So worked for a few different employers but not settled. As at other times Martin stepped in to keep me going. Then Grayham at GB Autos needed a pannel beater / painter so I took that job as a sub-contractor. Work depended on the state of the economy so income fluctuated. Then our next door neighbour on Ridgeway Drive, Bill who worked for Toyota Liftrucks got me a job painting Fork trucks for Toyota. Big company and big company benefits. A great job at a company I enjoyed working for. Good security, steady income and chance to develop interests outside work. I realise now the settled secure job gave me the security I needed to grow / develop as a person.

Now I need to set the scene for the next stage. Its hard; no impossible to get into the headspace of this time, but consider this data.

• 1961: Two nukes dropped by accident on North Carolina, fortunately not detonating.
• 1962: Bay of Pigs - USA vs Cubba & USSR near nuclear war.
• 1962: US depth charges USSR submarine, sub thinks it's involved in all-out war, prepares nuclear strike, this needs unanimous officer approval; a single officer holdsout.
• 1979: Three Mile Island - Nuclear accident.
• 1986: Chernobyl - nuff said.

See just how near we came! So not all these are public at the time but this is the zietgeist. At this time I was politically and environmentally aware and had been a member of Friends of the Earth for a few years. We also had an allotment and kept chickens in the back garden. My reading matter was eclectic to say the least and reflected the zietgeist - peak oil, peak water, peak population and on the plus side the excellent Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronoski. Lets be self suficient - Seymore etc. Oil Shock earth-connections.

I had long had this dream of becoming self sufficient, had done weekend courses in the crafts needed and kept looking for somewhere I could afford. But lets go back a step now to Bernard and Marrion... So we had become friends with Bernard and Marion from whom we had bought the house on Ridgeway Drive. Bernard had suffered from childhood with a bad chest and had medically been advised to move to the coast, which they did moving to Caernarfon in North Wales. It came to pass that they came across this derelict farmhouse on Anglesey which we went ahead and bought. With the enthusiasm of youth I might add!

The photo shows the farm not long after we moved in. Shortly after we arrived Rodger a neighbour from Ridgeway Drive, who happened to be a builder and loved walking and climbing so just happened to come down to see us informed me the gable wall was falling down and gave me instructions to urgently remove the large chimney and stabilize the wall. So Me, who doesnt like heights had to go up onto the roof - tie myself to the other chimney - and start demoishing the chimney.

In the farm yard there was an old farm cart, which I used on the repair of the gable wall. I took one of the main oak beams from this dropping it down the chimney flue once the stucture above the roof had been removed. This was then secured to a load bearing internal wall with steel rope with tensioning shackles. BIG job!

Anyway this process required a wooden ceiling removing and behind this we found a pentangle. This was carved in the lime plaster of the internal gable wall, so had probably been there since the 16th century to ward off the witches 😁

The kitchen also had a massive chimney which I needed to remove. Plenty of walling stone!

You can also see Steve and Jonathan here helping to clear the stone as it was removed. This is early in the process as shown by the fact that the kitchen annexe did not even have a door. At this time the whole house was just a shell with a leaky roof. The main house had carpet laid on soil floor whilst the kitchen had a concrete floor and a stand pipe which just ran to a groove set in the floor.

Just to the right of the drive you can make out the edge of the stables block which was been used at this time to store our furniture as it was the only dry building with a proper floor. On the left of the picture is the load of the quarry waste ready to recover the long drive down to the property.