House

When I talked about my mother walking home it reminded me of our old house. So I did a watercolour sketch ommitting a large Dutch Elm tree in the garden. Now normally a house is just a house. This house however has had quite a few interesting events in its history. Here are a few I know of.




Eastville was built I believe in the last quarter of the 19th century. At some stage it was lived in by the local vicar. My mother’s friend used to live there until she tragically died. The parents could no longer bear to live there so put they house up for sale and my grandfather bought it in the 1920’s.

It was a large three-story building with a cellar and gardens, including a well and water pump.

One night during the Second World War my mother came home from driving an ambulance to find a land mine had been dropped nearby. Many houses had disappeared, as had the roof of our house. Fortunately neither my grandfather nor grandmother was hurt.The roof was eventually replaced although when it snowed and blew hard the snow would get in under the tiles and lie in the loft and you had to climb in and shovel it up.

We moved into the house to look after my grandparents when I was about 11years old and lived there until my mother and father sold it in the 1970’s. The house then was pretty much as it would have been pre-war. It was full of Edwardian and Victorian furniture and paintings. The only heating was a coal fire in the Lounge. In my bedroom ice formed on the inside of the windows throughout the winter. I loved that house and the many paintings that were hung there. The paintings have long gone being either sold or passed on to family members. They weren’t hugely valuable but they were good original paintings by listed artists many being former members of the R.A. It is difficult not to believe they had a major influence upon me.

Having just sold it within a month the rear chimneystack fell through the roof. It was a huge stack and must have caused major damage. I don’t believe there were any injuries.

Later the house was used as the location for the Grand Hotel in a television series called “Boon” with Michael Elphick and Neil Morrisey. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5XWmU-lv3Q

The house became a Care Home for a while.

Now the house stands empty, windows boarded up and waiting for demolition and development. It is sad to see it when I think of all the interesting and happy memories locked inside it.

Today I went to an antique shop in Llandeilo and bought a couple of props for painting
a couple of Victorian wine glasses £5 each and a Spode  willow pattern plate with excellent definition £7.