The elms and Gate Farm cottages in the rain

It was a miserable wet day today. Stopped and took some photos across the fields on my way into town this morning. You'll see that I've photographed the elms before (16th January) but this is from another angle and further away.

Gate Farm cottages used to be tied cottages - Gate Farm is just up the road. I've heard stories about a family who lived in one of them, years ago, when there were more farm labourers than there are today. The husband worked with the livestock. It's all arable now. In those days (during and just after the war) they had no electricity or mains water, and the heating was from an old cast iron stove, used for cooking. Wages were very low, so they relied on home grown vegetables and a plentiful supply of rabbits to keep the family fed.

When I first moved into the village, about 25 years ago, one of the cottages had been gutted by a couple who were living in a mobile home in their garden with three small children while they renovated it. They didn't have a lot of money, so the pace of work depended on when they could afford to buy materials. The husband was working full-time, the wife was a part-time teacher. Just as the project was almost finished, after years of living in a muddle, the wife was suddenly taken ill and died in hospital. She was a bright, lively woman with a generous nature, a great sense of humour, and an infectious laugh. Everyone who knew her was shocked and saddened by her death. The kids are all more or less grown up now. I don't often see them, but their eldest daughter has inherited a lot of her mother's character. Her mum would have been proud of her. I often think of Angela when I drive past the cottages on my way to and from town.