BACK TO THE BEGINNING - 2011

Our blog from now on begins with the initial seedling of a thought which grew to a reality. 

WHERE DID IT ALL START?

I guess with Will taking early retirement and the children rapidly heading for universities or new lives elsewhere, we started to think about our future which narrowed down to 3 options: 1) to stay where we were in the centre of an ex-mining town in Nottingham suburbia while Will finds a part-time job & I carry on teaching until whenever; 2) to buy a house to renovate in sunny France; 3) to buy a house to renovate in wet Wales?

For several reasons, some unknown, we opted for Wales. Partly me going back to my roots, partly our fondness of Wales and its dramatic scenery and walks, but mostly I think our love for its unpredictable weather. We love walking along beaches wrapped up against the elements. Sunbathing on a continental beach comes a close second though!

This resulted in increased visits to Wales leading to viewings of 2 or 3 properties on each visit, with a view to see what was available. It soon emerged that realistically our budget would not extend to anything matching our requirements anywhere near our ideal location or with a sea view, so we began looking slightly further afield and inland.

May 2011 found us viewing a run down cottage on a mountain slope overlooking Anglesey. The water tank had burst and the whole house was wet and smelly. It had lain empty for 2 years following the death of its elderly owner. All his mouldy belongings and furnishings were strewn around the building absorbing the damp and providing homes to the rodents who had taken up residency.

As we completed what I thought was just another viewing, Will commented, “Give me one good reason why we shouldn't buy this?” What? I returned inside to reconsider. This time around I thought, it needs a vast amount of work, but yes, we wanted a renovation project and this is just about do-able, it is within our budget, has the potential to be split into 2 properties making a holiday let a viable option, and it has a sea view!

View from the house

We met the neighbours coming up the road too. They seemed a friendly enough bunch!

So the next day we returned with a view to putting an offer on the property. It needed far more work than we had previously considered, but the price reflected its condition, it had a roof – of sorts and once cleared could possibly, with muchcreative imagination be habitable. All in all, it needed to be lived in before it became derelict and beyond renovation. A 25 minute walk to an isolated beach and a 15 minute walk to the local village, with shop, confirmed it was ideal. So Will’s retirement money found itself in the form of a dilapidated 400 year old fairly isolated cottage on the North Wales coast.

We found this picture in the house and guess it was taken some time before it started to deteriorate

Next blog - more about the house