Hampton is, I believe of small village in Wiltshire built on land owned by Earl Roger of Hereford. What Earl Roger of Hereford has got to do with Bristol I am at a loss to even contemplate, so I won't. What I was contemplating today were the upper three floors of a four floored mid-terraced house built in the Victorian era against the railway line. Well, it wasn't actually against the railway line but it wasn't far away from it, the railway line was in a cutting. The Luftwaffe during the last war made strenuous efforts to bomb parts of Bristol and to an extent of course succeeded. The nearest bomb to this property however was the other side of the railway track, but maybe that was the reason tie bars were introduced into the rear elevation of this house, but I'm not sure. There has been some settlement and movement here and war glass remained in a couple of windows. The maisonette was otherwise in reasonable condition but, owning a car in this part of Bristol is probably madness, something Roger would never have thought about…   more »

No they don't, this road leads to a church. Today I was in Horfield looking at the house that I was anticipating was not in the best of health. It had according to my Client been tenanted and he was quite concerned with the condition of the house and the fitments. He specifically wanted to me to look at the chimney stack, which I was able to do because, with my ladders I was able to get up onto the roof. I therefore saw the chimney stacks and the roofs and the parapet walls and the gutters all with ease and all in reasonably good condition. The house had suffered from some parts settlement movement but by and large not a bad buy…   more »

I've been back to Thornbury again today and I still miss the market that was closed several years ago, a shame really but that's life. The house I saw today was a pleasant mid-terraced three-bedroom property largely in good condition and free from defect. It is the first house that my Clients are buying and I hope that they will be happy there; there is no reason why they should not be…   more »

Knapping is the art of shaping flint. The house I saw today in Thornbury was shaped very nicely. It was a 1960s build house that was subsequently extended into the rear of a fairly large garden. By and large it was in good condition and free from defect. It is opposite Castle School, and according to the estate agents it is one of the best schools in the country, or do you think they meant county? Whatever they meant the house is sound and it has a good-sized garden, but parking will be an inconvenience during school hours…   more »

Do you ever get that feeling you have been somewhere before? Well actually six months or so ago I went to look at this property in the summer. I've been back again today but not a lot has altered. When I originally saw it this grade 2 listed building had a new roof on it, because during its restoration some 20 or so years ago the original roof blew off, which might have been quite convenient ... The front wall has in part been rebuilt, but a great shame in a mismatched stone. I said all this before but nevertheless the house still has its attractions…   more »

I was in the centre of Fishponds today looking at a fairly substantial semi-detached dwelling house, where the agents, almost insisted that the tenants were ‘difficult’. Not to me they weren’t; charming trainee nurses, rather pleasant, actually! At first appearance the house seemed in acceptable condition, but as is often the case, things ain’t always what they seem. There are three tie bars high up in the side elevation, but these were historic. More serious was the cracking on the rear elevation. Although it did not seem recent, well not very recent in that it occurred last week, there are drains in the immediate vicinity, and I think that there could be a problem here. Bristol was heavily bombed during the last war, but back in my office, I had no records of anything happening here. I checked my ‘drift’ map – a geological map that showed close-by there were three coal ‘veins’ or seams, the chick and the hen but the cock vein was very nearby (all coal seams have names). A mining report will be required, and I think that this time it will make interesting reading, but my guess is that the movement and cracking is not connected to the mining. As a whole the house was also a bit damp, a bit damper than I would rather have found, but these things can be cured, given time and money…   more »

Again, this was a long-standing appointment that had to be postponed because of the snow in particular because here, I was inspecting the roof of a pair of adjoining terraced houses in this well-known Bristol Crescent, if I remember correctly originally designed by one William Patty, begun in 1750 and completed in 1820. My inspection was required because dry rot had been found in the top floor flat, so the Management Company decided they wanted a full inspection of the roof, the affected flat and indeed some damp in the basement. The dry rot in my opinion was very old and was not going anywhere. Nevertheless it needs properly treating. One of the centre valley gutters, the one that was lined with zinc and not lead was currently leaking and previous leaks had caused an outbreak of wet rot is some of the timbers. Of course, these will meet taking out and ideally the zinc replacing with lead. That aside the roof was in fairly good condition. The parapet gutters were in good condition and fortunately none of them were leaking because the ceilings and walls directly below them in the second floor flat were all quite dry. There is little damp problem in the basement, but this will need a re-inspection of the patio above the area above, because I think there's a problem here, the design of the patio so allowing water to penetrate into one of the vaults within the basement; time will tell…   more »

I was asked to look at some damp in a first-floor flat today because one of the tenants has been complaining that it was damp. I took along my moisture meter and showed him how it worked so he could test the wall for himself. I knew it would be dry, because the window, a double hung sash window was streaming with condensation. He did, and he found no real damp but he argued and argued and argued that the wall was damp. I tried to explain that he, and indeed you and I give off an awful lot of water vapour throughout the day and for some unknown reason, particularly at night time. This water vapour has to go somewhere and it condenses on the window and on the wall which was becoming contaminated with condensation that is shown up by a black mould growth. I told him to sleep with the windows OPEN, to reposition his bed and to turn the heating off at night. He still did not believe me, so he will just have to suffer until he realises he does need to OPEN the window. Upon leaving I saw condensation elsewhere when I made enquiries it seems that for blokes live in the flat and don't open windows and keep the heating on full. Enough said…   more »

This was another cottage I was unable to inspect last week because of the snow, so today I was South Bristol looking at a cottage of indeterminate age. It had to be built at least in the Victorian period, because there was a Victorian letterbox built into the front wall. The reality is that I suspect originally it was built in 17 something, but there was very little, really nothing to show when it was instructed. Again I had to collect the key from the agent, which was again entirely unnecessary because, this time the front door had been left open, though of course the agent wasn't to know that! My initial impression was that this was a rather scruffy cottage, but by the time I left I rather liked it. It had been extended this way and that at various times during its life and in the main all of this was in keeping. Structurally it was in reasonably good condition and although one of the external walls had a good old lean to it, this all seems to be of a very historic nature, so it caused me no worries. Generally speaking it is in fairly good condition, but there was little dampness in some of the walls though nothing to write home about, so I didn't. The cottage, so rumour has it used to belong to a cobbler when the peasants needed shoes but today there are no peasants and no one seems to mend shoes; they just throw them away, but that’s today's society for you. Why it's called Orange Tree Cottage I don't know; the cobbler would probably turn in his grave…   more »

I was due to see this house last week but the snow prevented me travelling to little villages so this was the first time I was able drive to Thornbury to collect a key for the property I was inspecting today. Totally unnecessary because of course, the vendor was at home. The property I looked at started life as a bungalow and ended life as a full-blown four bedroomed house which, with little difficulty could become a five bedroom house, as well as having three reception rooms kitchen breakfast room etc etc. It was all largely in good condition and free from defect. I thought that it was in a quiet location but, the noise of the motorway was clearly audible, though this did not seem to disturb a heron flying by. Then, I had to take the key back to Thornbury, which didn't please me and I got the blues!!!   more »

Despite the snow that covered the ground and also the roofs of houses in Coombe Dingle, I was nevertheless asked to see an ex-local authority house in this area of Bristol today. I have to say I was very glad to get out and about despite the snow because I was getting a little fractious, not to mention being a little bored, to say the least, being trapped in because of the snow. (For many years I used to drive a 4x4, sadly I might have grown up, my God I hope not, because now I have a German car with rear wheel drive with the result that I couldn't get anywhere. When I had four-wheel-drive I used to take a day off and drive into the countryside around Pucklechurch and try to get stuck; I never managed to but what a wonderful time I had and I kept boredom away.) Back to reality, this was originally built as an Airey house and as a consequence it was deemed defective under the Housing Act. However, the offending reinforced concrete frame and panels had been removed and the house had been rebricked. It was empty but, the built-in cupboards in two of the bedrooms adjacent the neighbouring property were full of T-shirts; that was a bit odd. When I put them to one side, a sixth sense coming to the fore, I found that the original frame and panels on the party line were still in situ. It was a bit of a disappointment because externally the house was otherwise in fairly good condition. Internally apart from this ‘omission’, the house was rather scruffy and there was no partition between the kitchen and stairwell, so creating a fire risk. There are things that need to be done here to bring his house up to standard…   more »

I made an early start today, because the weather forecasters suggested it was going to snow and I did not want to be caught on the M5 in a snow drift. The house I went to see was originally a cottage, I am told dating from 1720. How anyone knows I am unsure because there was little of the original remaining and it has been extended upwards and outwards to the rear. Extending upwards meant that the original roof was "lost". None of the Windows are original. There are a couple of tie bars here and there, two probably having little effect on house and one, the third tying the front and rear walls together. I like this house, I like the fact that it has a garage and car port that is approached from a road closeby, and I like the village but it's a shame that the local pub is a sale. Originally the area was probably farmed for sheep because I believe it was a wool marketing area; the locals may even have weaved cloth, but that was a long time ago. I got back in time because then the snow came down and how …   more »

Those were the days, but today I have been to a house built in the 1930s in Knowle that has been occupied for the past 50 or so years by the present vendor. Structurally, it was in reasonably good condition, but as you may possibly expect, it was a house that was in need of a certain amount of tender, loving, care. It is a good-sized house in a good-sized plot, where there is ample space should it ever be wanted for the construction of a garage without compromising the rear garden. The roof void is large enough to convert into additional accommodation should my Client ever wish. The house is close to good local amenities, schools and shops and a bus service, but only for the lazy as the centre of Bristol is within a mile, an easy walk, rock on...   more »