Hi
So - yesterday the floor in the annex bathroom was fitted - and I like it - and I think the colour on the walls looks fine!! I am not going to rule out changing it though until it is all done - I just need the carpenter to turn up on Saturday to do the boxing in - and then the bathroom (apart from shower) can be fitted the following Tuesday - then I do tiling and shower goes in - and done! Bosh!
More exciting news is this:
Me, Andy and Connor were walking around the outside of the house - after me and Connor had completely emptied and reorganised the outside store, and we were talking about bring up concrete in the front garden to lay fast growing conifers at the front for more privacy...when Andy mentioned that he had found a grid that could lead to a cellar at the back of the house. I knew about this discovery - I thought it was a square just about big enough to stand in, that was just like a large box - that had some electrics in it. We had discussed that maybe it was a pump like the one Andy has in his basement room - that pumps water out should it rise too high. Then, Andy said - no its not just a box - you can see it leads somewhere!! What!!! Why hadn't he told me this before!! So - Connor said he wanted to go down in it and have a look! I wanted him too!! I didn't really expect much to be honest. So Connor went down there....(the stick in his hand was to sort out cobwebs lol)
He went down there and said....its big....I'm like - what?? then he said - it is full of water....oh....
We passed him a large piece of old guttering for him to dip into the water to tell us how deep it was - I expected maybe a foot of water - nope - about 7 foot deep! He also said that there was a square hole in the bottom where the water went REALLY deep. I had to see this!! So - he came out and I went down and OMG!!! Look what we found.....
I went back to the 1898 house particulars because they mention cellars and a well....I found this passage in there....look at "Outbuildings"
It mentions bottle cellar - there is also mention of soft water cistern and pump. Although as far as I am concerned it doesn't quite match up in terms of where it is in (or under) the house. Furthermore there is mention of pure spring water having connections to all parts of the house - that sounds more like what we found - but it states that is in the north west of the property - whereas what we found was east!
Anyway - we knew that in these particulars it states - in the basement are three good cellars - and we only have one, so we have been looking for the other two and thought we had found one. Now I think we still have two hidden cellars and we have found the bottle store! Saying that....somewhere else, I can't remember where I read that one of the cellars was a wine cellar...
This was the most exciting discovery we have found since we moved in!! Today I am hoping to pick up a water pump to get the water out of there and see if we can see where a doorway used to be as I am not convinced they used to go in via the hole we found!
I'll keep you updated!!
So...I collected the water pump - got it home and me and Connor set to sorting it out - the hose was not long enough - meaning we'd have to keep hold of it and we knew it would take hours!! But we set it up and came up with a method - use tent pegs to set the end of the hose into the ground, and use old guttering to take the water away from us! It was set up and working!!
It was exciting - and slow. Well....it wasn't that slow I was just impatient. After about 4 hours - it was about 8 inches deep and we decided it was time to figure out how we would get in! It was a sheer drop from the entrance ledge we could just about squeeze into - we managed to squeeze the step ladders in and manourve them to the ledge (well Connor did - only one person can fit down there at a time) then when he tried to set the step ladders on the floor - it was too far down and he thought they would tip over! With the use of a hose pipe through the top of the step ladders he managed it. But as it was about 3 foot from the ledge to the top of the ladders it was difficult to get on the ladders - I got in behind Connor and grabbed him as he tried to get on - a lot of messing and uncertainty later he was on the ladders! He then decided he wanted to go in! I thought that was the whole point!! but he said - I need wellies! So whilst balanced on the top of step ladders in this spooky dark room - he managed to get his trainers off and we passed him wellies - and then - he was in!! He had a walk around and noticed day light from the far corner which is probably the air brick we can see on the other side of the house (annex entrance). It was very cool indeed. However, a bit depressing as well - not finding any doorways or other ways in - we realised we'd never be able to use this room! :-(
I have come to the conclusion that the room was only ever a water store.
