We're in phase 2 of renovating The Old Station, here's our plans for the next few months: The Final Plans, The Big Rip Out, Dog Security, Brickwork & The Railway Bridge Garden.
Instead of a wooden cabin between the railway platforms, what about digging down to the old track-bed, laying some track and putting an old railways coach on it and converting it into a cabin/guest-house? It's a lot more work but would be an amazing nod to the history of the railway through there.
I think they have a budget to keep to they need to get the interior done they have to take small steps and find out what the interior budget is likely going to cost.
Getting professionals to dispose of the rubbish is a good idea. When I renovated my farmhouse I got a professional disaster recovery company to empty everything from the house, barns and grounds. You will have a lot of work in the gardens for me to enjoy watching. I can tell you are going to make this place stunning.
I renovated and lived in a two room schoolhouse from the 1880's in similar condition to the station. It was an AMAZING experience, it was stressful and disruptive and all the things people warn you about - but that's nothing compared to how satisfying it was to see the vision come together - so much fun and I learned so much. Yours is going to be an amazing project - thank you so much for bringing us along to watch!
Thank you for the wonderful walk around the grounds! Such a gorgeous exciting space. A natural pool (for humans) would be quite heavenly. A section is used for natural filtration and a lovely swimming space with the rest. Total decadence. 😊
The property has generous garden spaces. A ready sourced of water is good. It could be a fire pond if there was ever a need for lots of water in a dry period.
With global warming, it would be prudent to have as many water sources as possible. Don't ignore the possibility of a serious drought: one day a few years back the thermometer reached 116 Fahrenheit (= 46 Celsius) here in Portland, where the climate is very close to that in Britain. And the temperature was even higher north of here in British Columbia, where it almost reached 50 Celsius! While I hope you never see temperatures this high, you need to be prepared.
This project gets cooler the by episode. Your gardens will be showpieces and that backhoe is proving its mettle. Getting the driveway back to its operating width will make getting things in and out far easier and safer. I would like to know where that pond is supposed to drain. It could become a real nuisance at some point.
Looking good. I'd be tempted at a later date, to dig out between the platforms, put some track down, put two renovated carriages and rent them out as a Quirky stop over. I'm trying to book one at the moment but it's always full. About £400 for a three night stay. An investment I know, but would give you income in the future. But any way the plans look awesome. Thanks for saving our heritage.
You probably already know to use lime mortar and (not) cement/concrete mortar as it damages old bricks and stone work. Looking forward to seeing the new plans.
Keep the pond as big as it is. Run your gutter down pipes into it instead of a soak away and keep it topped up and deeper. Ponds attract so much wildlife you’ll enjoy it so much. Make a real feature of it. 👍
It's amazing how hard it is to estimate how much junk and rubbish a demo will generate. Typically for ones I've done I take a look around, say to myself "yep, maybe ten trash bags worth." Two months and 8 huge dumpster bins later, I get the bill for 331 tons of waste disposal! 8^) all part of the fun.... look forward to seeing the reno come together. The station's a great building, and you folks are doing a great job so far. Cheers from Canada!
There are lawn care people who love to rentavations for their RU-vid channels. I bet you could get one of those to come in and rentavate the gardens for free. JUST A THOUGHT ❤❤❤
Alot of work ahead of you but so worth it. I would definitely consider keeping the size of the pond as is. Maybe a natural swimming pool...maybe a water feature so you can hear the water running. Its a beautiful place to escape to when its too hot or just need to take a break for life.
Just an idea , Where the pond is why don’t you turn some of the space between the platforms into a swimming pool. You already have the platforms as sides. All you would have to do is put some block work at each end . Then get a pool liner made to fit. It would be great for your children and yourself to relax in the summer months. Can’t wait to see the new plans . 👍👍👍👍👍👍
Sounds like a great plan for phase 2! It will be wonderful to get all the clearing-out done so you’ll finally get to the building-up!! The station and all its spaces are just so beautiful!! 🚂☀️💕
I'm really rather surprised about the 'pond'. I would have expected that if this was a railway there wouldn't be any standing water between the platforms. Was it deliberately dammed off at both ends?
The bridge garden is lovely, perfect place for get togethers, and an edible garden. Cleaning the pond will be no small undertaking, but I would recommend that over filling it in.
@@theoldstationrenovation Definitely grow plenty of peppermint to keep foxes away. I don’t know if English weather allows for pepper trees, but you certainly have the room for it. Aerating your pond before treating the pond scum chemically, then stocking your pond with live fish, should turn that water pristine.
Now springtime is here you might want to see what shrubs and plants you want to keep, even bulbs, as they’re so expensive now, just a thought. You’ve got plenty of room to store them and use water from the pond to keep them healthy too once you get it cleaned up all around the property. I’ve noticed you look so serious all the time, you can smile on camera and be yourself, most house renovation channels on utube do show their true self with moans, laughing, mishaps and mistakes now and then and just being normal really. You’ll enjoy it more if you’re less serious too when you speak whilst videoing. It’s going to be quite a journey for you all, to make wonderful memories to remember always. It’s the journey not getting there that makes life wonderful. We’re all behind you both that watch. Have. Good week. M.
Crikey, so many comments in just one day !It's a wonder you ever get time to do any reno. Even just being able to say 'we own a Bridge' would be exciting enough for me. Keep the pond is my thought. Makes for a more diverse habitat. Power to your elbow(s).😊
You have to love guys who'll not only take away the mess they made, but all the extra gunk you don't want. It would be nice, as you clean the bank, to widen your drive to allow for a greater access. Just a couple of feet could make a huge difference. It looks like Gil started on it already. Sounds like your plans are moving forward! I can't wait to watch your videos and see your progress!
It's a very smart move to have "professionals" rip out everything and have them dispose of the waste. That way you get to visualize exactly what can and can not be designed in the spaces and how big each space can be. That out building bathroom looked rather decent once it was cleaned out, but the caved in roof made it look like it was before. The good news is, you now know exactly how bad the roof was/is. Now you don’t need to worry about damaging the roof when you remove the tree/bush/vine that is growing on the building. I was thinking when you build the shed where the greenhouse is, have some electric run down to the "pond" and install a spray fountain to keep the water aerated and keep away the algae/scum. The fountain being aerated should also discourage mosquitos from laying eggs as they like stagnant water.
Another great video look like the work is progressing. It's a shame tber is no track bed left.A nice old railway carrage would make a nice summer house.
on one of my visits to the station. i was told there are frogs, toads, newts and fish in the pond. and the pond was being fed water from a leaking water main on the other side of the bridge, to stop it drying out in the summer. i saw one of the grass snakes in the top garden bit. it was huge!
Good to see your gutting it and putting the effort in to get the bones in order. It must have been a tough decision to abandon the floor space upstairs, but it should make the ground floor volume exceptional. An excavator with a bucket thumb can snatch unwanted flora out by the roots so it doesn't regrow. Rather than the considerable effort of a real train car and track bed, perhaps the cabin shaped generally as a train carriage, perhaps with a facade lettered as the historical local line coaches would have been? Maybe a platform at the rear, overlooking the "pond". If either of you are swimmers, the pond cleaned up and lined might make a sweet lap pool. Good luck to you.
You have so much great space! Nothing excites me like the idea of a secret garden. While we don't have many brick houses where I live, some other old house restoration folk I follow suggest that it's vital to use the right kind of mortar for the period of the house. It sounds like you are hiring professionals who will hopefully know this, but it doesn't hurt to ask. On my first trip to the UK I was amazed at all of the brick buildings we saw from the cab on the way from Heathrow to Windsor. Also, was that a wasp's nest I saw at 7:56 in the upper right hand corner? I'm very excited to see your final plans (subject to change, I'm sure, lol), and how the interior of the station looks with the floors gone. Those windows are going to look so good! Cheers til next time. :)
Very ambitious plans - will be major improvements. The brick work is going to bring so much life back to the building, it's going to be beautiful. All that work on the grounds will really open the property up and give you a better idea of what is possible. I like that the out buildings will be cleaned out, nice there's already a bathroom in one end, hope it's salvageable; good to have access to an outdoor bathroom. Excited to see the lay out of new floor plans!
Is going to look amazing once done. I know would cost a fortune but would be great if you could have small section of railway put in and old carriages to use as home office or as an annex.
Thankyou for the walk through, its going to amazing following you on this journey. Im not very good with ponds, but make sure that all the green in it is safe for the dogs, sometimes it can be harmful if they where to go into it 😉
I would probably keep the pond but put solar powered fountains in them to see if that would help keep it from being so stagnant. Also looking at how flat that area is, sometimes it is nice to have an area in the yard where you can divert drains towards to keep water away from the house/station.
The Vlog It’s a wonderful life…. Peter makes a lake/pond fountain for $50 …… it was an easy fix for the aeration of the water…. It’s episode 40 on the farmhouse vlog… not the chateau vlogs…. It might help to watch that episode..🤗… love your story 😃
Have you considered buying or trading for an expanded front garden from the landscape supplier on the other side of the fence by the road? It looks like the owner has two driveways and could use the upper one to access their property. Then you could acquire the lower part and create a bigger space in front of the station. It would really accentuate the beautiful front of the station and you could have a grand entrance. Does your lot have extra land you could trade with the other owner?
Well it all sounds interesting. As another RU-vidr that I watch says. " There's nothing to it but to do it". I'm looking forward to watching you all. A lot of work, go for it. 👍
Now you talking: Love it when a plan comes together. I would keep the pond. Stop the people from walking under the bridge. "Extra security ". Put some ducks... Thanks for another awesome video. Regards from South Africa 🇿🇦.
This is now getting to the exciting bits, summer is hear and better weather , looking at the out house can it be made into at holiday let, I do like that railway bridge maybe you could light it up at night at a later date it's a nice feature to have in a garden, anyway keep up the great work hope the vlogs might get a little bit longer🐕🐕.
I can't help thinking but it fantastic if you relay a piece of track with passager coach on a about quarter of a mile but your all doing a fantastic job well done to all your hard work ❤
The railway enthusiast in me rues the fact the line was closed and ripped up to start with, and every time I see the track-bed area I secretly wish the line would be put back and used. I realize this won't happen of course but it still runs through my mind! The next best thing is your plan - lay some track and put a coach on it.
I hate brambles! Cutting them back is bad enough but digging them out so they don't come back, now that's is a right pain in the rear end. You might want to hang on to Dave the mini digger or, buy a second hand one. You can always sell it on afterwards, it'll help avoid high rental costs. Look at it this way, Gil will be happy playing with his big boys toy. 🤣🤣
Your videos are really coming on; very impressive and professional flow. You can just imagine this place being absolutely stunning when complete. If that building could speak it would be shouting out loud with joy that people have purchased it who are going to return it back to its former glory. Keep it up guys….
How far does your property extend, to the bridge or beyond? You appear to have an amazing property. Best of luck keeping your dogs in and trespassers out. Wishing you and your family a blessed week filled with gentle seasonally appropriate weather and restful evenings in your new (to you) caravan. Peace
For your pond there are iris growing in there so tidy this give it back to natural tidy all sides of it borrow a pair of wadders and that way you can work inside the pond testing to see what depths it has yet once cleared the birds will love it frogs and a little step for them to get I and out yet that for the future your plans for the station are going to be wonderful and the outbuildings will be so useful garden tools ,,machions a great number of this little studios the idea are endless so keep going all looks great tha k you for your share
I love the renovation etc obviously but I'm so looking forward to the Bridge garden being done, that pond will be amazing, what an absolutely beautiful place it will be when you're done
Love your progress and future plans. An idea for the pond is what Viscountess Julie Montague did with her pool; floating plant boxes that filter the water. Melbourne Botanic Gardens use similar floating plant boxes for "Guilfoyle's Volcano".
