Detective Work Pt 2

I left the CD of photos that match this entry behind so thanks to Beck they are sailing their way to Australia. I'll add them at the end of the trip.

Wednesday morning I woke with a renewed sense of hope. After breakfast I headed back up to Flint Hill. After all I had found the pub wheere my Great Grandfather darnk and that was something to be pleased with. The marketing office fore Derwent View estate opened at 9am so I bided my time getting some photos of the pub and surrounding area.

Just after 9 I wandered into the office. "I have an unusual request. I'm wondering wether you had any information about what was here before the development. My Grandfather lived in a house here called Derwent View."

She said the area was vacant for a few years but gave the number for the local council who would probably be able to help. It was then that one of the other staff piped up saying that there was a house over in the next street called Derwent View. Things were suddenly looking up so after some rough directions I jumped back in the car and went around the block.

It was still a reasonable hour in Australia so if I found the house I wanted to call Grandma and Grandad so I stopped in a store to top up my UK telephone credit and get further directions. I wandered up the street carefully checking the names of the houses as I went... "Flint Hill House"... "Derwent View".

I looked carefully at the house. It had the name plate above the door and as Granddad described it a chimney at either end. It looked about the right age too. It would have had a good view of the valley except for the newer house across the road.

Once I was fairly sure this was indeed the house I wandered up to the front door and knocked. A woman opened the door. "Hi. Sorry to bother you but I believe my Grandfather lived in this house about eighty years ago."

The house had indeed been around for around a hundred years. Her husband was born in the house in the 1950s and had lived there all his life and his mother lived there for many years before. It had since been divided into two single bedroom flats with an extra entry on the down hill side. I had found it. I asked out of courtesy if I could photograph it and thanked her.

I took some photos and called Grandma and Grandad but they weren't in so left a message hoping they would get it. Feeling a great sense of satisfaction I wandered back to the car.