A blast from the past

We broke our journey home by stopping for a coffee and look around at a place just west of Swindon: the National Self-Build and Renovation Centre. One of the exhibits was intriguing: a mock up of a before-and-after house. As you go round the numbered areas, you listen to a recorded guide - with headphones attached to a safety-helmet as a gimmick. It was so well thought-out. So you go in through the dilapidated front door set in a damaged wall, with leaky pipes and window-frames. The narrative describes the problems. As you move round, you see and hear the various process to fix the respective problems, moving to an area where they're all mended and the house is sound and looks good, too. 

Felt a real jolt of nostalgia as we entered the mock-kitchen in need of renovation: there on the bare boards was a piece of authentic 1960s lino. How do I know it's authentic? It's the very lino we had in our bathroom 50 years ago! I remember it being laid and looking so smart, new and shiny! So lovely to have a photo to remember it by ...

We had a great week away, but I'm glad to be back in warmer climes. About 6 degrees warmer than the East Midlands here in the South Hams of Devon!