Alterations at 4 Lodge Road

Almost as soon as we had moved in we had some work done on the house. The first thing was to provide some extra support for the roof which was covered with 11" clay tiles which overlapped so they were, effectively, three deep. Although the rafters were suitably massive, our friend George put in some strengthening timbers.

The second job was to knock through the walls which divided the kitchen, breakfast room and small pantry to make a big family room which ran from the front of the house to the back - its front window is on the left in the top picture.

The only pictorial record we have of the room we created is from photos of various parties. This one, which looks towards the front of the house, is David's third birthday party in 1982 which featured a cake which was repeated several times by popular demand, the chocolate hedgehog. Lizzie is on the left, her friend Annabel on the right, Katy is beyond Annbel, and the back of David's head in the foreground.

This is another of David's birthday parties, for his fifth birthday, and the picture looks towards the back of the house, with the back door into the yard on the left. Lizzie is obviously in charge, leaning against the freezer; the big Prestcold fridge is hidden in the remains of the small, open, walk-in larder behind her. We still have, and use daily, the oak table with its six chairs.

Just visible in this picture is the colourful, geometric, predominately yellow wallpaper which we chose, which is better seen....

....in this picture, along with the matching yellow curtains which we had made for the house in Fountain Lane. The event is my fortieth birthday - hence the four candles - with some of the Christmas decorations visible. Behind David is a small plastic fish tank which was the home of various goldfish at different times.

Lizzie's friend, Katherine Evans, is at left, and Daniel Rigby is in the blue sweater.

This is 1987 and David's eighth birthday. To the left, the wooden doors are the airing cupboard. Just visible beyond it is the Tyrolia solid-fuel stove which did the hot water, central heating and which Gill used for all the cooking. Look carefully beyond Gill and you can see me doing the washing up. The door leads down some steps into the back yard.

The full glory of the decor is visible, with the wallpaper matched by yellow gloss paint. It was a very cheerful room.