To please the greedy EON Electric people I've had to stumble downstairs, then stumble further down the dead leave covered, slippy, narrow steps into the dim, dank basement to check the meter. Brushing aside the cobwebs I managed to work out the numbers (I always forget what to do), scribbled them down, and looked around at the dingy surroundings.
I always find myself asking what that space is for? These houses all begin with one room, added to over the years. When did they dig the basement? What went in that alcove? This extension at the rear was rebuilt when the landlord took possession, possibly in the 1990's, I am not sure of the date.
Old maps show the previous building extension but do not explain what it was used for. It may have been used far back in the past but the building was bought from a doctors, they used the house as a surgery, I doubt they kept a pharmacist down here.
The original steps down are seen covered in slime and dust and filled with rubbish donated by ex-tenants. It never ceases to amaze how people feel free to dump stuff when they leave. The old maps show the extension but at no time do they mention what it was for. A wash house perhaps, with no water? Until 1861 water had to be brought from the pump of course. Nothing in the old census indicates the occupants employment. There again it is not always easy to identify the correct name at this address, the census writers were not helpful to folks like me. The latest 1921 census is only available on 'Find my Past,' a bunch of money grabbing crooks they are too. To check the census itself, giving many but not all details, is £2:50, a copy costs £3:50. It was free on Ancestry once you paid you dues!
Anyway, the numbers taken, back up the slimy stairs I slipped, ensuring the door is shut from rats and other vermin. Before I creaked back upstairs I took a poor shot of our Bluebells. Three of these come out annually, they have possibly been doing this for centuries! Delicate things, possibly the original British Bluebell's which are illegal to pick these days. The only Blubell's I knew as a kid were the 'Bluebell Matches' my dad bought to light the cigarettes that killed him. Those bulbs bought now in garden centres I believe are Spanish. Not that I would know, but Brexiteers may get annoyed.
I inserted the numbers, once I found my way through the many pages, sent off the details. Today I find the new bill, this tells me how much I pay and how I am £7 in credit. I am never sure how these chancers work these things out, but they always come out on top. Once, and if, the weather warms up of course much less use to be made of the electric or gas. Hooray! More climate warming around here say I.
