I had a number of appointments with contractors concerning my interest in renovating Heronshaw; revealing some alternative strategies, all of which would make it a good investment, in my view. I therefore made an offer for the property of £105,000. We then set off from Horning downstream to South Walsham, mooring up with a mud weight in the centre of the broad and fishing and pestered by eels after which we sailed on the Blue Peter.
I slept in a bit in Horning and it was past 9am before we were washed, dressed and breakfasted. I was dressed in sports jacket and trousers and had a succession of appointments concerning Heronshaw. First Mr Golden, the proprietor of the Broadland Agency who told me how good the property was etc.! H also took me to Willow Fen and showed me how he had personally conducted an exercise of jacking and levelling a property on steel beams. Next I met Mr Edmonds, a local builder, on site who explained how he would tackle the property by using internal hydraulic jacks to pile connecting segments of wooden pile each in turn below the boathouse.
When each started to move the structure, you would go on to the next so that 14 piles would add their support to those already in position. The back and front verandas would be rebuilt with improved stairs (internal) and a proper utility room. The piles would be £400 each (£5600) and the roof a further £5,000 in tiles. He felt that jacking the boat shed up to a greater height would be more difficult but they could try. He gave me a complete rebuilding cost of some £55-£60,000 which, he said, would give me a property worth £220,000 as an alternative. He didn’t like architects and preferred to work with the client direct. Next Mr Amis, a riverside piling contractor, came and was less sure of the best approach. Eventually, he settled on a proposal of piling 28 piles in pairs external to the boathouse and passing steel beams across under the floor joists the two being joined by a steel or wood framework. He was even less keen on raising the structure. The piles would cost £220 each at £6120, the seven steel beams at £250 or £1750. Then the framework would be £2000, say, and Labour £4000. This would be some £14,000, considerably more than the builder. His bank protection (replacing all 100 yards on the plot) would be £6000 at £60 a yard. To re-thatch the roof would be £6-7000. From all of this, I learnt that it would be from £6000-£26,000 depending on how far I wanted to go in renovating it, but in any event it could be done and that the property was quite capable of being saved. In view of all this, I decided to make an offer of £105,000 subject to contract and left a message to this effect back at the Broadland Agency. I was reunited with the family for lunch and then we set off downstream until we came to South Walsham and moored up in the middle of the Broad by mud weight. I set up the sailing dinghy and we went sailing with Deborah, which was fun. Later on, I tipped it over and got wet was getting back on board. This evening, I fished from the boat and caught small Rudd and Roach until I came to be plagued by eels and gave up. Later, I practised on the keyboard; this time using the correct fingers to play the melody and finger the courts which was hard work but quite rewarding. A little news and more talk of industrial action and transport strikes. Another fine day with cooler temperatures and clouds as well as sun. A clear colder night and tomorrow we will try to get under Potter Heigham bridge!