The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

Thrugelmir

vivatifosi wrote: »

Two countries divided by a common language. No wonder while trouser shopping with an American friend, she shouted across the shop "Viva, are these pants too tight on my fanny"?

The differences don't stop at the language. For intents and purposes it is a foreign country. Though the media likes to impose a British viewpoint upon current affairs etc.

Pyxis

SingleSue wrote: »

Everyone has their own thankfully, would have been a nightmare for Joe if he hadn't (and we purposely chose halls that had en suites) due to his bowel disorder.

Although I was in quite a new Hall in my first year, no standard halls had ensuites in those days.

The only one that did, iirc, was a block specifically for more mature and/or overseas students, and they had a one-between-two bathroom, where you had to remember to lock the other person's access to it, before commencing your ablutions!

I'm not sure when Universities started incorporating ensuites into their Hall rooms.
It must have been around the time they realised that that they could earn a packet from the tourist/conference etc. market, but only if the said tourists/delegates didn't have to share communal bathrooms.

Certainly by the time I went to do an OU summer school in the mid-80s, some halls had them, because I stayed in one! It must have been either Reading or Nottingham...... can't remember which. It was a very poky little prefabricated pod plonked into the already small room, but nicer than having to share!

By the time a sprog went, in the late 90s, the hall they were in had a nice-sized room with a purpose-built bathroom in a one part of the room. I was very impressed.

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'm end of terrace... so not a semi

If you drove past in a hurry the row of four could look like a pair of large semis .... due to the particular nuances of design and layout.

There are quite a number "L shaped" houses round here, which are a bit peculiar...

Two L shapes interlocked.
From the front one house is, say, 12' wide and the other 15' wide.... round the back the 15' wide house has reduced to 12' and the 12' one widened to 15'. It's enabled developers to get two 3-beds into a smaller width of plot.

I'm finding it hard to envisage that. It sounds like the back of each house, as well as having a party wall at 90 degrees to the frontage, also has a party wall running parallel to the frontage. Is that right?

vivatifosi wrote: »

Two countries divided by a common language. No wonder while trouser shopping with an American friend, she shouted across the shop "Viva, are these pants too tight on my fanny"?

:eek: :eek:





I can remember confusing someone when I said I would be there for another fortnight.

I had to explain.

Then he really like the word!

PasturesNew

Pyxis wrote: »

I'm finding it hard to envisage that. It sounds like the back of each house, as well as having a party wall at 90 degrees to the frontage, also has a party wall running parallel to the frontage. Is that right?

I'll see if I can get a plan and upload it. Even I struggle to get my head round it, and I can see them from the window!

PasturesNew

Here we are. An end terrace, followed by a mid terrace.

Blue shows the boundary/separation walls. Pink shows the garden boundaries.

Ground floor

https://s26.postimg.org/rlyb01mbd/Houses.jpg
nctkxvj22

First floor
https://s26.postimg.org/j4ysp4hmh/Houses2.jpg
rn88tgo56

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

Here we are. An end terrace, followed by a mid terrace.

Blue shows the boundary/separation walls. Pink shows the garden boundaries.

Ground floor

https://s26.postimg.org/rlyb01mbd/Houses.jpg
nctkxvj22

First floor
https://s26.postimg.org/j4ysp4hmh/Houses2.jpg
rn88tgo56

That's interesting!

The only main difference that I saw at first glance was that you could either have a shorter fatter living-room or a longer, thinner one.

And all achieved mainly by making the staircase turn at right angles twice, rather than going straight up.

I bet that makes getting furniture upstairs interesting!

PasturesNew

Pyxis wrote: »

I bet that makes getting furniture upstairs interesting!

At modern prices, I don't think people can afford furniture, so it's not a problem

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

At modern prices, I don't think people can afford furniture, so it's not a problem

Or else they'd have to make do with flat-pack!



No large mahogany Victorian wardrobes in those houses!

SingleSue

The halls James was in for 3 years didn't have en suites but for his final year he moved halls into one which did.

For clarification, he stayed in halls due to being an SR with the responsibility of looking after the 1st years and other residents who qualified for halls past 1st year.

zagubov

PasturesNew wrote: »

Here we are. An end terrace, followed by a mid terrace.

Blue shows the boundary/separation walls. Pink shows the garden boundaries.

Ground floor

https://s26.postimg.org/rlyb01mbd/Houses.jpg
nctkxvj22

First floor
https://s26.postimg.org/j4ysp4hmh/Houses2.jpg
rn88tgo56

That's brilliant! Those types of stairs seem to be getting common in new houses in London, as they allow the layouts to become more flexible.

A friend from the Netherlands says there's more pressure there to make housing use land more efficiently. Many houses use spiral staircases to save room. They have pulleys attached to the top of the front of the house so you can pull up furniture through a window if it's too big to be taken up the stairs.

chris_m

zagubov wrote: »

A friend from the Netherlands says there's more pressure there to make housing use land more efficiently. Many houses use spiral staircases to save room. They have pulleys attached to the top of the front of the house so you can pull up furniture through a window if it's too big to be taken up the stairs.

They've had those for years, or possibly even centuries - from when the upper floors were used as warehouses.