stuffs wot is happenin' round 'ere

got your attention? 

I woke up last Saturday to sounds of banging and crashing fairly close by. By the time I'd showered and dressed it was over, no more to be heard.
On the way to the shop a bit later, I found out what it had been.

this house, behind the very overgrown garden, is being demolished.
We had notification a long time ago, so anyone who objected could take it up with the council. I thought it was being torn down last September, but it seems I was mistaken. 

this is the machine causing all that early morning ruckus, the front half of the house was torn down, carport and front porch.

there's a hole in the wall now where the porch was attached at roof level, it looks a bit like the red bricks were a "facelift" covering older bricks behind them, the older bricks look darkened by fire.

front door, the porch wrapped around the house a little bit to cover the door.

a closer look, you can almost see inside. the door is still there, open to the right, you can just see the glass in the frame.

a small pile of rubble, this would have been the low wall of the front porch.

the business end of the machine

the corrugated iron from the porch roof.

things were quiet for the rest of the weekend, then on Monday while I was out, the rest of the house came down. when I got home, I grabbed my camera and set off up the street, it's just a few houses up and across the road.

a larger, sturdier wire fence has been erected in front of the flimsy orange plastic that was the only thing keeping people out on Saturday. The green roof with supports you can see there is the house next door.

the machine was still there, moving rubble around, sorting it into piles.

wood and garden rubbish,

bricks and stone,

corrugated iron.  See where I've put the blog name? a little to the right and down from centre? hold that spot in your mind. Where the sun is shining on the metal.

if you can see that same spot way down the back of this photo, you'll see just how long this block of land is. An original large block, when houses held families of kids and the back yard held washing line, trees, veggie gardens and plenty of play space. Probably a dog and a cat too.

This morning, Tuesday, I had to go to the shop again, I was all out of mineral water, so I noticed three very large covered trucks, one filled and moving away, a second one being filled with rubble and the third waiting at the kerb.

I've heard the block may be built with one of those "two on a block' constructions, they seem to be popular around here. Two homes, narrow and long, joined by their garages front and centre, dividing fence from the back of the garages to the back of the block. Similar dividing fence at the front. 

I'll be watching the construction, because I like to see houses going up and I'll have my camera with me as often as I remember.














Comments

  1. That didn't seem to take long to tear the house down. Looking forward to seeing what's in its place when it comes time..

    ReplyDelete
  2. It seems to be a sturdy house. Gone now. We'll see what comes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Always good to have a little excitement on the street.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Every house on a corner around here is under threat. We're close to the city, that's why. It's getting crowded. Nice solid houses being demolished to put two little houses in its place. Which means more cars more people (suckers). And less greenery of course: fewer gardens. I'm fixing my place up to sell it, plan on moving to the countryside. Some kind of insanity going on around here. Mad for a quick buck.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Homeowners, developers, local councils, all mad for a quick buck. And these rotten little latte cafe owners - business people. You can see it coming. When they start opening up its time to get out.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hope the noise levels during construction don't become too invasive for you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. good solid houses smashed to pieces straight through the roof. Trees wrenched from the earth. Not even worthwhile, not COST EFFECTIVE, to salvage the baltic pine floorboards, moulded architraves, oregon framework and so on. It's a frenzy darlings. A cruel world my dears. Pitilesss

    ReplyDelete
  8. Never mind, when you come here I'm taking you to my country estate. We'll take long walks together; homespun philosophy will be expounded. I'll be exuberant, expansive, most of all VIGILANT, lest you take advantage of my innocence.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Margaret-whiteangel; doesn't take long at all to knock them down and these days they don't take long to construct new one either.

    Joanne; it did look sturdy, but I heard it had damp rot and dry rot and crumbling mortar etc.

    Delores; breaks the monotony doesn't it?

    R.H. close in to the city is a problem with many people wanting to live so close to the action, that's why developers buy up the big blocks and divide them.

    Lee; no problem at all, I can read through anything. I raised four kids remember? And read books the whole time. Closing the front door muffles the sound a bit too.

    R.H. this wasn't a solid house even though it looked good, it had all manner of problems. I heard the neighbours discussing it . Some people here in Adelaide do salvage what's salvageable, but often with these older houses nothing is. It depends on the quality of the original build and the care it received during its lifetime.
    country estate? I thought you had a house overlooking the ocean. And if you have any innocence left, I'm Queen Elizabeth's twin sister.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Pure destruction, and so quick, the house next to us went quick but the one down the road went in a afternoon but always was a bit sussy that one I suspect asbestos in that place.
    It's a bit sad really.
    Merle.........

    ReplyDelete
  11. ha ha ha (why am I laughing?) I always knew you were royalty, Queen Victoria was German you know. Yes well I mean my future estate when I leave here, and a lot of these old houses have good timber, I knew some bums who demolished houses for free, selling all the materials as they went. It was a slow job, but free always has a catch.

    -Robert.
    Always plead innocent.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Merle; always sad to see a house go down, but this one wasn't worth keeping and I'm looking forward to watching the new construction.

    R.H. I knew about Queen Victoria. Bums will always find a way to make a dollar or two. Sometimes legally.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Legally? Get out of here!- I've never been accused of that in my life!

      -Robert.
      O' the shame.

      Delete
  13. That was interesting to see the house being demolished but it always saddens me to see as one thinks of all the stories that house could tell. Most of the houses I've lived in over the years have been demolished and I would imagine this one will be when we leave it. The bylaws now allow for multiple dwellings on quarter acres or even smaller. I've seen blocks advertised as small as 300 square metres. They build double storey with no garden.
    Queen Victoria was actually born in Kensington Palace but of course her consort was a German and although much was said against him believe he was a very wonderful and intelligent man. Not sure about Queen Vic as I think she was a bit of a harridan most of her life.
    Will be interesting to see what is built to replace the single house.

    ReplyDelete
  14. River the house you mention may have been in poor condition but - believe me or don't - I've seen lots of houses demolished which are in good condition. The timber is saleable and there's a market for it, but it takes time to dismantle carefully and developers are anxious to erect new buildings on the land. Developers do as they please. That's why my suburb is becoming so ugly, and I'm leaving it.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I don't know where Queen Vic was born, I don't think it matters, she was a cousin of Kaiser Bill and often referred to as "That little German lady" by those who didn't like her.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

kitchen tip #?????

being unaccustomed to public speaking,

I've been trying to contact Haagen-Dazs