Whitby 2

At long last we have completed our Whitby flat purchase and started to move in. To recap we mortgaged our house and bought a flat at Whitby with the intention that it should be partly occupied by us and partly a holiday let.

Seems simple but it turned into a long running saga; not least because we changed horses midstream and have actually purchased a different flat from our first intention. In January Martin and Lindsey saw a flat they thought would suit us. We visited immediately and submitted a bid. In subsequent bidding we were outbid. Although very disappointed we eventually decided to buy the flat immediately below our first choice. We started the legal process which was initially very slow as the vendor had only recently bought the house containing the flats and simply seemed to take a long time to get things organised, not least because he wanted to set up a legal entity to manage all 6 flats which would involve just the flat owners.

We were proceeding normally until June when the original flat came back on the market. The purchasers seemed to have sensible reasons to withdraw and knowing our interest it was offered to us as an alternative to the flat we were buying. After not much agonising we decided to move back to the original from our second choice  and at a marked lower price than we had offered back in February. In the end completion was done on this in rather a rush before our intended date.

We arrived to some chaos. The basement flat owner is doing major alterations and terracing the steep garden. Some work such as fireproofing the electricity meters meant workmen on site.. One of the host of practical problems was locating our gas meter. We were faced with a row of 6 fairly identical ones which no clear markings. Hopefully after contacting the gas supplier this is being sorted.

Martin, Lindsey, Alex and Ellen live about 5 miles away. They have been very helpful with some of the many details. At present we don’t have furniture other than some donated by Steve, Alisons ex, who is moving in with a new partner. We also have 3 beds, two singles and a double which we have bought to start furnishing the place, the double delivered today.

As the delivery was early we also went with Lindsey and the kids to Egton Show. This was an old fashioned agricultural show held in the dales. In a way it wasn’t too dissimilar to Canwell Show, the only surviving local Midlands show but with fewer commercial stands and vastly more animals. There was a packed big show tent of rabbits, geese, pigeons and all sorts of small traditional country live stock. As might be expected there were many sheep of many different breeds with  Swaledale much in evidence. There was much of a farming area ambience on a very hot day.

Our new flat is in a house on a ridge standing hundreds of feet above the Esk river. The flat is on the first floor in a listed Georgian building and is approached by a lovely sweeping wide staircase. Effectively because the ground drops away steeply it is equivalent to the second floor. This gives a wonderful view over Whitby town to the surrounding moors. It does have a snag I hadn’t bargained with. Leaving is splendid, downhill all the way. Returning we have the equivalent climb which I’m finding quite exhausting. It reminds me of a house in our local village christened Spion Kop ( a notorious hill in the Boer War ). It was named by Edwin Ashmore who found climbing its hill an effort in his elder years.