I noticed the really tall, external chimney in the centre of this photo the other day, then I remembered that I built it myself in the mid 1970s. Top left are the lower slopes of Solsbury Hill.
I did quite a lot to that building. It was constructed during the period when you were taxed according to how many windows you had in your house, so quite a few window openings were made and then filled neatly with stone ready for someone like me to turn up when the 'light tax' had been abolished. I fitted three windows in that place, but it is amazing how many remain blocked all these years after the 18th century. I suppose the 'blind' windows are now listed as historical features.
The house is situated in Hanover Street. We called it 'Hangover Street' back then, for obvious reasons. When I first arrived in Bath it was a place built of stone blackened by Victorian coal fires and its residents consisted mainly of the elderly and escapee hippies. Flats were cheap but generally sordid and people shared them. One such house in Hanover Street was shared by quite a few people I knew, including one girl who tried to keep warm one night by balancing a two-bar electric heater on the edge of the bath. It fell in, killing her instantly. She was a direct descendant of Old Mother Shipton, the benign witch from somewhere up North. You may have heard of her.
Mother Shipton lived in Knaresborough in Yorkshire. She was a bit of a predictionist and said the ships would be one day made of iron and float.
ReplyDeleteWell she was right about that then. I bet she didn't predict yachts made of concrete though.
DeleteHer real name was Ursula, Ursula Southeil
ReplyDeleteReally? Not Shipton then?
DeleteOur 17th Century cottage that we lived in before this house had a bricked up window. The saying ' Daylight Robbery ' comes from the time of window tax. That is such a beautiful photograph, buildings of mellow Bath stone , the church tower, your lovely chimney, wonderful views beyond and then, a bloody great Esso garage spoiling the splendour !!!! XXXX
ReplyDeleteOur 17th century cottage that we lived in before this house had a window bricked up. The saying ' Daylight Robbery ' comes from the window tax time. That is a beautiful photograph.... gorgeous houses, mellow Bath stone, the church tower, your towering chimney, the fields and landscape beyond ..... and then, a bloody Esso garage spoiling the whole vista !!! XXXX
ReplyDeleteOh well, I do use it sometimes...
DeleteSorry .....I didn't mean to be rude about it ..... it happens everywhere and we need petrol stations. It just seems a shame when it spoils the view. I always wonder why they can't blend them in a bit more ? Maybe paint them in a Farrow and Ball colour 🤣. XXXX
DeleteI'm not offended! I feel the same way about it as you do!
DeleteWere you an escapee hippie? I haven't heard of Mother Shipton.
ReplyDeleteNo, I was never a hippy. I suppose I fell into the general category of ex art student.
DeleteI had never heard of Mother Shipton. A half hour of reading fixed that. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThis chimney is one of the tallest I've seen and it is striking. The symmetry of the home is appealing. Your custom work never fails to impress. Boston, MA has an ugly gas station sigh rising above many buildings. Many people protested insisting on retaining the sign when the gas station left. I'm with Jackie regarding the sign.
ReplyDeleteSo am I.
DeleteI am always amazed at the beautiful and interesting things you can see from your window.
ReplyDeleteThat is not from my window, it is from a scaffold a half a mile away, Yael.
DeleteA beautiful view - I like Bath's mellow yellow stone. First I was a bit confused while reading: you did not only work on that chimney but on the building behind?
ReplyDeleteOf Mother Shipton I never heard (though now I read Wikipedia - and am interested in the Mother-Shipton-Moth :-)
Yes, I worked on other parts of the house for the friend who owned it. I haven't heard of the moth!
DeleteHaving lived in N.Yorkshire I too have heard of O.M.S., I often think of her when reading a comment by 'Ursula' on other blogs! She petrifies me with her forthright comments but it's the rows of teddy bears hanging in the water that really are gruesome.
ReplyDeleteTeddy Bears? I don't know about that one.
DeleteHanging from the roof of the cave are teddy bears and other household goods all petrified in stone from drippingvwaters full of minerals
DeleteWhen I lived in York I visited many times
DeleteI would like to see that.
DeleteOooh was the chimney tall to get it above the other houses so as not to blow smoke in their windows? You live among so much history!
ReplyDeleteYes, the stack had to be as tall as the others.
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