I guess I am stuck in the 60's but I care deeply about the enviroment and also the injustice in this country and around the world. I preach it so much that my oldest got in trouble at school for putting human in the race choice box in the third grade and refusing to change it to white, black, or other. I had to have a conference with the principal over that one.
Frank asked what the drawbacks were of living in a conservation village so here they are. 1. You're not allowed to grow trees in your garden over 12 feet high. If you allow them to grow any higher then a preservation order is slapped on them and you have to get permission from the local council if you want to cut them down and you have to pay THEM to do it. 2. You have to ask permission to put hanging baskets at your own front door. 3. You are only allowed to paint your fence white, green, brown or black. 4. You are only allowed to paint your windows/doors white, green, brown or black!! We cheated and painted the stonework around our windows and doors cream. (Well it is a pale brownish colour isn't it? LOL) 5. We have to make sure that if we do repairs to our roof that we use old Scottish Blue slates only. They are now very rare and very expensive!! 6. We have horsehair instead of underfelt on our roof and we have to replace like for like. Now I don't think the horses around here would be too happy about that. 7. We are not allowed to have double glazing in our cottage unless it is wooden framed and exactly the style of the existing windows. VERY hard to come by. 8. We are not allowed to put satalite dishes on our cottage. (Not really a disadvantage though as I hate seeing them and we don't have satalite TV anyway.) However, even with these restrictions we would never want to leave here. When we moved in we were only going to stay for approx five years and then move on. We've been here 21 years!!! This place kinda grows on you. :-D I'm off to make Ian something to eat now but if you want to hear the advatages to living here then let me know and I'll tell you later.
Sounds like the French Quarter in New Orleans, but it's not nearly as old. Many of the old buildings do not have air conditioning because they didn't have any when built. Folks have been known to do things in the dead of night and just hope they don't get caught.
Richard, I'm with you back in the 60's. My parents never had to spend time in a principal's office for civil disobedience on my part, but I did spend time in jail because of it. I count it as part of maturity in the 60s.
Some annoying restrictions Eileen but I agree that they seem like small things if you love the place. I think satellite dishes are ugly anyhow so that's no bad thing. Do you receive any grants from the government if you need to perform any renovations/repair on your property? (before you answer I'm guessing the answer is a big NO) And yes I would love to hear about the advantages too
Eileen, that is such a shame that you won't be able to paint your home a lovely shade of hot pink. muddy
Oh thank you Eileen your always a step ahead of me If you ever get to Texas .There will be a bed waiting for you here in my home anytime.:-D I'll be waiting for another walkabout.
And after Texas, you can come east and visit Richard and Sharon and then me in the same hour or so. And my garden always needs weeding so you will feel right at home.
OK - at last - the advatages to living in a conservation village. 1. You know your area will never be considered for redeveopment. 2. Your house, should you choose to sell it, will sell quickly and at a good price. 3. You have virtually no crime worth talking about. 4. No-one will ever paint there house in gaudy colours. 5. No speeding traffic just plenty of horse riders, hikers, cyclists and tractors. 6. You wake up to the sound of birds each day. 7. The countryside is on your doorstep. 8. Your village is steeped in history. 9. Your house has 3 foot thick stone walls which retain heat in winter but keep you cooler in summer. 10. Everyone says hello when you go out walking.
Ok I pretty sure the advantages outweigh the disadvantages now I would have put this one higher than #10. Top 3 I'd say.
Thank You Eileen.The house on the corner from me is a beautiful brick but the trim is a bright hot pink.Is so ugly .If we didn't have satellite this far out in the country we would have very little tv.
Simply Beautiful Wow, that was great. I love historical places like that. I would love to come visit, unfortunately it probably wont happen any time soon but thanks for the pictures.
Laura and I live in an old mining town where gold was found during the early years of Arizona. We live in one of the old mine houses that has, however, been added on to at least twice. There are quite a few such houses here, in various states of repair. On the next block, someone bought one of the oldest ones and decided it would be too much work to restore it. They tore it down and put in a damned trailer. So much of that happens around here.
You need the same restrictions that Eileen has. My friends in Southwell, Notts, England live in a village much like Eileen's. My visits there were always too short. I loved the house 400+ years old with a garden that defied belief. Did I take pics of their garden. Stupid me, no. I took pics of Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, Newstead Abbey, Oxford and a dozen other gardens tho. Beautiful.
