Joe;832484 wrote: Great idea for a thread, I can relate to this!
I spent my first 3 years of life in a little cottage. It was extremely primative by modern standards, (no bathroom, no toilet, just an elsan outside). I have no memories of it, just what my parents told me. One thing I liked was that they said it had an old copper to do the washing in, like a big bowl (I guess), with a place to make a fire underneath to heat the water. I wish they'd taken photos of the rooms inside but they didn't.
Well a few weeks ago I was in the area again. So I went to the house & rang the bell & said I began my life in this house, please can I see what it's like on the inside. They were very obliging & gave me a full tour. Sadly I felt no memories coming back, it had none of the rustic olde worlde charm my parents spoke of, but I thanked the owners gratefully, that's one gap in my early life now partly explained, even if the rooms, well the whole layout of the house, is very different to what my parents remember.
A few weeks later I told my parents & they were very interested. So much so that they may now ask to see round it too! In the meantime I'm thinking of asking my mum to draw some pictures of us as a family inside it, that's what I'd really like, to see how it was when they lived there back in the 1960s. My mum is good at drawing so I hope she'll do that for me.
A few (OK a lot of) years ago an old lady came to where my parents were living & asked to do the same thing. Their house is Victorian & this lady had lived there in the 1920s. It was fascinating learning what she remembered, one thing that sticks in my mind was where someone had cut a chunk out under the handrail of the stairs. I've felt that gap for years but not thought to question it. She brought the matter up, she actually cut it herself & went to feel if it was still there, which it was, it seemed to make her day! It was probably better for her than for me visiting my first childhood home because my parents house hasn't changed much at all, all the rooms are the same, she remembered the big old cooking range they had in the kitchen & the well they used to draw the water up from, & lots of other stuff I can't remember, but I do remember her delight reliving all her old memories..
I was just a child then but I loved that link with the past. If I live to be old I plan to do that again, to visit my parents house & take the memories with me. But when I left home I took loads of pictures of all the rooms, that's something I've done in all the houses I've ever lived in. I think it would be nice to show the new owners those pictures, I'd just love it if someone came to me now (I live in a Victorian house too) & said we used to live here, can we see it, & we've got some pictures of it in the past. That's one of the best things about old houses, the stories they can tell.
I hide letters in out of the way places too, like under the floorboards. I'd love to go back & see if they're still there. I hid an old Argos catalogue with a letter in a gap in an alcove my parents made once. When my parents pineboarded their bathroom us kids were allowed to write all ove the walls, & we did, my sister wrote if you take the boards off you'll get a surprise, well I'd love to be a fly on the wall when someone does!! And I'm always hiding old newspapers & letters in places where I've lived because I'd just love it if I found someone else had done the same & it was me finding it, well you need fools like me setting stuff up like that if it's going to happen.
Ah, old houses, so many memories.
How interesting Joe. The house I live in was built on farmland in 1916 and when we went to widen the closets postcards fell out of the ceiling. They were from the 1940's. When my husband bought the house back in the 80's, all the old gas lamps were still in place. It's a shame though as he was very young when he bought it and tore out everything.
When we replace the ceiling tiles you can see the outline of where the walls used to be and the gas lamps. Right now we have what is called the wide open look so when you walk into the front door you can see clear through to the kitchen. But when hubby bought it there were three separate rooms that you would have to walk in and out of. Can't imagine how hot this house was in the summer:wah: And when we decided to put deck on, we found old newspapers from the 40's under the shed. Probably there to keep out the draft is what my dad told us.
I have always wondered to my hubby, wouldn't it be funny if the guy who sold this house to you came back and saw what we've accomplished and what he would remember and could tell us.