Change happens. Live anywhere for long enough and you can't help but notice.
These old buildings have gone, replaced by a six foot wooden wall.
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| Spring |
This old building has also gone, too. Replaced by a high wooden fence.
Much more practical, totally understandable, but not nearly so charming!
I have a large archive of photographs of the old buildings, simply because I used to visit the place so often.
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| Summer |
It was ramshackle, parts were beyond repair, but I am glad I took so many photographs before it was too late.
I was there, recording the demolition, of course, for the archives.
Why did I spend so much time around the place?
The hay net may give you a clue.
I was visiting this handsome old chap. The horse, of course!
Today it seems, people want everything to be tidy. I like a bit of falling down. We have a park here called 'Stanmer Park', we used to visit often when the kids were young. It was also a tiny village and farm.
ReplyDeleteA couple of weeks ago we re visited only to find all of the cows and horses gone and big changes taking place, the whole place is being made more commercial, so sad. We shall not be visiting again.
Briony
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That must have been so disappointing Briony. Maybe the bottom line was not satisfactory, or perhaps the Elf and Safety Elves thought the potential for big insurance claims was too great! Such a shame.
DeleteHow sad to see them go........In Suffolk they would have been rebuilt and turned into a Holiday Let!
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally I took a photo of a falling down barn yesterday, not so big as the buildings in your photo
The two storey building was one of the village slaughter houses - they would have had to spin quite a tale to drum up business for that one. Our lovely old neighbour used to enjoy telling me tales of the old days!
Delete'Much more practical, totally understandable, but not nearly so charming'
ReplyDeleteYour use of the word charming is lovely. Sadly the charm of older times can never be recaptured.
The person who lives there now has a very different life style, still animal-focused, but very different, from the lovely old couple who had been there for over 50 years! I understand her need to use the new broom, but the place is totally devoid of charm now. :(
DeleteI hate to see old buildings like that completely disappear.
ReplyDeleteThey had been neglected for many years, huge cracks and wobbly brickwork; the old man who lived there had to make the place safe - he was almost one hundred years of age, so renovation and preservation was not an option.:(
DeleteIt is good that you have photographs of this place. I suppose that while some of us think that these old buildings are quaint, to some others they are just an eyesore. Shame.
ReplyDeleteThey were wonderfully evocative of a different way of life. I loved the old place, despite the fact that I am vegetarian and the old building was a slaughter house..
DeleteI have loads of old photos of houses around us as they were 40 years ago. Hard to believe the difference now. Good idea to take so many photos. Youre' the next Miss Read
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how the years whiz by so quickly, Linda. I dug out those old photographs to pass on to a friend in the village, he is great at putting together information boards for the village hall - not that anyone ever goes in there to look at them. I think Miss Read can keep her crown for a bit longer yet, but thank you!
DeleteWhat a shame it had to be demolished, I bet if buildings could talk it would tell a tale or two.
ReplyDeleteAs a vegetarian I would have to say that it would tell some grim and grisly tales, but my mother (who was a big meat-eater) would probably have regarded it as a great source of ingredients for some of her wonderful roast dinners, etc!!
DeleteSo what happened to the horse? Was he moved on to pastures new? Or was he simply hidden behind the high fence? I worry about such things.
ReplyDeleteArnold had been on a long loan to our neighbour and his wife. When they were no longer around to look after him Arnold was taken back to his owner. The last time I heard about him, he was doing well, so breathe again!
DeleteI take them because things change so quickly now and we forget what was there before. I thing you had avery good reason for visiting so offten
ReplyDeleteWe loved that old horse and were sorry to see him go. His paddocks now have two horses, three sheep, and about half a dozen dogs living there. The big wooden fence prevents more interaction, unfortunately!
DeleteI photographed the barns around me. When I realized they were crumbling and disappearing, I photographed them more. Some are quite gone, replaced by too modern housing.
ReplyDeleteWe see one thing and feel nostalgia, someone else comes along and sees an opportunity. I suppose it has always been so. At least these days we are able to take and store plenty of photographs lest anyone else be interested!
DeleteThis was the horse and buildings, of the elderly man, who lived near by... Yes...?
ReplyDeleteAnd the handsome gentleman with the horse, is your husband, yes?
So happy that you captured them, before they were demolished. Mmm, not your husband, of course.
A bit like my long saga, of "The Lot Next Door." In a way.... I can remember the trees, which I could see, before... And other views, before...
But all in all, I am now content with this building. They seem like nice people. Only have a cat, so no dog to bark. I'm sure it will be lovely. And it's not now looking, like the zillion-room-place, which I envisioned.
Sorry you really can't say the same, about what you captured with your camera.
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Spot on!
DeleteI am glad that after all your trials and tribulations, you are feeling happy about the new building and the new people. Now as long as that cat doesn't turn out to be a tiger, all will be well.
The changes work for the person who made them. I get too wrapped up in nostalgia and history, I know that.
Stay warm.
How heartbreaking - to lose such wonderful (if ramshackle) old buildings. Had they been mine, I would have restored them - even a holiday home is better than demolition.
ReplyDeleteDid you mention recently that both horse and the old chap who owned him, had now both gone over Rainbow Bridge?
They really were ramshackle - even more ramshackle than the cottage at the other end of the village which actually was called 'Ramshackle Cottage'. The buildings were demolished during the last couple of years of our lovely old friend. They were in an unsafe state and could have collapsed onto the road behind, elf and safety meant they either had to have a fortune spent on them, or they had to go. The cheaper option won, of course.
DeleteSadly, Old John died a couple of years ago, Arnold was fine, the last I heard of him. I am reluctant to enquire again because I don't want bad news. Silly, I know.
I don't understand people who destroy old, irreplaceable buildings for crap...a wooden wall!?? To keep out who????
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, rural crime is on the increase. Farmers are having to put gates and barriers up and this small holding now has two beautiful horses, three sheep, half a dozen dogs and a couple of dozen hens to protect. Even in this rural idyll there are uninvited midnight visitors. :(
DeleteYour photos tell a story of grand pride and hard work of long ago, and then the sadness that someone would want to rid the world of such a statement...sad, indeed! It's a true treasure that you have a photo history, and nothing better than a gorgeous steed!
ReplyDeleteHello wyomingheart, It was a sad day when they came down, but the lovely old man who lived there was in his 90's then, unwell, and about to go into a nursing home. His son decided that the only option, given the danger to road-users, was to have the buildings taken down. The old horse was a darling. He could be quite a mischief, as my husband and I knew to our cost, but he was as gentle as could be with my granddaughter. She was just a baby when we first took her to meet him; he blew warm breath over her bare baby toes and tickled them with his whiskers, she was enchanted!
DeleteIt's so sad to see these old buildings go. They had so much charm. It reminds me sadly of the building we had to take down on our property. It had rotted from the bottom up and was dangerous to enter so it had to go. We kept the logs and hope to use the good ones for a building in the future. I really hope it happens. What a lovely horse.
ReplyDeleteHello Deb, Your new home must be just about ready for you to move into? So exciting, from the photographs I saw, it will be a wonderful place to live. You will have echoes of the past, wonderful memories, the old place won't be forgotten, but you will be living in the now!
DeleteWhy was it demolished and replaced by a high fence? This tidying and sanitising of everything I just don’t agree with I’m afraid, especially in the countryside.
ReplyDeleteLX
The buildings were demolished, then the property sold. Our lovely old friend, John the beekeeper, had been moved into a nursing home. The new owner needed to make her animals safe, quickly. She did a lot of work. I understand why she did the things she did, but they were all done for practicality and safety.
DeleteI love the old and ramshackle - so much nicer to paint too. Sad when places are tidied up - we have tried to be so careful at the cottage to keep a balance between the old and the new as we bought it because of its slightly run down appeal.
ReplyDeleteOld and ramshackle is much easier on the eye - but this old building had enormous cracks running through it, so it was unsafe. The web of ivy was practically the only thing which was keeping the bricks together and it had reached the point where it would have had to have been dismantled and rebuilt, at enormous cost, there was no way the old man could have funded that. So it went. :(
DeleteIt is good to know that you are managing to maintain the balance in your place.
Thank goodness you photographed those wonderful old farm buildings before they disappeared, so many lovely memories taken with them:)
ReplyDeleteHello Rosie, I spent a LOT of time there, my attention being divided between our lovely old friend, John, gorgeous, lonely Arnold in his paddock, and the old buildings which spoke so loudly to me...oh, and then there was also the barn owl who used to roost in the small barn, just above the horse's head. They were happy days and I am so grateful to have been able to make those memories.
DeleteThere is so much more beauty in old things (even falling down old things) than new. What a beautiful horse! I hope he went on to greener pastures - literally, not figuratively. How lucky that you caught all those lost treasures.
ReplyDeleteThe smallholding was one of those places which speaks of a different time. I was very fortunate to be able to spend so much time there - initially it was lovely old Arnold, the horse, which drew me in, then I got to know Old John, the buildings, the history and the feel of the place. I was very lucky. Time moves on, new brooms sweep clean, but at least I have my cache of memories and photographs, Susan.
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