@s0u1 and I went on an excursion.
We’re looking for a new property. I’m sick and tired of our neighbours and though I love the house we live in, I do NOT love the noise from next door. The arguments, fights and general toxic negativity is awful to witness. Not to mention the fact that they’re not happy with each other, or their house – well, that’s what I assume from the noise of drilling with heavy machinery I hear through my walls. Surely there can’t be anything solid left of the walls…
OK, this may not be the best example...
As a writer, I personally like quiet. Not deathly-quiet like I should expect some traumatic event just around the corner, but a calm and peaceful ‘no noise’ would be nice.
I’ve always wanted a ‘Writers’ Retreat’ kind of place and the recent lock-down has persuaded us both that we could live away from everyone – especially toxic ‘neighbours’.
Looking through ‘For Sale’ ads, I found a few that were quirky and interesting.
Croft Cottage would be simply perfect, of course, but there’s a caveat. Under Agricultural law in this country, certain land and properties MUST be occupied by someone ‘in the trade’ as it were. A farmer or agricultural worker (or their widowed spouse) and certain other trades are the only ones allowed to buy this type of land – which is why it’s on the cheap side. Look for ‘Subject to an Agricultural Occupancy Condition’. I’m also looking into this… mainly how I can become one of those types of workers… but I think it’s not going to be as easy as that, otherwise they’d all be doing it.
This one 1 caught my eye because of the out-of-the-way location, plus the fact that there’s services (electricity and water) both in place.
This land 2 REALLY took my fancy because of the amount of land. The low cost reflects how unusable the land is and how ‘not valuable’ it is, otherwise the plot would have been snapped up, long ago.
The final one 3 interested me too.
We went to look at 2 first, just because…
@s0u1 researched the area, so he’d know where to park and in which direction we should start walking. Prepared for a hike, we set off with printed copies of the Estate Agent’s and property’s details.
With estimated postcode and just the memory of the surrounding area to guide us, we still had to turn around a few times before finding the parking area.
We recognised the parking area from Google maps and parked up. We took sandwiches and a drink with us because 50 acres is a lot of land to look at – we didn’t realise it was going to be so difficult to locate!
The lane meandered past picturesque fields full of new lambs, and things looked promising.
After a little while, the well-paved path turned to rocks – not nice for walking on type of rocks. Harsh, sharp stones paved the well-worn pathway and I noted that the path would NOT be good for ponies to walk on.
A number of trees hadn’t yet started their Spring transformation and @s0u1 wondered why. ‘Just late starters’ didn’t cut it when we saw definitely dead leaves and shoots. Something cataclysmic had occurred. The affected trees were covered in a rusty-looking bark and it just wasn’t quite right.
(Picture from Google's free to use search images as mine didn't come out)
On the plus side, there was a good stream trickling down the hillside – always a good sign.
We tried to follow the details to see where the land started. The maps aren’t great and there’s no map grid reference or GPS reference to help you – there’s not even a ‘For Sale’ sign to mark the beginning or end of the property’s boundaries.
We saw cows. Mountain cows.
Eventually, with a lot of guesswork, we located the land we were looking for. Who knew – all we had to do was look up.
We’d need mountain ponies for this part of the land… hardy, sticky-footed mountain ponies.
We pressed on. We spoke to a local woman who asked if we were lost. She told us a bit about the area and every person we encountered were nice and friendly, even their dogs! She told us the trees were affected by Ash Dieback and I’m going to look it up.
We met a couple shouting for their dog and then, a while later, we met the lost dog. Off-lead in lambing season is not a good thing and is likely to get the dog shot by the farmer. More to the point, the farmer would be legal to do that – AND probably be able to claim costs for any killed lambs.
One local (not local) guy, as he passed us, told us about fields of orchids a little walk away and we promised to go and look (if we had time).
The stream meandered from one side of the path to the other and still looked promising.
The local (not local) guy came back and asked if we’d been to see the orchids. Ah, we’d missed the turn off (hadn’t noticed the turn off). He chatted for a while and I noticed his accent – not local.
He came from Tyneside (up North a ways) and he’d lived down South, in France, and Canada and then he’d gone to live in the Peak District and there he stayed because it was by far the best place he’d ever lived.
The stream trickled past and we walked on. We spotted a blocked off entrance to the side of the hill (mountain) and investigated. The stream, or part of it, started beyond the metal door in the side of the hill.
Hobbitses like their privacy, it seems.
@s0u1 investigated closer – he’s an ex-miner and once a miner, always a miner, I suppose. There’s no getting through that door though and we moved on.
Looking up, to the left, trying to see any prospect of grazing for horses on the hillside (mountainside), we were disappointed. There’s no way on earth that land could be used for anything except growing things that are expert at clinging on.
Running along the fence, we spotted a cable… then two and eventually, four cables.
“Oh, they have a telephone service up there, at least,” @s0u1 said.
We came to what we thought was the end of the stretch of land and took a look at the map, trying to figure it out.
“I don’t think we’re at the end of it yet,” I said and we moved on.
At the right side of the path, waterfalls and standing pools indicted the path was getting steeper – not that we needed to be told…
Someone had rigged up a dam and I guessed it wasn’t beavers.
Warning signs telling people to beware of cold, deep water weren’t necessary to persuade me to keep out… it looked kinda soupy.
We got to the top of the hill – or at least, the top of that part of the hill and more ominous signs!
No Swimming! Danger Quicksand!
Um... 'quick' sand? I think not.
OK, we’ll not take a swim then, we’ll sit and have a picnic.
More on the adventures in Hobbit land tomorrow…
In the US, land zoned for agricultural use has substantially lower property tax rates. But all you need to keep the status is a couple of cows. We have huge fields with two cows wandering around. It is usually the second generation owners that do this. When the land becomes more valuable they get the land re-zoned for housing and develop it and make millions.
They're a picky lot when it comes to owning land. I think the landowners brought these archaic laws in to keep commoners in their place - you can't own land, but if we need to sell it, you can own it, but only if you remain farmers and 'poor' - or something like that :)