Friday 18 October 2019

The fate of that old Tobacco Barn.


                            

Readers of this page may remember me writing about a nearby disused Séchoir that was nearly blown to bits in a gale in May 2018 (above). I had considered buying it myself to convert into a large ground floor studio, with small apartment above, but it has now been snapped-up by a Dutch lady.

M, who will later make a small house in part of the barn, has for the moment laid a concrete floor, and installed a rather nice replica 'Gypsy Caravan' (in which she lives). M is the owner of Billy's new girlfriend 'Ami' (more about Ami later).


I have no Gypsy blood in me, but Gypsy wagons have been a part of my life even since before I was born. My mother bought one with her best friend, Pud Cumpsty, when they were quite young, and they used to spend weekends there. Later in my native Surrey village there seemed to be quite a few pukka Gypsies around, and our village wheelwright saw to their wagons repairs. In more recent times I've met several Gypsies, and we even had some non-Gypsy friends turn up here in a horse-drawn Irish wagon. 

I don't know how long M intends to stay in her caravan, but it does look very cosy for the coming winter.

I have often considered buying some woodland, obtaining an old wagon, and parking it in a central clearing (much as my mother did all those years ago). I can think of no more pleasant way of spending weekends, holidays, etc.

I'm quite jealous of M's home; but I think I'd prefer a more sylvan location.

Kushti bok.


24 comments:

  1. Looks like an awful lot of work ahead.

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  2. Looks very nice.... in Norfolk, you could always tell the true Romany gypsies from the diddicoys... apart from real caravans, horse drawn or not... their sites are always so clean.
    There is a semi-permanent encampment 'twixt us and the nearest big town.
    Their horses are grazed on the roadside and the caravans, not as wonderfully painted as a UK Gypsy wagon, are decorated down the side facing the road with panels of coloured cloth. No cars with this group...
    Also, they have the same small bits of white wicket fencing marking their boundaries as a lot of UK ones have... they've even got three lengths forming a suround for the rubbish bags.

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    1. There are two horse-drawn wagons parked in a field quite nearby; I think they're there for the winter. It's a beautiful sight seeing a wisp of smoke coming from their chimneys. They're too far away for a decent photo, but I might try.

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  3. I love the little gypsy caravan. She has quite a task ahead of her.

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  4. She won’t need to spend a huge amount on air conditioning in the barn. What a wonderful project and a woman on her own? A brave one, I must say I envy her.

    LX

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    Replies
    1. Yes, good for her. She has family to help with certain things, but I imagine they're back in Holland.

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  5. That barn looks as of a puff of wind will see it demolished! I wouldn't live under it!

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    1. It's actually much more solid than it looks. The cladding is falling off, but the basic structure is good.

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  6. I wonder if she is a writer sitting in her caravan finishing a book. It feels like the perfect writers retreat.

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    Replies
    1. A type of female Cameron? I don't know what she does, I've only chatted once. She seems an 'artistic' person.

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  7. I. too would love a little cabin, but preferably by the sea, with the wild Westerlies we get here.

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    Replies
    1. I've always said that I'd prefer several tiny homes, to one big one. Much more fun.

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  8. I would be a bit nervous about parking my caravan under that.

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    1. It looks worse than it is, although I wouldn't want to be in there when a hurricane's blowing.

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  9. Surely you are lying when you say your mother had a friend called Pud Cumpsty?

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    1. That was indeed her name. I presume 'Pud' was short for Pudding, but I have no idea how that came about. I did actually meet her once; out here!

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  10. I have never heard of Gypsy Caravans in the US, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. Tiny houses look like fun, but, like an RV, only for a short holiday.

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    1. I don't suppose the Gypsies crossed the pond; certainly not with their wagons. Your nearest thing must be those covered wagons that opened up the new frontiers.

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  11. Perhaps a girlfriend should be amie and not ami?

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    Replies
    1. Quite possibly, but I was trying to be non-binary PC.

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  12. Replies
    1. It's a very appealing life-style, but not inside an old barn.

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