The vendor of this small but attractive house had, over the years, lived in each of the three houses that form this small courtyard development on the slopes of Clifton. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know, but I suppose that she had her reasons. They were built about thirty years ago, probably by a cheap builder who did everything on the cheap. However the actual bricks used for the walls were expensive, but just poorly finished – a shoddy finish – that my Clients (and every one else who lives in these houses) I’m afraid will have to accept. The main roof is ok, but the lead to the parapet walls has failed, the support for the gutters is minimal. The flat roof over the study leaks and the whole will need replacing. Decay is evident in the external roofing timbers and the windows are likely all to need replacing. There is NO insulation in the roof space and I could not see the boiler because it was covered with ‘mess’! I have never seen so much ‘stuff’ crammed into such a relatively small space as the garage when I asked to see inside it – I could not see a thing, barely the ceiling; forget the floor or the back of the garage! Oh and just for good measure the vendor has painted (badly) the otherwise very pleasant (and expensive) brick walls at ground level. Hey Ho! Nought as queer as folk…   more »

This morning I have been to see a modern house in Nailsea that was originally built by Heron Homes. Heron were keen exponents of the ‘Radburn’ system that of segregating vehicular and pedestrian traffic and many of their developments were set out in this style. It was a good concept, as concepts go, but it was found that every one used the back door and not the front! The result is that the ‘backs’ of the houses are rather ‘unimaginative and boring’, whilst the front, which nobody sees are really quite attractive! Nailsea is also a past coal mining area, so as my Client and her solicitor are from out of town, I have advised them to get ‘coal searches’ from Bristol Coal Mining Archives, because British Coal, in their wisdom, sold all their record to them! Another Great British foul-up, but the house was fine and it has a pleasant outlook, onto a green, that probably was an area for mining as Heron would otherwise have built on it…   more »