the hearth of the home

Cozy Cabin

I am certain that houses have a soul and a spirit that reflects their history. When we arrived at the shop, it felt like entering a morgue, so cold, so dark and so soulless. It was depressing and when you looked in every corner, there were cobwebs, broken light bulbs, dripping taps and a feeling of neglect and disrepair. There were reasons for this, we know this from the previous occupants, but it made feeling warm within far from a reality.

Every room felt cold, and walking in my nightgown at 6 am to the bathroom as appealing as when you stay in a campsite and you need the bathroom. More light bulbs broken, doors creaked and in general I began to wonder whether it had all been a mistake and had a severe pang of homesickness to Berry Cottage. When on Saturday the water came through the walls, I seriously wondered what would stop this house falling apart and gently put my hands on the walls upstairs and willed it to please be patient, we would get there and give it some attention.

The house is made up of 3 houses, in an odd non linear arrangement and upstairs there is a very long corridor which spans all three upstairs of 3 cottages, with rafters and beams, small doors, different levels and all in all, it resembles a Hobbit home. The houses were built of stone and cob in late 1700 and have plenty of character.

Last week the chimney was swept and the chimney sweep came and removed 3 bags of twigs that the jackdaws have thrown down; today the Rayburn man came. I thought he would condemn the Rayburn,( a type of range) it looked sad, not at all giving me confidence but he looked at it, scratched his head, put on an apron and uttered the words : Well, lets see whether this here beauty can give some soul back to this dim place. She is not at all cosmetic but then if you had not been looked after for about 4 years you would be looking a bit rusty. Any chance of a cuppa? He got his tools out, a mirror to look up the chimney, asked for some paper, kindling wood, and some coal that was lying about and got a flicker of light. A heartbeat he called it, then he tapped it, cleaned it and said, for about 60 years old its doing OK. With instructions, I am going to be busy keeping the Rayburn topped up with logs, and the last remaining coal until we can get some more logs together. The last words he uttered were a bit strange : she is missing some major bits but she will give off heat and I will be back in the spring to put her together if by then you have not given up on her like the last people.

Do I have the time to stoke her up before I go to bed, at 6 am when I get down before we do start the day, prepare the papers, get the vegetables and fruit delivered? You bet. When after hours I walked upstairs through the rooms they did really feel a bit warmer or could that be my imagination?

Hestia, the heart of the home has been restored and when the frost comes up tonight, I will sleep a bit sounder in the knowledge that the soul of this house is awake and well.

The coal house - living in 1927 in Wales

BBC Wales are scheduling a historical programme over the next 3 weeks where 3 families will return to 1927 and live in 3 miners cottages as families of that time.
The families will have to work together, the women and children during the day while the men are working 8 hours, underground in the coal mines. There will be no heating, no computers, no washing machines and a garden with some vegetables like curly cale, parsnip etc. This programme will not only show the hardship in that period of history but might give us an indication of what life could be like without electricity and fossil fuels easily accessible. The men will be paid by the amount of coal they haul up which will determine the food on the table.
What I noticed was the lack of stuff they have and the space limitation. Families will each have the same amount of space, 2 rooms down and 2 rooms up and one family has 6 children including baby and toddler. The programme can be accessed on BBC Wales. You can look at some pictures about the coalhouse here.

In the meantime, Kate Rusby's song about my young man shows you some pictures of coalmining and set the scene. Communities were destroyed in the 1980's when a large proportion of coal mines shut down a fate not dissimilar to what is happening in the farming and manufacturing in the UK.