Recently we drove past a house that was very familiar to me and I seized the opportunity to take a quick photograph.Age has not enhanced this property. The sash windows and brightly painted woodwork and features are long gone, replaced with functional double glazed windows. All the character of the house has been disguised by the inevitable magnolia and white paint.
Nor was there any evidence of the house sign 'St Benedict Cottage' which I remembered from my childhood - maybe subsequent owners thought the name too ostentatious.
The garden wall looks higher than I recall. Back when I regularly visited this house, the front garden was a profusion of first bluebells and then, as summer progressed, pink and white japanese anemones took over. I do not remember anything else getting a look in!
I wonder what grows there now?
The house was one of my favourite places to visit, where I spent a week or two during my childhood summers, as it was the home of my paternal grandmother.
In my mind's eye, I can still hear the click of the gate, as I walk up the short path to the solid green outer door, which was always open to welcome me in. The inner door had brightly coloured stained glass sections two at the top of the door, and two just above halfway up - red, yellow, green, and very dark blue. Frustratingly I cannot remember if the glass in the middle was clear or frosted, as it was always the coloured glass that caught my attention, as I tried to compare the world through the different coloured sections.
The hallway was narrow, with a dog leg to allow for the staircase. A generously proportioned maidenhead fern stood in a large embossed brass bowl upon a sideboard.
The first door on the left led to the lounge. Apparently, the house had once been a shop, hence the larger front window than adjoining properties. If you knew which part of the back wall of this room to tap, you could hear where doorway into the room behind had been bricked up - it was adjacent to an apparently random disc on the wall, where once there had been either a light switch or a bell. The front room was decorated with white paper with a silver pattern. However, the paper at the bottom of the wall was a different colour, apparently because of rising damp!
Gran was very proficient at embroidery, cushion covers and runners displayed her skill. On the wall were further framed examples of her work. Gran told me they hid photographs of deceased relatives she would rather not see... I used to long to lift the pictures off the wall, remove the embroidery and get a glimpse of these ancestors who died before I was born, and whose names littered family conversations.
A two-seater settee was positioned opposite the window with a special knob on the outside of one of the arms. If you slid this sideways the arm would drop down - we thought that was fantastic, especially when we managed to activate it whilst one of our siblings was leaning on it.
Built into the wall beside the settee was a cupboard full of books. It was here I discovered the writings of Ethel M. Dell, to my father's bemusement.
There were also several china cabinets in this room, one contained a Worcester tea service. A pair of china cherubims graced the top. A smaller glass-fronted cabinet had previously contained roles for her pianola, which sadly went to the tip when she downsized from her previous house. I had just been old enough to operate the pianola before it was disposed of. I could just about reach the pedals, and flick the switches to change the volume of the music, but inserting the roles required the help of either my elder sister or an adult - basically whoever else I could cajole into letting me play! I was somewhat put out that my mother declined to accommodate the instrument, though even I had to admit that she had was right to do so, when it was pointed out that it wouldn't even fit through the front door!
My Gran had an extensive collection of china, as my grandfather would buy her a piece each Saturday. Her everyday tableware was stored in a walk in cupboard under the stairs. Most of it was 'India Tree', with a few 'Devon Violets' for variety. Gran was strictly cup and saucer. Visiting grandchildren were allowed to choose from the range of Coronation mugs she had acquired. Having lived during the reign of six monarchs there was a selection to chose from. At home, where the kitchen floor was quarry tiled, we had a mismatched selection of tableware, so I loved looking at her china, and she would periodically offer to leave me some part of her extensive collection.
The dining room contained the essential table and chairs, a couple of arm chairs and a small dresser which housed Gran's canteen of cutlery. On the top of the was a musical box in the form of a swiss chalet, purchased on one of her continental excursions. If you lifted the lid would play a tune - needless to say it is a miracle that it survived our visits. After dinner, we would sit around the table, and listen as my Gran would recount for the benefit of my father, the battles she had fought and those she was currently fighting.
The kitchen was a step higher than the hall, possibly being part of a later extension. It was a bright and sunny room, complete with a large marble slab for rolling out pastry. My gran was an excellent cook.
Upstairs, were three bedrooms. The back bedroom had a wardrobe, which I remember tipping over. I used to climb inside and spin the hooks that you hung clothes hangers on. Unbeknownst to me it merely rested on the base and was not fixed to it. On one occasion I must have leant on part of the front and the main wardrobe section tipped over with an almighty crash, coming to rest against the bed. Big trouble followed that. I also remember a photo of a younger Auntie Blanch in this room.
My gran slept in the larger of the two bedrooms at the front of the house. She had an amazing dressing table with lots of drawers. The landing had several full height china cabinets containing yet more china.
The bathroom was large, and to my surprise, had a window just above the bath with clear glass and no curtains. As my Gran pointed out no one could look in, as it looked out on to the blank wall of the neighbouring properties extension, but it all seemed very decadent to a child.
The WC was adjacent to the bathroom, painted pink and black and decorated with beermats. My gran often made my parents look very staid, as if they were the older generation.
Outside in the garden was a large shed and a small raised garden, The soil was dark and fine, unlike the clay we had in our garden.
Out in the lane, brambles grew. I loved picking the berries, but rarely ate the pies my gran produced with the largess.
Through default, I ended up with the very dominoes on with which I learnt to play 'Threes and Fives' and the Coronation mugs. I suspect many of Gran's possessions were sold for a pittance, as part of a house clearance when she went into a nursing home. However, the memories that remain are priceless.
