Renovating an old farmhouse and living on the Pennines

[tourerman]

Great thread which I’ve just come across.

I’ve not long moved to a rural location albeit a relatively new house. Great views and love the changing colours and landscape.

[Evoluzione]

Boosted LS1 said:

She says 'to whit' and he says 'to who'? Noisey anytime soon as they set out their winter territories.

Just like the Robins which have now started 'chitting' instead of singing.

Good thread OP but crikey, what a lot of work. Those views are something else and come winter will look amazing all over again!

I wouldn't even know how to describe it, it's definitely not the classic soft toned twit a woooo, go to 1.10 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIr7XuR6pu8&ab...
And turn up the volume, these things aren't quiet when they let out that outburst, they seem to throw the sound out quite far too. From what i've read the wooOOOooo is more of a late Autumn/Winter thing so must mean something else.

Everytime I looked the male looked like it was sleeping, she was watching me with wide eyes though. They're so still, never move a bit.

Like you say with the Robin, everything changes. You forget and expect there to be the same birds here all the time, but no many of them come and go. Late Spring and early Summer seems to be the busiest, probably as they're busy with the young ones.

The Green woodpeckers don't make that pecking noise they're supposed to, they just shriek.

No I don't think i'll be building any engines for a while

[silentbrown]

Evoluzione said:

I wouldn't even know how to describe it, it's definitely not the classic soft toned twit a woooo, go to 1.10 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIr7XuR6pu8&ab...

Try this on your phone! https://birdnet.cornell.edu/

[Pit Pony]

Evoluzione said:

That is indeed the place I alluded to, it's her shop.

Just ordered a copy.

I have some pointing to do in my work shop

[agent006]

Boosted LS1 said:

She says 'to whit' and he says 'to who'?

Only for a passing Buzzard to interrupt, "I think you'll find it's 'to whom'".

[Boosted LS1]

^ Ha ha, except for when they're screeching as screech owls do from time to time :-)

[RammyMP]

That’s the kind of place I want to move to but not practical at the moment with getting the kids to school, well done OP!

[Evoluzione]

Just taking a break from the sun, it's very hot here today like many other places in the UK, but very windy too, it's blowing all the blasting grit off the roofs like rain.
T'old cat propped up on all kinds of meds to see out her days here like us. She is like a thermometer to look at, if she's sprawled out (ligged aht) then it's hot, tucked up tight then it's cold. Certainly ligged aht all ower place today.



Our spring is down to a trickle, lucky we aren't dependent on it anymore and can drink our own Iron Bru.
Running around getting everything damageable outside in, wrapping up some unfinished work and covering over the firewood. As you know lots of rain due tomorrow.
A short word about living out here, to those who think it's wonderful. Well it is, but not to everyone...

I recognised because of my background I could pull off living out here, I have tools and knowledge to do many practical things. K is pretty much the same too, we've done a few practical jobs and courses between us in the past, laying a patio, felling trees, building stone walls, even stone lettering.

I think some people think they can live out here, but flounder. There are those who are here for the long haul - until they can cope no longer due to old age and all it brings. I love going out and chatting with the neighbours, but it's clear that the ones as just described are all very much 'hands on'. Closest neighbour (you'll see his place in the background of some shots) has been a leaded glass maker and joiner in his time. He's also done sandblasting and has taught himself masonry skills, he's actually made an elaborate stone spiral staircase in his house. He's been rebuilding the place up for circa 7yrs now and is still not ready to move in.
He described the place as having 'Two lightbulbs, one one light switch and a sink' when he bought it, amazingly it had no toilet and he's never found where they went to do that either.

Another neighbour a bit further afield is in oil, but taking a break from it right now. He's lived all around the World in many third world places and difficult climates. Back here he's laying drainage, doing stone masonry and welds his 4x4 up himself. He knows where his water is collected from higher up on the hills and how it gets to his Spring, all the birds around and their calls (I now know what a Buzzard sounds like).

People like to talk, probably because of the isolation you're glad to see someone to chat to now and again and it all comes out.
There is an old guy who lives above us a few hundred metres away, lovely fella to chat to, but doesn't seem impressed with the weather at all. He said he dismissed the buying of our place as it's too remote, yet he's so close! He is on the roadside though up there at the top right:



We're behind the trees lower down to his left. I'm not sure why he's here yet or how long he will last, time will tell.

I think the people who do struggle here are the ones who come and go, nothing wrong with that of course. They probably think it's a lovely romantic thing to do and that they can pay someone to do everything for them. Problem is that's no good when something breaks and it's needed Right Now, or there is 6ft of snow all around. The terrain and weather takes it's toll on many things, particularly vehicles and buildings.
I believe these kind of people just see it as a part of their life, something they did once and then scuttle off back to a village or town. As I said, nothing wrong with that at all, just two different ways of doing it.

Edited by Evoluzione on Wednesday 8th September 17:07

[Magooagain]

What's them there things down in the valley. Crane Jib's?

Looks proper rugged there. Lovley.

[Evoluzione]

Magooagain said:

What's them there things down in the valley. Crane Jibs?

Looks proper rugged there. Lovley.

Them there is blades of grass, no cranes here, maybe a washing spinner thingy though:




I was digging a trench by the house wall and turned up possibly the base of someone's hefty old tea mug:





Was instantly taken back in time when some Victorian stone mason knocked it off the scaffold building our house.

Then this broken crock:



It wipes off quite easily with water and is possibly a Pozzolan called Cocciopesto rosso, or to put it more bluntly; fired clay or brick dust. I believe it was added to lime to colour it, speed up the drying process and give it waterproofing qualities when used on foundations.




This bloody mucky bugger rolls around in all the blasting grit then runs in the house...

[paulrockliffe]

My 6 year old told me tonight that the only Owl that makes the twit-twoo noise is the Tawny Owl. I can't verify that fact, but I hope it's of some use.

Great thread, thanks again.

[PorkInsider]

Is that the A65, OP?

I sort of half-recognise the area but not quite sure - I'm in the foothills of the Pennines but further south, I think.

[Wills2]

PorkInsider said:

Is that the A65, OP?

I sort of half-recognise the area but not quite sure - I'm in the foothills of the Pennines but further south, I think.

That's the road from Haworth to Laneshawbridge (near Colne) it's watersheddles reservoir

[PorkInsider]

Wills2 said:

That's the road from Haworth to Laneshawbridge (near Colne) it's watersheddles reservoir

Thanks. Of course. I recognise it now.

It's on one of my favourite routes for a run out - Haworth, Colne, Skipton, Grassington, Buckden, Hawes, Buttertubs, Muker, etc.

[IanA2]

Only came accross this thread today. Read it all. Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

[Evoluzione]

Wills2 said:

PorkInsider said:

Is that the A65, OP?

I sort of half-recognise the area but not quite sure - I'm in the foothills of the Pennines but further south, I think.

That's the road from Haworth to Laneshawbridge (near Colne) it's Watersheddles reservoir

It is indeed. There are 3 reservoirs all in a line at different heights, I would think they're all linked and one runs into another if allowed, but not sure. The rainy pic a page or two ago was the middle one, the lower has the road going across the dam wall and is looking a bit low atm with no rain forecast.

You look at the beauty and wonder how on earth can someone launch all the rubbish out of their cars there, but they do regularly.
People that litter are nothing but sub-human scum. There is little point in complaining though, it will never stop. One of the enduring pictorial memories I have of my late father is of him coming back from his dog walk clutching handfuls of rubbish he'd picked up out there like a 6ft Womble. I was seeing it all over on the beautiful moor roads around here, it made me cross, but also a bit guilty when i'd driven past. So I took to picking it up. It then goes home, gets sorted out and re-used, recyclables go in the correct bin etc. I don't know if you knew, but food wrappers are generally not recyclable. The reason is they've got food and grease on them so they go to landfill. Here they go towards making compost for the garden along with other waste we (and the local animals!) produce.



Compost fans; Mk1 is still kicking out the heat and I top it up as it slumps. That's Mk2 in the pic, as you can see lined with some offcuts of insulation I had kicking around.

Lime pointing fans:
I happened to be in that there Beckinshaw passing a house wall 3 of us repointed in lime about 20yrs ago now so I called in for a pic. It was soft stone and had been damaged by OPC strap pointing. We had to hand scutch the whole face of the wall as it was all loose and hanging off before hacking out the pointing and doing it with lime.



It's Westerly facing so gets the worst of the weather, yet still looks as good now as it did back then.

[Escort3500]

That pointing looks excellent Sir!

[Evoluzione]

Escort3500 said:

That pointing looks excellent Sir!

Thanks, it's quite easy to pick it up too. One tip is you have to decide whether to go left to right or right to left. Personally I go from the right to the left, pressing the new stuff in by moving my trowel to the right.
Once you've laid one piece in you need to lay the next bit in up against it, so you're not laying against a void if you see what I mean.
Lime is much more forgiving than OPC so great for DIYers. You can push it in and smear it about a little, it doesn't stain and look a mess like cement based mortars do in the hands of a non professional.

You come across a few hardened zealots in old building restoration, 'everything old is great, all modern stuff is rubbish' types and i'm not one of them. I will adapt, include or blend in a modern method wherever I can, but as far as old walls like these are concerned Lime is the clear winner.
It's a very positive thing for anyone to look at a garden or house wall they put right decades ago and see it still looking good.

[bristoltype603]

Evoluzione said:

Thanks, it's quite easy to pick it up too. One tip is you have to decide whether to go left to right or right to left. Personally I go from the right to the left, pressing the new stuff in by moving my trowel to the right.
Once you've laid one piece in you need to lay the next bit in up against it, so you're not laying against a void if you see what I mean.
Lime is much more forgiving than OPC so great for DIYers. You can push it in and smear it about a little, it doesn't stain and look a mess like cement based mortars do in the hands of a non professional.

You come across a few hardened zealots in old building restoration, 'everything old is great, all modern stuff is rubbish' types and i'm not one of them. I will adapt, include or blend in a modern method wherever I can, but as far as old walls like these are concerned Lime is the clear winner.
It's a very positive thing for anyone to look at a garden or house wall they put right decades ago and see it still looking good.

Something that's always confused me is what's the difference is between lime putty and the bagged limed that you sometimes see in builders merchants? And which one should you use for repointing?

[Escort3500]

Evoluzione said:

Escort3500 said:

That pointing looks excellent Sir!

Thanks, it's quite easy to pick it up too. One tip is you have to decide whether to go left to right or right to left. Personally I go from the right to the left, pressing the new stuff in by moving my trowel to the right.
Once you've laid one piece in you need to lay the next bit in up against it, so you're not laying against a void if you see what I mean.
Lime is much more forgiving than OPC so great for DIYers. You can push it in and smear it about a little, it doesn't stain and look a mess like cement based mortars do in the hands of a non professional.

You come across a few hardened zealots in old building restoration, 'everything old is great, all modern stuff is rubbish' types and i'm not one of them. I will adapt, include or blend in a modern method wherever I can, but as far as old walls like these are concerned Lime is the clear winner.
It's a very positive thing for anyone to look at a garden or house wall they put right decades ago and see it still looking good.

Thanks for this; I’ll give this technique a go