2017 and 2018 were busy years at the Blue Cottage, with some major building works to the extension at the back and a complete rethatch.

Thatching

In the spring of 2017, the front and half the side of the cottage was rethatched. We couldn't do the back at the same time as we needed to arrange the building work first - the thatch had to be cut right back to rebuild the extension. Here are Dave and Greg hard at work:

Rebuilding the extension

In the spring of 2018, the work started on the extension at the back. The original extension had been built in the 20th century as a group of outbuildings and the walls were thin and very inefficient. We needed to replace the roof and decided to rebuild it entirely, extending it at the same time to make a much larger kitchen. It was not without incident - the man from building control said at one point that we would have to demolish the back wall of the cottage! We found a solution he was happy with and the 16th century walls are still intact.

Below are some pictures of the demolition and rebuild. The two people looking through the new kitchen window are Jessica and our friend and builder, James. Below are Jim and Jessica having a go at driving the dumper truck - very slowly!