Cute little house

Today we're checking out this cute little cottage crumbling away in the countryside. There's not an awful lot to say about it. We were passing by on our way to another place, and then it started to rain. Luckily the door was open on this adorable wreck, so we slipped inside for a quick mooch.

 

 

 

The house shows up on old maps dating back to the Victorian era, when it was part of a wealthy estate. Presumably this was the home of one of the estates servants, or the game keeper . It does tend to have a bit of a game keeper vibe to it, perched ominously on a bit of an incline, overlooking the surrounding landscape.

 

But it also has enough modern trinkets left behind to make me apprehensive about doing too much research. I mean, I really enjoy researching the lives of working-class Victorians when I'm photographing those tiny little homes that nobody would consider suitable for a whole family today, that have been abandoned for decades. That sort of thing is genuinely fascinating. It's a little more invasive to research a house that people can still remember being lived in.

 

 

There's a toaster and a kettle here. I guess wherever these people went, they didn't want tea or crumpets. What mockery of existence is that? 

 

 

This is an interesting sight. It looks as if the spider has actually pulled the ring away from the wall with the strength of its web. It absolutely hasn't, of course. The ring was probably like that when the spider got there, but it still looks cool.

Moving on from the kitchen, there's this tiny middle room sandwiched between the kitchen and the lounge.

 

 

It's kinda cute with the curtains still up. Presumably it was once a small dining room.

 

 

And there's this lovely old fireplace, long since blocked off but still retaining its mantelpiece and tiled flooring. It's odd because I would have thought these features would be removed when the fireplace was blocked off.

 

 

And then next to that room is this lounge area with a colossal fireplace dominating the entire wall of the building. And then there's a cabinet, which has been dragged towards the door and then left, perhaps the last effort at clearing the place out before someone said "Fuck it, the van is full." 

I  imagine this room was quite homely when it was furnished and the fire was going. The fireplace gives it a lot of character, mainly by being impossible to ignore. Think how many home invaders you could cremate in that.

 

 

There's a solitary shoe here.

 

 

Moving on upstairs...

 

Everything's a little more decayed up here.

 

The first bedroom is a little weird because one wall is covered in newspaper. That's sure to give anyone nightmares.

 

 

But I've seen this sort of thing before, in an abandoned Soviet barracks of all places, and I learned then that newspapers were commonly put on walls back in the day as a form of cheap insulation. But these newspapers here are dated 2016, which would indicate that the house was lived in until relatively recently.

 

 

There are some pictures on the window.

 

And that's kinda baffling because clearly someone did come here and move everything out. It hasn't got the same smashed glass and penis graffiti that accompanies a traditional looting. The house was left to rot after someone moved out, taking most of their belongings. And I can understand maybe leaving a toaster or a kettle. They can be replaced pretty easily. But pictures are a little more sentimental. There's a girl and her dog in one photo, and surely that's important to someone. 

 

But while we're on the subject of what's important to people, it's time to check out the best part of any abandoned building, the bathroom. 

 

Yep. Still in better condition than the toilets in some pubs and clubs. 

I actually love that the toilet window is the only window in the house that overlooks the driveway, which means whoever lived here could wave at the postman while sat on the loo squeezing one out, and he'd have no idea what was really going on. 

 

Onto the other bedrooms...

 

So presumably this was the kids room, as indicated by the totally relatable stickers slathered all over the bedroom door. 

 

 

Apparently the occupants name was Edward, and everything on this door gives us a rough indication of when he was a child here. We have the Lion King, and we have the logo from "Dennis the Menace," but not the Beano version. This is actually from the live action movie that came out in 1993 and was based on the little blonde American Dennis the Menace cartoon that was adapted from another comic that first saw print across the pond on the exact same day that the British got their familiar Dennis and Knasher, completely by coincidence. And I'm quite surprised there wasn't any legal kerfuffle there. I remember both. As a child, me and my sister would turn on the TV because the TV guide said Dennis the Menace was on, and sometimes it was just this little blonde kid, and we'd sit there thinking "Who the fuck is this imposter?"

 

 

Some of these stickers are Crash Dummies, which was one 90s toy franchise I was never lucky enough to sink my teeth into. It was a toy based on those road safety adverts. The crash dummy figures and their vehicles were all designed to smash to pieces on impact, so the idea was to cram the hapless little wretches into their car and just send it careening towards the nearest wall. They were probably the funnest way to educate kids on the importance of seat belts that the world has ever seen.

 

 

The beds headboard is still here. 

 

 

For some reason, little Edward has a Christmas card from Conservative MP Philip Dunne. But he is the MP of Ludlow, so this isn't personal. He probably just sent a bunch of cards out to everyone.

 

 

And then there's the interior paper of a retro video game box. I've never heard of "Mr Wongs Loopy Laundry," but that's to be expected. The 1980s were just a random time for video games. It was just an era of bonkers platform games with little to no plot. I used to love retro video games. They just threw out any concept to see what stuck. I still have a load of old Atari games that I cannot access due to not having a working device. But someday...

 

This is really interesting. It appears to be a crumpled up letter talking about an archaeological dig around Coalbrookdale, and it makes mention of the Darby family, who I coincidentally mentioned last blog, and will probably be talking about next blog too.

 

There's a final room, and it has "Keep Out" and "Knock before enter" written on it. I thought this might be a child's bedroom too.

 

 

It's a bit small though. It's basically a big cupboard. Perhaps it was a study.

 

But that's all I've got. This house isn't exactly the most exciting location I've ever documented, but it is still quite cute, and I think it would make a lovely home for someone. Unfortunately it remains empty, and has since been boarded up... Something to do with people always sneaking in and stuff... Whoops...

But that's okay. It still made for a lovely side quest. The main adventure continues. 

So my next blogs will be one on this Shropshire-based local one, and then another on my travel one. A lot people who follow my local blog still don't know that I do a travel blog, where I climb on capsized cruise ships and things. Occasionally they comment on my Facebook posts saying "Where in Shrewsbury is this," about a chateau in rural France, but that makes sense. The confusion is all my fault, but I'm not changing my Facebook page now. That would be even more confusing.

So anyway, I don't know what I'm doing on these algorithmic hellscapes, but if you like my blogs then follow my Instagram, my Facebook, my Vero and my Reddit. Maybe follow my Twitter and Threads too. I barely use them, but hey-ho.

Thanks for reading!