Comments on: 18 May 2008

By: Linda

Linda — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 01:58:13 +0000

What a beautiful sea. Ahhhh…

By: Leigh Lawson

Leigh Lawson — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:35:12 +0000

I hope living in an old railway carriage turns out to be as romantic as it sounds! Does anyone know where you can buy an old railway carriage? My husband saw a programme on the UK’s smallest cinema (an old railway carriage in Wales i think) and has been hankering after his own cinema ever since…

On a different topic, i’ve just bought beautiful reclaimed laboratory worktops for my kitchen from a company called, wait for it… Trainspotters! – and they had some vintage school flooring (and lab stools) that you might like. They are based in Stroud, Glos but have a great website: http://www.trainspotters.uk.com – happy hunting!

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:26:55 +0000

Elspeth, You may also be interested in Malcolm Saville books (note they are childrens but great fun) in particular The Gay Dolphin Adventure which is set in a hotel in the nearest town to you in approximately the 1940s. However, I hope the storm at the end doesn’t put you off!

I quite understand if you don’t want to publish this response as I imagine you want to keep the location of your carriage to yourself but thought you might like to obtain a copy of this book!

Regards, Rebecca

By: elspeththompson

elspeththompson — Sun, 25 May 2008 21:38:21 +0000

Thanks for all these very useful and encouraging comments on the woodburners etc. And I shall certainly seek out Elsie Oxenham’s books! Another person put me on to children’s books about Lucy Willow, who lives in an old railway carriage and is good at gardening – what with Maude of the cult 70s film Harold and Maude (see link on my first post for a ‘You Tube’ burst of the credits) we have the beginnings of an eccentric community here… Another post on its way tomorrow….
All good wishes,
x Elspeth

By: Nicola Slade

Nicola Slade — Sun, 25 May 2008 10:59:03 +0000

What fun it all looks! I’ve always wanted to sleep in a railway carriage since I spotted some as holiday cottages at Corfe Castle station but that was years ago and they’re long gone.

I collect Victorian and later girls’ books and the prolific author, Elsie Oxenham, has one of her heroines living in two converted railway carriages at Pagham, in Sussex in the early 1920s, so I’ve been following your progress with great interest.

By: Tracy W

Tracy W — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:12:13 +0000

We installed a Jotul woodburning stove last fall, and we had the toastiest winter ever! We use it to keep the core of our house warm, with an ancient natural-gas powered radiator system to keep the farthest rooms warm. This first winter, we were able to cut our gas bill by two thirds AND keep the house warmer than ever. I love the woodstove and recommend it highly! (Plus, we thought the Jotul ones were the nicest looking ones for the price. Most reasonably priced woodburning stoves are quite utilitarian in appearance, but the Jotul ones have real style.)

By: gillie

gillie — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:47:33 +0000

Good to see things moving along. I love the picture of the wall going up, partly because it makes it feel like a building, but partly because I just love the colours of the wood against the sky.

As for woodburners, we have three, two in Durham and one in Scotland. The Scotland one is rubbish and is not a good heater. The two in Durham both have back boilers and heat radiators and are excellent, very energy efficient and make a room toasty very quickly. They are both Coalbrookdale, the Severn and the Darby the latter manages to heat a 50ft open beamed room and a convection radiator – serious heat! We bought one new and the Severn we managed to get second hand from the local ad-mag – worth having a look there.

By: Yarrow

Yarrow — Tue, 20 May 2008 11:52:53 +0000

How absolutely wonderful what you are doing with the railway cars! I am excited to follow your progress. Blessings.

By: Martha B.

Martha B. — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:35:02 +0000

Building a house is always an adventure! Looking forward to reading more of yours.

Warm regards,
Martha B.

By: tracy x

tracy x — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:10:27 +0000

what a beautiful last image…..
great to see progress at your site – ours still looks the same but we do now at least have the timbers etc on site.
in the next few weeks we will move in to a trailer next to the build as i do not want to miss a moment once it starts!
good luck with the next stages of yours x
tracy x