Page 21 - It's a Rum Life Book 3 "Ivy House Tales 1970 to 1984"

CHAPTER 2

THE DAY THE ROOF BLEW OFF
I cannot think how I nearly missed this next bit as it had such a profound effect on our
whole life!
It was the first winter in Ivy House and we were delighted with our new home. Then the
roof blew off!

It was the night of a particularly vicious westerly wind with violent gusts that seemed to
shake the whole structure. We heard rumbling noises during the night, but it wasn’t until
full daylight that we could survey the damage.
When the West facing house had been built around 1801, ( deeds had to be created for
our purchase as Peter Lely had been a relative of the original builder and there did not
seem to any early documents in existence), the roof was covered in immense
Westmoreland slates.
Each piece was around eight to ten inches long, six inches or so wide and about half an
inch thick. They weighed several pounds each and had come loose. The original wooden
pegs securing each slate to the roof battens had perished and the wind had just pushed
them out of place. Worse to come was that unlike modern roofs, under the slate was
nothing, just the plaster ceilings!

Ivy House with the Old Roof picture 1970

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