Last week, I helped Sam and Lucy move from their flat in Blackstock Road, Highgate to a new rented house in Priory Avenue, Walthamstow.
They had a nice, but rather expensive place in Highbury which was reached through a gated passageway with two bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs and an open plan lounge, dining area and kitchen upstairs. It was open and airy, but also lovely and warm and had a small balcony with just enough room for a barbecue, a couple of deck chairs and a score of pot plants.
They’d been planning to stay there until next December when they are off to live in France for six months for some intensive skiing, but actually got notice late last year that their tenancy was to terminate at the end of January.
I’m speculating here, but rents in London have been rising fast and perhaps the landlord realised he could get a step change in the rent, rather than an inflation rise with Sam and Lucy as existing tenants. They started looking for a new place around the same area, but there was nothing nice in their price range and to get what they had previously would have cost around £2,300 per month - a massive increase. To put that into perspective, a friend’s son is renting a very nice two-bedroomed flat close to Peterborough station and is getting around £750 per month. You can see why people commute!
Time was running a bit short and they decided to look for a place further afield to widen the choice and improve prices. Walthamstow village was their choice as it is at the end of the Victoria line, so Lucy can commute into Imperial fairly easily and it’s handy for the doctors’ surgery in Leyton where Sam is working.
They found a nice place, but lost it due to availability not matching with when they had to be out, but the estate agent kept their details and contacted Sam when this place in Priory Avenue became available - sometimes estate agents can be useful! The owners had put it up for sale, but then had decided to rent it instead. Perhaps, like Tom and Hannah, they hadn’t been able to find a buyer at the right price and didn’t want to leave it empty?
Sam and Lucy went round at lunchtime after getting the call in the morning and agreed to take it immediately. You have to move fast!
Unfortunately, the new house was not available to move in until one day after they had to be out of the old place. They were unable to get an extra day because the landlord had someone else moving in straight away, so Sam had rented a space in one of the self-store warehouses that have become so popular in order to store their possessions for a night.
The plan was to move everything out of Blackstock Road into the store one day and then move everything out of the store into Priory Avenue the next. It was like moving twice, but nothing could be done.
I’ve moved all my children at various times and Sam is by far the most organised. There was the famous time when Tom and Hannah moved from Peterborough to Bow and I arrived with the van at 9am to find Tom still in bed, quite drunk from his leaving do the night before and nothing packed. I think he’d been in the Met Lounge with Rucksack until about 3am. He’ll be grumpy that I’ve recounted that story, but it is true.
Sam had some help from Tom Ingham, an old schoolfriend now living in London, earlier in the week, so had been able to move some boxes into store already; John, Lucy’s dad, had also taken down shelves and pictures and filled in the holes so Sam could paint over them. It was a really good job, you couldn’t tell where anything had been unless you knew and looked very closely.
I met Sam at King’s Cross at 9am on Thursday and we walked up Pentonville Road to the van hire place. On his last move, he’d hired a wreck of a van from some dodgy place near the Arsenal ground. It was old, battered and the engine sounded as if it might cough its last any minute. The doors didn’t shut or lock very well and on one run the side door flew open and the spare wheel (which was just loose in the back) flew out and went rolling along Stroud Green Road. Thank goodness it:
This van was pretty new and in very good condition. We drove up through Islington to Highbury and were lucky to find an empty slot just outside the front. John and Tibor (who is married to Lucy’s sister Natasha) were going to help with the move, but had not arrived when we got there. Lucy was hard at it with cleaning after the furniture was moved out.
Sam and I decided to try to get a van-load into store before John and Tibor came and we got busy filling the van. Everything was packed, so we were able to fill up quite quickly. The store was at Leyton, not far from the football ground or from Malta Road where Lucy’s mum and dad now live and where Sam and Lucy lived for a while. It’s basically a massive warehouse divided up inside into three storeys and multiple size lockable compartments which vary from post boxes (where people can have mail delivered) to stores the size of a shipping container. Sam had got a fair-sized space in the first floor and it was not too full, we’d get everything in quite easily. We piled boxes as high as we could and when we got back to Highbury, John and Tibor were there to guide Sam into a parking slot. Half and hour later, we could get cracking. We needed John as he had tools needed to dismantle various bits of furniture - Allen keys (or hex spanners, as the Americans call them) and screwdrivers. John had also come in his Fiat Scudo van, so we had two trucks available.
Tibor pitches in enthusiastically, John is good at unscrewing things, so we made a good team and got on pretty quickly. By 3pm, we were on the last two vans and decided to leave them loaded so that next day we could start unloading straight away. It would give us a flying start.
It was a slightly later start on Friday because Sam and Lucy had to sort out the contract and pick up the keys. I got off at Finsbury Park and took the Victoria line to the end - Walthamstow. I’d made the trip a few times before when I was going to see Sam in Malta Road. There was a cafe - the Coffee Lounge - just around the corner and I popped in there to wait for them. They were really friendly, much nicer than central London and much cheaper too.
The new house was really nice. It’s down a quiet road of terraced houses and they’re all nice an uniform - a proper terrace. The previous owners were clearly keen gardeners and they had lots of nice plants. There is a tree fern and two Japanese acers in the front garden, a tiled path to the house and at the back there’s a good-sized garden with a large bamboo, a decked area, a raised patio at the bottom and a shed. At the back of the house is a lean-to with washing machine, boiler and freezer; there’s a kitcken diner and a good-sized front room. Upstairs, there’s two good-sized bedrooms, a box room and a bathroom. It’s well kept with loads of shelf space. It’s also £300 a month cheaper, a bit more room and a nice garden.
Although it’s further out than Highbury, getting to central London is good because the Victoria line is so fast. I really, really liked the place.
So all we had to do was get moved in. Tibor had been held up by an accident and so was still having his breakfast at Malta Road when Lucy called, so Sam and I collected the van and unloaded it. Tibor and John arrived as we were leaving for the store and we left them to unload John’s van.
The store was much busier than it had been on Thursday. There were a number of vans parked up and quite a few traders were clearly using the place to store stock. There was a bloke loading a van with motorcycle gear - leathers, jackets and helmets - obviously off to a show or fair. There was a woman push around whole racks of clothes on Next hangars - I wonder how much of this stuff is knocked off?
The house soon filled up and I was able to help unpacking boxes during the afternoon while Sam and Tibor did the last run to the warehouse. I don’t think anything was broken, which was a success.
The only two issues were good old Virgin Media, which had quoted a time of 1pm to 6pm to set up broadband and just didn’t turn up. Sam spoke to three people in their Indian call centre before he found anyone to give an answer. They’d decided it was a two-man job, so hadn’t come, was the reason - what a shower! What’s more, now they had to come on a Saturday, it would take them three weeks. I’ll add Virgin to my list of blacklisted companies never to do business with.
The other, very annoying, thing was that Sam and Lucy’s TV was stolen. We don’t know how or where. It was in John’s van when he left Highbury and was taken either overnight or while it was parked in Priory Avenue the next morning. Sam’s car insurance has gone up and I noticed they had some stronger security on the doors and windows at the new place, so perhaps it’s a higher crime area.
Towards the end of the afternoon, Sam and I drove the van back to Pentonville Road along a pretty familiar route - Leyton to Clapton via Hackney Marshes, then through to Stoke Newington, Highbury, Islington and Pentonville Road. Annoyingly, neither of us remembered to fill it up and so we got to the depot only to have to head out down City Road to find a garage. We had a quick pint to make us feel better and I hopped on the 6.10pm train home - just like being at work.
It was pleasing to get a message from him at the weekend with a picture of his dining area and his Portmeirion plates put up on the wall. Hopefully, Margaret will be able to visit in the next week or so. It will be nice for me to see the place with all their stuff properly set out as well.
They had a nice, but rather expensive place in Highbury which was reached through a gated passageway with two bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs and an open plan lounge, dining area and kitchen upstairs. It was open and airy, but also lovely and warm and had a small balcony with just enough room for a barbecue, a couple of deck chairs and a score of pot plants.
They’d been planning to stay there until next December when they are off to live in France for six months for some intensive skiing, but actually got notice late last year that their tenancy was to terminate at the end of January.
I’m speculating here, but rents in London have been rising fast and perhaps the landlord realised he could get a step change in the rent, rather than an inflation rise with Sam and Lucy as existing tenants. They started looking for a new place around the same area, but there was nothing nice in their price range and to get what they had previously would have cost around £2,300 per month - a massive increase. To put that into perspective, a friend’s son is renting a very nice two-bedroomed flat close to Peterborough station and is getting around £750 per month. You can see why people commute!
Time was running a bit short and they decided to look for a place further afield to widen the choice and improve prices. Walthamstow village was their choice as it is at the end of the Victoria line, so Lucy can commute into Imperial fairly easily and it’s handy for the doctors’ surgery in Leyton where Sam is working.
They found a nice place, but lost it due to availability not matching with when they had to be out, but the estate agent kept their details and contacted Sam when this place in Priory Avenue became available - sometimes estate agents can be useful! The owners had put it up for sale, but then had decided to rent it instead. Perhaps, like Tom and Hannah, they hadn’t been able to find a buyer at the right price and didn’t want to leave it empty?
Sam and Lucy went round at lunchtime after getting the call in the morning and agreed to take it immediately. You have to move fast!
Unfortunately, the new house was not available to move in until one day after they had to be out of the old place. They were unable to get an extra day because the landlord had someone else moving in straight away, so Sam had rented a space in one of the self-store warehouses that have become so popular in order to store their possessions for a night.
The plan was to move everything out of Blackstock Road into the store one day and then move everything out of the store into Priory Avenue the next. It was like moving twice, but nothing could be done.
I’ve moved all my children at various times and Sam is by far the most organised. There was the famous time when Tom and Hannah moved from Peterborough to Bow and I arrived with the van at 9am to find Tom still in bed, quite drunk from his leaving do the night before and nothing packed. I think he’d been in the Met Lounge with Rucksack until about 3am. He’ll be grumpy that I’ve recounted that story, but it is true.
Sam had some help from Tom Ingham, an old schoolfriend now living in London, earlier in the week, so had been able to move some boxes into store already; John, Lucy’s dad, had also taken down shelves and pictures and filled in the holes so Sam could paint over them. It was a really good job, you couldn’t tell where anything had been unless you knew and looked very closely.
I met Sam at King’s Cross at 9am on Thursday and we walked up Pentonville Road to the van hire place. On his last move, he’d hired a wreck of a van from some dodgy place near the Arsenal ground. It was old, battered and the engine sounded as if it might cough its last any minute. The doors didn’t shut or lock very well and on one run the side door flew open and the spare wheel (which was just loose in the back) flew out and went rolling along Stroud Green Road. Thank goodness it:
- Didn’t hit anyone/anything
- Didn’t happen when the van was full of furniture
- Didn’t happen when I was in the van
This van was pretty new and in very good condition. We drove up through Islington to Highbury and were lucky to find an empty slot just outside the front. John and Tibor (who is married to Lucy’s sister Natasha) were going to help with the move, but had not arrived when we got there. Lucy was hard at it with cleaning after the furniture was moved out.
Sam and I decided to try to get a van-load into store before John and Tibor came and we got busy filling the van. Everything was packed, so we were able to fill up quite quickly. The store was at Leyton, not far from the football ground or from Malta Road where Lucy’s mum and dad now live and where Sam and Lucy lived for a while. It’s basically a massive warehouse divided up inside into three storeys and multiple size lockable compartments which vary from post boxes (where people can have mail delivered) to stores the size of a shipping container. Sam had got a fair-sized space in the first floor and it was not too full, we’d get everything in quite easily. We piled boxes as high as we could and when we got back to Highbury, John and Tibor were there to guide Sam into a parking slot. Half and hour later, we could get cracking. We needed John as he had tools needed to dismantle various bits of furniture - Allen keys (or hex spanners, as the Americans call them) and screwdrivers. John had also come in his Fiat Scudo van, so we had two trucks available.
Tibor pitches in enthusiastically, John is good at unscrewing things, so we made a good team and got on pretty quickly. By 3pm, we were on the last two vans and decided to leave them loaded so that next day we could start unloading straight away. It would give us a flying start.
It was a slightly later start on Friday because Sam and Lucy had to sort out the contract and pick up the keys. I got off at Finsbury Park and took the Victoria line to the end - Walthamstow. I’d made the trip a few times before when I was going to see Sam in Malta Road. There was a cafe - the Coffee Lounge - just around the corner and I popped in there to wait for them. They were really friendly, much nicer than central London and much cheaper too.
The new house was really nice. It’s down a quiet road of terraced houses and they’re all nice an uniform - a proper terrace. The previous owners were clearly keen gardeners and they had lots of nice plants. There is a tree fern and two Japanese acers in the front garden, a tiled path to the house and at the back there’s a good-sized garden with a large bamboo, a decked area, a raised patio at the bottom and a shed. At the back of the house is a lean-to with washing machine, boiler and freezer; there’s a kitcken diner and a good-sized front room. Upstairs, there’s two good-sized bedrooms, a box room and a bathroom. It’s well kept with loads of shelf space. It’s also £300 a month cheaper, a bit more room and a nice garden.
Although it’s further out than Highbury, getting to central London is good because the Victoria line is so fast. I really, really liked the place.
So all we had to do was get moved in. Tibor had been held up by an accident and so was still having his breakfast at Malta Road when Lucy called, so Sam and I collected the van and unloaded it. Tibor and John arrived as we were leaving for the store and we left them to unload John’s van.
The store was much busier than it had been on Thursday. There were a number of vans parked up and quite a few traders were clearly using the place to store stock. There was a bloke loading a van with motorcycle gear - leathers, jackets and helmets - obviously off to a show or fair. There was a woman push around whole racks of clothes on Next hangars - I wonder how much of this stuff is knocked off?
The house soon filled up and I was able to help unpacking boxes during the afternoon while Sam and Tibor did the last run to the warehouse. I don’t think anything was broken, which was a success.
The only two issues were good old Virgin Media, which had quoted a time of 1pm to 6pm to set up broadband and just didn’t turn up. Sam spoke to three people in their Indian call centre before he found anyone to give an answer. They’d decided it was a two-man job, so hadn’t come, was the reason - what a shower! What’s more, now they had to come on a Saturday, it would take them three weeks. I’ll add Virgin to my list of blacklisted companies never to do business with.
The other, very annoying, thing was that Sam and Lucy’s TV was stolen. We don’t know how or where. It was in John’s van when he left Highbury and was taken either overnight or while it was parked in Priory Avenue the next morning. Sam’s car insurance has gone up and I noticed they had some stronger security on the doors and windows at the new place, so perhaps it’s a higher crime area.
Towards the end of the afternoon, Sam and I drove the van back to Pentonville Road along a pretty familiar route - Leyton to Clapton via Hackney Marshes, then through to Stoke Newington, Highbury, Islington and Pentonville Road. Annoyingly, neither of us remembered to fill it up and so we got to the depot only to have to head out down City Road to find a garage. We had a quick pint to make us feel better and I hopped on the 6.10pm train home - just like being at work.
It was pleasing to get a message from him at the weekend with a picture of his dining area and his Portmeirion plates put up on the wall. Hopefully, Margaret will be able to visit in the next week or so. It will be nice for me to see the place with all their stuff properly set out as well.
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