Wreck of the Week

I've ignored reason and bought a lottery ticket because of this house. It's way over budget for the sort of properties I usually pick for 'wreck..' but too gorgeous to pass over. Anyway, I had my fingers crossed when I bought the ticket so that'll work. It's not exactly a wreck - more faded and neglected, although a few more years of poor damp management is likely to do some damage. Holywath House, in Coniston , is an 11-bedroom (yes, I did say 11) country house on an estate of over seven acres - served by its own hydro electricity system. Part of the house dates from the sixteenth century and it's been owned by the Barratt and Hext family for 180 years. The death of 92-year-old Major Hext, in 2010, led to a "Cash in the Attic" bonanza with his seven children putting around 600 weird and wonderful items up for auction. Holywath has stunning original features - my particular favourite is the garden room, with these beaut...

There's a bloke who lives near me who renovates steam engines. The traction ones you can sit on, not the Thomas the tank-engine-sized things. He has a garden full of them. Anyway, walking past that garden again made me think about vintage railway carriages and how easy it might be to buy a carriage 'wreck' to renovate and live in? Maybe on that cheap plot of land you've had your eye on? They're not easy to find, and what's available changes from week to week so you need to check the sites  below regularly, but here are some examples. C.A.R Services , a Shropshire business specialising in selling redundant train stock, currently has a gorgeous batch of carriages for sale. Including this restored, three car group of carriages (DMU Class 115), pictured top and below: C.A.R also has this 1961 Mk 1 RBR (below). RBR means a restaurant buffet carriage which, in this case, means it also has a galley kitchen and pantry as well as...