A workshop tour…

There have been many and varied changes to the workshop in recent months, so it is time for a bit of a catchup.

To start with, the workshop is now the Glittery Girly Blue Room of Glittery Girlyness.

I’d love to be able to say that at the touch of a concealed button…

  • The bed flips over to reveal a workbench & milling machine
  • The headboard flolds to reveal the tool board
  • A lathe rises magically out of the dressing table.

But I can’t – it’s all rather domestic now. Well, aside from the large quantity of small engineering tools which are hiding under the bed.

In short, I’m soon to move house. The workshop had to be packed away, simply because it didn’t fit with the demographic who were likely to buy the house – 50+ divorced women looking to downsize into a trendy area.

Shortly after stripping out the workshop, putting the majority of what I own into storage and decorating every surface I accepted an offer on the house. No, it’s not from a middle aged bloke looking to put a milling machine in the back bedroom, but predictably from a middle aged woman looking to downsize into a trendy area.

One (of many) reasons behind moving is that I get to have a larger workshop. I also get to live in a less populated area, so fewer people to annoy. I get more room. A lot more room.

So I’m moving from here….

to here…

Plus I get to pocket enough money in the process to think about being mortgage free in the next couple of years.

Doesn’t it just look lovely.

There is a fair amount of work needing doing – I don’t think I’ve ever bought a house which was “finished”, and this isn’t an exception. I’ll be building an extension out back and moving the bathroom in the next couple of years. I’m only slightly intimidated by having an AGA instead of a “Proper” cooker. I’m looking forward to trying to keep the wood burning stoves lit and have already bought myself an axe.

However, this is a workshop tour.

The barn has a workshop. It is divided into three areas. One (which can be seen in the picture above) is 17 feet by 33 feet (ie massive) and is fairly modern built, stone cladding over blockwork, nice flat concrete floor. roof half boarded for storage.

The next barn is rather old – I don’t know how old, but it appears on the earliest maps of Somerset that I’ve been able to find, so pre 1800, and is stone built with a tiled roof that isn’t exactly straight, but looks good enough. It is 24 feet by 33 feet, so massive-er. Weathertight too. The current owner runs an motor racing preparation/tuning business from it.

There is also a garage, just a wide single garage thing, probably twice the size of my back bedroom workshop, so still useful.

They arrange themselves into a courtyard, which you can see in the picture above. There is also a large space out back for growing things. Since the great BramBooDlia removal (Bramble, Bamboo, Budlia = the three weeds of the apocalypse) I’ve been enjoying having a garden which approximates flat, green and boring. I think I’m ready for an orchard. I’ll have about half an acre in total.

The nearest three phase transformer is on a pole less than 100 metres away. I’m just throwing that out there… I’m not actually planning on buying an industrial power hammer for forging metal the day I move in. I don’t need three phase, I can get by perfectly well without it. We’ll see what the quote is like for connection.

Anyone got a nice fettled Bridgeport going for a reasonable price ?

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