. It's about being able to work with lime, and stone, and wood, or being able to pay someone else to do it for you.

In no post did I say I was going to buy a grade listed cottage, raise the roof, rip out the ceiling, and slap on an extension. These points were raised by other people, either the agent or a prospective buyer and raised questions in my own head. Not knowing the answers myself to questions being asked I brought them to the forum.

Perhaps we over-reacted, in which case I apologise.

 

[ilona73]

Its very easy to get caught up in the romance of a project and the excitement that it will one day become your home, living with the reality and all of the problems and quirks it all entails is something quite different entirely and not for the faint hearted.

If i had known then what i know now before taking on our home which subsequently has 2 different addresses and getting planning to change, clarify or just simply redo entirely is causing all manner of problems for us. Just many of the unforeseen problems including Tv licensing sending round their heavy squad to tell me to pay up or else is the tip of the iceberg all due to our one house being listed as two separate entities! this was caused due to the house being passed between two counties.I just wish they would make their mind up. Personally i don't see why my home should be given a number when it has stood there as the hall on hall lane since 1687. Other houses along the same said lane have names but not numbers.. mine is either the simonswood hall or 128 depending on who it is you are dealing with.It causes all untold friction between utilities, electoral registers and banks!

In truth these special properties reach out grab you by the heartstrings and pull you in. Once hooked you have very little means of escape as the more you do,discover and make good the more you find and so the cycle snowballs.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Deryn

I don't think any of the minor things - ie plumbing - you'd want to do would be considered dreadful - in conservation terms. But there are other economic and political factors behind the abandonment and dereliction (and non-rescue) of a lot of cottages in north Wales. Economically I think there must be more such properties than there are people who want to buy them as permanent homes - they are, after all, often rather inconveniently situated for work, shops, amenities. And politically there's the argument (which given the economic factor, doesn't always stand up) that not using them as permanent homes deprives someone of a house, and the understandable but hopelessly crude argument I've seen articulated in spray paint on the wall of more than one example - "Not for sale to English".

 

[DERYN]

I edited this post and a post below because on reflection I think I was being a bit sensitive and I ended up throwing my rattle out of the pram !

The problem with forums is that when someone writes/says something, you cannot see their face and hence not see if they are writing with a smile or a scowl. This very often leads to misunderstanding and interpretation. Perhaps that's why smilies were invented ?

Deryn

 

[Jill]

Just many of the unforeseen problems including Tv licensing

That brings back memories for me. As we bought next door we had 2 addresses, on different streets, different postcodes, 2 electricity & gas suppliers. Tv licensing was the worst to sort of them all. The amount of letters we got as we didn't have a licence for 1 address was unbelievable. I got to the point I would have been quite happy for them to come knocking on the door just to proove we didn't need a licence.

Welcome to the forum Deryn. Stick around and you'll soon get wise to some of the characters on here.

 

[ilona73]

Just many of the unforeseen problems including Tv licensing

That brings back memories for me. As we bought next door we had 2 addresses, on different streets, different postcodes, 2 electricity & gas suppliers. Tv licensing was the worst to sort of them all. The amount of letters we got as we didn't have a licence for 1 address was unbelievable. I got to the point I would have been quite happy for them to come knocking on the door just to proove we didn't need a licence.

Welcome to the forum Deryn. Stick around and you'll soon get wise to some of the characters on here.

Tell me about it the entire thing has become a nightmare and i have to admit to screaming down at the Tv people..." what part of its the same house do you not bloody understand? "Hardly what i would have wished but after 25 threatening letters in a week and numerous visits from the detector van not to mention the factor i was at the end of my tether. Only last week we got a letter for the neighbours whose home was made from the pigsty building for our house ! you would think at least the utilities could get the bills sent to the correct people, its not like they didn't put the supplies in ! Its as bad when filling in forms on the internet. half the time my address isn't recognised, when it is its incorrect and if you try to amend it you get chucked back to the start. So infuriating! grrrrr

 

[DERYN]

'If Deryn is using the forum as a sounding board and is not about to buy a cottage and smash it up then that's wonderful.'

Yes, I am using the forum as a sounding board and to gain knowledge about period properties. I am grateful to anyone that takes the time to answer my questions and offer constructive comment and criticism. Yes, I am about to buy a cottage or similar. And, no, I am not going to smash it up !

Deryn

 

[Flyfisher]

Just many of the unforeseen problems including Tv licensing

That brings back memories for me. As we bought next door we had 2 addresses, on different streets, different postcodes, 2 electricity & gas suppliers. Tv licensing was the worst to sort of them all. The amount of letters we got as we didn't have a licence for 1 address was unbelievable.

:lol: :lol: :lol:
TV Licensing are indeed a nighmare to deal with. We had a similar issue in that part of our house had been previously rented out, so it had a different address (although not different streets or postcodes!) and thus two entries on the TV Licensing database. My objection to their behaviour, though, is the way in which they automatically assume you are breaking the law if you don't have a TV licence. They seem institutionally incapable of understanding that there could be a legitimate reason for not having a licence. Their letters are very threatening too.

But the funniest episode was with the two electricity meters. When we had the overhead wires and telegraph poles removed, a new meter was installed and the entire house connected to the single supply and the spare meter was taken away. Soon afterwards, we changed our electricity supplier but continued receiving bills from the original supplier. After a few months of being told not to worry as the transfer might take some time, a meter reader turned up to read both meters. I explained that we only had one meter but he insisted we had two. In the end I invited him to look for it himself, at which point he left. I subsequently received a bill from the old supplier plus an estimated bill from the new supplier - both with different meter numbers. Yes - the new supplier had 'connected' themselves to the old meter that had been removed!

Thus ensued many telephone calls trying to get things sorted out. Everyone I spoke to was very polite and understanding but there just didn't seem to be an easy procedure they could use to cancel things. They even sent out a chap from Siemens to disconnect and takeaway the offending meter and I had to explain that it had already been done by EDF when they installed the new meter when the telegraph poles were removed. It was a classic example of too many companies being involved and too little communication between them. Tony Hancock could have made a comedy of the whole affair!

 

[vicky whitworth]

Hi Deryn, sorry if I offended you. I've seen so many cottages round here trashed - for example, my neighbour's place. 18th c cottage and now a Barratt Home. Not listed but right next door to a listed cottage and inside the conservation area. It makes me growl.

I absolutely agree that we need bathrooms, and central heating, and all that stuff - although quite why my husband needs so many widgets to control so many gadgets beats me!

But I'm full of the joys of Spring today having spent the weekend painting my parlour and want to rave about the distemper from Rose of Jericho as it looks a treat. Highlights all the damp bits on the walls but that's probably good as I can now fix whatever is causing them - ah, that'll be not a good idea to take off the down pipes a year ago and not gotten round to replacing them!

 

[JoceAndChris]

I edited this post and a post below because on reflection I think I was being a bit sensitive and I ended up throwing my rattle out of the pram !

The problem with forums is that when someone writes/says something, you cannot see their face and hence not see if they are writing with a smile or a scowl. This very often leads to misunderstanding and interpretation. Perhaps that's why smilies were invented ?

Deryn

:wink: :wink: :wink: :!:

Tried to send you a PM to say sorry I wasn't very nice in some of my remarks, but you haven't enabled private messaging in your profile. And the forum was broken all yesterday except for a short period in the morning and at night? Perhaps Rob and Simon thought they'd force us to spend some quality time with our partners!

You mustn't take too much notice of the over-emphatic ways I phrase things sometimes. I really do wish you success in your search, and don't want you to stop using this forum to find out more about conservationist ways of restoring a period property. It's a tremendous resource; I've learned so much from the kind people on here. I'm sure the cottage you finally get will be very lucky indeed to have an owner so interested in history and keen to do the right thing.

 

[Flyfisher]

Highlights all the damp bits on the walls but that's probably good as I can now fix whatever is causing them - ah, that'll be not a good idea to take off the down pipes a year ago and not gotten round to replacing them!

Surely not? That must be a joke, yes? You wouldn't really leave your guttering with no downpipes would you?

Even a long piece of spare guttering propped up behind the downpipe spout would prevent the water from cascading down the wall. I've also got missing downpipes but I've used 4-inch underground cable conduit as a temporary fix to keep water off the walls and well away from the base of the walls. A tad unsightly but functionally perfect.

 

[vicky whitworth]

Er, no! No joke. That's girls for you. Start a job and never finish it. I took them off (when I say 'I' I mean my husband took them off at my insistence) so that I could rake out the old pointing and re-point. That was year ago - did a bit of raking out but was told by everyone that I needed to take out more and then lost the will to live. So have now had a quote to do the job for me! Will be good and prop them back up at the weekend. Am fed up with damp everywhere.

 

[Penners]

Am fed up with damp everywhere.

Well, at least you're in no doubt as to the cause,

 

[JoceAndChris]

Well, at least you're in no doubt as to the cause,

Good grief, did Penners expire mid-sentence? I can think of no other reason why he'd end with a comma in that way!

 

[Penners]

Good grief, did Penners expire mid-sentence? I can think of no other reason why he'd end with a comma in that way!

A combination of senility and alcohol-deprivation. I've now resholved one of thoshe problemsh.

 

[worms]

did Penners expire mid-sentence?

No, he just lapsed into a comma!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Oh very droll Worms!

I'm delighted to see that the absence of the forum on Valentine's day has forced a full break-out of peace and love!

All we need now is confirmation of Deryn's gender.... :wink: I think I have worked out that Deryn is his surname... :?:

 

[DERYN]

Hello you lot.

Ya rumbled me ! I am a man and my surname is 'Bird'. Living in Wales, every time someone asked me my surname and I said 'Bird', for some reason I had to repeat it a couple of times, eventually whistling and flapping my arms like a bird the penny would then drop ! If not I would just say 'deryn'. I guess it just stuck. I was called a few more things at school, 'birdy', 'budgie', 'tweet tweet' . . . I much prefer Deryn.

Next time you are looking at a bit of original plasterwork check out the plasterers mark. I come from a long line of plasterers on my fathers side. The mark as you can guess is a bird. Most plasterers left their mark and lucky for us a bird was easy to produce. Others with surnames that couldn't be marked pictorially had to choose something else, initials perhaps. I have come across a couple of pieces of plasterwork with a bird mark, the most decorative and oldest was in Speke Hall. A relative ? I like to think so.

I have seen quite a few mentions of using lime on this website and I well remember using it when I was young when I worked with my father and uncles. As soon as I was old enough my father had me pulling a rake through a tin bath mixing. Now plastering, there's an art ! I remember my hands stinging and I remember dad going to hospital a couple of times when he got some in his eye. The stuff could blind you !

Anyway, good to see everyone back online again. I just picked up 'YOUR COUNTRY COTTAGE. A guide to Purchase and Restoration' by Robert Edmunds in a secondhand shop today. First published in 1970 it might be a little out of date but it looks a very interesting read.

Deryn

 

[Penners]

did Penners expire mid-sentence?

No, he just lapsed into a comma!

Top marks, worms, for the best pun of the year!




Mind you, it's only mid-February....