Everything changes, but dreams don't
Aug 26, 2016When we moved into our house in 2005, the first thing we thought about doing was having the house extended. As it was an old house that was listed (on a register of old houses with lots of restrictions as to what you can change) we knew it was going to be a difficult process.
One of the requirements of the local planning office was to include English Heritage in the planning process. Their first requirement was that we got an architectural historian's report on the house to document its evolution over the years.
I found a company who could do the work and they sent someone out to spend a day looking at the house, taking pictures of all the old beams and generally cataloguing every tiny detail.
After about 4 hours he came down into my office and said excitedly ‘You have to come up into the attic and look at this!’
So, somewhat bemused by his excitement, I followed him up into the attic. ‘Look at that’ he said pointing to one of the rafters near the apex of the roof.
‘What?’ I said.
‘The beam, it’s sooted!’ he said, triumphantly, as if it was obvious.
‘Great!’ I said, ‘so what?’
‘That means they’ve been there a very, very long time’, he said. ‘they are probably the original roof beams from when the house was first built. And look at the condition of the timbers!’
‘What does sooted mean?’ I asked him getting a little more interested .. but only a little!
‘It means that this was originally a hall house’ he said. ‘it would have just been four pillars, one in each corner, and a roof. Open at the sides. They would have had a fire pit on the floor in the middle and the smoke would go up to the roof, that had a hole in it where it escaped. Because of all the smoke under the roof, the timbers get sooted – coated in soot.’
‘So how old does that make it then?’ I said.
‘Well, the big inglenook fireplace would have been put in the 1600s, so it is certainly a lot older than that. Looking at some of the other beams and the carpentry, I would guess it is early 1300s, possibly even late 1200s. So those beams had probably been there 300 years by the time King Henry VIII was hunting deer in the surrounding woods here, out on a hunting trip from Windsor Castle!’
‘Oh my goodness! Really?’ I said suddenly grasping why he was so excited. As an archaeologist with a speciality in timber framed buildings, this was the sort of rarity he loved to find!
He left a few hours later to type up his findings and create the report we needed.
After he’d gone I thought a great deal about the different people who’d lived in the house over the last 700 years. Around 35 different generations had lived under the roof timbers he was so excited by. I thought about how the world had changed during that time. Technology has moved on exponentially, year on year. The world is such a different place from just 10 years ago, let alone 100. And 700 years ago is almost too much change to even comprehend, isn't it?
But would all those generations of people really have been THAT different to us? Were their goals really so different from ours? I wondered how many of them laid in bed and thought about their dreams and goals like I did.
I’ve been blessed to work with many people from many different countries around the world over the years, and when you ask them to think about their goals, the surprising thing is, almost everyone is the same! When they really think about their goals most people come up with some kind of financial goal; and some kind of health goal; and some kind of relationship goal. And on top of that, some people also have some kind of spiritual goal. But that's pretty much it!
When I think that so much changes over time, but nothing really changes at all, it makes me think - what it’s all about? Why are we here?
It’s something that I don’t seem to tire of contemplating lately. Could it be as simple as, we’re all here to teach and we’re all here to be taught? We’re all here to help and we’re all here to be helped? We’re all here to forgive and we’re all here to be forgiven?
Wherever we are, I think we’re all here to look up for a hand from those ahead of us, and we’re here to look back and offer a hand to those behind us.
To climb, and learn, and grow. But to lift and help others grow as we go.
One of the requirements of the local planning office was to include English Heritage in the planning process. Their first requirement was that we got an architectural historian's report on the house to document its evolution over the years.
I found a company who could do the work and they sent someone out to spend a day looking at the house, taking pictures of all the old beams and generally cataloguing every tiny detail.
After about 4 hours he came down into my office and said excitedly ‘You have to come up into the attic and look at this!’
So, somewhat bemused by his excitement, I followed him up into the attic. ‘Look at that’ he said pointing to one of the rafters near the apex of the roof.
‘What?’ I said.
‘The beam, it’s sooted!’ he said, triumphantly, as if it was obvious.
‘Great!’ I said, ‘so what?’
‘That means they’ve been there a very, very long time’, he said. ‘they are probably the original roof beams from when the house was first built. And look at the condition of the timbers!’
‘What does sooted mean?’ I asked him getting a little more interested .. but only a little!
‘It means that this was originally a hall house’ he said. ‘it would have just been four pillars, one in each corner, and a roof. Open at the sides. They would have had a fire pit on the floor in the middle and the smoke would go up to the roof, that had a hole in it where it escaped. Because of all the smoke under the roof, the timbers get sooted – coated in soot.’
‘So how old does that make it then?’ I said.
‘Well, the big inglenook fireplace would have been put in the 1600s, so it is certainly a lot older than that. Looking at some of the other beams and the carpentry, I would guess it is early 1300s, possibly even late 1200s. So those beams had probably been there 300 years by the time King Henry VIII was hunting deer in the surrounding woods here, out on a hunting trip from Windsor Castle!’
‘Oh my goodness! Really?’ I said suddenly grasping why he was so excited. As an archaeologist with a speciality in timber framed buildings, this was the sort of rarity he loved to find!
He left a few hours later to type up his findings and create the report we needed.
After he’d gone I thought a great deal about the different people who’d lived in the house over the last 700 years. Around 35 different generations had lived under the roof timbers he was so excited by. I thought about how the world had changed during that time. Technology has moved on exponentially, year on year. The world is such a different place from just 10 years ago, let alone 100. And 700 years ago is almost too much change to even comprehend, isn't it?
But would all those generations of people really have been THAT different to us? Were their goals really so different from ours? I wondered how many of them laid in bed and thought about their dreams and goals like I did.
I’ve been blessed to work with many people from many different countries around the world over the years, and when you ask them to think about their goals, the surprising thing is, almost everyone is the same! When they really think about their goals most people come up with some kind of financial goal; and some kind of health goal; and some kind of relationship goal. And on top of that, some people also have some kind of spiritual goal. But that's pretty much it!
When I think that so much changes over time, but nothing really changes at all, it makes me think - what it’s all about? Why are we here?
It’s something that I don’t seem to tire of contemplating lately. Could it be as simple as, we’re all here to teach and we’re all here to be taught? We’re all here to help and we’re all here to be helped? We’re all here to forgive and we’re all here to be forgiven?
Wherever we are, I think we’re all here to look up for a hand from those ahead of us, and we’re here to look back and offer a hand to those behind us.
To climb, and learn, and grow. But to lift and help others grow as we go.
Until next time ..
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