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Old Houses

NOTSHARP

master brummie
When my wife and I decided to research our respective family trees, I was surprised when she told me that her Aunt and Uncle had lived in the Old Town Hall at Handsworth. They were there until the late 1960's, I believe, and my wife well remembers going there to visit them, and sitting in the inglenook fireplace.

This bought me to wondering, how many of us live, or have lived, in old houses?

A thread seemed in order, so let us hear, and see, if you have any pictures, about the "well worn" houses of your past, or present.

I'll kick off with where we are now.



Ours is on the left of the picture. The wee cottage with a pan-tile roof. The roof is now slate, by the way. I am guessing that the picture is early 1900's. In the distance, at the far end of the street, can be seen someone riding one horse, and leading another. There was a farm there then. Opposite our cottage is what was then the Dairy. Villagers would go there, with their jug, or pail, to buy fresh milk.

Incidentally, there was a brick and tile works down on the shore. Hence, most of the houses, sheds, etc. had pan-tile roofs. This is the harbour that served the works.




The downside of an old old house is, that the maintenance must never stop. I am blessed that my Better Half is a dab hand with a paint brush.









Steve.
 
wonderful bit of history to where you live now steve...great to have that old photo as well...your better half is also doing a fine job :)

lyn
 
Our house is a 1902/3 terraced cottage. Hard to date as deeds begin with sake of the land not the building. It is not on 1901 census but is on 1903 ordnance survey map. It is one of 4 - I have no old photos of it.
The house next door still had the outside toilet and coal house when we moved in to ours.
Modernised in the 1960s when the scullery was extended to become the bathroom and a new extension for the kitchen was built where the toilet and coal house had been plus some extra.
Small rooms and high ceilings. Rooms leading one from another both downstairs and up.
 
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Don't know if staying for a week counts, but 30 years ago I booked a cottage for a holiday in Cumberland. Nothing special in the description, but when we arrived found a sign over the door telling us that it was the Birthplace of someone I had , being a chemist , heard a lot about , John Dalton, who first introduced the idea of atoms into chemistry. Nowadays it would have been promoted towards tourists as a selling point, though the inside would have been a selling point only for those who might wish to lead a simple life (like those taking part in those historical TV programs where they are marooned as someone acting as of 200 years ago. Other than a calor gas stove, I doubt if much had changed since he was born, including the uncomfortable beds, though I'm sure it is better now . I did take a photo of the outside, though not the inside (no flash), but cannot seem to find it at the moment, but here it is on Streetview in 2016,

john daltons birthplace  Eaglesfield.jpg


I was born and brought up fro the first 18 years in a house built around 1810 (if I remember correctly). Unfortunately, although I once looked at the deeds, it was not then an easy thing to copy items, so do not now possess a copy, though I remember that for a time it was owned by one of the James Lillywhites, who were well known cricketers, and lived for some time in by a related Lillywhite (brother or cousin?) who was illegitimate. How I wish I had somehow managed to copy the deeds ! The house, front and back around 1980, when my mother still lived there are below. The row of houses are all grade 2 listed despite the roof windows of soem , which were all put in before listing

137 orchardstfront.jpgorchardstbackA.jpg
 
When I bought my business property I was persuaded by the local health inspector to buy the house next door which had a demolition order against it.

Myself and my brother set about pulling it down, in the roof we found the builder's name carved on the oak frame and the date 1720, forty years before the launch of HMS Victory.

My own place was of a similar vintage, we had to replace the bedroom floors, a local said "Look out for gold sovereigns when you pull up the old boards."

We found a Birmingham workhouse penny and an Irish workhouse penny.:(
 
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