Something in the attic

Amidst the century old filth, flies and plaster dust, the attic project has turned up some interesting finds. I say interesting, its more crap in the attic than cash in the attic, but interesting nonetheless. I’ve always had a paranoia about uncovering a dead body during the refurbishment of this house, but now the final room has been stripped out it looks like we made it through 100% cadaver-free.

Find number one was this enormous, but thankfully vacant, wasps nest between the roof slates and the lath and plaster.

Chewbacca was found under the floorboards, in more or less perfect condition. I was particularly pleased with this one, as though I was a child of the 70’s I never owned any StarWars figures at the time. I imagine that whoever lost it 30+ years ago was heart-broken, but I’ll give the Wookie a home from now on.

In another part of the floor the careless previous occupant had lost another toy icon of the 70’s and 80’s in the form of this small plastic soldier. I don’t ever remember seeing one with breathing apparatus and a Geiger counter like this guy, normally they had a bent rifle from what I recall.

Not all the finds have given me such joy; I’ve found leaks, rot and woodworm in various places. In replacing some floorboards that were beyond repair I snapped a shot of this pile of handmade cut nails. 110 years ago these would have been individually hammered out by Nailers in the nearby town of Belper.

About 25 years ago there was a fire in the attic, which neighbours have recounted to us as belching from the window on the Eastern gable. When I removed the plaster I found that the timber lintel had been damaged, but instead of replacing it properly whoever did the repairs just cut away the damage and nailed in a bit of timber to fill the gap. Being an upstanding member of the construction profession I had to make things right with some temporary props while I installed a new concrete lintel.

And finally something useful. Claire is constantly on the lookout for interesting photographic backgrounds, the rougher the better. I on the other hand dedicate my time to the pursuit of achieving a smooth finish on bits of wood, so I often struggle to find something in my stock to fit the bill. When I picked up a packing case lid in the attic with splinters and remnants of labels I knew straight away who the new owner would be.

Hopefully the next thing I will ‘find’ in the attic is that I have finished and can move onto the next project. Stay tuned for Chickenopolis!

Ed

UPDATE: The Attic is FINISHED!