Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT London Calling. An ordinary life.

[sawduststeve]

‘Ello ‘Ello ‘Ello what’s going on ‘ere then?
After you showing me yours I thought it about time I showed you mine.
This is us.
Front.

Rear
I’m a 58 yr old carpenter/joiner with a serious petrol fetish. We’ve a few interesting car shows coming up that will be good to share.
We’re on the East London / Essex boarders and been in this house about eight years now, and have totally renovated it from hat to pan, with photos to prove. What’s that I hear, oh I know the sound of 100’s of eyes rolling.
Workshop and not the works van.

I work mostly around London and Essex in some very interesting places.
Speak soon
Steve

 

[Axel207]

Looking sharp Steve, must be good to see some blue skies there at this time of year. Love the VW van

 

[sawduststeve]

Looking sharp Steve, must be good to see some blue skies there at this time of year. Love the VW van

Cheers fella
It’s rained all day today nice yesterday though.
I do love my VW’s. It’s a 1964 that’s had a full resto. I’ll be listing the details in a later post.

Steve

 

[phred]

Steve that VW is beautiful

 

[Madc]

I'm in- Petrol and woodworking. Would love to see the carpentry as well as the car stuff. Thank you for sharing.

 

[sawduststeve]

Steve that VW is beautiful

Thanks
Here she is tucked up in the garage at home.
A perfect fit in the height, no room for a lift though. She’s an American import, imported 2013(?) and was restored over 18months. As soon as she was finished the guy’s girlfriend wanted a house deposit . I paid 2/3rds of the total he’d spent.
However some of what was done wasn’t great, so some six years later and some more cash , I’m somewhere happy with it.

Steve

 

[sawduststeve]

I'm in- Petrol and woodworking. Would love to see the carpentry as well as the car stuff. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for asking here you go. A little something we did last year. A copy of the original doors fitted with traditional coloured lead lights

I’m sure I’ll have more to share as we go.

Steve

 

[RoninB4]

Nice doors, I'm in.

 

[sawduststeve]

Nice doors, I'm in.

Thanks

 

[littlebean]

to the far away towns.......
love the bus, I'm looking for an early/mid 60's bug currently
following in anticipation

 

[goldtooth]

Nice splitty. We are full VW family with my wife's daily a slammed 1967 bug.
nate

 

[sawduststeve]

to the far away towns.......
love the bus, I'm looking for an early/mid 60's bug currently
following in anticipation

Afternoon mate
We’re actually not that far away, 15 miles from
Charring cross station, which seems to be a bench mark for central London, but you know how it is with capital cities, 15miles, about hour and a half on a good day.
Gotta love a bug, ‘67 one year only is always a good choice, my only advice is hurry up , prices have gone crazy stupid lately.
Good luck.

Steve

 

[sawduststeve]

Nice splitty. We are full VW family with my wife's daily a slammed 1967 bug.
nate

Evening fella
I couldn’t get away with VW only I have a works van (ford) and what with my wife working in a large London hospital she needed something that doesn’t attract ULEZ tax.
But I have got this though as my weekend drive.
Bugs have rocketed in price recently, but never say never.
Steve

 

[hardtop5000]

This is my cup of tea. Pleased to meet you, Steve.

 

[sawduststeve]

This is my cup of tea. Pleased to meet you, Steve.

Hardtop, nice to meet you too fella.
Cup of tea, now you’re talking, all day every day. ️

 

[Grizz1963]

Ahaaa…!!!

And welcome to the sawduststeve Show.

It’s good to see you starting a thread mate.

Front doors are lovely.

 

[sawduststeve]

Ahaaa…!!!

And welcome to the sawduststeve Show.

It’s good to see you starting a thread mate.

Front doors are lovely.

Rian, the king of unloved vehicles.
Afternoon mate , if I can manage 1/10th of your output I’ll be happy and doing well.

Must catch up when summer eventually arrives.

Steve

 

[sawduststeve]

Loaded and locked
Sit Rep tomorrow after the tent has been pitched. I hope it’s not raining.

 

[Old tool guy]

I like the doors. Is that a key hole low on the door?

 

[sawduststeve]

I like the doors. Is that a key hole low on the door?

Thank you Sir, yes it is a lock low down, it’s a dead lock, quite common with us. I put them 24”/600mm up from the cill, the theory being if a scumbag gives it a kick , it’ll be about there.

Steve

 

[sawduststeve]

Tents up. So are many others.
Where are we ?
The Split Screen Van Club (ssvc) 40th anniversary AGM
Quite warm and no rain, yet.
Steve

 

[sawduststeve]

The SSVC AGM three day weekend is scheduled to take place the same weekend as the Stanford Hall VW show.
We are the largest single club at the show and the convoy to the show is fantastic, as is the show and the house. We took the free tour, what an eye opener
Now the pictures

Steve

 

[ybnormal]

Thanks for asking here you go. A little something we did last year. A copy of the original doors fitted with traditional coloured lead lights

I’m sure I’ll have more to share as we go.

Steve

doorknob in the center of the door? are you a hobbit?

 

[sawduststeve]

doorknob in the center of the door? are you a hobbit?

Maybe, get off my shire, grrrr.
The customer may not always be right, but he is always the customer, and to be fair it balances the doors and works quite well.

Steve

 

[Old tool guy]

The title says “ordinary life” … is this the norm for england? My knowledge is limited, but my impression is most people live in small row houses with small yards. Free standing houses with detached garages is for people far from the cities.

 

[Xti04]

The title says “ordinary life” … is this the norm for england? My knowledge is limited, but my impression is most people live in small row houses with small yards. Free standing houses with detached garages is for people far from the cities.

Agreed! I have yet to see obligatory pictures of pints, Morris Minors, double decker buses, bangers and mash, fish and chips, the Queen, and every other British stereotype I can think of. Beautful bus though. My best friend has a 64 barn door bus thats slowly coming along as they rebuild it and give it new life. Carry on!

 

[sawduststeve]

The title says “ordinary life” … is this the norm for england? My knowledge is limited, but my impression is most people live in small row houses with small yards. Free standing houses with detached garages is for people far from the cities.

Holy cow what a question. There are many ways to answer this. I’ll have a go.
The small terraced houses in central London are out of reach for everyone except the very rich.
Even the, what were run down areas have/are being gentrified and are massively expensive.
The south east of England especially London is the power house of England (in taxes paid) any where inside the M25 is expensive.
We live inside the M25 our house is cheaper than some dearer than others.
A view from a job I did , central London , every house 2 million plus.
The further away from London the cheaper things get, until the closer to other nicer areas you get.
Ordinary life, I’m a carpenter my wife’s a senior nurse in the NHS. Don’t get more ordinary than that.
Do you want our family histories ? , my dad was a carpenter my wife’s dad was a cook in the navy, she hardly met him before she was 13.
My wife and I have both only had one job each, since school, we’ve had our noses to the grindstone. I’ve moved house about eight times and traded up each time my wife will have a decent pension.
We met when we were early 40’s and had our only child at 45, late starters.
We are where we are, neither of us have ever been out of work, we’ve paid of our mortgages and combined our finances when we met.
We’re both 58 and now have enough cash to enjoy ourselves.
We’re nothing special, just hardworking ordinary people.
I don’t know if this answers or adds confusion.

Steve

 

[Old tool guy]

I wasn’t try to pry into your private life, but the explanation was interesting. Much of my knowledge of English life comes from that tv series where they foreclose on people for not paying debts.
Can’t pay, we’ll take it away.

 

[sawduststeve]

Agreed! I have yet to see obligatory pictures of pints, Morris Minors, double decker buses, bangers and mash, fish and chips, the Queen, and every other British stereotype I can think of. Beautful bus though. My best friend has a 64 barn door bus thats slowly coming along as they rebuild it and give it new life. Carry on!

Xti04 , thanks , you’ll be seeing all of the above next weekend as we’ve got the new king’s coronation coming. I’ll do my best to get some posted
I’ve lived all my life as an Elizabethan and next weekend I’ll become a right Charlie.
Not got the same ring to it
Mines a 64’ good luck to your mate the
SSVC.co.uk is a wealth of information.
Steve

 

[Xti04]

God save the King just doesnt have the same ring to it does it?

 

[sawduststeve]

I wasn’t try to pry into your private life, but the explanation was interesting. Much of my knowledge of English life comes from that tv series where they foreclose on people for not paying debts.
Can’t pay, we’ll take it away.

No problem my friend, I’ve always thought of myself as a bit American like that, always happy to show and tell.
Mmmm, we watched some of that, probably not the best to base an opinion on. Lowest common denominator there, ordinary people try their best to keep their heads above water, pay their bills and not blame others. That doesn’t make good tv though, does it ?
Steve

 

[sawduststeve]

God save the King just doesnt have the same ring to it does it?

No it doesn’t, I’m sure I’ll be singing the wrong words to the national anthem for a while yet.
As long as I’m not heard and thrown in the tower, I’ll be fine

Steve

 

[sawduststeve]

Last photo to finish off our weekend away.
We’re home and drying now.
Next trip up, Belgium, a couple of weeks yet.
Back to work tomorrow.
Hope you’ve all had a good one.

Steve

 

[ybnormal]

Xti04 , thanks , you’ll be seeing all of the above next weekend as we’ve got the new king’s coronation coming. I’ll do my best to get some posted
I’ve lived all my life as an Elizabethan and next weekend I’ll become a right Charlie.
Not got the same ring to it
Mines a 64’ good luck to your mate the
SSVC.co.uk is a wealth of information.
Steve

a "right Charlie"? made me think of this old comic strip from 37 yrs ago!

Establishing a secure connection ...

 

[pima67]

For USA folks, if your OTA stations have DABL on a subchannel start watching "Escape to the Country". It's a bit old (2002-16 or so) but shows you what they can do to old (200-300 or more yrs) barns, stables, mills, and farm houses. Some are quite pricey.

 

[Grizz1963]

Holy cow what a question. There are many ways to answer this. I’ll have a go.
The small terraced houses in central London are out of reach for everyone except the very rich.
Even the, what were run down areas have/are being gentrified and are massively expensive.
The south east of England especially London is the power house of England (in taxes paid) any where inside the M25 is expensive.
We live inside the M25 our house is cheaper than some dearer than others.
A view from a job I did , central London , every house 2 million plus.
The further away from London the cheaper things get, until the closer to other nicer areas you get.
Ordinary life, I’m a carpenter my wife’s a senior nurse in the NHS. Don’t get more ordinary than that.
Do you want our family histories ? , my dad was a carpenter my wife’s dad was a cook in the navy, she hardly met him before she was 13.
My wife and I have both only had one job each, since school, we’ve had our noses to the grindstone. I’ve moved house about eight times and traded up each time my wife will have a decent pension.
We met when we were early 40’s and had our only child at 45, late starters.
We are where we are, neither of us have ever been out of work, we’ve paid of our mortgages and combined our finances when we met.
We’re both 58 and now have enough cash to enjoy ourselves.
We’re nothing special, just hardworking ordinary people.
I don’t know if this answers or adds confusion.

Steve

Really well answered……

And yet, I will say, England is a land of such contradictions, that 21 years after moving here from South Africa in a “Reward/promotion” corporate transfer, I still get confused.

I live outside the M25 which is a ring road around what is loosely termed London, my house and the rural area I live features in the background of some pics in my thread on here, and Steve and his daughter have visited before. I think my house is an interesting example, recently valued at £500k for remortgaging purposes, but if you put it and the land in the street on a corner where Steve was working, the price would be very different. No idea how much, but certainly eye watering for most mere mortals.

My house was built in 1921 and would be seen by many as a new house.

Not sure that adds to the picture, but this is a land of contrasts for sure, and we have not even started on politics, religion and the stuff that gets people angry.

 

[RoninB4]

-This thread may not apply to the interests of everyone but it does for me. Whenever I was in a different country the tourist sites were interesting enough but, for me, it was the ordinary items/lives of the people that profiled a cultural identity.

 

[sawduststeve]

a "right Charlie"? made me think of this old comic strip from 37 yrs ago!

Establishing a secure connection ...

Ybnormal, thanks for digging out the funnies
I think Andy once revelled in the nickname of Randy Andy, hasn’t worked out so well recently though, he has always come across as an entitled ****. Being his mothers favourite didn’t help his attitude any.
Gnarly Charlie, I think that applies to us all as we get older. In his younger days he was quite the dashing prince.
“Off with her head” is a simple solution to many problems, not being Henry VIII, I doubt it would work for us though.

Steve

 

[sawduststeve]

Really well answered……

And yet, I will say, England is a land of such contradictions, that 21 years after moving here from South Africa in a “Reward/promotion” corporate transfer, I still get confused.

I live outside the M25 which is a ring road around what is loosely termed London, my house and the rural area I live features in the background of some pics in my thread on here, and Steve and his daughter have visited before. I think my house is an interesting example, recently valued at £500k for remortgaging purposes, but if you put it and the land in the street on a corner where Steve was working, the price would be very different. No idea how much, but certainly eye watering for most mere mortals.

My house was built in 1921 and would be seen by many as a new house.

Not sure that adds to the picture, but this is a land of contrasts for sure, and we have not even started on politics, religion and the stuff that gets people angry.

Rian, thanks for the reply.
House prices make no sense anymore, my aunt’s house in Dagenham, the town built for Henry Ford, is about £350k it’s two up two down, in what is historically London poorest borough.
You cannot buy anything locally, even new built flats for less than £275k ish, How young first time buyers are supposed to buy I’ll never know.

1921, pah new build parts of ours is around 1800, that’s why you couldn’t stand up straight in the hallway. Seems everyone was about 5’6”
Steve

 

[sawduststeve]

-This thread may not apply to the interests of everyone but it does for me. Whenever I was in a different country the tourist sites were interesting enough but, for me, it was the ordinary items/lives of the people that profiled a cultural identity.

RoninB4, evening mate, thanks for the visit.

I’m just putting up random ramblings of what I’m up to and some out of time sequence photos I’ve taken, that might be of interest to some.
It’s not gonna be deep or reinventing the wheel and I’m happy to talk about anything.

Steve