Making A Silk Purse Out Of A Sow's Ear?

Please forgive the "local" nature of today's post. I understand that it will have little interest to anyone not living in the village, but I wanted to chronicle a bit of Trelawnyd news.
I was making dumplings this morning when animal helper Pat called a hello over the garden wall.
she told me that she had just walked through the village and had noticed that workmen had been hard at work clearing the jungle of trees and bushes around two derelict houses in the centre of the village.
The houses have been an eyesore for decades, and their presence has given that part of Trelawnyd an unfortunte air of decay which has coloured what visitors to the area think of us,so the news of the renovation was very welcome indeed.
I mixed my dumplings, made a banana loaf (remember the Great British Bake Off was on last night) then took the dogs up to London Road to see the changes for myself.
We joined a small crowd.
Well , when I say " small Crowd" I actually joined Gay Gordon who was pearched on his invalid trolley and Mrs Trellis who were watching a mini digger ripping away tons of undergrowth with some interest

before the work you couldnt see the village hall at all from the road
" Hello Flower!" Gordon Bellowed when I arrived " what do you think of all this? "
" Good news eh?"
I nodded... it was VERY good news for the village, I agreed
Two renovated family sized houses for Trelawnyd,
and a clearing of delerect properties and opressive overgrown gardens
Rural regeneration? lets hope so


The old photo  below shows clearly how the original houses looked

  


48 comments:

  1. urban renewal is a good thing.

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  2. Anonymous12:52 pm

    Exciting times in the village. Now lets hope some nice people move in there and restore those lovely old buildings to their former glory. Was the white one in the bottom photo the manse at one time?

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  3. Oh my what gorgeous old homes. I hope they get renovated back to their original glory.

    Cindy Bee

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  4. I personally love to read your "local" stuff, sort of all pen-pal like. I live in a city " Tuscaloosa" that went through a horrible tornado back in2011. There was much happiness to see things put right again.Renovation as a word does not do it justice. Oh I am making Banana bread today also but I am going to add some Mango just for fun. Have a good day. You didn't answer my question How much is 2 stones? (perhaps on purpose hmmm?)

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    1. 16 pounds! mary 16 pounds

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    2. In Norfolk a stone had always been 14 lbs. is yours a Welsh stone?

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    3. Bloody hell you're right
      Where the hell did I get 16 from?

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    4. From 16 ounces in a pound, I expect.

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  5. Nice houses, hope they don't tear out or cover up all the good stuff inside.

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  6. The tapered chimney in the old photo makes it look very 'Mackintosh-ish'. I wonder if it was built at the time time as the church?

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    1. Thats the village hall cro..... and that was built round 1908
      the houses predate the hall somewhat so that fits doesnt it?

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  7. Will the houses be sold private or to a housing association, John?

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    1. I don't know.. Affable despot jason told me they looked quality housing so I presume they will be sold

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  8. well reported...looking forward to hearing about the new tenants :)

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  9. love your small crowd...and local posts

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  10. They look like good size and well made homes John.....would love to see inside.....x

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  11. As we say here "local is lekker"

    Excellent news thst perfectly "usable" (I won't presume they are imnediately habitable) houses may soon be ringing with the sound a happy and excited voices.

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  12. A little renovation and you can have a couple of new neighbors.

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  13. Oh My Goodness...
    I love to read about your village. Please take more photos of the houses as they are fluffed up !

    "Make It So"

    cheers, parsnip

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  14. Beautiful buildings - and just in time for those of John's followers who wanted to move to Trelawnyd!

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  15. What lovely houses and such a shame they have been left to decay. They look quite substantial and would make good family homes, not to say make the village look better.

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  16. An internet search revealed that the two houses are going to be knocked together to become an asylum seekers' reception centre with an emphasis on fleeing Syrians. I am sure they will make a rich contribution to community life in the village. Occupation will be limited to one hundred and fifty.

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  17. London Road? Hmmm. Great news though. I hate seeing lovely old housing stock rotting while they put up soulless boxes needlessly.

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  18. I'm wondering what condition the the inside is, looks to be a long time vacant. They deteriorate rapidly around here when left empty.

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  19. Just hope the renovations are done sympathetically and not butched by some developer int flats, the sad fate of lots of buildings in our area.

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  20. Those old houses can be beautiful again. I don't know why you think we wouldn't be interested in local goings on. I know so many people in Trelawnyd because of you. If a tornado picked me up and set me down in Trelawnyd, I'd start by looking for you and the dogs. I'd want to meet Bingley and Mary. See your whole set up. Hope that Chris is around. Then I want to meet Auntie Glad and gay Gordon. I shall kiss Winnie for hours.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Will you please try to get photos of the interiors?

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    2. Insides are pretty much ok

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  21. Anonymous7:48 pm

    Gay Gordon reminds me of today's carpool conversation.

    Me: It smells like Ben Gay in here.

    Kids: Who the hell is Ben Gay?

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    1. Just had to google ben gay ......I had no idea

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  22. Love local posts. And hope those houses can be restored to glory - and filled with community minded people.

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  23. Another appreciater of local posts here!

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  24. Anonymous8:44 pm

    Much work to be done, no doubt. Do you think someone has bought them?

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    1. I think a builder did..??I shall find out

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    2. Property developer is the title I imagine

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  25. I like to hear your local news and cheer with you that this improvement is going on. I hope some families move in to the houses.

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  26. Renewal is an avalanche, a good one. Seeing the renovated house, some wife will say to the man, "You know, I think the house needs...."

    Some family will enjoy their life in those houses.

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  27. John, is there a local newspaper in your area? I really think if there is you could have the 'local news column' and it would be a hit! You're a natural at what is going on 'around town'!

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  28. Lovely village. How old is that church? I was imagining when that road was a dirt path for horse-drawn carriages.

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    1. It's not a church mike...it's the village hall.........
      The hall was constructed in 1908 and was funded by the Greek consul of Liverpool who lived in Mia hall ( just outside the village)
      The church is next to our cottage was was built in 1764

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  29. Thank you for your concern the other day I can do nothing about the situation its all in the hands of "powers that be' But I feel things are not so bad I will keep reading about your village and having a good laugh at all the dramas that happen to you Liz xx

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  30. Forgive? Don't you know we love your local posts as much as we love all your other posts?
    Thank you for sharing this with us, John. I'd say this renovation sounds like good news, indeed.
    Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, John.

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  31. Good news - empty house next to us has been sold finally & work will start soon x

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  32. Always good news to revive these old homes....here in our town they give the owners time to fix ...if not updated or if abandoned they tear them down...sad.

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  33. I, too, vote for more local news. We live the village life through your newsy posts, John. Don't apologize. We love this stuff!

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  34. I read this entire post and you know what part made me giggle? "Invalid trolley"......snicker worthy to me because in America they are called by their manufacturer name "Hover Round" or at times they are called "scooters". There are a few other names for them that escape me at the moment.
    We are so ubber sensitive to everyone's feelings these days that we wouldn't dare infer anyone is an invalid or handicapped.

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  35. I'm happy to tell you that you're completely wrong about this post being of interest only to the locals. It's posts like this that make your world come alive for us. That and the animal-shit, Chris-eye-rolling, randy-rooster posts too.

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I love all comments Except abusive ones from arseholes