4-star holiday cottage near Malvern, Worcestershire
We have installed some extra USB charging points to fit the more recent smaller USB-C standard (as well as the older USB-A type). Also a new water butt at the end of the pigsty to replace the old one which was leaking. And there is a new electric kettle in the kitchen — which is supposed to be quieter after it was pointed out that the old kettle was very noisy.
We have installed a grab handle in the shower for safety.
A new Bosch induction hob and electric oven have been installed in the kitchen area at Rhydd Barn. We hope that our visitors will enjoy using it. Below is a photograph of it.
I stayed at the Barn during the first week of September and was able to take a lot of photographs. Paint was peeling off the walls inside the converted pigsty—it has now been redecorated. Also the pigsty exterior brickwork on the side wall and the back of the pigpens was repointed in places. The gravel drive has to be weeded regularly and the grass in the field mowed and strimmed along the edge. Grass in the sewage tank area in the field also has to be kept short. The sewage tank is inspected regularly—most recently in August when it was found to be in excellent order.
Here are some photographs:
We have carried out some necessary maintenance and repair work on Rhydd Barn:
The large conifer tree at the entrance to the driveway to Rhydd Barn was becoming too tall. So, reluctantly, we decided it needed to be reduced in height along with a general pruning. Our gardener did a neat job and you can see the difference between the before and after photos below.
The back wall of Rhydd Barn has been repainted. This was a difficult project because of the height of the barn plus the steep slope behind it adding to the height. The photo shows the end result. Unfortunately, after this photograph was taken the beautiful Malvern stone below the main barn wall was also painted white—which was not my intention.
Also, the converted pigsty gates have been reinforced with new wood as they were starting to deteriorate.
Parts of the south wall of the converted pigsty have been gradually deteriorating as you can see from the above photos. So we had the damaged areas re-pointed including the replacement of a damaged or missing brick. The final result can be seen in the two photos below.
An electrical socket on the inside of that wall needed to be replaced and our builder also added some ventilation. See photo below.
The gate from the Barn to the fields has been repaired with new wooden bars to replace those that were beginnning to rot. Also a lead cap fitted across the top bar of the gate to protect it from moisture.
The fence around the sewage tank was weakening and lambs grazing the field managed to get inside! So the fence posts were reset in the ground and extra horizontal bars added at lower level.
See the photos below:
Much of the scheduled maintenance work has been completed on Rhydd Barn. Recent sunny weather allowed the paintwork repairs on the exterior walls to be carried out. Also the old wooden bench on the patio has been treated with preservative. Some minor repairs inside the barn have also been done.
Spring-cleaning of the barn interior is now under way as we prepare to welcome guests once again after the current restrictions are relaxed on 12 April.
Below are a few photos taken by our wonderful maintenance man, Max, showing his work on the exterior.
This is the time of year when we can get any less urgent and ongoing maintenance jobs done on the Barn. For example, some of our current works include:
A few photos below showing repairs needed and a nice sunny one of our new outdoor chairs:
We hope to post a few ‘after’ photos later to show the Barn restored to its full glory!
We have been busy maintaining the barn over last few months. Here are some of the things we have done:
We have finally got round to replacing the television in Rhydd Barn with a slightly larger smart television with all the ‘catch-up’ services. The tv is a Panasonic TX-32FS503B.
The ironwork around Rhydd Barn has all been re-painted. This includes the gutters and downpipes of the barn and converted pigsty and the metal handrail on the outside steps of the barn. Our decorator took the photographs below of the completed work.
