A MOVING TALE:

A little over twenty-six years ago, after twenty-five years in the profession, my wife and I left the catering and licensed trade to seek pastures new. In my case, I returned to a significantly changed passenger transport industry and my wife became cook/housekeeper of an impressive modernist-style house in The Surrey Hills (we actually lived in the building in the bottom right-hand corner of the photo - right); thus adding to the variety of interesting buildings which we had managed  over the years (a sample of which can be seen below).

Individual photographs can be enlarged by 'clicking' on them.

Now, it seems our labours have come to an end and we are about to retire into a nice little bungalow in a village near the borders of Surrey and Sussex. What follows is a photographic record of the alterations which were made between the time we received the keys early in April, 2014, and our eventual move into it on the 31st. of October (in the same year - just).

Initially, the photographs will be displayed in a BEFORE and AFTER format. For example, the first sequence shows the front of the bungalow before, during, and after the the asbestos-roofed garage was demolished and replaced with an area large enough for off-road parking for two cars (note the double yellow lines).......

At the same time as the exterior work was be being carried out (and inspected by my wife - see above), further work was started on the inside of the bungalow; which would eventually be completely re-decorated and (where necessary) fitted with new carpets, tiles, or laminated flooring (there is a dormer bedroom and staiway which already had perfectly adequate carpeting) .........

Throughout the time the contractors were working, one of them, David from Poland, moved into the bungalow to act as a night-watchman; keeping an eye on the various supplies (see below) ............

Whilst the decorating and new flooring was being attended to, the bathroom was renovated, a fitted-wardrobe was built along a wall in the front bedroom, and an existing wardrobe we've had for several years was installed into what may have been a small dining-room, at one time, but became the back bedroom. To complete the interior work, some of the kitchen walls were re-tiled and a new sink was fitted; all under the watchful eye of my better half .........

By early June, the contractors had created quite a lot of debris in the back garden (see below), which they later removed; and a few days after they left, a local tree surgeon and his two sons cut down some trees and bushes; in particular, a very large tree in the back garden and a fir tree at the front of the bungalow whose roots were undermining the garden path.......

All the wood was removed or put into a timber-shredding device and the effect can be seen by comparing the photos of the front of the bungalow (above) showing the trees before being removed (left) and afterwards (right) with a corner of the cleared back garden in the middle. It is also quite probable that the hedge in front of the bungalow will also be removed and replaced with a low wall and iron railings in keeping with most of the houses in the road.

The final stage of this exercise was intended to be the construction of a utilty-room cum conservatory at the rear of the bungalow. Unfortunately, however, the best part of three months elapsed between notifying the contractor (not the one who had done the excellent earlier work) that the bushes he had requested should be removed had been removed - and the job being completed. To say that I was unimpressed would be something of an understatement and fear of effects of the law of libel prevent me from commenting too much on the experience. So, other than to point out the disturbing facts that my wife had asked for the extension to be ten feet wide (what we got was a little over six feet) and with a low brick wall (there was no wall) and that  Stanley knives and blades were discarded in the garden, I will let the photographs speak for themselves..................

Reminder: Individual photographs can be enlarged by 'clicking' on them.

Now, I would be the first to admit that the finished job looks quite nice. However, all that glitters isn't gold; and, putting aside what is alarmingly revealed above - i.e. the beams nailed into flimsy pieces of wood - I gain no comfort from knowing that only two of the three prefabricated walls rest on the concrete base and the fact we had to buy tiles and pay someone else to lay them (below right) tells its own story. On a brighter side (pun intended), after the work was completed, we decided that the red interior (which, of course, had originally been the exterior of the bungalow) was rather dark, so our younger son, Adam, painted it white; thus making it much lighter (see below).

To add to our concerns about the standad of workmanship, a plumber friend of ours pointed out that the completely inadequate former drain-pipe which as left actually runs into a rainwater soak-away (above left); so, it would only be a matter of time before the waste water would seep upwards into the garden area. So, he  drilled though two of the original exterior walls (above centre) to connect the washing machine into the household drainage system; where it should have been in the first place (above). There was also some concern that the two double power-points (one shown above right) were connected to a single power-point in one of the bedrooms and that the cable did not meet the standard suitable for exterior use; nor was the thin plastic cover which covered it.

Thankfully, at that point in time, the bungalow was almost ready to be inhabited and we had booked a removal van (and man or men) for the 31st. of October. In the meantime, we have been ferrying items of clothing or smaller pieces of furniture (above) which would fit into the back of our 4x4. The back of the car was also used to help clear some of the overgrown foliage in the back garden; some of which we had to clear away in order to lay down a concrete foundation (above)  for a garden shed we had ordered. The  manufacturers really pulled the stops out for us because, when ordering it, I had failed to notice that the one I wanted had a longer delivery time than most of the other models. Fortunately, they delivered it with nine days to spare (below); however, the erection crew only arrived with a couple of days to spare. (below right).

It was just as well that the garden shed had been erected because when the removal men arrived at the bungalow, it very soon became clear that there wasn't enough room indoors and we would need to take advantage of whatever storage space we could find; such as the garden shed (below)...............

Futhermore, almost as soon as we started to settle into the bungalow, we realised that we still didn't have enough room for all the stuff we still hadn't removed from our old abode: so, I visit a more local shed supplier and managed to take advantage of a special discount offer for a shed which had been used as a demonstration model (below left). So, after having another concrete base laid and endured quite a lengthy waiting period before the delivery and erection took place, the shed was immediately filled with tea chests, boxes, and various other items (below).........

As an interesting diversion from the hurly-burly of the removal, soon after the move was completed - and not a moment too soon - the rather sad looking name-plate over the front door (below - left) of the bungalow was replaced. As it happened, I had bought a piece of Welsh slate when my elder son and younger grandson were visiting Wales with me in 2013 and I believe it makes an excellent replacement (below - right) for the somewhat decrepit sign we inherited.......

.......Continuing with the Welsh theme, my sister (who, a few years ago, had rescued a very old and much treasured Welsh dresser from the farmhouse which had been inhabited by our mother's family for over two hundred years) kindly agreed that it would look rather nice into our parlour (see below - left). Next to it, we put the Freeview-configured TV Bea used to watch in the kitchen of the old home; and the Sky-configured TV (which I used to watch) was installed in one half of the newly-constructed extention; along with my printer, shredder, and our parrot Ellie's day-cage (below - right). The other half of the extention was turned into a utility room (below - centre).

Reminder: Individual photographs can be enlarged by 'clicking' on them.

By the time Christmas arrived, we had removed just about everything from inside our old home and all that remained were a few things in the garage - most of which we managed to cram into the two sheds or discard; and when a reasonably fine day came along around the turn of the year, I collected my trike (see below - left). However, since we no longer had a garage, I've had to  invest in a custom-built, waterproof, cover for her. She's called Trixie, by the way; and those of a curious nature might be interested in a section devoted to her travels in the Blogs section of this web-site.

At the same time, we collected a mobilty-scooter we bought for Bea before she had her hip-replacement; together with another more powerful one in which her employer had invested shortly before her passing and, since her heirs had no need for it, they offered it to us. For the time being, we used a small portable greenhouse as a temporary shelter and parked them in a narrow passage at the side of one of the sheds. Subsequently, we arranged for the area of be covered and it had made a convenient lean-to (see below - right).

As winter was drawing to a close, it was decided to invite the tree-surgeon who had removed the offending trees soon after we gained access to the bungalow to return. On this occasion, we asked him to do some serious trimming of the remaining trees and bushes; together with clearing up and removing the foliage which had resulted from creating space for the sheds; and, as a consequence of that, changing the jungle (below - left) into what became a clearing (below - right)............

Unfortunately, he didn't have the necessary equipment to remove the remaining tree roots; so, a little later, we arranged for a different tree surgeon to bring along a machine which did the job (above - left and centre) and, later still, the contractor whose men renovated the inside of the bungalow, last year, came back to re-lay the driveway because some of the bricks had sunk a little; causing water to form quite large puddles. Hopefully, the completed job (above - right) will rectify the problem.

Sometime during the spring, electric lighting and intereior and exterior power points were installed in both sheds; and, in the meantime, quietly beavering away in the background, Adam had been busy with a paintbrush (well, several, actually). He painted the fencing beside the drive in a darker brown (partly completed, below - left) and the fencing in the back garden in a rather nice dark green. He decided to do the sheds in blue with cream for the doors and windows (below- right) . So, in additon to making everything look nicer, the paint will act as a preservative.

As the spring progessed, the blossoms in the back garden were spectacular. I went onto a neighbour's verandah (below - left) to take a photo from above; together with a couple more at ground level (below - right). Compared to the previous year (before the trees were trimmed) the display is quite encouraging......

However, as the prospect of better weather presented itself, the final stage of the move to the bungalow was begun; and that was to change the character of the back garden by replacing the grassed area with paving stones (below - left). So, the first job was to remove the top-soil in order to lay the foundations; and, with that in mind, Adam had dug up a quite a lot of soil (below - centre) by the time Adrian - who had, previously, laid the concrete bases for the sheds and constructed the lean-to and is shown below (rubbing his nose) with Adam) arrived. Some of the soil was given to grateful neighbours who were able to use it to suppliment their own gardens and the rest was bagged and taken to the local tip.

After the top-soil was removed (above - left), old paving stones were broken-up as part of the foundations (above - centre) and concrete was laid down (above - right) along a narrow tench above which a small wall would be built to contain the soil border. Between showers, Adrian started to take advantage of the bricks which had previously formed a patio outside the original back door to finish off the area outside the new back door (below - left and centre). Later, a compacting machine (below - centre right) was used to level out the surface and, finally, a fabric root barrier (below - far right) was laid over the whole area.

Earlier in the week, a number of large sacks were delivered to the front of the bungalow (above - left); and, after the root barrier had been laid, foundation base materiel was wheel-barrowed from the sacks to cover the whole garden area (above) in readiness for the paving stones; the first of which can be seen below (far left) alongside the completed brick patio (far right). Thereafter, a steady supply of cement was prepared by Adrian as he laid a separate base for each individual stone (below - centre).

With all the attention being paid to the back garden, it would be easy to forget what's going on at the front; and in particular, the effect of Bea's vigorous pruning on the roses soon after we moved into the bungalow in October. Although, the photo doesn't make it as obvious as I might have liked, the single rose (above) is actually pink; meaning that we now have three colours (clockwise from white at six-o-clock, yellow at ten-o-clock, and pink at one-o-clock).

Turning attention away from the garden, the display cabinets for my model motor vehicles collection were dug out from the depths of one of the sheds and secured to a wall in the central passageway of the bungalow; where a system of discrete spotlights replaced the conventional lighting before I set about putting each model into its appropriate category (below - left). Elsewhere, a sculpture I commissioned of the house where Bea was Housekeeper for over twenty-six years was given pride of place in the parlour window (below - right).

Finally, after days of painstaking work, the last piece of the paving-stone jigsaw in the back garden has been laid (above). All that remains now is for the pointing between the paving-stones to be applied (above - right) and for the space which had been left around the tree outside my bedroom (below) to be filled in. A selection of white stones had been purchased; but, in the event, there weren't quite enough of the smaller pebble (below - right).

So, Adam bought some more and after they had been washed (above - left), they were scattered around the tree; thus completing the process of turning a back garden into a courtyard. In the meantime, by a happy coincidence a timely rain shower revealed the variety of colours of the Indian sandstone (above).

Duing one of the frequent visits to the local garden-centre, Bea had seen a garden-seat which caught her fancy and she asked for it to be put aside for her. So, as the paving-stones were now in place, Adam collected it and started to assemble it (below - left and right); and I fetched Newt (my new trike) from where she had been parked next door during the time the paving-stones were being laid (below - centre).

Although there is never an end to gardening (so I'm told), the final piece insofar as the move into Mintene is concened was deciding what to do with the small front-garden. So, after months of considering all the alternatives, the Clerk of Works (Bea) decided that some of the nicer plants should be moved to the back-garden (above) and the rather unattractive hedge be demolished (below - left and centre). Then, after the top-soil and assorted roots were removed and foundations laid (below - right), paving was laid and stakes inserted to support a low(ish) picket-fence (below).

                         

                       More to follow........