# Picady - A small house with a sad story - April 2011



## nelly (Apr 1, 2011)

Just up the road from the picturesque Dobbs Weir is an overgrown plot of land that I have been driving past for months.
Behind the brambles is a what looks like a very large collapsing shed, every time I turn my head at it and wonder if there is anything of interest in it. 
Had it been bigger and made of brick then I would have been in like a shot, but this? Is it going to be worth the trek and the scratches??

It turns out that its called 'Picardy', probably named after the province in Northern France famed for The Battle of the Somme, so I did my normal research and came up with a very sad news paper article about the place

It would appear that there was a caravan type mobile home in the garden of Picardy, it's not clear whether anybody still lived in the house itself at the time, but going by the dates on some of the stuff inside then I would guess that the house was in such a poor state of repair that it was abandoned and the caravan in the garden became the new home.

The caravan base is just visible through the sea of stinging nettles

In September 2010 a planning application for 4 detached houses was rejected by Epping Forest Council







So, it on with the photos and I'll let you see what you make of the place 















































































































Thanks for looking 


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## Priority 7 (Apr 1, 2011)

Nice job there nelly would love to have a mooch myself looks like a nice photo spot


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## Mimi B (Apr 2, 2011)

dont you find it creepy being somewhere, where an old lady died? nice pics though


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## oldscrote (Apr 2, 2011)

Wow Oh Wow what an atmospheric place.would be interesting to run that film through a projector to see what was,,,,,,,,


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## nelly (Apr 2, 2011)

Mimi B said:


> dont you find it creepy being somewhere, where an old lady died? nice pics though



It wasn't so much creepy, but when I finally came across the remains of the caravan which is really only the chassis of the thing, I did sort of tread carefully around it out of some kind of strange respect for somebody that I had never met.




oldscrote said:


> Wow Oh Wow what an atmospheric place.would be interesting to run that film through a projector to see what was,,,,,,,,



Somebody else has mentioned this too me Scrote, but I didn't have an 8mm projector on me, let alone a screen


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## TeeJF (Apr 2, 2011)

I loved the little child's "club" book,I just wish we could have read the diary entry next to it. It looked like something along the lines of the gang were going to "SPLIT" on someone for something or other! Such fun! And the drinks bottles still with presumably booze left in them. I had to laugh at the curtains though, we have a pair which are identical, long since relegated to dust sheet duties though! Great posting, great pics. Well done!


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## Chris34 (Apr 2, 2011)

Nice find and quality photos Nelly,

That Daily Mirror _“The Rape of Britain” _when did that happen? :biglaugh:


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## nelly (Apr 2, 2011)

Chris34 said:


> ,
> That Daily Mirror _“The Rape of Britain” _when did that happen?



Thursday 12th June 1975 - Price 5p


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## John_D (Apr 2, 2011)

Chris34 said:


> Nice find and quality photos Nelly,
> 
> That Daily Mirror _“The Rape of Britain” _when did that happen? :biglaugh:


Well the front page story on Idi Amin was to do with the sentence of death on British author 'Dennis Hills' and that all occurred in 1975, a letter to Amin from the Queen got him reprieved.


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## LittleMadam (Apr 2, 2011)

That is such an interesting report on a small but fascinating place. Is that someones old school report? Such a shame it has been left behind.

So sad about the lady too, thanks for posting xxx


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## nelly (Apr 2, 2011)

LittleMadam said:


> That is such an interesting report on a small but fascinating place. Is that someones old school report? Such a shame it has been left behind.
> 
> So sad about the lady too, thanks for posting xxx



Yeah, it was a school report and I did have a quick read, but there is only so much you can post up isn't there?

Nice to hear from you again, we really need to have a good long old Yahoo chat one evening, that Epping day out is still on the back burner


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## smiler (Apr 10, 2011)

Great report and good pics to back it up, enjoyed reading the wee bit of history of the place. Thanks


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## Potter (Apr 11, 2011)

It's great when you find stuff left behind like that. Love the old phone. And yes, the films need checking out. Worth saving.


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## LulaTaHula (Apr 11, 2011)

Nice work doing the research on the place. Looks like an interesting place.


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## JOHNSODA (Apr 11, 2011)

Great report, timewarp special. Love the pics, and that Bowie piccy is old, ealy 70s/
thanks


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## Madaxe (Apr 14, 2011)

Excellent find.
Really enjoyed your pictures.


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## hydealfred (Apr 15, 2011)

Very poignant - its has a strange effect looking at the life of those you have not and never will meet. I can see where an authour may get inspiration from. Thanks for posting this up. Really made me think


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## Tomhowe (Apr 15, 2011)

Fab set of pics there pal


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## kathyms (Apr 16, 2011)

*old lady*

thanks for that nell. i love those houses maybe its my sick side but to go back in time and see the things left behind its fasinating. the poor lady these days would have been moved into a sheltered place, or i hope she would. i wonder how maney more old people live in such conditions just to stay were they have spent happy years. thanks again nell.


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## Munchh (Apr 17, 2011)

Fascinating actually nelly. Very glad you posted it, thanks.


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## DJ-Jamster (Apr 19, 2011)

Well done, Ah Bowie will always be the last to go


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## mimidaler (Apr 24, 2011)

ahhh i wonder what the picardie connection is? my last name is picard And i live nto far from there


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## skeleton key (Apr 24, 2011)

Neil thats a great report with a lovley yet emotional tie in.
Makes it that bit more special
Well done mate 

NICE  LOL

SK / Neil


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## nelly (Apr 28, 2011)

mimidaler said:


> ahhh i wonder what the picardie connection is? my last name is picard And i live nto far from there



'Picardy', probably named after the province in Northern France famed for The Battle of the Somme


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## Senga (May 15, 2011)

kathyms said:


> thanks for that nell. i love those houses maybe its my sick side but to go back in time and see the things left behind its fasinating. the poor lady these days would have been moved into a sheltered place, or i hope she would. i wonder how maney more old people live in such conditions just to stay were they have spent happy years. thanks again nell.




That's also my fascination with residential explores; it is indeed going back in time, and they always have a story to tell. I don't find it sick at all; not much different really, than visiting graveyards and reading stones - except in houses you get much more of a sense of how people's lives may have been.

I would hope no one would force anyone away from somewhere they_ wanted_ to be. Her memories were there, and I'm sure if she didn't want to be there, her children would have made arrangements. Likely she adamantly refused to leave a place she loved, regardless of how it appears to us.


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