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 »