Page 20 - The Farming Years proof

MAKInG IT HABITABLE
ture. We tted four new windows and, after a quick coat of paint, it looked very habitable. It was a big learning curve with an intro- duction to items such as lost-head nails for the oorboards and the wind-up equipment to get the oor boards close.
The painter on the whole project was norman Robinson who I started school with in 1937 at the Rothwell council school. He did all our painting until around 2005 when he was into his 70’s. He still did a good job – or, maybe, we both didn’t see so well. He explained to me how to get a national Service medal and compensation for loss of hearing from being in the Gunners, which he had done. To me, it was all in the past and had happened a long time ago.
After all this, the outside walls needed the bene t of re-pointing and wire brushing of the stone; an improvement that had to be seen to be believed. So, where were the skills coming from to com- plete all this work?
Hugh, a builder and Brian, a carpenter did work for the factory and had the skills as a team to do this work. They completed the work on the stables by the middle of August so now the horses had rst-class accommodation with ample grazing.
The larger cottage had been used by the original farmer’s son’s family and, for what we thought was temporary accommodation, was tolerable. We had a new high level cooker, a Hoover washing machine that could well have come from the East Coast bungalow, Paloma, and a fridge and freezer from Billing. We plumbed in a dishwasher and now had all the items for an easy life. We had electric radiators for heating and a wood burner in the cottage sit- ting room. We then needed curtains and carpeting to complete. It was transformed enough to ask friends round. Fortunately, at that time, the theme was more to go out for meals rather than enter- tain at home. So we now stopped the building activity to wait for planning permission and give time to replenish our funds.
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