Tiny Cottage Revealed - Dec 08

Whilst travelling on a bus early on in the week, I saw that this tiny cottage in Colyford can be seen, now that the foliage has died back a bit. So on the return journey I got off the bus and managed to find a way through some of the undergrowth, although not inside the cottage itself. I've been told that this was once a farmhouse, although it seems much too small to me.
I wasn't sure if this was worthy of a post but after being heartily scratched, covered with half a hedge, thwacked across the forehead by a springy branch and up to my ankles in soft peat...I thought I may as well for my troubles! Hope you enjoy the piccies anyway.

Taken from across the road.











Through the hedge to the side, although the front could not be accessed at all due to the thick undergrowth.





Around the rear, what looks like a door porch at the the other end.





No, it's only an outhouse...probably an old privy.



And how it looked earlier on in the year.

Old cottage

Some nice slates and ridge tiles, nice to see them still there. I think you need a chainsaw in your kit for the foliage.

Engineer said:

...I think you need a chainsaw in your kit for the foliage...

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Heehee. My dad used to own a machette for pruning and hedging. I could've carried that in my backpack easily.

nice pics foxy,look like a farm labourers cottage to me,quite sobering when you think his wife and he may have brought up several childeren in there.

ricasso said:

...look like a farm labourers cottage to me...

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Ah, that hadn't occured to me, but it does make sense now that you've said it. Cheers, ricasso.

Foxylady said:

Heehee. My dad used to own a machette for pruning and hedging. I could've carried that in my backpack easily.

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Don't get stopped by plod with a machete though.

Pity you didn't manage any interior shots after all that effort.

Seahorse said:

Don't get stopped by plod with a machete though.

Pity you didn't manage any interior shots after all that effort.

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Nah, I've no idea what happened to it. D'you know, I couldn't even see a door and it was far too overgrown at the front and the other side to get around there and have a proper look. The leaf mould was getting very deep too and I got a bit spooked by that.

Foxylady said:

up to my ankles in soft peat...

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I bet the bus driver loved you!

huggles said:

I bet the bus driver loved you!

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I walked the rest of the way home...it's only about a mile and a half.

I'm amazed at the vegetation take over.

I love winter because you find all sorts of goodies left abandoned. Looking at the size of it I would have said it was a shed - or is it the size of the vegetation doing that!

There are some great small pull-saws for clearing away vegetation like that. I use a brand called "Silky". Expensive but well worth it.

Great find Foxylady and thanks for posting.

Sausage said:

I love winter because you find all sorts of goodies left abandoned. Looking at the size of it I would have said it was a shed - or is it the size of the vegetation doing that!

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You're right about the vegetation as it looks smaller than it actually is until you get close up to it, and it does appear to have two floors to it, with an upper and lower set of windows at the front. Although I couldn't see a chimney, there does seem to be what looks like an outside chimney breast on the other side and a possible door next to it, but I couldn't really see properly due to the amount of growth in the way.
Cheers, Sausage.

Mother nature taken over, good find anyway

Cheers, chase.

More revealed!

Sorry to bump up the thread folks, but a mystery has been solved!
I couldn't understand why the front of the cottage is so tiny, whereas the rear wall is rather long. Seen from a bus journey I can now see why, so I stopped off there on my way back and had another crack at it.

Seen from across the road, there's a small round hump of ivy in the centre of the pic. That's the end wall to a much larger, demolished section of the cottage, which can be seen to the left of centre.





The remaining back wall can just about be seen rising upwards towards the right hand side.



And again, the back wall can just about be seen through the tangle.



There is a door on the side of the remaining cottage, but this can now be seen to be on the top floor. The floor of the ground floor is a lot lower than the ground behind the cottage and the roadway itself. On the next pic there is a doorway on the left, just below the middle branch across. It's very difficult to make out on the photo but easier to see with your own eyes that it's a ground floor doorway.



A bit more revealed of the upper and lower storey windows at the front.



And back around the rear where I made it to the end this time. Behind the odd porch thingy and showing the end wall of the demolished part.







A steep slope of slippery moss-encrusted stones, at the top of which was an impenaterable mass of brambles. I did get up there, hoping to see around the corner, but it was totally impossible to see anything. Ah well, at least a mystery has been solved.

Now, that's what I call derelict

nantyffin said:

Now, that's what I call derelict

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Heehee. Absolutely! I'd love to try and get in further but where I took the photos from the road, there's a vertical bank almost up to my shoulders topped with barbed wire, then a huge drop the other side. I think that's as far as I can go on this one. Although...I'm not one to give up, so you never know.