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"No Electric" Cornish cottage

We stumbled across what we thought was a derelict cottage in the middle of woodland down a tiny track.

Evening sunlight was pouring through a window beyond, and there was a reflection of the sky and trees in the front windows. I went up to the window & was shocked to discover signs of habitation. There was even a calendar from 2015 on the wall, yet still I suspected that the place had just been deserted. I took this one image because of the beautiful light and sense of time passing, melancholy almost but imbued with such positive afternoon sunshine.

It was only then that I heard a car pull up behind us. The very jovial driver was the landowner, and he told us that someone does indeed live there. The tenant is a 75 year old man who refuses to connect any power to the house, even though all the faciities are there. He only has a gas bottle to power his ancient stove.

This old man has a tiny garden plot over a mile away on a steep cliff side, and he walks there regulalrly to tend his vegetagbles. He has an old car, but that is one of his only links wih modern’ish technology.

The landowner is in no hurry to move the old gentleman on, and it seems he will see the end of his days in this ancient farmyard cottage, almost off the grid, and I hope deeply happy because of it.

Next time I’m down, I’d love to photograph the old man himself, if he’d be happy for me to do so. What a character he must be.

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Copyrighted image - all rights reserved - 1988 Design & Copyright Patents Act
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Cornwall, Observations
We stumbled across what we thought was a derelict cottage in the middle of woodland down a tiny track. <br /> <br /> Evening sunlight was pouring through a window beyond, and there was a reflection of the sky and trees in the front windows. I went up to the window & was shocked to discover signs of habitation. There was even a calendar from 2015 on the wall, yet still I suspected that the place had just been deserted. I took this one image because of the beautiful light and sense of time passing, melancholy almost but imbued with such positive afternoon sunshine. <br /> <br /> It was only then that I heard a car pull up behind us. The very jovial driver was the landowner, and he told us that someone does indeed live there. The tenant is a 75 year old man who refuses to connect any power to the house, even though all the faciities are there. He only has a gas bottle to power his ancient stove. <br /> <br /> This old man has a tiny garden plot over a mile away on a steep cliff side, and he walks there regulalrly to tend his vegetagbles. He has an old car, but that is one of his only links wih modern’ish technology. <br /> <br /> The landowner is in no hurry to move the old gentleman on, and it seems he will see the end of his days in this ancient farmyard cottage, almost off the grid, and I hope deeply happy because of it. <br /> <br /> Next time I’m down, I’d love to photograph the old man himself, if he’d be happy for me to do so. What a character he must be.
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