Hello there!

We are Moses, Freddie and Layla (sister to Moses).

 

 

After all the pontificating in the previous blog entries, we thought it was about time that we added our own special take on the story so far. If cats are not ‘your thing’, then maybe this is a posting to avoid because this is ALL ABOUT US! (Well, maybe there is a little bit about the barn, but just in passing.)

From Tower to House to Barn

Almost immediately after our predecessor (Henry the ginger cat) had shuffled off his feline coil, Mr Rod and the Young Master began their campaign to persuade SWhoMBO (She Who Must be Obeyed) that a home was not a home without a cat. (Hmm, I think you must mean ‘trick’ rather than ‘persuade’. Ed.) And cat meant new kittens! As their then Water Tower home was on the market, SWhoMBO was (surprisingly to us) very resistant to this suggestion. A small chink in her armour appeared when she reluctantly agreed to accept a white and black kitten from the litter belonging to the Treasure’s brother, but only after returning from holiday. 

Unperturbed and needing no further encouragement, the Young Master immediately scoured the internet and found a potential source of future time-wasting a few miles away. He and his father made a good job of seeming very casual when they left for  Guildford the following Saturday afternoon: “Just going to look, Mum, don’t worry.” So, imagine SWhoMBO’s reaction when they returned less than an hour later with two little black kittens in a borrowed basket. Apparently, the look on her face was a sight to behold when they calmly announced that they would have brought back all six from the litter – if only they had had more than £20 in cash between them!

We got our monikers because: SWhoMBO always liked the name ‘Freddie’; the Young Master thought Moses suited his theological interests; and Layla is tribute to that wonderful song by the great Eric Clapton. 

All went swimmingly well for quite a few weeks and we settled in quite happily to a comfortable life of play, food, play, cuddles, play, sleep and play. Of course, SHWhoMBO soon fell in love with her new family.

 

Of course, SHWhoMBO soon fell in love with her new family. All went swimmingly well for quite a few weeks and we settled in quite happily to a comfortable life of play, food, play, cuddles, play, sleep and play.

However, she began to have a complete sense of humour failure when we discovered what a lark it was to climb up the curtains and blinds, and then ‘slip’ down to be rewarded with the gratifying sounds of tearing and scratching. “Oh my, however did that happen?” Even better were the daily competitions to see which of us could scratch the architraves in the most destructive, but entirely satisfactory, way. (All photographs illustrating the results of this completely unacceptable behaviour have been removed. Ed.) 

At this point, no buyer for the house had materialised and SHWhoMBO was slow to realise that Young Master was absolutely delighted with our guerrilla tactics as he did not want to move from his beloved home anyway. We were often present when SHWhoMBO embellished the admonitions of her menfolk with vocabulary from a most interesting language we understand is called ‘Anglo Saxon’. Subsequently we have tried practising some of the terms on recalcitrant rodents but, most disappointingly, they do not seem to achieve the same effect.

Fortunately, by this time, Hazels had been purchased. In the interests of marital harmony, a compromise was reached whereby it was agreed that we three cats would form the advance moving party to Hambledon. A bit of a shame really as we truly believed we were starting to ‘add value’ to the Edge household.

 

For a while and until they themselves moved there on a full-time basis, one or more of the family visited at least twice a day to feed and play with us. Seemingly, this meant that prospective purchasers of the Water Tower no longer had to run the unexpected gauntlet of litter trays and unfortunate evidence of over-exuberant animal activity.  We really cannot comprehend it ourselves, but it appears that an offer was forthcoming and accepted very soon after our departure.

Due to increased traffic in the area, we had not been allowed outside the Water Tower, but now we had nearly 6 acres of countryside in which to play and observe wildlife.  

 

The barn cottage also proved to be exceptionally useful in catering for all our various extra-curricular activities:

 

 

Well, if we thought we were soon to be living in a nice new oak framed building then we were soon corrected. What is it with the planning laws in the human world? You would not believe the number of times Mr Rod and SWhoMBO have ‘gone back to the drawing board’. One plus point is that Mr Rod has become very proficient at Sketch Up and has successfully tutored a number of others. Anyway, much to our amazement, it eventually seemed that we were to be evicted from Hazels (cottage) to Hazels (barn) whilst Hazels (oak frame house) was being built. Fortunately, the barn had undergone something of a transformation, at least on the outside.

 

 

We were most unsure about the interior as, every time we looked inside, it seemed there was still a great deal to do before it would be in a fit enough state to accommodate us.  However (and we would never admit this publicly), we have been most pleasantly surprised at what has been achieved. Fortunately, they have taken much of our advice on colour schemes and furniture so we would now be very happy to invite our friends, if only they were suitably chipped to open the cat flap!

We are now taking it in turn to deal with different aspects of the barn.

Moses – What’s for supper?

I think about my stomach for most of my waking hours and so it seems only right for me to walk you through the kitchen and sitting room. Please note that I really had to ‘encourage’ Mr Rod to agree to ‘Astral Blue’ in the kitchen.

We all think it was so much preferable when Young Master and the Lovely Jeanette lived with us or now when they come round to feed and cuddle us (‘having a moment’). But best of all is when John and Kerrie come to house/cat sit as they so well trained.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Freddie – My finest hours………..!

I am the hunter-killer in the household (the Freddy Krueger of Hambledon) and very proud of it too. My favourite place inside the barn is the staff bedroom. After a hard night patrolling the property, I like nothing better than to eye up a nicely made bed and make myself comfortable there.

 

 

 

I have two amusing stories to share with you:

1. A few weeks ago SWhoMBO was complaining she could detect a strong rodent smell  in the bedroom but Mr Rod said she was imagining it. But, after a day or so even his nostrils were being assailed. When SWhoMBO could not discover the source of odour, the biologist set to work with his trusty torch and found the culprit – a dead squirrel in one of his wife’s boots. My lips are sealed as to how that happened, but the shrieks of horror certainly made me smile, although I could not understand why she did not want to wear them again!
2. You will have heard the many tales of woe about ‘the bats’. I have done my best to assist with the problem and the other month was no exception. Mr Rod was already asleep and SWhoMBO was preparing to go to bed. She is very alert to the fact that if I enter the cat door very quickly and rush upstairs, it usually means I have an ‘offering’ in my mouth. This was indeed a prize ‘catch of the day’ and I released the bat to fly round the bedroom. The staff were absolutely mesmerised and when SWhoMBO shouted “catch it, Freddie”, I duly jumped into the air and obliged (surprising even myself). I was then bored and dropped the stunned bat on the floor, allowing it to be picked up in a towel and released unscathed outside.  The sight of Mr Rod running naked around the room will live with me for a long time.

 

 

 

 

Layla – Girl Cat Power Rules OK!

I would certainly like to shake the paw of whichever feline opined “Dogs have owners, cats have staff!” This is so very true and we three certainly keep Mr Rod and SWhoMBO on their toes at all times.

I am a bit of a tart and definitely prefer male humans to females. I can turn on the charm when I need to, but I prefer not to most of the time. I am also undoubtedly the clever cat of the trio and waste no time in telling the others so. The boys may be bigger than me and try the dominant male trick, but Girl Power is the top around here. After all, I am the only one who knows how to flick open the cat flap door, even when it has been locked.

Not a lot of people know this, but it was all my own idea to put plates on the wall in the guest bedroom. Mr Rod took a great deal of convincing and now he imagines that he thought of it first.

 

For two people who have cursed the presence of bats and the impact they have had on their planning applications, our staff members have a most weird sense of humour. One afternoon recently I was walking along minding my own business and practising my best line in scowls. As I approached the barn, I looked up and saw a bat sculpture hanging down from the porch.  Why would you do that? I really don’t buy it that SWhoMBO saw them at RHS Rosemoor in Devon and decided they would make a great gift for Mr Rod.

 

 

 

What next?

From our eavesdropping and all the talk about ‘Porta Loos’, we have gleaned that the ground works for the new oak framed house are due to start on Monday 3 September.

So, stand by for some real progress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just when we thought it was safe………………………

Following the June posting when I wrote at length about Rod’s efforts to render invisible the somewhat ugly (in our view) overhead electricity cables, we were somewhat startled to receive the following email message from a friend in North Devon:

“It won’t surprise you to know that my sister is a member of the pylon appreciation society (yes, really) whose mission is to embrace and celebrate the presence of cables across the UK skyline.  She will be launching a campaign to have your cables reinstated if she finds out what you’ve done!!”

The extraordinarily wide variety of interests and causes in this country must be one of the primary reasons why it is such a fascinating place in which to live. Having had the pleasure of meeting the afore mentioned sister, we fully appreciate that she would take such a topic very seriously indeed. So we are very relieved that she lives in the far north of Scotland, rarely venturing south of the border. However, we are also acutely conscious that ‘Big Sister’ could be watching us at any time………………………..

Show Home SleepOver

Having decided a number of years ago that an oak framed house was our construction of choice, we took our time to identify the right provider for us. From our first encounter with them, we felt the chemistry was right with the Oakwrights team (and also with Oakland Vale, their architectural design partner). Oakwrights is based in Swainshill (on the outskirts of Hereford, rich in the tradition of wooden framed houses) and specialises in the design and construction of all styles of oak framed homes, combining progressive state of the art technology with traditional craftsmanship.  

We had already visited the ‘nerve centre’ some months ago (and before we had finally secured planning permission), when we met the design team and viewed 3D models of the houses being worked on at the time. But the highlight of the visit was undoubtedly the tour of the workshop and the K2 Hundegger automated cutting machine to see how intricate the process can be even when working with large pieces of oak.  It was absolutely mesmerising to see how the saws appeared to cut through the timber like butter. It was fascinating to observe how beams in their raw state are turned into a self-supporting, structurally sound frame held together only with oak pegs. Once the frame has all been cut, it is constructed on site (to make sure it all fits together) before being sent to its final resting place on the new owner’s plot.

When we were almost at the stage of ‘signing off’ the plans, we received an invitation to stay the night in the show home before our model review meeting. Located in Kenchester, just five minutes drive from the offices, and overlooking an idyllic pastoral scene, ‘The Woodhouse’ show home (built in 2008) is a ‘Post & Beam’ country house described as ‘Country Contemporary’ in style. Our new house will share many similarities with the external elements shown here.

We must confess to musing whether some help may be required here with regard to incurring the wrath of the pylon appreciation police………………..?

Primarily open plan, the frames themselves divide the room space downstairs.

‘Someone’ (no one was admitting responsibility) had forgotten to bring a tape measure and so we embarked on an emergency run to the local B&Q – my husband certainly knows how to give his wife a good time! Once suitably equipped, we happily measured everything in sight to compare with our own house plans.

And so, to bed – after much debate, we chose the bedroom with the white mirror.

 

Model Walk-Through

It took us some time to get to sleep that night as so many thoughts were buzzing around. But, many of the features (especially the sophisticated lighting system) provided us with welcome inspiration and we consolidated other ideas about flooring and tiling.

The following morning, after a large injection of caffeine, we were ready for the review meeting on the first floor of the show home. Those in attendance were Rod and Nicola Edge;  Julian Pilkington, Matt Michael, James Carden Dare, and Emma Irvine (Oakwrights); Greville Thomas (Oakland Vale).

 

It was fascinating to see our house come to life on the screen and from so many different angles.  Julian had also included some furniture within the model to give us a ‘feel’ for how the rooms would look. (I have resisted the urge to include too many photographs!)

 

Brief Summary of Meeting Notes:

1. Exterior

Balconies/canopies – talked through the benefits and disadvantages of the various scenarios of each gable arrangement; re-iterated the need to be able carry loads successfully long term, without sagging and waterproofing issues.

2. Interior – Ground Floor

a. Front door – to be 1200 wide.

b. Living area/hall – talked through the reason to have post and no flitch;  hall partition walls to be built in frame lines rather than alongside; hall gable balcony – single door (and landing too) to be widened.

c. Utility – wall between PHS 1 and 2 to have external insulation and battens, so first utility frame to be moved +150mm to allow; double door on end wall to be full length and 1200 wide.

d. Study lounge – wall between PHS 1 and 2 to have external insulation and battens, so first study frame to be moved +150mm to allow; 2x windows to be centred on new frame position internally; flue burner discussions and agreed to leave as drawn.

e. Stairs – can now re-position the stair supporting beam back, allowing more room for the stairs under the valley line;  mid height beam can then be removed and large braces high up added; agreed to move stair beam back 50mm more; window at bottom of stairs is to be centred on oak bay; stairs can now move over and be wider/grander, so the area will be improved massively.

3. Interior – Top floor

a. Landing – floor to be extended to cantilever 800mm from oak beam. Floor to wrap around main post, balustrading also as modelled.

b. All doors – to be outward opening.

c. Under Floor Heating – agreed on a lighter weight UFH system to avoid increasing floor loads, oak beam upsizing and adding additional depth to floor.

d. Master bedroom – velux window to be added to east elevation roof; discussed that dividing wall between bedroom and ensuite may well be glass in upper level.

e. Bedroom 2 – balcony oak rafters extended at eaves to match main house eaves detail (for consistency the same extended overhang is carried through to Master bed balcony); discussed possibility of ceiling line following rafter line if required.

The business of building a house must rate highly among the most stressful things you can do, so it is not surprising that apparently many couples have heated exchanges during these review meetings – some even have to be separated to ‘cool off’. I am pleased to report that Rod and I were on our very best behaviour that morning, although we must admit to some lively discussions in private during the many months/years of planning and revision when trying to resolve our not inconsiderable differences of opinion.

This exercise was so useful that we cannot understand why many Oakwrights clients elect not to have such a walk-though. I expect you will not be surprised to hear that these are invariably the same people who complain much further down the line that some important aspects of the new build are not to their liking, with the inevitable increase in cost and delay if they insist on changes.

In conclusion, we found this to be a really productive and rewarding experience that ironed out the major issues and moved our project forward in an exciting way. Once the revised drawings have been signed off, the engineer will calculate the loads to inform the piling and foundation ground works (due to start in August).

NEXT BLOG POSTING:

Three guest editors will be sharing their varied thoughts on the project.

 

 

 

Oh dear, according to some I am guilty of dereliction of duty to keep everyone appraised of the latest happenings at Hazels Barn and the ‘New Build’ project.

Whilst I only ever intended to post messages when there was something interesting to report – and indeed the site looks very much today as it did when the demolition team departed some weeks ago – in fact, there has been some significant progress behind the scenes in the Edge household.  

So, the various ‘gentle reminders’ and some far less subtle encouragement from other quarters have spurred me on to draft a further ‘Another Brick’ update.

High Speed Internet 

One of Rod’s greatest frustrations since we moved to Hambledon has been the very S……………L………..…O………..….W………….. internet speed (a paltry 600 kB per second).  The regular menacing presence of the ‘buffering’ symbol made it difficult for him to work at home or even to watch his favourite movies when anyone else in household had the temerity to send an email. A fast broadband service had been provided to Hambledon a few years ago, but the nearest ‘box’ to us was beyond the village shop (over a mile away). The group of 30 plus houses in Vann Lane (the far end towards Chiddingfold), Upper Vann Lane and Roundals decided to form a community project to enable us to get connected. Ably co-ordinated by John Stoneham and Peter Howell-Davies, and with helpful advice from the nearby village of Chiddingfold (whose own community connection project had already ‘gone live’) the nearly 20 months of effort have at last reaped success.

On Friday 8 June the most friendly and helpful BT engineer you could imagine (the lovely Matt from Midhurst) arrived bright and early to complete the final steps to connect us, the culmination of much anticipation and planning.

This has really made Rod’s year as we have now advanced second to 72 MB per second and no longer does he need to drive to the office in Godalming when he wants to download more than the smallest file.

Invisible Electricity Cables 

The electricity cables hanging between the telegraph poles up the driveway were a further source of irritation to Rod since the day we moved in because they were an unattractive blot on the landscape.

Once we decided to turn the position of the new house further towards the south-west, he was even-more determined to bury the cables underground. Little did he realise that the negotiations to put this into effect would try even his patience. Some observers have wryly commented that the Brexit deliberations looked easy compared with this.

There were broadly two main tasks, the first to lay the cables and the second to make the connections. These jobs are managed by two very separate departments of SSE, each of whom appear unable to communicate with the other.  Having secured a date (with great difficulty) for the first department to lay the cables, it seemed logical (at least to us) that the second task would need to be completed after that and therefore the date for the second task would need to be subsequent to the first date. But, no matter how many people Rod spoke to and how many times he explained the problem, they were only prepared to commit to a date for connection that preceded the cable laying. Apparently, that was the one and only date available to us in 2018, take it or leave it! When Rod (somewhat facetiously) enquired about any available dates in 2019, he was told that the diary was not yet open. 

Just when it seemed there was an impasse, the umpteenth person spoken with eventually said, “Do you wish to make a complaint?” Although he was concerned that this might provide SSE with even more reason to procrastinate, Rod agreed that indeed he did wish to do this. It must also be said that Rod was most relieved that his wife was not having this conversation as he knew that (with more than a passing nod to Monty Python), she would have been completely unable to resist referring to “Norwegian Blue” and declaring “he’s pining for the fjords”.

Fortunately, this story does have a happy ending – much to our utter amazement, within 24 hours the complaints department contacted us again and offered the very date for connection we had proposed from the start.

Some may think this is the new toilet facility for the site, but Rod proudly shows off his temporary meter hut to anyone who will listen.

So, blue sky thinking unimpeded by electricity cables.

 

STOP PRESS! 

Exciting news! On Wednesday 11 July we have been invited to the Oakwrights headquarters in Herefordshire for the ‘3D walk-through’ of our new house before we give the final go-ahead for the frames to be cut.

More on this in the next posting. 

In 1988 many of our friends and family believed that Rod and I were crazy, naive, stupid or brave to buy the listed but derelict Water Tower on Frith Hill in Godalming. There is much truth in the saying ‘ignorance is bliss’ and we certainly happily muddled our way through various planning and logistic obstacles (nobly guided by our friend and architect Sue Kent) before living on site in a mobile home whilst the house (a Skandia Hus) was built abutting the Tower. Everyone was very keen to visit us and we must have broken the world record for the most number of people crowding into a caravan. We moved into the house in April 1990 and finally finished converting the Tower in 1995/96. In the early days there was much doubt we would ever complete the project (some planning officers and a Godalming Bank manager were particularly scathing) and a great deal of opposition to some of our plans. But, complete it we did and we were very proud of the end result.

We loved every year of living in the Tower and made some close friendships, so it probably surprised even more people when we decided that we had ‘one more building project in us’. Our son Callum was born during the early part of the Tower conversion and, as the place was particularly dear to him, he has probably only just forgiven us for selling his beloved home. A large number of properties throughout the Surrey Hills were viewed but nothing seemed quite right. However, in March 2014 we moved into our ‘hidden gem’ site in Hambledon on which we thought would be perfect to build our final dream home. It was indeed a considerable wrench to leave the Tower and it took a couple of years before I could bring myself even to look at the outside. However, the current ‘custodians’ clearly love the Tower too and they have done a great job in putting their own stamp on the property.

Little did we realise how well acquainted we were about to become with various minefield aspects of the planning jungle, including going to appeal (and losing) on a ‘permitted development’ loophole. So, having built a conservatory on the back of the house in December 2016 to increase the footprint (as advised by our patient planning

consultant), it was not until towards the end of 2017 that we finally received planning permission to demolish the existing house and then build a new, ‘traditional with a modern twist’ oak-framed house, which we believe will complement its environment. Whilst our neighbours generally seem fairly relaxed about our plans (and our immediate neighbours have themselves recently demolished an old barn house and completed an imposing contemporary home), we accept that many in the village are disappointed with our decision to redevelop and deeply suspicious about what we might build. However, as there are already many excellent examples of 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century buildings in Hambledon, we hope that the village will come to acknowledge that the new houses on its outskirts are fine examples of 21st century architecture.

Callum and his girlfriend Jeanette had moved in with us on a ‘temporary’ basis in March 2017 after the purchase of a London flat fell through.  They soon identified an alternative prospect, that of an idyllic little Georgian cottage in the centre of Godalming, although it did not take long to see that it needed a great deal of remedial work – every inch of wall has now been re-plastered; the main bedroom has a completely new ceiling; there is also a new shower room and kitchen! We all survived nearly a year of living together, the cats receiving far more attention than usual and the parents certainly benefitting from some delicious meals prepared by Callum (and his uncomplaining sous chef), although we were often quite shocked at the number of empty wine bottles in the recycling bin!  After eight months of hard work by Rod (project manager and general soother of outbursts when, inevitably, things went wrong), Tim (plasterer), Dan (electrician), Darren and Dan (builders), Carol (painter) and the ever-faithful Michael and Robert who can turn their hands to anything, Callum and Jeanette finally moved into their own place on Thursday 22 February 2018. They love being only seconds from the High Street and just a few minutes from the station.  Ironically, Callum can see the Water Tower on the hill if he just steps out of their house (the blue one).

In the meantime, we had been working on converting the barn at Hazels, with the same cast of characters as listed above (plus a few others such as brick and tile layers, and Dennis the gardener who successfully moonlights as a willing Man Tuesday and IKEA furniture builder). On Thursday 15 March 2018 Rod and I transferred all our belongings the mere 50 metres from the house, almost four years to the day after moving to Hambledon. I am a great culler so I was amazed at how much we had managed to accumulate in a relatively short space of time.  Despite the short distance, we were very grateful to have the assistance of four cheerful removal men, although Rod was somewhat taken aback to be asked for a left-handed screwdriver to put the bed frames back together! 

Our three cats (Freddie, Moses and Layla) made the transition to the barn very well, including having to negotiate a tunnel to reach the cat flap. In the early weeks, they liked nothing more than to be toasted by the underfloor heating whilst basking in the sunshine flooding through the windows.  A talented young friend (Kirsty Lunn) has used her interior design skills to help us plan the downstairs space. Taking her cues from the bold (for us) choice of astral blue for the kitchen and our definite leaning towards the Scandi style in the living areas, she identified a choice of some beautiful yet practical items that fit really well together. (Apologies for the current lack of pictures of the barn interior!) We are really enjoying our cosy temporary home, so much so that we sometimes wonder why we are bothering to build a new house?  

The week beginning Monday 9 April 2018 saw the start of the house demolition. We (well, strictly speaking, I) must confess to more than a little disappointment that using a large ball to knock down a house is no longer the preferred option. Quite rightly, the aim is now to salvage as much material as possible. The team from Titchfield in Hampshire was led by Tom, ably assisted by Justin, Ben and Bob. We were impressed by the organised approach and their determination to save and clean as many bricks (14,500) and tiles as they could.

Our ‘young’ neighbour Martyn has a very good eye for what might come in useful but even he could see that the ‘good stuff’ would not be burnt but sold to offset the overall price.  The ‘bat lady’ visited towards the end of the first week (prior to the roof being removed). She proved to be surprisingly pragmatic and we were relieved when she departed quite happily with two of the three ‘friends’ she had spotted. (Those bats have cost us a great deal of money in the past few years!) We have to admit that it was quite sad to see the old house gradually stripped of her dignity, but the fire surround from the main bedroom will have pride of place in our new house and the log burning stove is already very much at home with Sarah and Nick.

On Tuesday 1 May 2018 dawned the day that had been long-promised by us and one that many of our friends and family fervently hoped would never arrive (you know who you are, Nina!) – the old Hazels was no more.  Suddenly, it all seems quite exciting again. So, now we just await for the piling and for the foundations to be laid for the new Hazels and it all starts over again. 

Really, we ought to know better……….!!!!