26-Mar-2005, 05:07 AM
Northender:
Having lived in one of the "houses on Church Road" - I assume you refer to the ones between the Cross and the War Memorial on the north side of the road - my only comment is "good riddance". They were all long past their pull date, particularly the terrace. We lived at number 7, which became the original clinic for what is now the Sandy Lane Doctors' Clinic after my folks sold it. The structure was pretty marginal, much of the plubing was seriously sub-standard, we had wet rot in the sitting room floor and originally the house didn't have an indoor bathroom. It didn't have central heating, there was no shower, only one toilet. For a family of seven (Mum, Dad, 3 kids, Grandma and Grandad) it was a pretty sorry affair.
It had a cellar, which was my model airplane workshop. When anyone flushed the loo, water (at least I think it was water!) came out of the brickwork in the cellar.
The best you could have done to "preserve" it, would be to retain the outward appearance and replace everything inside. You'd still have the problem of needing the upstairs rooms matching the footprint of downstairs so the walls were continous, two-stories tall .
Don't miss it at all!
Must admit, I've become accustomed to US housing, after 37 years. I can't figure out why the UK hasn't caught on to the gas-fired, mains-pressure water heaters like we have instead of the hot water systems that rely on a header tank in the attic
Frank Damp
Having lived in one of the "houses on Church Road" - I assume you refer to the ones between the Cross and the War Memorial on the north side of the road - my only comment is "good riddance". They were all long past their pull date, particularly the terrace. We lived at number 7, which became the original clinic for what is now the Sandy Lane Doctors' Clinic after my folks sold it. The structure was pretty marginal, much of the plubing was seriously sub-standard, we had wet rot in the sitting room floor and originally the house didn't have an indoor bathroom. It didn't have central heating, there was no shower, only one toilet. For a family of seven (Mum, Dad, 3 kids, Grandma and Grandad) it was a pretty sorry affair.
It had a cellar, which was my model airplane workshop. When anyone flushed the loo, water (at least I think it was water!) came out of the brickwork in the cellar.
The best you could have done to "preserve" it, would be to retain the outward appearance and replace everything inside. You'd still have the problem of needing the upstairs rooms matching the footprint of downstairs so the walls were continous, two-stories tall .
Don't miss it at all!
Must admit, I've become accustomed to US housing, after 37 years. I can't figure out why the UK hasn't caught on to the gas-fired, mains-pressure water heaters like we have instead of the hot water systems that rely on a header tank in the attic
Frank Damp
Frank Damp (wife Eileen, nee Nixon)
Leyland resident 1941-1965, emigrated to the US in 1968,
retired to Anacortes, Washington State, USA in 1999.
Leyland resident 1941-1965, emigrated to the US in 1968,
retired to Anacortes, Washington State, USA in 1999.