I wondered where I was for a moment, but Top Shop is really not a place for me; is it still trading? Today I was in a small village just south of Bristol relatively close I supposed to the Waldegrave estate, though he is a man who seems to have disappeared and is no longer an MP; I wonder what has become of him? Anyway enough of my idle thoughts, today I was looking at a new house as my Client wanted to be sure that it was built to a good standard, that it was sound in wind and limb, as my farmer cousin might say. Almost a month ago to the day I looked at a new house in Bristol, where I had hopes that my Client could turn around the appalling mess the builders had made of constructing a new house in Westbury on Trym. They even managed to get a solar heating panel on the north facing roof slope! I had thought the builders in Bristol might have had a little more nous than that and whilst I was not quite expecting builders in Somerset to be standing around with the straw behind their ears and drinking cider at their coffee break, today I found a very pleasant, substantial house, well built, mostly with stone walls and well finished; it's quite surprising what you can do if you try hard and supervise your workforce. My Client has found a good house in a reasonably quiet position with a lovely open aspect and a large garden; I'm really quite envious but, I think it needs a decent name, even though the builders may have been very proud of it; they should be…   more »