Brunswick Road 06 - Door and Electrics

Penrith, Cumbria. September-2021.

While we were in Italy the works continued.

The builder came and knocked out the wall below the dining room window and the door company installed a huge uPVC door. So now we can exit straight into the yard and can block up the kitchen door if we so choose. The latter is already effectively blocked by the rubbish and recycling bins. We also now have a PIR light above the door, very handy for putting the rubbish out at night.

The roofers finished the various works on the slates and flashing and replacing the small skylight. By the time we returned the scaffolding was gone.

There were a number of electrical re-wiring including new heavy duty cables for the oven and induction hob, relocating sockets from the chimney breast into the alcoves, and putting in USB plug sockets.

The utility room door is going to be enlarged and moved to the left so the extractor fan isolator switch needed raisingl. The other isolator switches had been fitted to the left of the door without checking with us first. That is where the ovens will be so they had to move them all to the window side! Hence the big strip of exposed brickwork.

On our return we found a number of snagging items the worst of which was the position of the new bathroom switches in the hallway (replacement for pull cords inside). They had put both at the same height, side by side,  with the fan isolator switch nearest the door. In the dark we would often turn off the fan instead of switching on the light! That will be fixed to raise the fan isolator up higher as is normal. 

The electricians are booked in to rectify.

History of CASEwise Corporate Modeler

“But what I do have are very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career.” - Liam Neeson, "Taken".

A question I am often asked is, “Do you miss work?” My answer is “I miss having my expertise used.”

Normally when people ask me what I used to do for a living I do NOT reply “I was mainly involved in systems development methodologies“. It is too hard to try and explain about Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and project management frameworks (PRINCE2, DSDM, etc) and Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools.

Instead I would normally say, “I worked in IT, but more on the project management side. Or sometimes “My clients were mainly the IT departments of large companies who wanted to do a better job of developing systems “.

The core pillars my discipline were the trilogy of methods, tools and techniques. Every area of endeavour had its own software packages to support what they do and IT is no different hence CASE tools.

This one product, CASEwise Corporate Modeler, has been involved through a large part of my professional career providing me with gainful employment both on the payroll and as a freelancer. Prompted by a contact from a ex-colleague and the emergence of a historic document I feel compelled to tell the full story of this money earner.

The other parts of the trilogy - methods (Inforem method, CSC Catalyst, Novartis Crystal) and techniques (data modelling and process dynamics modelling) - probably deserve their own posts but here is not the place.

Prequel - pre 1989.

1982: Inforem founded by Ali Arthur, Sohail Amer and Mojtaba Ghassamian

1985: TAF (The Analysts Friend) This product supported recording entities, attributes and a simple functional / process hierarchy. Written in Pascal by some chap who was even older than us. He had grey hair! George Keeling thinks he was called Tim but has forgotten his surname. It had a text based interface. Database underlying it not known.

1986: Mark joins Inforem.

1988: PAGE (professional application generation environment). TAF was rewritten to run on Datafit’s DP4 database with a GEM front end.

1989: PAGEfit. Athar Sharif and Nalin Goonewardene conceive the idea of PAGEFit. An interface to generate a DP4 database schema from the entity relationship diagram. You could then build application screens using QAB (Quick Application Builder) using the generated database.

1989: Inforem start work on a new version of CASEwise that supports version control and uses the fledgling Windows 1.0. The project starts to overrun both timescales and budget.

1990: CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation) go on a global spending spree acquiring a number of companies around the world. It acquires Inforem and divests itself of CASEwise:

• Inforem employees become CSC employees in early 1990.
• George Keeling leaves CSC to set up CASEwise
• CSC transfers CASEwise IPR to George
• George abandons the ambitious spec for the product and writes a simpler, better version
• Mark McLellan becomes product manager ably supported by Steve Jarvis, Simon Curtis, and a woman whose name I cannot remember.
• George continued to refine and improve the product over the following years
• After Casewise was started, John Christian, who had worked at Inforem and was recommended by Bob Carlsen, was a vital programmer because he understood Windows and GEM, which George didn't. His work was vital for the transition from GEM to Windows.

1992: CASEwise has grown sufficiently to employ a help desk person. Mark hands over support and breathes a sigh of relief. He continues with CSC for another eight years.

Official History (1989-2000)

<quote>

The history of the CASEwise Corporate Modeler

The CASEwise Corporate Modeler was originally developed by the English consulting and methods company Inforem Plc in the middle 1980's.  The tool was known originally call "PAGE", then "PAGEFIT".  Inforem Plc was acquired by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) between 1989 and 1990.  They sold the rights to the tool to George Keeling, the founder and Chief Executive of CASEwise.

During the first year CASEwise continued to support existing customers until it's first product I-CASEware was launched as version 2.  This release, and versions 2.1 and 2.2 employed the Digital Research GEM graphics environment and employed the Datafit DP4 relational database.  Version 2.3 was offered in both  GEM and Microsoft Windows.

The name CASEwise as first used with version 3 in 1992 when the product became the CASEwise Modeler.  Direct access to the integrated repository was first offered in 1994 with version 4 along with simulation support for Dynamics diagrams and Microsoft Word reporting tools.  Version 4.1 was launched in 1995 with additional functionality.

CASEwise revised the model database repository structure when version 5 was released in 1996 providing support for controlling diagram appearance and style.  In 1997 CASEwise launched version 6 as the CASEwise Corporate Modeler 97 and CASEwise Corporate Modeler 98 was launched in 1998 with an internal version of 6.1.  Corporate Modeler 99 was made commercially available in quarter 2 of 1999.

The background of CASEwise

CASEwise Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of CASEwise Systems Limited.  CASEwise Limited performs the sales, marketing, support and services function for none American business.  CASEwise Systems Limited performs the research and development function of CASEwise products.

CASEwise began trading as "CASEware Limited" during 1989/1990 after purchasing the intellectual property and source code from Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) following its acquisition of the English consulting and methods company Inforem Plc during 1989/1990.  CASEware became CASEwise Systems Limited a couple of years later when it was discovered that CASEware was being used by other legitimate businesses in some national markets, including the US.

In 1993, CASEwise opened a sales, support and service subsidiary in the US, located in Boston, Massachusetts.  The Boston office is now supported by satellite offices spread across the US.

CASEwise Limited, and CASEwise Systems Limited, are British companies located at and trading from offices in Swiss Cottage, London.

CASEwise vision on describing and analysing of processes

The CASEwise mission statement clearly presents its vision for Process:

"CASEwise believes that understanding business processes lies at the heart of effective management. For this reason we develop tools for large and mid-sized enterprises to model business processes and use the resulting intelligence to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

Success will happen for CASEwise because we believe in:

• Striving for exceptional quality in product and service;
• Working very closely with customers to meet their needs;
• Respecting our colleagues with a view to sharing increased wealth, job security, self esteem and quality of work-life.

We believe this will result in increased shareholder value."

CASEwise, in 1990, was the first tool provider to offer support for Process Dynamics and has gained an enviable knowledge of that technique.  Process Dynamics is a Business Process Modelling technique and notation originally used decades ago by Organisation and Methods Analysts that predates Computers.  Testimony to this knowledge is CASEwise support for simulation and the support CASEwise provides its customers in learning to apply Process Dynamics to support Business Concept Modelling, Business System Design (Process Mapping) and Clerical Procedure (Work Instruction) production.

Scope and Market of CASEwise Corporate Modeler

The CASEwise Corporate Modeler is a Business Modelling tool supporting the study of Process, Organisation, Location, Data, Application and Technology.  The tool has a high bias towards Process and Data with mapping to the other four domains of study.

CASEwise has a philosophy of tool co-existence and consciously remains in the Business Modelling domain, preferring to link to best of breed lower CASE, IT Systems Design and Construction, tools.  This philosophy places the CASEwise Corporate Modeler 98 in a dominant position in the Business Modelling marketplace attracting business from consulting organisations, large organisations and government bodies world-wide.

CASEwise is committed to delivering Business Modelling related tools to support its customers.  To this end new and improved features are as a direct result of what our customers have asked us to do.  Important features and important customers receive a high priority within CASEwise often with rapid deployment.

The Generic Diagrammer, new in Corporate Modeler 98, was the CASEwise response to customers who wished to draw diagrams using their own notation and paradigm.  All the major modelling objects can be depicted using individual symbols.  This combines the integration of a repository with the flexibility offered by graphics tools.  The full impact of the Generic Diagrammer will be realised with the Corporate Modeler 2000 feature of user defined object types to provide complete user diagramming flexibility.

A key objective for CASEwise in the near future is to acquire the "Designed for Windows" logo accreditation from Microsoft Corporation. CASEwise plans two major version releases of the Corporate Modeler in the next two years: Corporate Modeler 99, with an internal version 6.2; and Corporate Modeler 2000, with an internal version 7.0.  Release of new features may occur outside of these versions. The important feature enhancements are described below:

Corporate Modeler 99

• A Shape Palette and Object Tree for easier diagramming.
• Combine Corporate Publisher and Corporate Publisher HTML into a single HTML offering complete customisation and report publication flexibility.
• Improved links to other tools.
• Greater support for ERP system reference modelling, e.g. SAP.

Corporate Modeler 2000

• Revised repository model database structure.
• Complete support for OLE and OLE Automation.
• Complete user definition of Menus, Dialog text, Objects, Associations and Properties.  The allows for methods and language customisation from a single application.
• New product paradigm with Repository Explorer offering Object outlining with a Tree control on the left and customisable workspace on the right.  Time-scales permitting the Repository Explorer and Diagram drawing space will be supported by a single workspace.

<end quote>

Postscript 1999-present.

1999: Mark takes voluntary redundancy from CSC and begins a new life as a freelance contractor. He names the company M&M Enterprises after Milo Minderbinder in Catch 22. His first two contracts are with Novartis Pharmaceuticals and then SwissRe - both keen methodology and CASEwise users. Other work includes three months acting as CASEwise's training department, installing the software on clients' sites and then training their staff.

Later release versions after CM2000 are as follows (as best we can recall):

• 2002: CM8e (2002)
• 2004-2005: CM9.0 - 9.3
• 2004-2006: CM10.0 - 10.2
• 2006-2007: CM10.3 - 10.3e, the first Oracle/SQL Server only release.
• 2008: CM2008
• 2009: CM2009
• 2011: CM2011
• ... and more

Significant components worthy of mention are:

• Corporate Publisher: generates reports from the repository in Word, HTML and Help file format
• Automodeler: imports and exports repository data in a variety of formats
• ITAA: A web portal to published models that required no licensing for web site users.
• Evolve: A web portal giving direct, live, access to models or users.  In recent years Corporate Modeler was rebranded as Evolve - causing much confusion as to what was Evolve!

The company CASEwise undergoes a number of transformations:

• 2011: CASEwise Asia Pacific Pty Ltd in Australia was dissolved.
• 2016: erwin acquire CASEwise including assimilating the US office and continue to develop the product. Corporate Modeler now rebadged as Evolve. CASEwise, the UK company, no longer exists.
• 2020: erwin acquired by Quest software.
• 2021: CASEwise South Africa Pty still exists and is a Quest / Erwin partner.

2015: Mark retires and says goodbye to the world of work.

Here endeth the nostalgia-fest. I am grateful to all those who contributed to the methodology ecosystem that created Corporate Modeller and kept me off the streets for many years!

Brunswick Road 05 - Door Recycling

Penrith, Cumbria. August-2021.

The central heating boiler was in a cupboard in the dining room. That had to go. We commissioned the heat and power company to relocate the boiler to the utility room.

Preparing for the boiler relocation, we ripped off the doors to the cupboard intending to reuse them for the newly opened pantry under the stairs. 

Unfortunately the lack of carpenters due to post-Covid demand meant that the task fell to yours truly under the guidance of our more experienced friend Nigel. This is the opening to the pantry where the doors were to go.

There is a good solid door frame but it is, of course, a different size.

So I had to pad the opening out with timbers specially cut to order at the local timber merchants.

Hanging the doors was fiddly as nothing was exactly square or vertical or parallel. Having stable doors added to the challenge as not only did each door have to hang right but I had to ensure they didn't clash. The upper door needed a wafer-thin wedge cut off the entire length for which I had neither the skill nor the tools. Our friend Andrew, an expert joiner, came to the rescue for the trimming and I took it from there.

Not a perfect job but for my first door hanging I can live with it. Still needs painting but the deed is done.

Salento parkrun Number 100

Parco naturale regionale Bosco e Paludi di Rauccio, Salento, Italy. Saturday 02-October-2021

Very satisfying to celebrate both my #100 parkrun and Salento parkrun’s #100 (and parkrun's 17th birthday). Especially so, as it is where I did my 50th run. 

There was a record attendance to help the celebrations. Many thanks to Saverio (Run Director) and Luana (his mum, volunteer and cake baker) for making this place special in the annals of parkrun.

Time of 27:14. Not my best but a long way from my worst. I have now run Salento more times than my original home parkrun at Tooting Common. 

Back at the picnic area where we gather afterwards. Unlike many UK parkruns, there is no cafe as the event is in the the middle of a nature reserve (Parco Naturale Regionale Bosco e Paludi di Rauccio). Initially Luana baked the cakes; now various people take it in turns.

We felt the occasion deserved some Prosecco. 

A special cake.

The assembled company. Photography by Andrea aka "Mr foto, foto, foto!"

When I started parkrun 50 seemed a long way away and 100 seemed a distant possibility. When Covid struck I was stuck at 90 parkruns. Penrith's restart in July 2021 enabled me to get up to 95. Fortunately Salento restarted the Saturday after we arrived in Italy and coincidentally on event 96 for them and me.

The next milestone is 250 which seems a lifetime away. Meanwhile I'll wear my black 100 t-shirt with pride.

How to use your NHS Covid Pass as a Green Pass in Italy

Your NHS Covid pass can be used in Italy as a Green Pass to gain entrance to indoor dining, museums, cultural venues and archaeological sites as well as cinemas, theatres, cultural events and concerts. 

1. Download the GreenPass Italia App:

Available for iOS and Android.

2. Request a digital NHS Covid pass (the PDF version not the paper letter).

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/covid-pass/

3. Scan the QR code 2 of 2 (3 of 3 if boosted) into the Green pass app. 

Select the (+) symbol at the bottom, then "Scansiona" and point your phone at the QR code. 

Options include:

• Print the PDF and scan the printout.
• Get a friend to photograph your screen then scan their photo.
• Take a screen shot, crop it, select "Carica" instead of "Scansiona" and import from your photo library.

Warning: check the NHS Covid pass expiry date as this is carried forward into the app. If necessary delete and repeat steps 2 and 3 to refresh. 

4. Venues will use the VerificaC19 App to check your Green Pass.

Notes:

• You can also download the VerificaC19 App to check that your own QR code, or other's, is valid.
• You need the PDF version of the NHS pass because the postal version does not have a QR code.
• You must use the most recent dose QR code, 2 of 2 (3 of 3 if boosted)! Dose 1 of 2 is not valid.
• You can scan the QR code into GreenPass from a screen.
• You can scan several people's codes into one phone.
• You can scan in from one phone to another. Handy if there are two of you because you can scan each other's into their app then back to the other phone.
• You can choose which is the main code if there are several on a phone by selecting it and clicking "Fissa".

You're welcome!

Solfest 2021

Solfest, North Lakes Country Park, Cumbria. 28/29-August-2021.

It is a long time since I sat in a field listening to music. 10 years in fact, since we went to Cropredy in 2011. Before that it was the Oxford Mayfly festival in 1974 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. There have been many other music festivals in between but in much more manicured locations. I think I will have to do a post “My life in… Music festivals “.

Every festival is, of course, different and these are things that struck me about this one:

Demographics: this had a much broader spectrum of ages and musical styles than, for example, Cropredy or the Great British Rock and Blues Festival. Both the latter were heavily biased towards the older generation, many with grey ponytails. This was a much more cross-sectional group of all ages and a number of family groups.

Open space: I was surprised at the amount of visible grass considering it was sold out. There was masses of open space between the groups of attendees. Some other festivals have been more like a giant mosh pit. In these Covid times that was very welcome.

Fancy Dress: we learned from our friend Kate that Solfest always have a fancy dress theme for the Saturday, this year it was under the sea. Suddenly the number of pirates hats, scaly mermaid leggings, and jellyfish umbrellas made sense! There was some seriously impressive costumes. It added to the overall jollity of the event.

Multiple stages: the festivals we have attended have varied from a single main stage to multiple stages. The latter makes it difficult to plan your entertainments especially if the bands you want to see overlap.

At Solfest we stuck with the main stage, we found ourselves a spot next to the mixing desk in the blue and white inflatable and put up our folding picnic chairs for the duration.

Line-up on the main stage:

Friday: 

• Urban Naitives (before we arrived)
• BAAB (left little impression)
• SMOOVE and Turrell (very enjoyable funk)
• MyLittlebrother (ok)
• Horace Andy (great roots reggae)
• Maximo Park (alternate rock, very acceptable)
• Cut Capers (past our bedtime)

Saturday: 

• Razzamataz 
• BlueJam 
• The Gift Horse (first we saw, vaguely folky, female lead singer)
• Weirdstring Ceilidh (hugely entertaining, accomplished musicians who had the crowd doing a number of dances including "Ceilidh Dodgems"
• Jack Found (left little impression)
• Hardwicke Circus (enjoyable rock)
• Dutty Moonshine Big Band (electronic dance, highlight of our evening and apparently most of the crowd)
• The Amazons (accomplished rock band)
• Basement Jaxx (getting cool so decided to pass)

We both took a quick detour into the Bar Stage on Friday to see local band DelaGrave who we had seen previously at close quarters in the upstairs at Fell Bar in Penrith.

Also appearing in the Bar Stage late on Saturday were the Buzzcocks but the tent was heaving as we passed so we decided to head on home.

Catering: there was a wide selection of food stalls so you don’t go hungry. All tastes catered for. The main beverage seem to be beer although other options were available.

Dutty Moonshine Big Band: apart from proximity to Penrith, one of the reasons for booking this particular festival was that one of my nephews, Chris, is the drummer with this band appearing in a prime slot on Saturday evening. 

Even allowing for familial bias we reckoned they were one of the most popular acts. 

The crowd were really jumping, literally (a rare correct use of the word "literally").

We missed the Sunday mainly because of the ever-changing logistics of our cancelled flights to Italy and the consequential changes to our accommodation booking. 

Touristing: We had arrived a day early and took the opportunity to relax and do the tourist thing. We had considered visiting the various Roman forts along the coast but in the end had a very pleasant wander around Cockermouth which turned out to be a delightful town.

On the Saturday morning we, of course, had to check out the nearest parkrun so went to Workington and ticked off another tourist venue. A small friendly crowd, an out and back course and a very respectable time for me of 26:38.

On the Sunday morning we packed up and back to Penrith for a do-it-yourself Annafest (beer festival) round at Nigel‘s. He had requested appropriate costume. A quick trawl of our wardrobe and charity shops provided passable results:

Bavarian hunting green:

Bierkeller wench:

Off to Italy next, Ciao ...

Long Lost Family - McLellan Edition

Inspired by seeing my friend Claire Martin appearing on Long Lost Families I thought I would share my own DNA experiences. Not as gripping as Claire's but here they are...

Episode one: The Good Doctor.

Out of the blue I received an email asking “I am trying to find a link to the descendants of Archibald McLellan who was a doctor in Glasgow in the early 1900's. I'm hoping someone in your family might have DNA tested.” My correspondent had found my family tree on the blog and one of my ancestors was indeed an Archibald McLellan. I responded and the full back story came out:

<quote>

I am helping a close friend of mine to research his family on his mother's side. His name is Alan Weir Clark. He might have already written to you through one of the genealogy websites but I hope not. Just let me know, if so, and disregard my email. If not, bear with me for a bit of a tale...

Alan's mother was a lady named June Weir (married a Clark, then Gray). She died a year ago August and Alan found some information in her possession that shed some light on her birth family. She was adopted as an infant by the Weirs and she was never willing to discuss the matter. Alan had an Aunt Penuel "Pen" Anderson who told him a little but he never had any success in finding out more until recently.

Pen was a cook in a large home in Glasgow in the 1930's. A young maid there became pregnant and had to give the baby up for adoption. Pen's sister and her husband - the Weirs - wanted a baby so they offered to take the maid's child. They named her June and she grew up in their home in Motherwell and raised her family there, as well. There was a family story that June's father had been a "son of the House" or a young student, etc. but nobody ever said for sure.

When June died, she left a birth certificate showing her birth name as "Ella Christina Armstrong" and her mother's name was Mary Ann Armstrong. Mary Ann gave her address and we were able to track down which Armstrong family she belonged to. We even found family photos of her ancestors. Alan's grandfather Robert Armstrong was a dead ringer for Alan (no pun intended) and his DNA tests seem to link him to the surnames in that family so that part of the mystery is pretty much solved to his satisfaction.

The next task is to find the father's side. No father was named.

When Mary Armstrong gave baby Ella up for adoption, she was several weeks old. Mary Ann wrote a note to the adoptive mother stating that the baby was in good health and when she was released from Stobhill Hospital, she would be turning her over to the Weirs. The letter was on stationery from 10 Woodland's Terrace in Glasgow. That house, in 1935, belonged to a Dr. Archibald Neville McLellan who was married to Elizabeth Martin. He was a respected gynecologist, apparently. We thought that perhaps Mary Ann had delivered there for some reason but later research showed that she was actually employed there as a housemaid before the baby was born and that this was her address.

Alan petitioned the courts for access to the adoption records. We didn't find much from that except verification of addresses, etc. but it did reveal that Mary Ann actually paid all the legal fees involved in the adoption herself. I don't know what costs were involved but Mr. Weir, from all sources, was not a man to let a young housemaid handle that burden alone. We think someone financed the adoption.

Dr. McLellan was an older man when Mary Ann worked for him but he had a son, Archibald Neville McLellan, also, who was an officer with the Cameroons (I hope I spelled that right) at that time. He might possibly been home on Christmas leave when Ella Christina was conceived. He ended up on South Africa, married a girl from England, had another son named Archibald Neville, etc. and died in a military type home in the 1970's, I believe. We can't find any direct descendants.

Many of the names in the McLellan family seem to turn up in Alan's DNA relatives but they are not unusual names. There is another issue in the fact that the name McLean plays heavily on Mary Ann Armstrong's family tree but it's also found in the McLellan family.

Dr. Archibald Neville McLellan is a descendant of your line. He lived in Coatbridge before he became a surgeon. I am hoping that you have DNA tested and that I can compare your kit with Alan's kit to see if there is any match.

If you know anything of the doctor's descendants, that would be great, too. We need to know if the family legend is true or if we need to keep up our detective work.

<end quote>

If I were to take a DNA test and we could establish that there was a genetic connection between Alan Weir Clark and me then he would have solved the mystery of the identity of his grandfather. 

I was happy to take a DNA test but then we hit a snag. America considers a small vial of spit to be biological samples that are not allowed across its borders so I was unable to submit DNA test to 23andme's database. The solution was for both of us to send our samples to the European operation based in Holland. That we both duly did and waited with bated breath for the results.

Alas we have no chromosomes in common, we are not related and the mystery of his maternal grandfather remains unsolved; my ancestors are in the clear! 

Further research on ancestry.co.uk confirmed that my Archibalds and his Archbalds are different people; the dates are all out.

For Alan it was back to the drawing board. He subsequently hired a professional genealogist who unearthed more fascinating information about his grandmother but, alas, is no closer to identifying his maternal grandfather.

Episode two: the Battersea connection.

Now my DNA was on the database and I had ticked the box for sharing so I was available for others to get in touch. I received a 23andme email from a stranger, Philip, on behalf of his father, Melwyn, asking if any of my relatives had lived in Battersea. The 23andme analysis showed us being potential third cousins. As it happens a number of my mother's aunts and uncles had lived in south London so I replied in the affirmative.

After a few exchanges I was able to build up the family tree and establish that we were in fact second cousins, twice removed. I’m guessing that will give him a head start on building up his own family tree.

My family tree going back to Benjamin George Marsh.

Philip's family tree also back to Benjamin George Marsh.

I did a count of the generations and we are not third cousins. Philip's grandmother, Phyllis Doreen Marsh, and I are (were) second cousins, so Philip's father, Melwyn, and I are second cousins once removed, and Philip and I are second cousins twice removed.

Generation	Mark	Philip
1	Benjamin George Marsh (great grandfather)	Benjamin George Marsh
2	Mabel Kathleen England Marsh (grandmother)	William Ben George Marsh (sibling)
3	Margery Faith Scales (mother)	Henry Leslie Marsh (first cousin)
4	Mark Sebastian McLellan (me)	Phyllis Doreen Marsh (second cousin)
5	-	Melwyn L Joseph (second cousin once removed)
6	-	Philip Thomas Joseph (second cousin twice removed)

So there we are, I have more south London family than I realised!

Brunswick Road 04 - Works

Penrith, Cumbria. August-2021.

We had hoped to be a lot further along with the works but most tradesmen are super busy and booked up for months. A Covid double whammy of pent up demand and money not spent on holidays, clothes and entertainment plus Brexit. We bought the house mid June however most of the work is planned for September. Our kitchen fitter was booked solid through to mid-October so that will be the last to be done.

Replacement boiler: the boiler was installed in February 2021 but a quick Google revealed that model hasn’t been made since 2009. Clearly the previous boiler had broken down and the vendor had gone for the cheapest option: a refurbished boiler. It was situated in a cupboard in the dining room - here with the doors and architrave removed. This was one trade without a long lead time so the first work to be done.

Given the life expectancy of an average boiler it was clearly sensible to replace ASAP and while we were about it re-site the new boiler into the utility room.

Kitchen and bathroom: we always knew this was on the hit list right from the first viewing. The kitchen is going to be completely ripped out and replaced. When we bought the place all that was left was a washing machine, a sink and several musty cupboards. We are currently camping out in the husk of the kitchen using an old shelving unit from our London garage with a hot plate, electric cook pan, toaster and a George Forman grill.

The downstairs bath is going to be replaced by a shower and this will allow the washing machine to be moved in from the kitchen thus generating more desperately needed space. The boiler re-siting meant an early rip-out of this bathroom.  

French windows: The window in the dining room is going to be knocked out to create an opening direct onto the yard. On the advice of the window company it will be one large door rather than twin doors because of light loss from the central frames. This means we no longer need the kitchen door. Rather than block it up (which we could always do later) we are going to use that space for a small mobile island unit.

Roof repairs: there are a number of loose tiles and a drain pipe at the front that need sorting out. Also there is a small chimney at the back with no corresponding fireplace. That will go and hopefully cure the damp patch two floors below below. 

That means scaffolding so while it is up...

Light well: there is no natural light in the bathroom on the first floor. The plan is to put a sun pipe from the roof down into the bathroom. It will either go down the chimney or immediately adjacent to it depending on what they find when the chimney comes down.

Re-pointing: while we’re about it the front elevation will get repointed.

Wobbly walls: The scaffolder noticed some worrying curvature of the front wall. Difficult to show in a picture but there is an S shaped section adjacent to, and just above, our bedroom window. Our structural surveyor is of the opinion that it is historic and nothing to worry about. The inside wall is straight, it is only the outside wall. So while the re-pointing is being done he will come back to double check and hopefully all that is required is minor repairs with resin or ties to ensure it is stable.

Fireplace: having unearthed a substantial lintel in the dining room fireplace and some less than aesthetic infill we have commissioned a local stonemason to install sandstone pillars on either side and open up the fireplace by removing the concrete and cement infill. Plus a sandstone hearth to sit on top of the current concrete version.

Pantry (under stairs cupboard): all of the interior plaster has been stripped and we are seeking advice on what to do with the walls. In the meantime I have begun re-fitting the old boiler cupboard stable doors and architrave that you can see in the above picture. More to follow.

Rewiring: we suspected the wiring would be on a par with other renovations by the previous owner so we commissioned an EICR (electrical installation condition report aka fixed wiring report). It showed up a number of defects in need of repair. Most of these will be sorted out by the wiring needed for the new kitchen. 

We will also be doing a number of minor improvements: additional sockets, replacing sockets with ones with USB ports, re-siting sockets made homeless by the fireplace work and under stairs pantry exposure, etc. We are also treating ourselves to underfloor heating in the kitchen. An electrical heating mat with timer and thermostat will ensure toasty toes when we make the early morning cup of tea.

Loft hatch: there is a very small loft space currently only accessible by the light well directly above the staircase. It is a somewhat exciting long drop if anything goes wrong. So a new loft hatch directly above the landing will be relatively easy to sort out and that will provide us with a small amount of storage space under the roof.

I have learned that our roof construction uses sarking boards. These are typically used on buildings that are exposed to extreme weather conditions, such as high wind or torrential rain. Apparently they are not very common in England or Wales but are prevalent in Scotland due to weather variations and Scottish building regulations.

Front garden: The current small front garden is a rockery with lily-of-the-valley, oregano and a variety of weeds, a small border around and a sad looking rose in one corner. We have found a gardener to provide inspiration and do the work once the scaffolding is gone.

Curtains and blinds: we have had a local window blind and curtain shop to come round and give us a quote for curtains and Roman blinds. Now on order..

Much of these works will happen while we are in Italy, Covid permitting. The most important work - the kitchen - will wait until we are back and on site for any real-time decision making.

Brunswick Road 03 – Flitting

Penrith, Cumbria. July-2021

I have added a new word to my Scottish vocabulary “flitting“. It has cropped up twice in different contexts in the last couple of weeks. It means "moving house". Although in our case, flitting has been more like a cross between Tetris and Tower of Hanoi.

Tetris:

Tower of Hanoi:

We have done multiple, partial moves. Given that moving house is supposed to be one of life‘s more stressful events we seem to be holding up pretty well.

Move 1: Leaving Heathfield Square. We sold our main home in April 2021. We were not moving into a new property but still had to clear everything out. Its contents went in multiple directions:

• Part A - Some stuff went to our London garage.
• Part B - Other belongings went to Bolting House, one of our buy-to-let properties, which was untenanted and up for sale. We used it as a temporary storage for some of our excess furniture and also allowing for the possibility of reletting it. 
• Part C - Some stuff came up to Penrith and into our Benson Row home which as a result was bulging with furniture. 
• Part D - Some then got transferred into a garage and a lock-up we have rented as temporary storage. 

In June we bought Brunswick Road and continued the multipart moves:

Move 2: Leaving Benson Row. Benson Row will be tenanted from mid-August and so we have had to clear out most of our stuff which we did in stages using a local removal company and our trusty car. With the two houses only 6 minutes walk apart some was also done on foot with a sack trolley. 

• Part A - moving our bed, mattress, bedroom furniture from Heathfield Square and assorted belongings across to Brunswick Road. We left some furniture behind as we had a house full of guests due to visit. 
• Part B - multiple car trips between the two properties with a boot full of boxes, clothes, et cetera. 
• Part C - once our guests had left we completed the big furniture move of the sofas and as much else as needed man, van and muscle to move.

Move 3: Leaving Bolting House and Garage. We have found a buyer for Bolting House and fortunately they want to take a fair selection of the furniture but we still have to clear out the remainder. We used a man and van to transport both that and as much of our belongings from the garage as would fit in the van.

• Part A - from Bolting House double bed, mattress, wardrobe and a load of kitchen stuff most of which had come from Heathfield Square.
• Part B - from the garage as much as filled up the van including a Chiminea, shelving, a sundial, boxes of books, Christmas tree and decorations, two bicycles, a partridge and a pear tree...

Now the organising, sorting and rearranging begins - Tetris on steroids.

Brunswick Road - 02 The Demolition

Penrith, Cumbria. July-2021.

The Dining Room Fireplace: after the great success of exposing the lovely, stone fireplace in Benson Row it was a no-brainer to attempt to the same in Brunswick Road. We had hardly got the keys when Mary attacked the fireplace to create an investigatory hole. 

That looked promising so we went the full hog with hammer and chisel to expose a couple of square metres of the chimney breast. We definitely have a massive sandstone lintel but lack anything resembling side columns, just a hodgepodge of sandstones and bricks. 

There was clearly a back boiler at some point in the last century when they reduced the opening and you can still see a couple of pipes sticking out of the side. We have commissioned a local stone company to insert two uprights either side of the opening, remove the modern infill and fit a new hearth.

The Pantry under the stairs: Given the position of the stairs between the living room and dining room there had to be a space under the staircase but there was no door visible on either side. Some knuckle rapping in the dining room wall made us suspect a blocked up doorway. Conversations with the neighbour confirmed that there should indeed be a useful space. So it was a repeat of the fireplace: create an exploratory opening followed by a full exposure. 

The original Victorian doorway exposed.

Hey presto a substantial storage space.

Written on the wall in pencil “This was a pantry until 1955 “. Well that gives us the date for the blocking up. 

The Kitchen and Bathroom: We know it is going to be completely gutted and redone but Mary made a pre-emptive move by ripping out a couple of the manky old cupboards to create space for a new freestanding fridge and a built-in oven and microwave. The latter still in their packaging, these we had pre-ordered before the works begin to ensure we could get the models we wanted before AEG change the specs. The remaining cupboards were musty so their doors went as well! 

Next Mary ripped the panelling off the side of the bath to investigate where all the pipes went. This may or may not help with the planning of the conversion into a shower and utility room.

The Shed: the previous owner, or his tenants, left literally a shed load of old rubbish. Most of that went straight off to the tip along with all the rubble from the fireplace. I am practically on first name terms with the guy on the gate at Flusco Recycling Centre. The exception was a gas powered barbecue which looked in reasonable nick and has now gone to a friend.

Living Room: No major plans to uncover the chimney breast in the front room based on what we have seen in the neighbours front room. We did however remove an electric fire to reveal two previous generations of wallpaper. There ought to be an air vent so we will cut a hole large enough for a small peer into the void behind.

Dining room (again): Mary doesn't like carpet in a dining room (food gets into it) so she ripped up the BRAND NEW carpet. We gave it away to a good home via FaceBook market place so it didn't go to waste. Mary then sanded and varnished the floors.

That is enough deconstruction for the moment. Next some construction...