planning

Our plot comes with planning permission for a house very close to the one we would design. But of course we want to make a few minor changes, so yesterday I met with one of the planning officers at East Northants Council. He was very helpful, and next we meet with a designer from Potton to draw up more plans.
We need plenty of car parking for all our visitors, as there isn't much space on the road in Denford, however, we mustn't make the area in front of the house look like a car park.

We are wondering how best to fit the staircase into the house, and whether we can afford the space to take a proper staircase up to the loft - if we could then we could have a "gallery" for all our books; otherwise, as all of our friends know, we shall have bookshelves on almost every wall!

I also met with Terry (my cousin Margaret's husband) who is going to put the fence up for us, now we have permission from the Environment Agency. It was a beautiful day, and we gathered hazelnuts from our own trees!
The picture shows our little stretch of the river, from the white post in the foreground, to the trees.

Some environmentalists have wondered if we coukd generate hydro-electricity. I gather that you need a drop of 2 metres to do so, and I am not sure if the River Nene drops by that much over its entire length!
It is pronounced by the way "Nenn"; by the time it reaches Cambridgeshire it is the "Neen", but west of Thrapston, it is defintely the "Nenn"!
H.E.Bates, best known for his Larkin novels, set in Kent, was born nearby and wrote a lovely book called Down the River, celebrating the Nene, and its Bedfordshire sister, the Ouse.

Technical stuff

Our plot is about 14m. wide and 55m. long,total about 0.17acres or 0.7 hectares. It has detailed planning permission for a house of about 1700 square feet / 170 square metres.
We need to make some changes to the house as it is designed, both to comply with Building Regulations Part M (disabled access) and a few minor things.

We want to keep the upper floor as main living area, and a balcony running the width of the house (about 8m.) overlooking the river.
We shall be building a Potton timber framed house, and have been to their factory in Great Gransden where the panels are built - it is quite a sight!

We have "riparian rights" which means we can fish, and have to take responsibility for anything that happens up to the middle of the river. The river is a tributary of the River Nene which can just be seen in our photo below, about 200 yards away. The neighbours tell us we can get a small boat down to join up with the main river, and make a jaunt to a riverside pub.
There is a nice pub in the village, where I think we may be spending a lot of time!

We have had to get permission from the Environment Agency to build the boundary fence, and that will go up in the next month or so.

Now we are getting interested in the heating and lighting of the building, and making sure that it is as energy efficient as possible (Keith says that if Jacky learned to switch off lights it would be helpful!)
Our friend Nigel, who works for The Energy Saving Trust has helped us with information about ground source heat pumps (not worthwhile if you can use gas). Now to consider solar panels.

The site has now had a topographical survey, to help us decide how to organise the build. We shall have our lounge, kitchen & dining area upstairs, with a balcony the width of the house, to take advantage of the view.
We are learning about green technologies, from solar panels to whole house heating & ventilation systems. Thanks to the Centre for Alternative Technology for all their sensible advice.

The view

Our new neighbours, Peter & Sheila Fairweather, asked us to a party to meet our new neighbours in Denford. It was a lovely day, with very good cheese & home-baked bread, and we were made very welcome

Finding the plot

We had been looking at plots - just theoretically, for some time, learning about planning issues and thinking about what kind of build would suit us, and where we would like to live.
We would have enough money saved in July 2009, and we thought it might take a couple of years or so to find the right plot in the right place.
One Saturday at the end of June, we were at The Raven in Hexton, having lunch with Neil, Duncan & Katie; we talked about looking for a plot, and called round at a couple of possibilities in the Barton area, neither of which would suit us.
When we got home, an envelope from Bletsoes in Thrapston, Northants, was waiting for us, and inside was what looked like our ideal plot, in Denford.

On the Sunday, we went up to see it informally, on our way to visit Derick (Jacky's dad lives 15 mins. drive away from Denford). The plot runs from Denford High St. down to a tributary of the River Nene. Opposite are flood meadows and a footpath. We walked along the path, looking over at the plot, and knew this was the one. Further along, one of the gardens had a small landing area, and a small boy was stepping down to join someone (his dad?) in a small boat.
A few houses along from the plot, where the road and river meet, there is a war memorial with some seats, where you can sit and look over at the river and wildlife.
We arranged to meet the estate agents, and the Fairweathers at South Reach, who were selling part of their garden; we put in a bid; were accepted; instructed solicitors; and now we own "land adjacent to South Reach"

The Bright House

For some years we have had the ambition to build out own house. About 4 years ago we began to visit building exhibitions, read magazines: http://www.homebuilding.co.uk/ and look, theoretically, at likely plots: http://www.buildstore.co.uk/findingland/

Thanks to Angela & Nigel for the house building book as well!