This has been the part that we've been dreading the most and you can see why in the pictures below. We now have a cottage with only 3 walls and a gaping hole where the fourth one used to be.
I feel a little sad that the original slate wall is no longer there and that we've had to demolish something that must have taken hours of labour to build and has stood for over 200 years. Unfortunately though we had no choice, but as the current caretakers we will try and inject as much character back into it as we can, as sympathetically as possible.
For obvious reasons this is the most difficult part of the renovation and even erecting the scaffolding wasn't straight forward, but thankfully it's up and working well.
Due to limited space, putting a skip outside wasn't an option so all the rubble and dirt has to be transferred straight on to a lorry and disposed of with the help of this canny conveyor belt.
Here's a view through to the back of the house where the wall once stood.
This is one of the demolition team who has managed to squeeze himself into the 18 inch gap between the two houses. Most of the demolition has had to be done from the inside, unsurprisingly.
And this is Stuart from Kernow Coppice, the demolition company we are using. I'm told he's 6ft 7in so it's probably a good thing the ceiling isn't in place or he would be struggling to stand upright. Our son Jake is also tall at 6ft 4in and so we have decided to dig down another foot to allow a bit more headroom.
And finally a view from the lounge! You get a real feel for the thickness of the walls in this picture.
There is little else in the house at the moment to show you as it is literally a shell. I'll have more pictures in the next couple of weeks when I'm hopeful that the footings will have been put in and the timber frame erected.
We'll both be very relieved when it's in situ!
