'Before' Photos
The first photo is of the upper level (only just planted with grass) and shows what will be the shared
drive up to the road. This level will be divided cross-ways
about where the stone bench is in the middle. The new access down to the
next level (out of site behind the bamboos to the right) will swing off
the existing drive between the olive trees behind the stone bench to the
right back corner of
the photo. The path on the right goes down to the old pond and lavoir -
(pond and washing trough) served by a fresh water spring which will be
in 'my' part after division. The little pond is really an amazing
corner of tranquillity - it would have
been built / cut out of the rock at the same time as the old house in
late
1600s.
The
next 2 photos show the middle field, as it was back in 2003. Flanked on
one side by the bamboos and on the other by 'cannes' (no idea what they are called in English). So the old house is
to the right in this view above and behind the bamboos and the lower field on the
left below the
cannes. The division is about in the middle of the field.
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| Looking North-East across the middle field - Oct 2003 |
|
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| Looking South East across the middle field 2003. |
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| And Southwards - from the middle field over the lower field to the right 2003 |
It took several years of hard work to
clear away the Cannes - which grow to 5 or 6 m and turn brown every
winter collapsing onto the lawn. Horribly messy plants which invade the banks at a scary rate! The middle
field looks a bit bare now they have gone but Bruno and Christel's fruit trees are growing and later I'll re-instate some more
controllable plants along my edge. Also - the house will take up half the space.
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| Feb 2013 SE end of the mid field looking what will be the front of the house. |
The
following photos
show the building plot at the beginning of 2013 (all the
cannes to the
left hand side are now gone). In the picture to the right, I
was standing towards the SE end of the middle field looking NW across
where the house will be built.
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| Standing in the lower field looking up to the middle field. |
The
left view was taken in February, before the reeds in the lower field
had their spring green growth.The house will be just in front of the
bamboos up to the left limit of the photo. In winter the bare trees, as
seen, will allow maximum sun - and offer shade in the summer.
 |
And standing at the NW end looking back and over the lower field.
|
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| The beautiful little 'bassin' with old wash trough. |
I kept the old
bassin and wash
trough (more than 300 years old) when the land was divided. I hope to
make more use of this quiet shady area in the future as it will be
closer to and on level with the house. Don't be misled by the fish about
the pond size - it's 4.5m by 4m! The biggest carp is a monster of
about
35cm!
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| Spring coming 2013. Views from what will be the front of the house Southwards |
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| This is the steep bank down which we have to make an access drive. |
This bank was the biggest worry to most involved
in the project. With a drop of more than 3m and a sharp bend - it
wasn't going to be easy to cut in a drive - especially one solid enough for the lorries bringing down
building materials. Further more - the bank drops away another 3m on the left into
the field below, a worrying 6m wake-up call if you
misjudge the bend! But if I didn't have the drive coming down at this end of
the land - it would have been too close to the house and compromised
the patio and flower garden I plan there. Or it would have passed in front of the old house which wouldn't have been acceptable.
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