Another week, and more progress across the site. One of the most exciting for us is the air source heat pumps being installed for our new house and for the one-bed cottage – mainly because of the process and stress we went through for these. We put in a separate planning application for renewable technology across the site because we were cautious of how much change the council would accept in one go (this was after we put our first applications in for change of use from barns to residential; and for the changes to the top floor of the farmhouse). It took quite a few months for the council to approve the application, but as this was our only option for sustainable and affordable heating, it was crucial to our plans.
So now the first two are in situ (albeit the one-bed’s air source heat pump is still with the council for a decision, and is not actually connected yet), it’s a really exciting step forward for us. The temporary heating has been removed from our new house and the connections put in for the heat pump, so we’re looking forward to seeing lower electricity bills! We just need to paint the part in the cupboard where the temporary heating board was, so it all looks clean and white.
The outbuilding for the one-bed’s heating equipment is coming on really nicely too, with walls, a door frame and the roof starting to go on. We’d been a bit worried about whether there was enough space beside the tree and whether we’d need to remove the tree, but we’ve managed to squeeze everything in there with only removing a couple of lower branches and trimming the rest back. In fact, the tree actually does a good job at making the outbuilding look like it’s been there forever, so it should blend in quite well.
The tiler has been in to do a bit more work in the bathroom and ensuite. We had to get the back wall of tiles replaced as they’d all damaged slightly in the process of putting them in, so the tiler had to take them all off and replace them with new ones. He’s also finished tiling the wall that boxes in the shower pipes, so the whole room is coming together nicely.
While the weather remains dry, our builders have made progress digging the drainage at the corner of the shippon and the barn. This is critically important for us as it’s the lowest point of the yard and so any water that runs down it will need to drain through there – and being at the right level will make the difference between the shippon flooding in future or the water draining away. There are still some extra parts of the drainage to add along the front of the buildings to draw any water away, but this is a significant bit of progress.
And – while technically no work has actually been done on the building, the scaffolding has come down around the garage/communal area building. When we moved in, this was a derelict animal barn, which was a real eyesore. We got permission to replace it with a two-storey building which has been faced in stone to match the other barns. Now the scaffolding is down, we can see the building properly and it looks amazing! It fits in with the rest of the buildings really well – it wasn’t a cheap decision but it’s definitely worth it. The top floor, which is going to be communal space for guests to use, has bi-fold windows that overlook views across and up the valley (a railing of sorts will go in at some point). We’ve not been able to open them until now because the scaffolding was in the way, so it’s great to be able to try them out (ignoring the building materials in the way). We’ve added a few photos of the original building and a link to our more detailed page to show just how different it is!
Ley Farm Cottages 